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Texts -- Exodus 4:1-18 (NET)

Context
The Source of Sufficiency
4:1 Moses answered again, “And if they do not believe me or pay attention to me , but say , ‘The Lord has not appeared to you’?” 4:2 The Lord said to him, “What is that in your hand ?” He said , “A staff .” 4:3 The Lord said , “Throw it to the ground .” So he threw it to the ground , and it became a snake , and Moses ran from it. 4:4 But the Lord said to Moses , “Put out your hand and grab it by the tail ”– so he put out his hand and caught it, and it became a staff in his hand 4:5 “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.” 4:6 The Lord also said to him, “Put your hand into your robe .” So he put his hand into his robe , and when he brought it out – there was his hand , leprous like snow ! 4:7 He said , “Put your hand back into your robe .” So he put his hand back into his robe , and when he brought it out from his robe – there it was, restored like the rest of his skin ! 4:8 “If they do not believe you or pay attention to the former sign , then they may believe the latter sign . 4:9 And if they do not believe even these two signs or listen to you , then take some water from the Nile and pour it out on the dry ground . The water you take out of the Nile will become blood on the dry ground .” 4:10 Then Moses said to the Lord , “O my Lord , I am not an eloquent man , neither in the past nor since you have spoken to your servant , for I am slow of speech and slow of tongue .” 4:11 The Lord said to him, “Who gave a mouth to man , or who makes a person mute or deaf or seeing or blind ? Is it not I , the Lord ? 4:12 So now go , and I will be with your mouth and will teach you what you must say .” 4:13 But Moses said , “O my Lord , please send anyone else whom you wish to send !” 4:14 Then the Lord became angry with Moses , and he said , “What about your brother Aaron the Levite ? I know that he can speak very well . Moreover , he is coming to meet you, and when he sees you he will be glad in his heart . 4:15 “So you are to speak to him and put the words in his mouth . And as for me, I will be with your mouth and with his mouth , and I will teach you both what you must do . 4:16 He will speak for you to the people , and it will be as if he were your mouth and as if you were his God . 4:17 You will also take in your hand this staff , with which you will do the signs .”
The Return of Moses
4:18 So Moses went back to his father-in-law Jethro and said to him, “Let me go , so that I may return to my relatives in Egypt and see if they are still alive .” Jethro said to Moses , “Go in peace .”

Pericope

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Arts

Hymns

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  • [Exo 4:11] Awake, My Tongue, Thy Tribute Bring
  • [Exo 4:12] Jesus, The Truth And Power Divine
  • [Exo 4:12] Lord, Speak To Me

Sermon Illustrations

Exodus 4:2; Exodus 7:8-10

Resources/Books

Expository Notes on the Bible (Constable)

