When Moses was told he should be the deliverer and was bidden of the Lord to visit Pharaoh and bring Israel up out of Egypt, he replied, “Who am I, that I should go unto Pharaoh, and that I should bring forth the children of Israel out of Egypt?” Once so eager to free Israel, now he was hesitating. He had learned to distrust himself; he had not learned to trust God. He made objections founded partly on his former failure. How should Israel know that he was indeed their deliverer? The answer was remarkable. In no sense because he was Moses, but altogether because God is what He is. “I AM THAT I AM.”
But Moses was not satisfied, and Jehovah gave him three signs as his credentials to Israel. First, his rod cast down upon the ground became a serpent, and the serpent being grasped by its tail reverted again into a rod. Second, his hand thrust into his bosom became leprous, and when returned to his bosom again became clean. Third, the water of the Nile being poured upon the dry ground should become blood — this sign could only be wrought in Egypt.
The rod in the East is emblematic of authority and power. Satan had power and authority in Pharaoh’s rod, and Jehovah would commit to Moses, as His servant, the rod of God. The serpent’s power should be nullified before the rod of God in the hand of the deliverer.
When Moses cast his rod upon the ground, up rose the serpent, and Moses fled before it! On the one hand, the bush burned with fire and yet was not consumed — Israel still held its own though in the furnace of affliction, for Jehovah was with them; on the other hand, the majesty of Egypt had the mastery, and Israel fled before it. But when Moses, at Jehovah’s bidding, took hold of the serpent by its tail, he held within his grasp the rod of God, divine power to deliver them.
The second token of leprosy figures sin. Man’s hand is unclean, and as placed upon the breast at the divine bidding symbolizes actions and secret thoughts as sinful. But God, who discovers to man his uncleanness, is able also to cleanse. He gave to Moses a hand and heart clean and pure, and wherewith to use His rod, wherewith to fulfill the trust committed to him.
As for the third token, the Nile was the very life of Egypt; this, by the sign of God, should become death. The life of Egypt, as in Moses’ own case, Pharaoh had willed should be the death of Jehovah’s Israel; now God would turn that life into death in His judgment upon the land of Israel’s bondage.
Satan’s power vanquished, the leprosy of the flesh cleansed, and the true character of the world manifested: Satan, the flesh and the world are to be seen in these three signs.
But Moses hesitated still. God’s name and God’s signs were not what he wanted exactly; he expected something in himself which should witness to his fitness for his work. “O my Lord,” he said, “I am not eloquent, neither heretofore, nor since Thou hast spoken unto Thy servant!” “O my Lord, send, I pray Thee, by the hand of him whom Thou wilt send.” Thus did one of the very greatest of God’s servants grieve God. He was angry at the unbelief, but mercifully stooped to the weakness of His servant and joined Aaron with him to accomplish the deliverance He had determined for Israel.
H. F. Witherby