Exodus 4:1-9

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1 And Moses answered and said, But, behold, they will not believe me, nor hearken unto my voice; for they will say, Jehovah hath not appeared unto thee. 2 And Jehovah said unto him, What is that in thy hand? And he said, A rod. 3 And he said, Cast in on the ground. And he cast it on the ground, and it became a serpent; and Moses fled from before it. 4 And Jehovah said unto Moses, Put forth thy hand, and take it by the tail: (and he put forth his hand, and laid hold of it, and it became a rod in his hand:)5 That they may believe that Jehovah, the God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath appeared unto thee. 6 And Jehovah said furthermore unto him, Put now thy hand into thy bosom. And he put his hand into his bosom: and when he took it out, behold, his hand was leprous, as `white as' snow. 7 And he said, Put thy hand into thy bosom again. (And he put his hand into his bosom again; and when he took it out of his bosom, behold, it was turned again as his `other' flesh.)8 And it shall come to pass, if they will not believe thee, neither hearken to the voice of the first sign, that they will believe the voice of the latter sign. 9 And it shall come to pass, if they will not believe even 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.

Classification

The Command[/Principle]

This passage contains a series of positive commands, with immediate relevance, directed toward Moses:

• "Cast it on the ground"
• "Put forth thy hand, and take it by the tail"
• "Put now thy hand into thy bosom"
• "Put thy hand into thy bosom again"
• If they will not believe thee, neither hearken to the voice of the first sign, that they will believe the voice of the latter sign."
• "If they will not believe even these two signs, neither harken unto thy voice, that thou shalt take of the water of the river, and pour it upon the dry land..."

Categories

These commands are part of the Principles and Definitions]. They are relevant to an understanding of the Creator-Creation distinction, as God explains, the miracles were to demonstrate the divine origin of Moses's mission in Egypt.

Fulfillment

These commands were fulfilled by Moses in Egypt, and Israel all knew that they were delivered by God with a mighty hand.

Topics

This command/principle has direct relevance to an understanding of the following topics:

• Creator-Creation Distinction