Jesus in Exodus
Chapter 3 - 4
God had important work for Moses to do but he was not yet
prepared to do it. That work was to lead the Hebrews out of
· Exodus 3: 1-6, Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the far side of the desert and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. There the angel of the Lord appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush. Moses saw that though the bush was on fire it did not burn up. So Moses thought, “I will go over and see this strange sight---why the bush does not burn up.” When the Lord saw that he had gone to take a look, God called to him from the bush, “Moses! Moses!” And Moses said, “Here I am.” “Do not come any closer,” God said. “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.” Then He said, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.” At this, Moses hid his face, because he was afraid to look at God.
First, we see Moses going to the “backside of the desert.” This is a place away from distractions where a person can be in the presence of God and have right thoughts about his life. Here Moses could hear God’s voice alone. To be completely alone with God is the first requisite for God’s servants. We are not given any details of Moses’ life during these forty years in the back side of the desert, and the reason is that God may deal with each of us differently.
Then a supernatural event occurs in Moses’ life; the angel of the Lord appeared in flames from the burning bush. Now the Hebrew word for “bush” occurs only one other time in the Bible and that was:
· Deuteronomy 33:13,16, About Joseph he said, “May the Lord bless his hand….with the best gifts of earth and its fullness and the favor of him who dwelt in the burning bush.”
In this verse the word for “dwelt” is “shah-chan”. It was then the Shekinah glory which Moses sees in the burning bush and we can reasonably conclude that the meaning of “the angel of the Lord appeared to him in flames of fire” here is a picture of the Shekinah glory, and the angel of the Lord was none other than the Lord Jesus Himself. Notice that in verse 4 we are told that God called to him from within the bush.
Let’s talk about the burning bush. It speaks of the Gospel of God’s grace. Here was a bush on fire in an arid desert but it did not burn up. Fire in Scripture speaks of judgment. It was Jesus who went through God’s judgment on the cross but was not consumed.
This humble bush, not a majestic tree, which was neither beautiful nor comely, became the temporary place that God resided and from it He revealed Himself to Moses.
God told Moses that He was the God of Abraham, Isaac and
Jacob. The significance of this is that God sovereignty chose them as the
fathers of
· Exodus 3:7 And the Lord said, “I have indeed seen the
misery of my people in
Remember that
· Exodus 3:8-9, So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey---the home of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites. And now the cry of the Israelites has reached me, and I have seen the way the Egyptians are oppressing them.
Now I would like for you to notice that verse 8 says, “So I have come down to rescue them…… (His children). Who but Jesus Himself came down to rescue us? God’s words to Moses were clear and unequivocal. No maybes or ifs. The typical picture is clear: the incarnation is pictured here. It was fifteen hundred years later when Jehovah Jesus left His father’s house and came down to earth where sinners suffered under the slavery of Satan.
The purpose of the incarnation was to deliver God’s people out of their slavery to sin and Satan. Finally after a sojourn in the world, they would go to a special place prepared for them.
· Exodus 3:10, So now, go. I am
sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of
“Now” is a key word here. In His own time God moves according to His own plan. If God had chosen, He could have sent a band of angels to deliver the Israelites. But no. Instead, He appointed a human being to bring a divine salvation of His people. Human instrumentalities are usually the means He uses to accomplish His purposes.
Now surely Moses would respond to God’s call by asking what he could do. No, Moses tried to talk his way out of God’s plan.
· Exodus 3:11, But Moses said to God, “Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out
of
Moses was old, tired, used to the laid back life of keeping sheep, didn’t have confidence in himself, and he had been out of touch with people. But it was God who called him to this task and God makes no mistakes.
· Exodus 3:12, And God said, “I will be with you. And this
will be a sign to you that it is I who have sent you.
When you have brought the people out of
God did not ask Moses to go alone. He clearly said that He (God) would go with him. This is still the promise to those that God calls to serve Him. If God clearly calls you to a task, you may rest secure in the assurance that He will go with you.
· Exodus 3:13, Moses said to God, “Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is His name?’ Then what shall I tell them?”
Now before we get too critical of Moses, just remember that God was not going to physically be with him, and he was not likely to make much of an impression on the Israelites, many of whom have fallen into the idolatrous worship like the Egyptians. The difficulty Moses had was that he was not able to show the Israelites the God who had sent him. This is probably a real problem for many, many Christians today. Today we would say these Christians have no testimony. So God answers Moses’ question:
· Exodus 3:14, And God said to Moses, “I AM that I am. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: I AM has sent me to you.”
In the four Gospel accounts of the New Testament, Jesus says “I Am” 37 times. I often wonder if this is not a way to finish the sentence that begins, “I am…”.
Dwight Pentecost says that this phrase, “I Am that I am” might be translated “I was, I am and I shall always continue to be”. But there is a depth in this phrase that the finite mind cannot possibly comprehend. We can safely say that no one but God can legitimately say that about himself.
