Day 18: Exodus 4-6

(The previous post introduced the events that occurred in Egypt about 400 years after the conclusion of the Book of Genesis. A Pharaoh arose that was threatened by the prosperous and numerous Israelites. The Israelites were put into slavery. A Hebrew (Moses) was raised in Pharaoh's house and went into exile after murdering an Egyptian. God revealed Himself to Moses and told him His objective to deliver the Israelites from Egypt.)

Exodus 4
¹ And Moses answered and said, But, behold, they will not believe me, nor hearken unto my voice; for they will say, Jehovah hath not appeared unto thee.
² And Jehovah said unto him, What is that in thy hand? And he said, A rod.

(This was Moses' response to God telling Moses what to tell the Israelites. Notice, Moses already had the rod.)

³ And he said, Cast in on the ground. And he cast it on the ground, and it became a serpent; and Moses fled from before it.

(The serpent was a symbol worn by the king of Egypt.)

⁴ And Jehovah said unto Moses, Put forth thy hand, and take it by the tail: (and he put forth his hand, and laid hold of it, and it became a rod in his hand:)

(God was showing Moses not to run from the king of Egypt. It was an act of faith for Moses to grab the serpent.)

⁵ That they may believe that Jehovah, the God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath appeared unto thee.

(This was done to increase everyone's faith.)

⁶ And Jehovah said furthermore unto him, Put now thy hand into thy bosom. And he put his hand into his bosom: and when he took it out, behold, his hand was leprous, as white as snow.

(God gave Moses another sign to increase his faith.)

⁷ And he said, Put thy hand into thy bosom again. (And he put his hand into his bosom again; and when he took it out of his bosom, behold, it was turned again as his other flesh.)
⁸ And it shall come to pass, if they will not believe thee, neither hearken to the voice of the first sign, that they will believe the voice of the latter sign.

(God showed that it was up to others and whether they believed or not. The future had not happened yet.)

⁹ And it shall come to pass, if they will not believe even these two signs, neither hearken unto thy voice, that thou shalt take of the water of the river, and pour it upon the dry land: and the water which thou takest out of the river shall become blood upon the dry land.

(God was completely prepared for each response and He shared it with His representative.)

¹⁰ And Moses said unto Jehovah, Oh, Lord, I am not eloquent, neither heretofore, nor since thou hast spoken unto thy servant; for I am slow of speech, and of a slow tongue.
¹¹ And Jehovah said unto him, Who hath made man's mouth? Or who maketh a man dumb, or deaf, or seeing, or blind? Is it not I, Jehovah?
¹² Now therefore go, and I will be with thy mouth, and teach thee what thou shalt speak.

(Moses seemed insecure about the role God placed him in. God told Moses that He would teach Moses what to say. This was an example of grace: "the divine influence upon the heart, and its reflection in the life.")

¹³ And he said, Oh, Lord, send, I pray thee, by the hand of him whom thou wilt send.
¹⁴ And the anger of Jehovah was kindled against Moses, and he said, Is there not Aaron thy brother the Levite? I know that he can speak well. And also, behold, he cometh forth to meet thee: and when he seeth thee, he will be glad in his heart.

(God was angry with Moses.)

¹⁵ And thou shalt speak unto him, and put the words in his mouth: and I will be with thy mouth, and with his mouth, and will teach you what ye shall do.

(Again, God said he would teach Moses, this time what to do.)

¹⁶ And he shall be thy spokesman unto the people; and it shall come to pass, that he shall be to thee a mouth, and thou shalt be to him as God.

(God would use Moses' brother Aaron as Moses' spokesman.  Moses being to Aaron "as God" merely meant that as God speaks through people, Moses would speak through Aaron.)

¹⁷ And thou shalt take in thy hand this rod, wherewith thou shalt do the signs.
¹⁸ And Moses went and returned to Jethro his father-in-law, and said unto him, Let me go, I pray thee, and return unto my brethren that are in Egypt, and see whether they be yet alive. And Jethro said to Moses, Go in peace.

(Moses asked Jethro's permission to leave.)

