Exodus 4-7:25

"Moses threw it on the ground and it became a snake, and he ran from it"(Exodus 4:3). This verse is talking about Moses asking God what to do if the people of Israel  do not believe him, and God tells him to throw his staff on the ground. what I thought of when I read this, is how scary this would have been. or at the most startling. one minute, it's a staff, the next a snake. most likely a snake close to where you are standing. that would be scary to me. sometimes the way God does things, His ways, are a little scary. like how we do not always know what is going on, or what is going to happen, etc. also, it says that "he ran from it." by "he" I assume that means Moses. sometimes, God does something for us, something in response to what we asked for, or wanted, and we run from it because it is scary.
"Moses said to the Lord 'O Lord, 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). I can relate to this. I am not good at making speeches, or talking in front of a crowd,etc. I can teach in a classroom, but I have to prepare, go in with a plan, and be willing to adjust that plan. but overall, I am not the person most people would go to when they want someone to get up there and give a lesson or a talk. in the campus ministry at Southern Hills, the campus minister, she would not let me a lifegroup leader. basically because I was quiet, and shy and did not talk a lot. I was slow of speech and tongue in other words. so I can relate to Moses' hesitation. he has never been good in front of a crowd, not with words, or speeches. and all of a sudden, he is being asked by God to do just that. it would have seemed...out of the norm of reality, Moses' reality. just like my reality is that I am not the person that others want to lead a group or give a talk or a lesson. his reality was being...broken. he was being told by God in this situation, that this reality did not matter, it was a non factor. his reality was being broken.
   "but I will harden his heart so that he will not let the people go"(Exodus 4:21). this verse made no sense to me. why would God harden Pharaoh's heart? Pharaoh is kind of the "villain" in this story in a way, but this verse makes it seem as if God was causing Pharaoh to be the villain, to not let God's people go.
 “Therefore, say to the Israelites: ‘I am the Lord, and I will bring you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians. I will free you from being slaves to them, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with mighty acts of judgment.  I will take you as my own people, and I will be your God. Then you will know that I am the Lord your God, who brought you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians.  And I will bring you to the land I swore with uplifted hand to give to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob. I will give it to you as a possession. I am the Lord.’”(Exodus 6:6-8). This verse reminds me of what Jesus did. breaking it down into points:

1. freed  from slavery
2. redeem
3.  make them His own people 
4. He will be their God 

 it's not a perfect comparison, but it is pretty similar, at least to me. it's like a small preview of what Jesus is going to do for us thousands of years after this event.  


"Moses was eighty years old and Aaron eighty-three when they spoke to Pharaoh"(Exodus 7:7). we talk about purpose, and God's calling and God's plan for us, etc. yet somehow, we always imagine that God's plan will be when we are young/right now. we imagine that His purpose for us is planned by Him is during our young years/right now. yet Moses and Aaron were way way beyond their youth. they were not even middle aged, they were old. and God's purpose for them was scheduled to take place when they were old. not young, not right now, not middle age but way way in the future. we dont like to think about that, but God's plan for us is not always going to be right now. 


"but the Egyptians magicians did the same things by their secret arts, and Pharaoh's heart became hard"(Exodus 7:22). This verse made me think about how sometimes we want an obvious, "only God" kind of answer or event. we want something 100% unique only to God. and yet, that is not the way He works all the time. seems like a lot of the time, He chooses to do things that are not always clear that it's Him. maybe to help us believe in Him? I don't know, and I am not saying I am right or anything. but when we look for God, we should not limit ourselves to big obvious "This could only be God" kind of moments and events and answers. 


  I have observed thus far in Exodus that it seems like we have given all the credit to Moses and Aaron has been left in the dark. a lot of time, it's Aaron that speaks to Pharaoh, or Aaron that God performs the miracles through. yet, we don't talk about Aaron a lot. we focus on Moses. we have overlooked Aaron, and he was just a part of it, just a much used by God as Moses.. I know that God was the one performing all the miracles, I am not saying he wasn't. Aaron and Moses were the actors, and God was the Director so to speak. but we remember God the Director of course, and Moses the Actor, and we neglect the second Actor: Aaron.  they say that behind every great man, there is a great woman. maybe, behind every Moses, there is an Aaron.