· Exodus 3:15-17, God said to Moses, “say to the Israelites, ‘The Lord, the God of your fathers---the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob---has sent me to you.’ This is my name forever, the name by which I am to be remembered from generation to generation.” “Go, assemble the elders of Israel and say to them, ‘The Lord, the God of your fathers---the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob---appeared to me and said: I have watched over you and have seen what has been done to you in Egypt. And I have promised to bring you up out of your misery in Egypt into the land of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and the Jebusites---a land flowing with milk and honey.’
Have you ever wondered why we always read this phrase, “The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob”? Do you suppose that we are to get a hint of the trinity from this expression?
In the rest of chapter 3 we see God further reassuring Moses. However, it is certainly true that Moses was faced with obstacles and disappointments but this is the way God tests our faith. By this time Moses had seen God do enough that he had reason to believe that God would do what He said He would do. But he still found room for all kinds of excuses for resisting God.
We are made of the same material as Moses was. There is in us the same unbelieving, rebellious heart, and our only recourse is to, in faith, depend on Him and His Word. God is not limited by our weaknesses. Moses was rebellious, hesitant, timid, and fearful, yet God used him. If God waited until He found a human instrument that was worthy or fit to be used by Him, He would wait until the end of time. The truth is God uses whom He pleases!
Chapter 4
Before us now we will see God granting Moses three wonders or
signs which he would perform for the Israelites to prove that God had sent him.
There is deep meaning in these signs and they were designed to teach important
lessons to Moses, to
·
Exodus 4:1-5, Moses answered, “What if they do not
believe me or listen to me and say, ‘The Lord did not appear to you?’” Then the
Lord said to him, “What is that in your hand?” “A staff,” he replied. The Lord
said, “Throw it on the ground.” Moses threw it on the ground and it became a
snake and he ran from it. Then the Lord said to him, “Reach out your hand and
take it by the tail.” So Moses reached out and took hold of the snake and it
turned back into a staff in his hand. “This”, said the Lord, “is so that they
may believe that the Lord, the God of their fathers---the God of Abraham, the
God of Isaac and the God of Jacob---has appeared to you.”
There are probably very few Christians who are not familiar with this story. But there are probably even fewer that see more than God performing a miracle in it. The significance of this miracle deserves an in-depth look.
The first intent of God was to teach Moses a practical lesson. The sign had to do with the staff in his hand. This staff, or rod, as the word is sometimes translated, was his support. It gave him support as he walked. It was that on which he leaned when he was tired. It was a tool of defense in times of danger. We recently had an extensive teaching of the 23 Psalm which says in verse 4:
· Psalm 23:4 Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.
So here is the first lesson the Lord would teach Moses with this miracle: As long as Moses continued to depend on God, all would be well. But let him cast his staff to the ground, that is, cease to depend on God, to stand in his own strength, he would find himself helpless before the SERPENT!!! The Devil. So the lesson is that the secret of overcoming Satan lies in leaning in simple dependency on God and not leaning on our own “staff.”
But there was also a great doctrinal lesson of fundamental importance. Just as the 23 Psalm enables us to interpret its practical meaning, so the 2 Psalm supplies the key to it doctrinal significance.
· Psalm 2:9, “You will rule them with an iron scepter; you will dash them to pieces like pottery.”
The scepter is a rod. The rod, then, speaks of governmental power. But what are we to understand is signified by Moses casting his rod, or staff, down to the ground? Well, this speaks of God delegating governmental power to the rulers of the earth, and more often than not these governmental rulers have abused this power. This is what the “serpent” suggests to us. It has been used in the service of Satan. If we discard the power of God and turn governing power over to Satan, we can expect the worst. But following God’s instruction, Moses took the snake by the tail and it was turned back into his staff, in his hand again. This tells us that even Satan is under the control of God.
Thirdly, this sign was to be proof before the Hebrews that God had called and endowed Moses to be their deliverer. To see the staff become a serpent before their eyes would be evidence that Moses had supernatural power from God. To take the serpent by the tail and transform it again to a staff, would prove that Moses had not performed the miracle with the help of Satan. So in performing a sign that transcended the skill of man, he demonstrated that he was commissioned by God and empowered by God.
Next, this sign has an evangelical message. The staff being
cast to the ground became a serpent, and Moses ran from it. Clearly this tells
us that man is helpless to cope with Satan in his own power. The sinner is
completely under the Devil’s power. This was the condition of
God’s power was placed in Moses’ hands as the mediator, the
one who stood between
Next, there is historical significance to this miracle. The
“sign” itself consisted of three things; a staff held in the hand of Moses
(God’s representative), the staff being thrown to the ground and becoming a serpent,
and the serpent being transformed into a staff again. These three things
accurately symbolize the early history of
It is very interesting how this miracle prefigured not only
the early history of
But deeper still is the typical picture of this miracle.
· Psalm 110:2, The Lord will extend your mighty scepter
from
This is a reference to Jesus Himself, the “rod” of God. This is a reference to the second advent of Jesus when His governmental power and authority will be fully displayed. But when He was on earth the first time it was His humiliation to which the casting down the rod to the ground refers. Some will argue that the type is improper, that is, that the rod became a serpent. But yes, the type is proper. In Genesis 3 we find that the “serpent” is inseparably connected to the “Curse”, and on the Cross Jesus was made a “curse” for His people. Jesus said:
· John 3:14, “Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that everyone who believes in Him may have eternal life.”