¹⁹ And Jehovah said unto Moses in Midian, Go, return into Egypt; for all the men are dead that sought thy life.

(God told Moses to return after Jethro gave permission. Moses was safe.)

²⁰ And Moses took his wife and his sons, and set them upon an ass, and he returned to the land of Egypt: and Moses took the rod of God in his hand.

(Moses had more than one son.)

²¹ And Jehovah said unto Moses, When thou goest back into Egypt, see that thou do before Pharaoh all the wonders which I have put in thy hand: but I will harden his heart and he will not let the people go.
²² And thou shalt say unto Pharaoh, Thus saith Jehovah, Israel is my son, my first-born:
²³ and I have said unto thee, Let my son go, that he may serve me; and thou hast refused to let him go: behold, I will slay thy son, thy first-born.

(God told Moses to warn Pharaoh of the end of the plan. God could justly slay Pharaoh's son (and all of Egypt's first-born sons) at the end of this process because Egypt's Pharaoh had first slayed the sons of God's people (Exodus 1:22).)

²⁴ And it came to pass on the way at the lodging-place, that Jehovah met him, and sought to kill him.

(God sought to kill Moses! Why?)

²⁵ Then Zipporah took a flint, and cut off the foreskin of her son, and cast it at his feet; and she said, Surely a bridegroom of blood art thou to me.

(It seems God sought to kill Moses because he did not circumcise his second son.
-The literal meaning of "bridegroom of blood" was: "You caused this blood upon your son."
-The figurative meaning was: "You are a coward for not standing up to God and defending your son." Bloody in this verse came from the root word that meant "silent; dumb.")

²⁶ So he let him alone. Then she said, A bridegroom of blood art thou, because of the circumcision.
²⁷ And Jehovah said to Aaron, Go into the wilderness to meet Moses. And he went, and met him in the mountain of God, and kissed him.
²⁸ And Moses told Aaron all the words of Jehovah wherewith he had sent him, and all the signs wherewith he had charged him.

(Moses made sure to tell his spokesman all the things God charged him to say and do.)

²⁹ And Moses and Aaron went and gathered together all the elders of the children of Israel:
³⁰ and Aaron spake all the words which Jehovah had spoken unto Moses, and did the signs in the sight of the people.
³¹ And the people believed: and when they heard that Jehovah had visited the children of Israel, and that he had seen their affliction, then they bowed their heads and worshipped.

(The people of Israel believed. They worshipped God when they realized He had perceived their affliction.)




Exodus 5
¹ And afterward Moses and Aaron came, and said unto Pharaoh, Thus saith Jehovah, the God of Israel, Let my people go, that they may hold a feast unto me in the wilderness.

(Moses and Aaron requested of Pharaoh to let Israel go to the wilderness to hold a feast. There was nothing right or wrong about this request. It was just a request.)

² And Pharaoh said, Who is Jehovah, that I should hearken unto his voice to let Israel go? I know not Jehovah, and moreover I will not let Israel go.

(Pharaoh stated his will. There was nothing right or wrong about Pharaoh's response. It was just a response.)

³ And they said, The God of the Hebrews hath met with us: let us go, we pray thee, three days' journey into the wilderness, and sacrifice unto Jehovah our God, lest he fall upon us with pestilence, or with the sword.
⁴ And the king of Egypt said unto them, Wherefore do ye, Moses and Aaron, loose the people from their works? get you unto your burdens.
⁵ And Pharaoh said, Behold, the people of the land are now many, and ye make them rest from their burdens.
⁶ And the same day Pharaoh commanded the taskmasters of the people, and their officers, saying,
⁷ Ye shall no more give the people straw to make brick, as heretofore: let them go and gather straw for themselves.

(This action was wrong for Pharaoh to do. Pharaoh took a value from the Israelites because Aaron asked him to consider letting the people go. Pharaoh thought he equaled out Justice. Actually, Aaron did nothing wrong. All Aaron did was ask a question. At this point, Pharaoh was on the negative side of Justice because he was the only one who took a value. Pharaoh owed, but he thought things were even.)

