By Teena Myers

Follow Me: Deliverance

Observations as I follow God through the Chronological Bible

Exodus 4:1-9

Moses stood before a blazing bush listening to a voice who identified himself as the God who spoke to Moses’ ancestors. God had personally investigated the plight of his people in Egypt. He gave Moses a detailed account of what to expect when he returned to Egypt to fulfill his calling.

Moses responded to this remarkable sight and astounding announcement with a question. What if you are wrong? Was Moses judging God in the light of his own experience 40 years earlier? He had acted upon his calling to deliver his family from oppression, but they did not believe him. Why should they believe him now?

I would have been offended and argued with Moses, reminding him I had already investigated and knew the outcome. God did not waste his time trying to convince Moses he was right. Instead, he gave Moses what he needed. Signs so people will believe. Moses’ shepherd’s staff would turn into a snake, his hand would be diseased and healed, and water from the Nile would turn to blood.

The signs did not change the events God predicted. If Moses had believed God and returned with nothing more than God’s message, the Hebrews would have believed and Pharaoh would not have believed. The signs were necessary to strengthen Moses’ faith that the outcome God predicted would happen.