So this is the significance of the first sign. Would you like to hear about the second sign?
· Exodus 4:6-8, Then the Lord said, “Put your hand inside your cloak.” So Moses put his hand inside his cloak, and when he took it out, it was leprous, like snow. “Now put it back into your cloak”, He said. So Moses put his hand back into his cloak, and when he took it out, it was restored, like the rest of his flesh. Then the Lord said, “If they do not believe you or pay attention to the first miraculous sign, they may believe the second.”
Leprosy is a well known symbol of sin—it is loathsome, contagious, spreads rapidly, is insidious in nature (it begins with a small harmless spot), and only recently has it become curable.
Here in this passage Moses is told to put his hand in his cloak, or bosom as some versions have it. (It is reasonable to think that his hand would be in the vicinity of his heart.) And lo and behold, when he took it out it was leprous. Then he was told to put his hand in his cloak again and when he pulled it out, it was clear.
There are several implications in this sign. This sign was
designed to instruct Moses. It was to teach him the amazing power of his God.
Here he was instantly afflicted with leprosy and instantly healed without the use
of means. This showed just how easy it is for God to affect change. Do you
suppose God wanted Moses to understand how easy it would be for Him (God) to
deliver the Hebrews out of
The hand speaks of energy; it is the instrument of work. Moses
was God’s instrument for carrying out God’s plan in
The principal effect which this sign was designed to accomplish
on Moses had to do with humility. Before Moses went to
Moses is to be seen here as the representative of the Hebrews, because he was one of them. In themselves, the Hebrews were no different from the Egyptians. They were defiled sinners and needed cleansing. The problem they, like we, had was internal.
Moses hand was disease free until he put it under his cloak, symbolically near his heart, where our problem is. It was not the hand that affected the heart, but the heart that affected the hand. How often we hear people say of a person who has committed public sin, “but he has a good heart.” Not so. Jesus said:
· Matthew 15:19, “For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander. These are what make a man unclean…”
In this case the leprous heart represents hidden sin; the leprous hand represents sin exposed. God is the only cure for the leprous heart.
Once again the sign before us is a solemn prefiguring of redemption. Moses here is a type of the great Deliverer of God’s people. First, Moses was seen as whole, then as leprous, then whole again. This is precisely the picture of Jesus that we get from the Scriptures. He came to earth and lived sinlessly. Then on the cross He became sin for us. That is, He took on Himself all our sins.
At this time He was “leprous in the eyes of the Father”, who could not bear to look on sin. Later in Exodus when we see the Israelites wandering in the wilderness with the Tabernacle, we will see that the lepers were required to stay outside the camp, away from where God dwelt, in the Holy of Holies in the Tabernacle. On the cross Jesus was separated from the Father. But after the terrible penalty was paid, the work of atonement was finished, and the forsaken One is again seen in communion with the Father. Likewise, when Moses put his hand back inside his cloak and pulled it out again he was perfectly whole, there was no trace of his leprosy.
· Exodus 4:9, “But if they do not believe these two signs
or listen to you, take some water from the
The
This third sign is very solemn. Its position in the series gives us the key to its interpretation. This sign was to be used only if the first two failed to convince the Hebrews. Therefore, it tells us of the consequences of refusing to believe what the other signs plainly bore witness to. If man rejects God’s Word that he is under the power of Satan and is depraved by nature, and refuses the One who alone can deliver him from the slavery of sin, nothing but Divine judgment awaits him. The water turned into blood speaks of life giving way to death, that is, the second death which awaits every Christ rejecter.
Lessons In Service
There are several lessons that we should observe at this point: No training of the natural man suffices to do the work of God. Even though Moses was thoroughly reared in the palace of the Pharaoh and though he spent forty years of solitude in Midian, he was full of unbelief and selfwill. God would do the preparing of Moses for the task he was sent on. God dealt personally with him. God endowed him for the work he was to do. He gave him miracles that were designed to teach him and the third sign was intended to show the judgment that awaits those who are not faithful servants.
Then we see the response of Moses to the call of God. The excuses that Moses used are common to so many Christians.
· Exodus 4:10, Moses said to the Lord, “O Lord, I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since you have spoken to your servant. I am slow of speech and tongue.”
How many people use this excuse that “I don’t speak well enough to teach a Sunday School class” or whatever. Paul himself was not a great speaker and he said that he simply came with a testimony of God.
· Exodus 4:11, The Lord said to him, “Who gave man his mouth? Who makes him deaf or mute? Who gives him sight or makes him blind? Is it not I, the Lord?”
God rebukes Moses. Once again God demonstrates how radically different His ways are from man’s. God is basically saying, “I am the one responsible for that.”
This debate between God and Moses goes on for some time as
Moses uses one excuse after another for not doing what God has told him to do.
Finally God discusses the possibility of sending Aaron, Moses’ brother along to
speak for him (Moses). At this point Moses gives in and goes to Jethro, his father-in-law, and asks for leave to go on the
mission that God has chosen for him. With that Moses and his family departed
for
When they reached