⁸ And the number of the bricks, which they did make heretofore, ye shall lay upon them; ye shall not diminish aught thereof: for they are idle; therefore they cry, saying, Let us go and sacrifice to our God.
⁹ Let heavier work be laid upon the men, that they may labor therein; and let them not regard lying words.
¹⁰ And the taskmasters of the people went out, and their officers, and they spake to the people, saying, Thus saith Pharaoh, I will not give you straw.
¹¹ Go yourselves, get you straw where ye can find it: for nought of your work shall be diminished.

(Pharaoh added to their work. The Israelites were now forced to gather their own straw without letting this decrease the amount of work they accomplished.)

¹² So the people were scattered abroad throughout all the land of Egypt to gather stubble for straw.
¹³ And the taskmasters were urgent saying, Fulfil your works, your daily tasks, as when there was straw.
¹⁴ And the officers of the children of Israel, whom Pharaoh's taskmasters had set over them, were beaten, and demanded, Wherefore have ye not fulfilled your task both yesterday and to-day, in making brick as heretofore?

(Not only was there added work but the Israelites were beaten when the amount of work they completed was less than this new, higher level.)

¹⁵ Then the officers of the children of Israel came and cried unto Pharaoh, saying, Wherefore dealest thou thus with thy servants?

(Causality: "Why did you do this injustice?" Everyone knew what Pharaoh did was unjust.)

¹⁶ There is no straw given unto thy servants, and they say to us, Make brick: and, behold, thy servants are beaten; but the fault is in thine own people.
¹⁷ But he said, Ye are idle, ye are idle: therefore ye say, Let us go and sacrifice to Jehovah.

(Wrong Conclusion: "You must be idle to have made that request." Pharaoh projected a wrong reason onto God's people which led to the Israelites being abused more.)

¹⁸ Go therefore now, and work; for there shall no straw be given you, yet shall ye deliver the number of bricks.
¹⁹ And the officers of the children of Israel did see that they were in evil case, when it was said, Ye shall not diminish aught from your bricks, your daily tasks.
²⁰ And they met Moses and Aaron, who stood in the way, as they came forth from Pharaoh:
²¹ and they said unto them, Jehovah look upon you, and judge: because ye have made our savor to be abhorred in the eyes of Pharaoh, and in the eyes of his servants, to put a sword in their hand to slay us.

(The Israelites believed Moses was wrong and stated they wanted God to judge him because they looked bad to the king. Their focus was not on God (spiritual/moral), it was on Pharaoh (physical/ethical). Moses was in the right even though he was not in the majority.)

²² And Moses returned unto Jehovah, and said, Lord, wherefore hast thou dealt ill with this people? why is it that thou hast sent me?

(Moses had doubt (because he was in the minority) and asked God again why He had sent him.)

²³ For since I came to Pharaoh to speak in thy name, he hath dealt ill with this people; neither hast thou delivered thy people at all.

(Moses looked short term and told God He did not deliver them. Remember, God already laid out the whole plan. The people wanted the benefit immediately. However, the way God's plans work in our lives are by us having to go from bad to good through worse...God always leads us in a way that first kills our flesh.)




Exodus 6
¹ And Jehovah said unto Moses, Now shalt thou see what I will do to Pharaoh: for by a strong hand shall he let them go, and by a strong hand shall he drive them out of his land.
² And God spake unto Moses, and said unto him, I am Jehovah:
³ and I appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, as God Almighty; but by my name Jehovah I was not known to them.

(Although God had appeared to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob before He appeared to Moses, Moses was the first of them to know God's Name.)

⁴ And I have also established my covenant with them, to give them the land of Canaan, the land of their sojournings, wherein they sojourned.
⁵ And moreover I have heard the groaning of the children of Israel, whom the Egyptians keep in bondage; and I have remembered my covenant.
⁶ Wherefore say unto the children of Israel, I am Jehovah, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will rid you out of their bondage, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm, and with great judgments:
⁷ and I will take you to me for a people, and I will be to you a God; and ye shall know that I am Jehovah your God, who bringeth you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians.
⁸ And I will bring you in unto the land which I sware to give to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob; and I will give it you for a heritage: I am Jehovah.

