The Lord gave Moses three signs when He sent him back to Egypt to deliver His people from Pharaoh. They were a lesson from Jehovah to Moses, to the elders of Israel and to Pharaoh. Moses learned to trust the Lord in performing them, the children of Israel believed the witness concerning Jehovah and were delivered from Egypt, but Pharaoh was destroyed because of his hardened heart. These three signs are a realistic example for the believer today of the way of deliverance from our three great adversaries, Satan, the flesh and the world.
The Rod
“The Lord said, I have surely seen the affliction of My people which are in Egypt. . . . Come now therefore, and I will send thee unto Pharaoh, that thou mayest bring forth My people the children of Israel out of Egypt. . . . And Moses answered and said, But, behold, they will not believe me, nor hearken unto my voice: for they will say, The Lord hath not appeared unto thee. And the Lord said unto him, What is that in thine hand? And he said, A rod. And He said, Cast it on the ground. And he cast it on the ground, and it became a serpent; and Moses fled from before it. And the Lord said unto Moses, Put forth thine hand, and take it by the tail. And he put forth his hand, and caught it, and it became a rod in his hand: that they may believe that the Lord God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath appeared unto thee” (Ex. 3:7,10; 4:157And the Lord said, I have surely seen the affliction of my people which are in Egypt, and have heard their cry by reason of their taskmasters; for I know their sorrows; (Exodus 3:7)
10Come now therefore, and I will send thee unto Pharaoh, that thou mayest bring forth my people the children of Israel out of Egypt. (Exodus 3:10)
15And thou shalt speak unto him, and put words in his mouth: and I will be with thy mouth, and with his mouth, and will teach you what ye shall do. (Exodus 4:15)). This sign of power was performed three times: first for Moses alone with Jehovah, then for the elders of Israel, and finally before Pharaoh.
Moses did not have this power of himself; it came from Jehovah. The first performance was to teach Moses to trust and obey. The second was to show the elders of Israel that Jehovah was with Moses and could deliver them from Egypt. The third time was to manifest Jehovah’s power to Pharaoh so that he would acknowledge His authority over Israel. Otherwise Pharaoh would be destroyed.
The act of casting the rod to the ground shows what happens when men leave God out and do their own will unguided by God; they become a tool of Satan like the rod which became a serpent. Pharaoh was one who would not recognize God’s authority. Jehovah showed Moses, Israel and Pharaoh how to become a useful rod of guidance, if they would submit to Him. Jehovah alone, the God of Israel, can take instruments under Satan’s power and deliver them, making them a blessing.
The blessing of the power with the rod was not turning it into a serpent, but rather taking it up again as a useful tool. Even the magicians could imitate the first part of the sign, although Moses and Aaron’s rod swallowed up their rods. This was a witness that God’s power is greater. Satan is a destroyer, but he is a defeated foe. God alone is Almighty. But Pharaoh remained obdurate to the testimony of Jehovah by Moses, leading to the destruction of Egypt, to the death of his firstborn, and to his own death. Pharaoh, by following Satan, was destroyed.
The only way of deliverance from the power of Satan is through obedience to the Word of God. We need not fear Satan, but only obey God’s Word. His desire is for us to serve, to take whatever ability we have in our hand and to serve Him. But if we proceed to do our own will with our abilities, they will become like the rod cast down to the earth and turning into a serpent. Satan will use it for himself. “Resist the devil, and he will flee from you” (James 4:77Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. (James 4:7)). May the Lord help us to walk in obedience, proving the power of God to deliver from Satan.
