Exodus Chapter 4
Exodus 4 is a continuation of a conversation from a burning bush that God was having with Moses. And Moses asked a question that had been already answered by God. Moses’ question showed a lack of faith in what God was about to do through him. He wanted to find a way out of the situation and wanted it to be anyone else tasked with this job than himself.
Exodus 3:18 And they will listen to your voice, and you and the elders of Israel shall go to the king of Egypt and say to him, ‘The LORD, the God of the Hebrews, has met with us ; and now, please let us go a three days’ journey into the wilderness, that we may sacrifice to the LORD our God.’
Let's Reflect
1. What was the first sign that God showed to Moses that would help him convince others that God had given him instruction?
2. In verse 5 God repeats what type of God He is. He is the same God that led Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. God never changes. It was time for Moses to find his own faith in God. God was going to be with him also. What was the second sign that God gave Moses that showed the power of God?
3. God even gave Moses a third miracle sign that he would be able to use but Moses came up with another excuse as to why he wasn’t the right man for the job. What did Moses tell God? I know these questions are simple and basic, but think about how you and I often react to God’s direction in our lives. We make up excuses too.
4. Verse 11 may be difficult for us to read and understand, but we must accept the sovereignty of God. He can use anyone who is yielded to Him. What did you learn in verse 11? The point that God is trying to make with Moses here is that He will be with Him. God was not going to send him to Egypt without the very powerful help of God Himself.
5. Why does it say that the anger of the Lord was kindled against Moses? What merciful thing did God promise to Moses in response?
6. We find another difficult thing in verse 21 that God said He would harden the heart of the Pharoah. It took me several years to understand this. But it goes back to a phrase repeated in the Bible many times, “that they may know that I am God.” The Israelites especially needed to know this. They had been living in Egypt for so long depending on the Egyptians for a bite to eat. It is likely that they no longer possessed independent thinking. And the Egyptians needed to see who the one true God is since they were a people who worshipped many gods. All people of the earth need to see who God is. God’s response that Moses was to speak to the Pharoah is beautiful and stern. God would tell Pharoah that the people of Israel did not belong to him. They were called the sons of God. What did God say he would tell Pharoah if he did not let his son (Israel) go free?
“God does not harden men by putting evil into them, but by not giving them mercy.” [Augustine]
7. In verses 24-26 we find another difficult passage. It says that as Moses and his family travelled towards Egypt that God sought to kill him. At first glance this makes no sense since we are reading that Moses was doing as God had asked of him. But there was a command that God had made, and Moses was refusing to follow it in the life of his own son. Moses had not circumcised his own son. Perhaps it had been to please his wife Zipporah who was not Hebrew. Did they take care of it?
8. God also appeared in some manner to the brother of Moses. What did Aaron his brother do when told by God to go?