(God was building Moses' faith by increasing Moses' understanding.)

⁹ And Moses spake so unto the children of Israel: but they hearkened not unto Moses for anguish of spirit, and for cruel bondage.

(Moses told Israel but they did not believe him because they were in pain. Israel was focused on their physical circumstances. They did not think they ought to go through worse to get to good.)

¹⁰ And Jehovah spake unto Moses, saying,
¹¹ Go in, speak unto Pharaoh king of Egypt, that he let the children of Israel go out of his land.
¹² And Moses spake before Jehovah, saying, Behold, the children of Israel have not hearkened unto me; how then shall Pharaoh hear me, who am of uncircumcised lips?
¹³ And Jehovah spake unto Moses and unto Aaron, and gave them a charge unto the children of Israel, and unto Pharaoh king of Egypt, to bring the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt.

(What followed was a brief history of Moses' lineage...)

¹⁴ These are the heads of their fathers' houses. The sons of Reuben the first-born of Israel: Hanoch, and Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi; these are the families of Reuben.
¹⁵ And the sons of Simeon: Jemuel, and Jamin, and Ohad, and Jachin, and Zohar, and Shaul the son of a Canaanitish woman; these are the families of Simeon.
¹⁶ And these are the names of the sons of Levi according to their generations: Gershon, and Kohath, and Merari; and the years of the life of Levi were a hundred thirty and seven years.
¹⁷ The sons of Gershon: Libni and Shimei, according to their families.
¹⁸ And the sons of Kohath: Amram, and Izhar, and Hebron, and Uzziel; and the years of the life of Kohath were a hundred thirty and three years.
¹⁹ And the sons of Merari: Mahli and Mushi. These are the families of the Levites according to their generations.
²⁰ And Amram took him Jochebed his father's sister to wife; and she bare him Aaron and Moses: and the years of the life of Amram were a hundred and thirty and seven years.

(Amram married his aunt and she bore Aaron and Moses. Aaron and Moses were the offspring of a union that would eventually be against the Law that Moses introduced (Leviticus 18:11). Also, Moses was a murderer, which would also eventually be against the Law. Were these things not wrong at this point in time? Paul stated in Romans 5:13 that "sin is not imputed when there is no law.")

²¹ And the sons of Izhar: Korah, and Nepheg, and Zichri.
²² And the sons of Uzziel: Mishael, and Elzaphan, and Sithri.
²³ And Aaron took him Elisheba, the daughter of Amminadab, the sister of Nahshon, to wife; and she bare him Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar.
²⁴ And the sons of Korah: Assir, and Elkanah, and Abiasaph; these are the families of the Korahites.

(Sons of Korah were mentioned. Korah was one of Esau's sons (Genesis 36). However, the Korah mentioned here was the son of Izhar, the son of Kehath, the son of Levi.)

²⁵ And Eleazar Aaron's son took him one of the daughters of Putiel to wife; and she bare him Phinehas. These are the heads of the fathers' houses of the Levites according to their families.
²⁶ These are that Aaron and Moses, to whom Jehovah said, Bring out the children of Israel from the land of Egypt according to their hosts.
²⁷ These are they that spake to Pharaoh king of Egypt, to bring out the children of Israel from Egypt: these are that Moses and Aaron.
²⁸ And it came to pass on the day when Jehovah spake unto Moses in the land of Egypt,
²⁹ that Jehovah spake unto Moses, saying, I am Jehovah: speak thou unto Pharaoh king of Egypt all that I speak unto thee.
³⁰ And Moses said before Jehovah, Behold, I am of uncircumcised lips, and how shall Pharaoh hearken unto me?

(This post presented the events of Moses' first interaction with Pharoah. Moses returned to Egypt from his exile. Moses and Aaron made a request to Pharaoh to allow the Israelites to have a feast unto God. Pharaoh responded unjustly, while thinking he had equaled out Justice. Israel blamed Moses for Pharaoh's unjust response. The foundation was set for God to respond to Pharaoh.)

Day 19