4:1-9 Continuing the conversation at the burning bush-- Moses wanted to know what to do if the people didn't believe that the Lord had actually appeared to him. So the Lord gave him the power to perform three dramatic signs: 1) Moses could throw his staff on the ground and it would turn into a live snake. When he picked it up again it would return to being a staff. 2) Moses could put his hand inside his cloak and it would become leprous. When he put his leprous hand back in his cloak it came out healthy. 3) Moses could take some water from the Nile and when he poured it on the ground it would become blood.
v. 10-16 Moses still didn't want to go back to Egypt. He reminded the Lord that he is "slow of speech." Perhaps this would disqualify him. But the Lord said He is the one who gave man his mouth, who makes him deaf or mute, and who gives sight or makes a man blind. The Lord promised to help Moses speak and He would personally teach him what to say. But Moses said, "O Lord, please send someone else to do it." The Lord was angry with Moses and said his brother Aaron could speak well and could serve as the spokesman. It would be as though Moses were God and Aaron was his prophet. The Lord would help both Moses and Aaron speak to the people. In class a question came up about free will. If Moses refused to be the leader then shouldn't the Lord respect his decision? If Moses has free will then didn't the Lord violate that free will? When a man wants one thing and the Lord wants something else, who gets their way in the end? It was an interesting discussion.
v. 17-20 The Lord reminded Moses to take his staff with him because he would need it to perform miraculous signs. Moses left the burning bush area and went back to Jethro, his father-in-law, asking for permission to go back to Egypt to see if any of his own people were still alive. Jethro sent him in peace. The Lord told Moses that the men who wanted to kill him were dead. So Moses took his wife and sons on a donkey, picked up his staff, and set out for Egypt.
v. 21-23 The Lord told Moses that in spite of all the miraculous signs Pharaoh would not let them go because the Lord would harden his heart. In class a question came up about how the Lord could blame Pharaoh for his hardened heart if it was the Lord who hardened his heart in the first place. Moses must tell Pharaoh that Israel is the firstborn son of the Lord. Pharaoh must let His son go so he may worship the Lord. But if Pharaoh refuses then the Lord will kill Pharaoh's firstborn son (which He did in the final plague).
v. 24-26 In a lodging place on the way to Egypt the Lord met Moses (or Moses' son) and was about to kill him until Zipporah circumcised her son and placed the foreskin at the feet of Moses. She said, "surely you are a bridegroom of blood to me." (speaking of circumcision). The Lord did not kill him. Scholars disagree about whether this refers to the Lord threatening to kill Moses or Moses' son. Given the reference to firstborn sons in the previous paragraph it seems likely that it was Moses' firstborn son who was in peril. His mother was not a Hebrew and the boy apparently hadn't been circumcised. This is a difficult passage to understand.
v. 27-31 The Lord sent Moses' older brother Aaron into the desert to meet him. They met at Mt. Horeb where Moses told him everything the Lord said and showed him the miraculous signs. They brought together all the Hebrew elders and Aaron spoke to them. They believed him and were moved to bow down in worship when they heard of the Lord's concern for them.
5:1-9 Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and told him the Lord wanted him to let the Hebrews go into the desert for a festival. Pharaoh said he didn't know the Lord and had no reason to obey Him. They told him if he refused to let them go then the Lord might strike the Hebrews with plagues or even kill them. But Pharaoh sent Moses and Aaron away. The same day Pharaoh ordered the slave masters to stop supplying the Hebrews with straw but still require the same number of bricks to be made each day. He said the Hebrews were just lazy so he would make their work harder, then they'd pay no attention to Moses and Aaron.
v. 10-23 The Egyptian slave masters beat the Hebrew foremen for not meeting their daily quota of bricks. The foremen appealed to Pharaoh saying it wasn't fair for him to expect them to make as many bricks when they had to go out and forage for straw. But Pharaoh just told them they were lazy and sent them back to work. The Hebrew foremen realized they were in big trouble. When they saw Moses and Aaron waiting for them they were angry and blamed them for the trouble they were in. Moses went to the Lord and asked Him why He had brought such trouble upon the Hebrews. Moses said, "You have not rescued your people at all."
Much more next time.