Exodus 4:1-9

Back to Exodus 4

1 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. 2 And the LORD said unto him, What is that in thine hand? And he said, A rod. 3 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. 4 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: 5 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. 6 And 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. 7 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. 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 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 4:1-9kjv

Classification

The Command

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.