  • One of the significant changes in the emphasis that occurs at this point in Genesis is from cursing in the primeval record to blessing in the patriarchal narratives. The Abrahamic Covenant is most important in this respect. H...
  • Exodus embraces about 431 years of history, from the arrival of Jacob and his family in Egypt (ca. 1876 B.C.) to the erection of the tabernacle in the wilderness of Sinai (ca. 1445 B.C.). However 1:1-7 is a review of Jacob's ...
  • I. The liberation of Israel 1:1-15:21A. God's preparation of Israel and Moses chs. 1-41. The growth of Jacob's family 1:1-72. The Israelites' bondage in Egypt 1:8-223. Moses' birth and education 2:1-104. Moses' flight from Eg...
  • This pericope serves a double purpose. It introduces the rigorous conditions under which the Egyptians forced the Israelites to live, and it sets the stage for the birth of Moses.1:8-14 The new king (v. 8) was perhaps Ahmose ...
  • This section introduces some of the secondary characters in Exodus and sets the stage for Moses' call. Its purpose is primarily transitional.Moses provided water for Jethro's daughters and their sheep in the wilderness (vv. 1...
  • 3:1-12 Horeb is another name for Sinai (v. 1). It probably indicates a range of mountains rather than a particular mountain peak. The writer called it "the mountain of God"because it was the place where God later gave the Mos...
  • 4:19-23 Moses did not return immediately to Egypt when he arrived back in Midian following his encounter with God at Horeb (v. 19). God spoke to him again in Midian and sent him back to Egypt assuring His servant that everyon...
  • The writer gave the credentials of God and His representatives, Moses and Aaron, in these verses.6:2-9 God explained to Moses that He would indeed deliver Israel out of Egypt in spite of the discouragement that Moses had enco...
  • Pharaoh requested that Moses and Aaron perform a miracle to prove their divine authority since they claimed that God had sent them (vv. 9-10)."What we refer to as the ten plagues' were actually judgments designed to authentic...
  • "Throughout the remainder of the Pentateuch, the incident of the worship of the golden calf cast a dark shadow across Israel's relationship with God, much the same way as the account of the Fall in Genesis 3 marked a major tu...
  • The Israelites erected the tabernacle on the first day of the first month, almost exactly one year after the Israelites left Egypt (vv. 2, 17). This was about nine months after Israel had arrived at Mt. Sinai (cf. 19:1).First...
  • Adams, Dwayne H. "The Building Program that Works (Exodus 25:4--36:7 [31:1-11])."Exegesis and Exposition1:1 (Fall 1986):82-92.Aharoni, Yohanan. "Kadesh-Barnea and Mount Sinai."In God's Wilderness: Discoveries in Sinai, pp. 11...
  • The "rabble"(v. 4) were the non-Israelites who had come out of Egypt with God's people (Exod. 12:38). It did not take them long to become discontented with conditions in the desert and to complain about their bland diet of ma...
  • Perhaps it was God's exaltation of Moses by bestowing the gift of prophecy on the elders that provoked the envy of Miriam and Aaron. God reminded the people of Moses' special endowment with the Spirit when He blessed the elde...
  • The Israelites next traveled to the southeast around the southern border of Edom. They took "the way of the Red Sea"(v. 4), a road to the town of Elath that stood at the northern tip of the Gulf of Aqabah.182This route took t...
  • The last verse of chapter 12 in the English Bible is the first verse of chapter 13 in the Hebrew Bible. It introduces what follows.God permitted prophets (people who claimed to have direct revelation from God or to speak for ...
  • 5:13-15 "Despite Joshua's long military experience he had never led an attack on a fortified city that was prepared for a long siege. In fact, of all the walled cities in Palestine, Jericho was probably the most invincible. T...
  • ". . . the heroic women of the song [of Deborah, ch. 5] give way to an unheroic man of Israel' (7:14) who not only does all he can to evade the call of Yahweh but in the end abandons God. . . . In the person of Gideon the nar...
  • The Israelites felt the main influence of the Ammonites on the east side of the Jordan River that bordered Ammon (v. 8). However the Ammonites also attacked the tribes of Judah, Benjamin, and Ephraim west of the Jordan (v. 9)...
  • God had promised the Israelites that if they departed from Him He would discipline them by sending famine on the Promised Land (Deut. 28:17, 23, 38-40, 42).16The famine on Israel at this time indicates God's judgment for unfa...
  • The Book of Samuel covers the period of Israel's history bracketed by Samuel's conception and the end of David's reign. David turned the kingdom over to Solomon in 971 B.C.3David reigned for 40 and one-half years (2 Sam. 2:11...
  • Even though God had broken the Philistines' domination at the Battle of Mizpah (7:10-11) they still threatened Israel occasionally and did so until David finally subdued them (v. 16).". . . after the victory of Mizpeh [sic], ...
  • Evidently it was Kish, Mordecai's great-grandfather, who went into captivity with Jehoiachin (vv. 5-6).38This means Mordecai and Esther were probably descendants of the leading citizens of Jerusalem who went into exile in 597...
  • 105:7-11 God remembered His people (v. 7, cf. v. 42) so His people should remember Him (v. 5). God had been faithful to the Abrahamic Covenant (Gen. 12:1-3, 7; 15:18-21; 22:15-18; 28:13-15). He made this covenant with Abraham...
  • This is the third Servant Song (cf. 42:1-4; 49:1-6; 52:13-53:12). Like the second song, this one is autobiographical, but unlike the first and second songs it contains no reference to the Servant. That it is the Servant who i...
  • 1:4 The prophet now began speaking to his readers and telling them what the Lord had said to him. Throughout this book, an indication that the Lord had told Jeremiah something is often the sign of a new pericope, as here (cf....
  • 2:1 Yahweh instructed Ezekiel to stand on his feet because the Lord wanted to speak with him."Not paralysis before him is desired by God, but reasonable service. . . . It is man erect, man in his manhood, with whom God will h...
  • 11:36 "Then"signals a leap in time to the distant future.The predicted king will have the power to do as he pleases; apparently he will not be subject to a higher human authority (cf. 7:23; Rev. 13:1-10; 17:12). He will exalt...
  • The first sentence in this pericope (section) serves as a title for the section, as the sentence in verse 1 did for 1:1-17. Matthew recorded the supernatural birth of Jesus to demonstrate further His qualification as Israel's...
  • This miracle was to be a "testimony"to others about Jesus' person (v. 14). It authenticated His person and His teaching. It also shows the blessings that Jesus brought to people, specifically the spiritual cleansing of those ...
  • 21:10-11 Luke's interruption of Jesus' teaching suggests a break of some kind in His thought. It seems clear from what follows, in verse 11 especially, that Jesus now broadened His perspective from the wars that would precede...
  • The Synoptics record Jesus' cleansing of the temple after His triumphal entry (Matt. 21:12-13; Mark 11:15-16; Luke 19:45-46). Only John noted this cleansing of the temple at the beginning of Jesus' ministry. The differences b...
  • This chapter continues the theme of Jesus as the Light of the World (8:12; 9:5). When the Light shone, some received spiritual sight, as this blind man received physical and spiritual sight. However the Light blinded others (...
  • Stephen's understanding of Moses was as orthodox as his view of God, but his presentation of Moses' career made comparison with Jesus' career unmistakable. As in the previous pericope, there is a double emphasis in this one, ...
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