Exodus 4 - What are signs that God has appeared?
Observation Questions
Signs for Moses
1 Moses answered, “What if they do not believe me or listen to me and say, ‘The Lord did not appear to you’?”
2 Then the Lord said to him, “What is that in your hand?”
“A staff,” he replied.
3 The Lord said, “Throw it on the ground.”
Moses threw it on the ground and it became a snake, and he ran from it.
4 Then the Lord said to him, “Reach out your hand and take it by the tail.” So Moses reached out and took hold of the snake and it turned back into a staff in his hand.
5 “This,” said the Lord, “is so 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.”
6 Then the Lord said, “Put your hand inside your cloak.” So Moses put his hand into his cloak, and when he took it out, the skin was leprous[a]—it had become as white as snow.
7 “Now put it back into your cloak,” he said. So Moses put his hand back into his cloak, and when he took it out, it was restored, like the rest of his flesh.
8 Then the Lord said, “If they do not believe you or pay attention to the first sign,they may believe the second.
9 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.”
10 Moses said to the Lord, “Pardon your servant, 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.”
11 The Lord said to him, “Who gave human beings their mouths? Who makes them deaf or mute? Who gives them sight or makes them blind? Is it not I, the Lord?
12 Now go; I will help you speak and will teach you what to say.”
13 But Moses said, “Pardon your servant, Lord. Please send someone else.”
14 Then the Lord’s anger burned against Moses 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 he will be glad to see you.
15 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.
16 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.
17 But take this staff in your hand so you can perform the signs with it.”
Moses Returns to Egypt
18 Then Moses went back to Jethro his father-in-law and said to him, “Let me return to my own people in Egypt to see if any of them are still alive.”
Jethro said, “Go, and I wish you well.”
19 Now the Lord had said to Moses in Midian, “Go back to Egypt, for all those who wanted to kill you are dead.”
20 So Moses took his wife and sons, put them on a donkey and started back to Egypt. And he took the staff of God in his hand.
21 The Lord said to Moses, “When you return to Egypt, see that you perform before Pharaoh all the wonders I have given you the power to do. But I will harden his heart so that he will not let the people go.
22 Then say to Pharaoh, ‘This is what the Lord says: Israel is my firstborn son,
23 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.’”
24 At a lodging place on the way, the Lord met Moses[b] and was about to kill him.
25 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.
26 So the Lord let him alone. (At that time she said “bridegroom of blood,” referring to circumcision.)
27 The Lord said to Aaron, “Go into the wilderness to meet Moses.” So he met Moses at the mountain of God and kissed him.
28 Then Moses told Aaron everything the Lord had sent him to say, and also about all the signs he had commanded him to perform.
29 Moses and Aaron brought together all the elders of the Israelites,
30 and Aaron told them everything the Lord had said to Moses. He also performed the signs before the people,
31 and they believed. And when they heard that the Lord was concerned about them and had seen their misery, they bowed down and worshiped.
Footnotes:
- Exodus 4:6 The Hebrew word for leprous was used for various diseases affecting the skin.
- Exodus 4:24 Hebrew him
- Exodus 4:25 The meaning of the Hebrew for this clause is uncertain.
Observation Questions
What was God's answer when Moses asked, "What if they do not believe me or listen to me and say, 'The Lord did not appear to you'?" (verse 1-9)
What was Moses' response to the Lord's question? (verse 2)
What was Moses' response to what his staff became? (verse 3)
What did the Lord ask Moses to do when his staff became a snake? (verse 4)
What was the second sign the Lord gave Moses? (verse 5-8)
What was the third sign that the Lord gave Moses? (verse 9)
What did Moses say about his own speech? (verse 10)
Who gave human being their mouths? (verse 11)
Who makes human beings deaf or mute? (verse 11)
Who gives human beings sight or makes them blind? (verse 11)
Who did God say would team Moses what to say? (verse 12)
When did the Lord's anger burn again Moses? (verse 13-17)
What was the purpose of Moses taking the staff with him? (verse 17)
Moses Returns to Egypt
Who did Moses ask permission of to go back to Egypt? (verse 18)
What did the Lord say to Moses in Midian? (verse 19)
Who and what did Moses take with him back to Egypt? (verse 20)
What did the Lord tell Moses to do when he returned to Egypt? (verse 21)
Who did the Lord say would harden Pharaoh's heart? (verse 21)
What is the reason why God would kill Pharaoh's first born son? (verse 22-23)
Who met with Moses and was about to kill him at a lodging place on the way? (verse 24)
What did Zipporah do when the Lord was about to kill Moses? (verse 25-26)
What did Zipporah refer to when she said "bridegroom of blood?" (verse 26)
Who told Aaron to go into the wilderness and meet Moses? (verse 27)
What did Moses tell Aaron? (verse 28)
Did the people believe when they saw the signs performed? (verse 29-31)
What did the people do when they heard that the Lord was concerned with them and had seen their misery? (verse 31)
Thoughts
What are signs that God has appeared?
Moses said to the Lord, “Pardon your servant, 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.”
The Lord said to him, “Who gave human beings their mouths?
Who makes them deaf or mute?
Who gives them sight or makes them blind?
Is it not I, the Lord? - verse 11
Jesus replied, "Go back and report to John what you hear and see:
The blind receive sight, the lame walk,
those who have leprosy are cleansed,
the deaf hear, the dead are raised,
and the good news is proclaimed to the poor." - Matthew 11:4-5
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.’” - verse 22-23
and they believed. And when they heard that the Lord was concerned about them and had seen their misery, they bowed down and worshiped. - verse 31
Comments
Post a Comment