Exodus 4 · WEB
Moses' Objections and Return to Egypt
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Moses answered, "But, behold, they will not believe me, nor listen to my voice; for they will say, 'Yahweh has not appeared to you.'"
2Yahweh said to him, "What is that in your hand?" He said, "A rod."
3He said, "Throw it on the ground." He threw it on the ground, and it became a snake; and Moses ran away from it.
4Yahweh said to Moses, "Stretch out your hand, and take it by the tail." He stretched out his hand and took hold of it, and it became a rod in his hand.
5"This is so that they may believe that Yahweh, the God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has appeared to you."
6Yahweh said furthermore to him, "Now put your hand inside your cloak." He put his hand inside his cloak, and when he took it out, behold, his hand was leprous, as white as snow.
7He said, "Put your hand inside your cloak again." He put his hand inside his cloak again, and when he took it out of his cloak, behold, it had turned again as his other flesh.
8"It will happen, if they will not believe you or listen to the voice of the first sign, that they will believe the voice of the latter sign.
9It will happen, if they will not believe even these two signs or listen to your voice, that you shall take of the water of the river, and pour it on the dry land. The water which you take out of the river will become blood on the dry land."
10Moses said to Yahweh, "O Lord, I am not eloquent, neither before now, nor since you have spoken to your servant; for I am slow of speech and of a slow tongue."
11Yahweh said to him, "Who made man's mouth? Or who makes one mute, or deaf, or seeing, or blind? Isn't it I, Yahweh?
12Now therefore go, and I will be with your mouth, and teach you what you shall speak."
13He said, "Oh, Lord, please send someone else."
14Yahweh's anger burned against Moses, and he said, "What about Aaron, your brother, the Levite? I know that he can speak well. Also, behold, he comes out to meet you. When he sees you, he will be glad in his heart.
15You shall speak to him, and put the words in his mouth. I will be with your mouth, and with his mouth, and will teach you what you shall do.
16He will be your spokesman to the people. It will happen that he will be to you a mouth, and you will be to him as God.
17You shall take this rod in your hand, with which you shall do the signs."
18Moses went and returned to Jethro his father-in-law, and said to him, "Please let me go and return to my brothers who are in Egypt, and see whether they are still alive." Jethro said to Moses, "Go in peace."
19Yahweh said to Moses in Midian, "Go, return into Egypt; for all the men who sought your life are dead."
20Moses took his wife and his sons, and set them on a donkey, and he returned to the land of Egypt. Moses took God's rod in his hand.
21Yahweh said to Moses, "When you go back into Egypt, see that you do before Pharaoh all the wonders which I have put in your hand; but I will harden his heart and he will not let the people go.
22You shall tell Pharaoh, 'Yahweh says, Israel is my son, my firstborn,
23and I have said to you, "Let my son go, that he may serve me;" and you have refused to let him go. Behold, I will kill your son, your firstborn.'"
24On the way, at a lodging place, Yahweh met him and wanted to kill him.
25Then Zipporah took a flint, and cut off the foreskin of her son, and cast it at his feet; and she said, "Surely you are a bridegroom of blood to me."
26So he let him alone. Then she said, "You are a bridegroom of blood," because of the circumcision.
27Yahweh said to Aaron, "Go into the wilderness to meet Moses." He went, and met him on God's mountain, and kissed him.
28Moses told Aaron all Yahweh's words with which he had sent him, and all the signs with which he had instructed him.
29Moses and Aaron went and gathered together all the elders of the children of Israel.
30Aaron spoke all the words which Yahweh had spoken to Moses, and did the signs in the sight of the people.
31The people believed, and when they heard that Yahweh had visited the children of Israel, and that he had seen their affliction, then they bowed their heads and worshiped.
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Summary
Moses raises a series of objections to his calling: the people won't believe him, he is not eloquent, and he simply begs God to send someone else. God answers each objection with miraculous signs (the staff-to-snake, the leprous hand, water turned to blood) and by appointing Aaron as Moses' spokesman. Moses returns to Egypt with his family, and the mysterious episode of God threatening Moses' life is resolved when Zipporah circumcises their son. Moses and Aaron meet and together gather Israel's elders, who believe and worship when they see the signs.
Themes
- Human inadequacy and divine sufficiency
- The signs as evidence of divine authority
- Israel as God's firstborn son — a title pointing to their unique covenant status
- Obedience despite fear and reluctance
Key verses
- Ex 4:11-12 — “Who made man's mouth? Or who makes one mute, or deaf, or seeing, or blind? Isn't it I, Yahweh? Now therefore go, and I will be with your mouth.”
- Ex 4:22-23 — “Israel is my son, my firstborn… Let my son go, that he may serve me.”
- Ex 4:31 — “The people believed… then they bowed their heads and worshiped.”
Context & background
The mysterious attack on Moses in verse 24 is one of the most puzzling passages in the Bible. The most natural reading is that God's near-killing of Moses (or his son) was related to failure to circumcise — the sign of the Abrahamic covenant (Gen 17). Zipporah's quick action saves the situation. This underscores that even the deliverer must be subject to the covenant requirements. The journey from Midian (modern northwestern Saudi Arabia or southern Sinai) back to Egypt would have taken Moses through the eastern Sinai Peninsula and into the Nile Delta region of modern Egypt.
Cross-references
- 2 Corinthians 12:9 — "My power is made perfect in weakness," resonating with God's response to Moses' excuses.
- Genesis 17:9-14 — The circumcision covenant with Abraham, whose neglect endangered Moses in verse 24-26.
- Jeremiah 1:6-8 — Jeremiah similarly protests his calling as too young, and God similarly rebukes the objection.
- Romans 9:17-18 — Paul quotes the hardening of Pharaoh's heart as an illustration of God's sovereign purposes.