# 22 2024 Dev. Ex.4: 13. God’s Concern! Read all of chapter four first. We invite you into God’s space, to read His Word, to think on and interact with. This is God’s Story. Do you believe that this may also be part of our story, in our time? All passages are taken from the NIV.
Ex.4:13 “But Moses said, ‘Pardon your servant. Please send someone else’”
Ex.4 The book of Exodus Is about three main subjects: God’s deliverance, God’s morality and how to worship. God chose the time for liberating His people Israel from Egypt. God chose the method and He chose the person to accomplish it
Vs.1-13 Moses is doing what many others have done when God calls. If only God would call us like He called Moses, that would have made it much easier to make that difficult decision to give up all you know in order to serve. But Moses continues to raise objections to his appointment. He mentions the possibility of the elders not believing him, he is in-adequate, he says, “I am slow of speech and tongue.” God shows Moses His power and gives him three signs, The snake from his staff, temporary leprosy of his hand and Nile water into blood. God also tells Moses and us that He is the creator of everything. Not only is God with us, He made us to be who we are and as he tells Moses, I can and will remake you for the task I have given you. That we need to remember as God continues to call us to different tasks. God has answered every objection that Moses had but Moses simply did not want to go back to Egypt. “Pardon your servant… Please send someone else.” After forty years of peace and harmony, it is understandable Moses did not want to give that up and jump into the difficult job of leading a million plus mass of people out of Egypt.
Vs.14-17 “Then the LORD’s anger burned against Moses”. Understandable, but God teamed Moses up with Aaron, his brother. “I will help both of you speak and will teach you what to do.” Did Moses have a choice? No, God calls, we listen.
Vs.18-20 Moses informs his father-in-law, Jethro, that he is returning to Egypt. “Jethro said, ‘Go, and I wish you well.’” God continues to assure Moses, “those who wanted to kill you are dead.” So Moses departed with his wife and sons. “And he took the staff of God in his hand.” God commanded Moses to show the signs He gave to him to Pharaoh. But I will harden his heart. God did not harden his heart against his will, Pharaoh was an arrogant and power hungry leader who thought he was god. “Then say to Pharaoh, ‘This is what the Lord says: Israel is my firstborn son, and I told you, “Let my son go, so he may worship me.” But you refused to let him go; so I will kill your firstborn son.’” Pharaoh was told the end game but he refused to listen.
But then there was an other issue: “At a lodging place on the way, the Lord met Moses [b] and was about to kill him. But Zipporah took a flint knife, cut off her son’s foreskin and touched Moses’ feet with it.[c] “Surely you are a bridegroom of blood to me,” she said. So the Lord let him alone. Zipporah must have known about God’s covenant with his people (Ge.17) Moses had not taken God’s covenant seriously by not circumcising his sons.
We live under the New Covenant of Jesus’ blood. How serious are we? “The LORD said to Aaron, ‘go into the wilderness to meet Moses… Moses and Aaron brought together all the elders of the Israelites… He also performed the signs before the people, and they believed.” Realizing that God was concerned, “they bowed down and worshiped.” God is concerned about us as well, given our culture and the opposition to our Christian values.
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