I have tried for a few minutes to summary this chunk of scripture but anything I do just seems to take some aspect of the impact away so I will just quote the whole thing...
"Then Moses answered, 'But behold, they will not believe me or listen to my voice, for they will say, 'The LORD did not appear to you.'' The LORD said to him, 'What is that in your hand?' He said, 'A staff.' And he said, 'Throw it on the ground.' So he threw it on the ground, and it became a serpent, and Moses ran from it. But the LORD said to Moses, 'Put out your hand and catch it by the tail' - so he put out his hand and caught it, and it became a staff in his hand - '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.' Again, the LORD said to him, 'Put your hand inside your cloak.' And he put his hand inside his cloak, and when he took it out, behold, his hand was leprous like snow. Then God said, 'Put your hand back inside your cloak.' So he put his hand back inside his cloak, and when he took it out, behold, it was restored like the rest of his flesh. 'If they will not believe you,' God said, 'or listen to the first sign, they may believe the latter sign. If they will not believe even these two signs or listen to your voice, you shall take some water from the Nile and pour it on the dry ground, and the water that you shall take from the Nile will become blood on the dry ground.' " - Exodus 4:1-9 ESV
Ok. Now Here is the actual confrontation.
"So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and did just as the LORD commanded. Aaron cast down his staff before Pharaoh and his servants, and it became a serpent. Then Pharaoh summoned the wise men and the sorcerers, and they, the magicians of Egypt, also did the same by their secret arts. For each man cast down his staff, and they became serpents. But Aaron's staff swallowed up their staffs. Still Pharaoh's heart was hardened, and he would not listen to them, as the LORD had said." - Exodus 7:10-13 ESV
So, God has Moses use the first proof of His authority, the staff, and the overriding authority of God is revealed. Moses ran from the serpent at the burning bush but He doesn't budge now. He exercises the authority of the rod.
"Then the LORD said to Moses, 'Pharaoh's heart is hardened; he refuses to let the people go. Go to Pharaoh in the morning, as he is going out to the water. Stand on the bank of the Nile to meet him, and take in your hand the staff that turned into a serpent... Thus says the LORD, 'By this you shall know that I am the LORD: behold, with the staff that is in my hand I will strike the water that is in the Nile, and it shall turn into blood... Moses and Aaron did as the LORD commanded. In the sight of Pharaoh and in the sight of his servants he lifted up the staff and struck the water in the Nile, and all the water in the Nile turned into blood. And the fish in the Nile died, and the Nile stank, so that the Egyptians could not drink water from the Nile. There was blood throughout all the land of Egypt. But the magicians of Egypt did the same by their secret arts. So Pharaoh's heart remained hardened, and he would not listen to them, as the LORD had said. Pharaoh turned and went into his house, and he did not take even this to heart." - Exodus 7:14-15, 17, 20-23 ESV
But then the hand turning leprous then made clean is skipped and God moves Moses right to the water turning into blood but on a much larger scale then described by the bush. God said to Moses at the burning bush that water could be taken from the Nile and be turned into blood on a small scale but then has Moses turn all the water into blood. Even the water in containers drawn from the Nile before the miracle was turned into blood.
I don't see another place where the 'hand turning leprous then made clean again' was ever used anywhere else but at the burning bush.
Pharaoh just wasn't available for that kind of miracle. He was living in arrogant one-upmanship. It was a contest he (Pharaoh) was determined to win. Moses was moved by the first two miracles he didn't need to see the third one. God skipped step two with Pharaoh and amplified the third sign.
I don't pretend to fully understand the 'why's of this but i see a great danger in one-upmanship as a mindset. Debates often have this quality and it just isn't edifying.
"Pharaoh turned and went into his house, and he did not take even this to heart. And all the Egyptians dug along the Nile for water to drink, for they could not drink the water of the Nile. Seven full days passed after the LORD had struck the Nile." - Exodus 7:23-25 ESV
I must see that my heart is sick but can be made clean. If I am not even available to that idea God might have to ramp things up to get my attention and the people around me will suffer because of my stubbornness when it could have been a small one on one exchange.
Do i have the three signs working in my life? Is God's authority overriding? Do I know my heart without God and then the cleansing that comes by knowing Him? Am I just drinking in knowledge from a cosmic source or is it communion with God that sustains me? Good questions to ask.
--
No comments:
Post a Comment