The Leprous Hand
The second sign involved Moses’s hand and bosom. “The Lord said furthermore unto him, Put now thine hand into thy bosom. And he put his hand into his bosom: and when he took it out, behold, his hand was leprous as snow. And he said, Put thine hand into thy bosom again. And he put his hand into his bosom again; and plucked it out of his bosom, and, behold, it was turned again as his other flesh” (Ex. 4:67). This sign is a picture of dealing with the enemy within, the flesh. We must learn that the fruit of the flesh is bad, and that the root is also bad. When Moses put his hand into his bosom the first time, he learned that the fruit of the flesh was leprous and bad. As it says in Romans 3:10-1110As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: 11There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. (Romans 3:10‑11), “There is none righteous, no, not one: there is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God.” When he put his leprous hand into his bosom the second time, he recognized the source of the evil, his bosom. “I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not” (Rom. 7:1818For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not. (Romans 7:18)). But the Lord does not leave Moses with the leprous hand in his bosom; He tells him to pluck it out, and when he did it was cleansed. “O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death? I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. . . . For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death” (Rom. 7:2425; 8:22For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death. (Romans 8:2)). This is the way of victory over our enemy within, called the flesh. When we recognize it for what it is, the Lord Jesus gives deliverance from its dominion through the power of the new life of the Spirit. As long as we think there is still good in the flesh, we will fail in suppressing its evil.
The Lord taught Moses this lesson before he began to help the children of Israel. The power over leprosy was, in fact, a testimony to others that the Lord was with him. Only once is it recorded that Moses lost his patience, letting the flesh manifest itself. It is necessary to learn this lesson before we begin to serve the Lord in public. It only takes a little of the flesh to destroy much good.
The miracle of the leprous hand was not performed before Pharaoh. It was for Moses and the children of Israel. Those who are not sanctified by the Lord have no deliverance from their flesh. We who are believers have much to learn from it, but we should take care not to speak of our flesh before unbelievers.
The Water Poured Out As Blood
The third sign deals with recognizing Egypt, a picture of the world, to be under condemnation. The world should have no claim on the believer, as Egypt was to have no claim on Israel. “It shall come to pass, if they will not believe also these two signs, neither hearken unto thy voice, that thou shalt take of the water of the river, and pour it upon the dry land: and the water which thou takest out of the river shall become blood upon the dry land” (Ex. 4:99And it shall come to pass, if they will not believe also these two signs, neither hearken unto thy voice, that thou shalt take of the water of the river, and pour it upon the dry land: and the water which thou takest out of the river shall become blood upon the dry land. (Exodus 4:9)). The water from the river was the natural life in Egypt. When Moses poured it out on the dry land it became blood, that is, a figure of death. This was the act of recognizing it under the sentence of condemnation. None of the resources of Egypt were to be counted upon as sustaining life for Moses or the children of Israel. “This I say, brethren, the time is straitened. . . . They that use the world, as not disposing of it as their own; for the fashion of this world passes” (1 Cor. 7:29,31 JND).
This is not speaking of the world as the creation made beautiful by God, but as the system which has been developed by man to make for himself a place without God. “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world” (1 John 2:15-1615And when he had made a scourge of small cords, he drove them all out of the temple, and the sheep, and the oxen; and poured out the changers' money, and overthrew the tables; 16And said unto them that sold doves, Take these things hence; make not my Father's house an house of merchandise. (John 2:15‑16)).
The snare of worldliness is a great temptation for us today. The world system of living has many attractive features. There are many parts to it, each one catering to different interests of men. If we are not able to resist the world, we will become nonproductive and powerless in our testimony. We must be able to say “No” to its clamors and attractions. The secret is to be able to regard the life of the world as a dead thing; then it will have no power over us. When Moses did this, it convinced Israel to be ready to leave Egypt. We ought to have that testimony to those around us, that we are ready to leave this world for a better one.
These three signs convinced Israel that Jehovah was with Moses and would deliver them from Egypt. We also have every provision to follow the Lord Jesus, our deliverer. “In nothing terrified by your adversaries: which is to them an evident token of perdition, but to you of salvation, and that of God” (Phil. 1:2828And in nothing terrified by your adversaries: which is to them an evident token of perdition, but to you of salvation, and that of God. (Philippians 1:28)). “Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of His might” (Eph. 6:1010Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. (Ephesians 6:10)).
D. C. Buchanan r