The Rod
So, Yahvah said to Moshe, "What is that in your hand?" Moshe replied, "A Rod sometimes translated as Staff." Exodus 4:2.
We should ask the question, 'what was this Rod, and what was its purpose?' You may be surprised that, this htm the Rod, was not a Rod to be used with sheep, like the one with a crook on it, no, that one that is a guide or staff; The Rod is used against the enemies of the sheep (the wild beast;s etc.). The Rod is in fact a weapon.
In those days, it was the shepherds most precious possession. He would take much time selecting a suitable tree and a branch without knots, a piece wood, which was strong and straight.
He would spend weeks if not months carving and smoothing it. This Rod would never leave his side; it was his entrusted weapon.
Now God says Cast your Rod to the ground.
Yahvah said, "Throw it on the ground." Exodus 4:3.
What my Rod, my most precious possession? No way This would have been Moshes first thought.
I can just hear Moshe.No, not my Rod Father. I have worked on it for so long, I even carved the events of my life on it, and anyway a Rod never leaves my side - Not my Rod please!
The Lesson is, that we all must cast our Rods before mihwla huhi (Yahvah our Elohim). We must not hold on to the past. Be willing to lay everything, even our Rods, our lives before Him.
Sadly, many in Yahvah, hold onto the past, holding onto past disappointments, which often leads to a form of depression.
satan loves people look back with depression, for they automatically open the door a little, for him to enter.
Christians at large have held to the past so well. Churches have been good at holding onto much of the doctrines and teaching of the Pagan Church of Rome for centuries and continue to do so to this day. Shua is saying, Do away with the traditions of men or get rid of anything which is not of Me.
"And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues (Judgments)."Revelation 18:4
"Come out of her and become My People!"
We must go forward into the precious Word of God and trust Him, for He will never deceive us, satan does that, and has been doing it over the ages.
Yahvah said, Throw the Rod on the ground. - Moshe threw it on the ground and it became a snake, and he ran from it.
Moshe threw the Rod down and YHVH, blessed be He, who creates, can create anything He wishes. In an instant, the Rod turned into a serpent, a snake. As Moshe saw it, he ran away.
Then Yahvah said to him, Reach out your hand and take it by the tail Exodus 4:4.
Yahvah said come back and pick up this serpent by the tail We all know if you pick a snake up by the tail, the snake has the opportunity to turn, attack and bite you.
Praise God, Moshe trusted his Creator and he picked the snake up, as commanded and immediately it became a Rod again. In verse 5 YHVH says
This is so that they may believe that Yahvah, the God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob, has appeared to you."
What Yahvah was really saying is, Moshe, I am going to send you back to Egypt, with no more than just a Rod and that will be more than enough to withstand all the armies of Egypt and Israel will believe I have sent you.
For the Rod of Moshe, was no longer the Rod of a man, it had now become the Rod of God as stated in Exodus 17:9.
Moses said to Joshua, "Choose some of our men and go out to fight the Amalekites. Tomorrow I will stand on top of the hill with the Mat teh, the ROD (staff) of Elohim in my hands.
Beloved, if we give our Rods, our lives to Him, we too become His instruments and can be used by God in His service.
But like Moshe, many will hold onto their past, their possessions and their ways, rather than being shaped by Yahvah!
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Then Yahvah said Put your hand inside your garment. So Moshe put his hand into his cloak, and when he took it out, it was leprous, white like snow. Exodus 4:6.
Leprosy is considered in most parts of the world, to be unclean. This miracle shows, that Yahvah who is able to create, is also is able to destroy. We should understand that the Elohim of love is also a Elohim of wrath as the Scripture so clearly teaches, especially during the time of the Great Tribulation.
Yahvah will have no mercy when it comes to that serpent of all serpents, satan!
Then Yahvah said in Exodus 4:7.
Now put it back into your cloak. So Moshe put his hand back into his cloak, and when he took it out, it was restored, like the rest of his flesh.
Miracle number 3 (in the future tense).
Elohem YHVH then said to Moshe.
If they do not believe you or pay attention to the first miraculous sign, they may believe the second.
But if they do not believe these two signs or listen to you, take some water from the Nile and pour it on the dry ground.
The water you take from the river will become blood on the ground." Exodus 4:8 & 9.
