Exodus 4

God shows Moses supernatural power

Then Moses asked,

“What if they don’t believe me or listen to me? They might say that the Existing One never appeared to me.”

The Existing One replied,

“What’s that in your hand?”

Moses said,

“A staff.” 

God said, 

“Throw it on the ground.” 

So Moses threw it on the ground, and it became a snake, causing Moses to jump back. Then the Existing One told Moses,

“Reach out your hand and grab it by its tail.”

So Moses grabbed it by the tail, and it became a staff in his hand. God said,

“That’s so they believe that the Existing One, the God of their parents, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob has appeared to you.

“Now stick your hand down your shirt toward your chest”

So Moses stuck his hand down his shirt, and when he pulled it out, it was diseased and white like snow. Then God said,

“Stick your hand back into your shirt again.”

So Moses stuck his hand back down his shirt, and when he pulled it out, it was restored to normal like the rest of his body. 

“If they don’t believe you or respond when the first signal sounds, they may believe when the last signal sounds. But if they refuse to believe both of these signals and reject your message, then you should take some water from the Nile and pour it on the dry ground, and it will become blood.”

Moses doubts himself & God promises to lead him

Then Moses said,

“I’m sorry, Existing One, but I’ve never been an eloquent man in the past. I wasn’t a good speaker before, and I’m not even a good speaker now since you’ve been talking to me. I’m a dull speaker.” 

The Existing One told him,

“Who invented the human mouth? And who makes someone mute or deaf, blind or seeing? Aren’t I the one who does that? The Existing One? So move forward, and I—yes, I—will be with your mouth. I’ll show you what to say.”

Then Moses said,

“But Master, please send the message through whoever you want.”

Then the Existing One became angry with Moses, and he said,

“Isn’t Aaron the Levite your brother? I know he’s a good speaker. And look, he’s even coming to meet you. When he sees you, his heart will be glad. Talk to him, and explain what he should say. I—yes, I—will be with both of your mouths, and I’ll show you what to do. He’ll talk to the people on your behalf. He’ll be a mouthpiece for you, and you’ll be a leader to him. Take this staff with you, because you’ll use it to carry out the signals.”

Moses starts traveling to Egypt

Then Moses left and went back to his father-in-law, Jethro. He asked Jethro,

“Would it be alright if I left so I could return to my relatives in Egypt and see if they are still alive?”

Jethro said,

“Go ahead, and be at peace about it.”

While Moses was in Midian, the Existing One told him,

“Go back to Egypt, because everyone who wanted to kill you is dead.”

So Moses put his wife and sons on a donkey, and returned to the land of Egypt. He also took God’s staff with him.

The Existing One told Moses,

“When you go back to Egypt, make sure that you show Pharaoh all the signals I gave you. But I will stiffen his heart so that he won’t release the people. Then you need to tell him that the Existing One says,

‘Israel is my firstborn son. Let my son go so that he can serve me. Since you refuse to release him, I’ll kill your son, your firstborn.’”

God confronts Moses about circumcising his son

At one of the inns along the way, the Existing One encountered Moses and sought to kill him. Then Moses’s wife Zipporah took a stone knife and cut off her son’s foreskin and threw it at Moses’s feet, saying,

“You are a man of the blood!”

(She meant that Moses was a true Israelite who should follow the Israelite custom of circumcision.)

After that, God left him alone.

 Moses & Aaron inform their tribe, causing them to worship

Then the Existing One told Aaron to go meet Moses in the uninhabited land, so he went and met him at God’s mountain and greeted him with a kiss. Moses told Aaron everything the Existing One had said. He also told him about the signals God had ordered him to do. Then Moses and Aaron went and assembled all of Israel’s descendants, and Aaron told them everything the Existing One had told Moses. Then he produced the signals so everyone could see, and the people believed. When they heard that the Existing One was tending to Israel’s descendants and had seen their affliction, they all bowed down and magnified God.