Do you realize, beloved, that each one of these thee miracles are miracles of destruction, a threat, for God can create and destroy.
God has miracles, which give life, but also those, which bring death. Each of these miracles meant death.
First, there was the snake. No wonder Moshe ran for it is a deadly serpent. Just like that great deceiver, Ha satan. Follow satan and death will be certain.
Secondly, there was the leprous hand. Leprosy in those days meant certain death, as the flesh would rot and the person would suffer a horrific death.
Thirdly, water is a symbol of life. Water is the source of life, turn it to blood, and death follows.
All this reminds us that we should not only speak of heaven, but also of hell, where people perish.
With Moshe being told that the people would believe him, he has run out of excuses, thus he changes tact and takes another stand against going as he declares.
O YHVH, I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since you have spoken to your servant. I am slow of speech and tongue.Exodus 4:10.
Oh Moshe, Moshe, why dont you just go and do what YHVH has asked of you! We are getting nearer and nearer to the reason why Moshe did not want to go.
As I think of Moshes excuse relating to his speech impediment, it reminds me of a man I knew, who had a dreadful speech impediment and to my knowledge, he was never healed of it. Yet, whenever he prayed, he spoke perfectly and with great clarity. Now, that is a great witness.
Those who base their faith only on what they see, will go nowhere, but those who believe without seeing, will be blessed!
Moshe said, Lord I cant be your spokesman, I am simply not good enough for the job, I cannot speak well.
The good news is that God can use a person who is not fit for the job. In fact, beloved, God does not give us the jobs that we are fit for.
No, He fits us for the job and gives us the required skills. And I can testify personally to that fact!
All excuses fall to the ground. Let your excuses, your Rods go, and do what Yahvah wants you to do. Then we will see that we also are able to do it.
Yahvah said to him, Who gave man his mouth? Who makes him deaf or mute? Who gives him sight or makes him blind? Is it not I, Yahvah? Now go; I will help you speak and will teach you what to say. Exodus 4:11-12.
Having heard this, Moshe plays, as they say in the modern world, his last card. This is his 5th excuse.
But Moshe said, "O YHVH, please send someone else to do it." Exodus 4:13.
Send someone else. That beloved was the real trouble all along. We have finally reached the bottom line.
Moshe simply did not want to do it. He did not want to go. What, go back to where he had been a failure 40 years earlier?
YHVH must have said in a wayYes Moshe, you were a failure back in Egypt. Yes, they will know you and your failures, but I want YOU to go back, no one else.
Remember what Moshe said when YHVH first called Moshe, Moshe, he replied Hineni - Here I am, but now he says Send someone else.
Then Yahvah's anger burned against Moshe and He said,
"What about your brother, Aaron the Levite? I know he can speak well. He is already on his way to meet you, and his heart will be glad when he sees you.
You shall speak to him and put words in his mouth; I will help both of you speak and will teach you what to do. He will speak to the people for you, and it will be as if he were your mouth and as if you were God to him. Exodus 4:14-16
Yahvah had become angry, and thus said. All right Moshe, you could have had the honour and the prestige of being My sole leader in this, but now ll send your brother to do the talking, if that is what you want.
You can tell your brother what to say and he will speak for Me.How humiliating for Moshe, his elder brother is going to stand before Pharaoh.
Now, what was wrong with all of Moshes excuses? Moshe was questioning two things.
Yahvahs ability.
Yahvahs authority.
Yahvahs ability to use him and His authority to go.
Moshe was questioning both. If we produce excuses when God calls us, it is either because you doubt Gods ability or His authority. In the next verse, God says Go.
But take this Rod in your hand so you can perform miraculous signs with it. Verse 17.
Now Moshe realized that there was no option. YHVH had called him and finally he obeyed and made ready to go back to Egypt Now that Moshe has finally decided to be obedient, we come to the next phase. One I really identify with. The reactions of others!
The reactions of others to Yahvahs call on your life. In chapters 3 & 4, we heard Moshes 5 excuses why he did not want to go.
And now, in chapter 4, we discover 5 very different reactions to his decision to go.
If YHVH, blessed be He, calls you to do something, do not expect everybody to shout Hallelujah how wonderful!This is what the next 14 verses are all about.
The fact is, that some people will not be as thrilled as you are. Moreover, they usually tell you so.
However, Moshe's father in law Jethro/Ruell, approved of his going. Jethro is a good man, a Midianite who believed in the one God and creator, but is not a descendent of the children of Israel and held on to his pagan past.
Then Moshe went back to Jethro his father-in-law and said to him, Let me go back to my own people in Egypt to see if any of them are still alive. Jethro said, Go, and I wish you well. Exodus 4:18.
1. Jethro was a wise man and said go and take my blessing with you. This father gave his blessing, even though he also had to say goodbye to his daughter Zipporah.
He said to Moshe Go, your God has called you. Blessed is the parent who sends their children with their blessing, when they realize that Elohem YHVH, blessed be He, called them for His work, even if it means saying goodbye to them.
We also see Pharaohs reaction. God had said that he would be stubborn and would not approve. Pharaoh stood firm against Moshe with his hardened heart.
3. Moshes wife Zipporah.
Remember she was not an Israelite. She was a real problem: she did not share the faith of Moshe, her father was a pagan priest! She in fact raised the children in her own faith.
Here is Moshe going back to his people, as a leader and yet even his own children, are not taught or circumcised. We learn from verses 24 to 26 that on their way to Egypt, Moshe fell desperately ill, that is what was meant in the Hebrew. That God sought to kill him.
While very ill, God convicted Moshe, as He might have said Moshe you are not doing as you should, circumcise your son, and remember you are the leader of your family, not your wife.
Moshe told his wife that his son had to be circumcised. She was so furious, she took a sharp stone and did it herself and displayed her anger in a most disgusting way.
She called Moshe names, You are a bloody husband, and cut off the foreskin of her son and cast it at Moshe's feet.
You will notice from this point, Zipporah is not mentioned again until Moshe gets back to the Sinai later, where he meets his father in law again.
I believe that at this point she went home in a rage.
Thus, Moshe went on towards Egypt alone. Here we see a sad situation, a man of YHVH and his wife is not sympathetic to his call, instead she is antagonistic and turns back to go home.
This can happen to you if you are called into the Master's service, somebody near and dear unto turns against you and that is hard. (Editor, "AMEN!")
4.Now the reaction of Moshe's brother.
Here we see affection. Aaron set off to meet Moshe. The Lord must have told Aaron to come. He met Moshe right in the desert near Mt Chorebah itself and there was a wonderful reunion as they hugged each other.
Moshe said, brother we are going to work together for Yahvah.How wonderful, to have your brother going with you on your walk.
Paul and Barnabas were two brethren walking together for Yahvah.
Zipporah left and his brother came and filled the void, the gap in Moshe's life, as he was about to face the great Pharaoh. From here on they became joint workers in the service of God. Aaron stood by his brother right to the end.
5. The fifth reaction came back in Egypt.
Here we find that the children of Israel believed Moshe. God said they would and they did. Thus, Moshe had the people accepting what God had told him to do.
That is the unusual pattern when God calls a man or a woman. You will find a variety of human reactions.
Some will say I will come with you in this. Others will say, I dont understand whats got into you, youve got religious mania, you've gone mad.Some will say go, and accept your service.Others again, will stand against you.
More often than not, it will be your own family or those closest to you.
Yet, in these reactions you will find the confirmation that YHVH has really called you, for there is and never will there be a smooth path.
Now notice, as we close, what the Hebrews did, they bowed down and worshipped YHVH! They blessed Him, because they now knew that YHVH, blessed be He, had already decided to save Israel.
From the very moment Moshe accepted his call and walked on the chosen path, YHVH, blessed His Holy Name, prepared His people.
Their faith swelled, their hope returned. We now see faith in the people, they now realized that when they cried out for the reason of their pain, that their God heard them.
The faithful of Israel knew that YHVH was in Heaven. Now they realized that YHVH, who is in heaven, was actually present. He had visited them in Egypt and they had not known it until now, but, He was there.
Where two or three are gathered together, "I Am there," said Yahvah Shua.
I AM is here with us and is speaking to us through His Word, and though His servant Moshe. Place your Rod before the mihwla huhi NOW and He will turn it into His Rod. We are to be the Rod of YHVH in these latter days!
http://www.aarons-advocates.org/Exodus-04.html
