Exodus 4: The Burning Bush-- Stuff of which great sermons are made --continued

I'll highlight the sections that made my mind spin with possibilities.

Exodus 4

 ¹And 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.

YEP, FOLKS WILL DEFINITELY SAY THAT. THIS REMINDS ME OF I JOHN. OUR EYES HAVE SEEN. WE HUMANS DON'T TRUST EACH OTHER MUCH, DO WE?

 ²And the LORD said unto him, What is that in thine hand? And he said, A rod.

INDEED! WHAT IS THAT IN THINE HAND? WHAT THING DO WE HAVE THAT GOD CAN USE IN A SUPERNATURAL WAY?

And he put forth his hand, and caught it, and it became a rod in his hand: ³And 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 he put forth his hand, and caught it, and it became a rod in his hand: ⁴And the LORD said unto Moses, Put forth thine hand, and take it by the tail.


WHO TAKES SERPENTS BY THE TAIL? ALSO, INITIALLY, THIS SEEMS LIKE A VERY ODD TRICK. BUT THEN WE SEE THE SPIRITUAL TRUTH OF THE BATTLE.  THE KING'S WIZARDS CAN DO THIS TRICK AS WELL...BUT MOSES' SERPENT ATE UP THEIRS. THE BATTLE IS ON. THE END DECLARED FROM THE BEGINNING.


 ⁵That 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.
 ⁶And 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.


ANOTHER TRANSFORMATION MIRACLE. IT MIGHT ALSO REMIND THEM OF MIRIAM. BUT WHY? GOTTA PONDER THIS. 


GOD CAUSES AN INCURABLE SITUATION/ILLNESS THEN REPAIRS IT. 


 ⁷And 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.


RESTORATION!


 ⁸And 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.
 ⁹And 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.


UHM... MUST PONDER THIS. WHAT IS IT SAYING? BLOOD WOULD SCARE ME IF THAT IS HOW GOD INTRODUCED HIMSELF TO ME. BUT WILL PONDER... HERE WE SEE THREE WAYS OF GOD SHOWING HIMSELF. IS THERE SOMETHING OF THE TRINITY HERE? 


 ¹⁰And Moses said unto the LORD, O my LORD, I am not eloquent, neither heretofore, nor since thou hast spoken unto thy servant: but I am slow of speech, and of a slow tongue.
 ¹¹And the LORD said unto him, Who hath made man's mouth? or who maketh the dumb, or deaf, or the seeing, or the blind? have not I the LORD?


LOVE THIS. NOT JUST FOR MY SON, GABE...BUT ALSO GOD SHOWS HIMSELF A CREATOR. THE CREATOR OF ALLLLLLTHINGS!


 ¹²Now therefore go, and I will be with thy mouth, and teach thee what thou shalt say.
 ¹³And he said, O my LORD, send, I pray thee, by the hand of him whom thou wilt send.
 ¹⁴And the anger of the LORD was kindled against Moses, and he said, Is not Aaron the Levite thy brother? I know that he can speak well. 


AH, DIVINE ECONOMY. GOD WOULD NEVER CHOOSE SOMEONE WHO SPOKE WELL. SOMETIMES HE CHOOSES SKILLED PEOPLE, LIKE THE ARTISANS WHO BUILT SOLOMON'S TEMPLE. SOMETIMES HE CHOOSES THE WEAK THINGS OF THE WORLD TO CONFOUND THE WISE.


And also, behold, he cometh forth to meet thee: and when he seeth thee, he will be glad in his heart.  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.
 ¹⁶And he shall be thy spokesman unto the people: and he shall be, even he shall be to thee instead of a mouth, and thou shalt be to him instead of God.






OOOH! INTERESTING THAT AARON IS ALREADY COMING TO MEET HIM. SO, GOD HAS LED AARON TO MOSES? WE DON'T KNOW WHY AARON SUDDENLY DECIDED TO GO OUT NOW. DREAM? JUST AN INNER GUIDANCE? GOD SPEAKING TO HIM? DID AARON KNOW WHY GOD WAS SENDING HIM TO GO LOOK FOR HIS BROTHER NOW?


 ¹⁷And thou shalt take this rod in thine hand, wherewith thou shalt do signs.
 ¹⁸And Moses went and returned to Jethro his father in law, and said unto him, Let me go, I pray thee, and return unto my brethren which are in Egypt, and see whether they be yet alive. And Jethro said to Moses, Go in peace.
 ¹⁹And the LORD said unto Moses in Midian, Go, return into Egypt: for all the men are dead which sought thy life.
 ²⁰And Moses took his wife and his sons, and set them upon an ass, and he returned to the land of Egypt: and Moses took the rod of God in his hand.


PROPHETIC FORESHADOWING OF JOSEPH AND MARY.
 ²¹And the LORD said unto Moses, When thou goest to return into Egypt, see that thou do all those wonders before Pharaoh, which I have put in thine hand: but I will harden his heart, that he shall not let the people go.


YES, WE MUST DO ALL THE WONDERS GOD HAS COMMANDED US TO DO!


 ²²And thou shalt say unto Pharaoh, Thus saith the LORD, Israel is my son, even my firstborn:
 ²³And I say unto thee, Let my son go, that he may serve me: and if thou refuse to let him go, behold, I will slay thy son, even thy firstborn.
 ²⁴And it came to pass by the way in the inn, that the LORD met him, and sought to kill him.
 ²⁵Then Zipporah took a sharp stone, and cut off the foreskin of her son, and cast it at his feet, and said, Surely a bloody husband art thou to me.


ZIPPORAH IS A DAUGHTER OF MIDIAN. SHE KNOWS THE TRADITION OF CIRCUMCISING. SHE IS KNOWN AS ONE OF THE CIRCUMCISERS OF ISRAEL. SHE REINTRODUCES MOSES TO THE COVENANT. SO, HE IS NOW A CHILD OF THE COVENANT AGAIN. THE ISRAELITES HAD FORGOTTEN TO CIRCUMCISE THEIR BOYS ALL THIS TIME?


 ²⁶So he let him go: then she said, A bloody husband thou art, because of the circumcision.
 ²⁷And the LORD said to Aaron, Go into the wilderness to meet Moses. And he went, and met him in the mount of God, and kissed him.
 ²⁸And Moses told Aaron all the words of the LORD who had sent him, and all the signs which he had commanded him.
 ²⁹And Moses and Aaron went and gathered together all the elders of the children of Israel:
 ³⁰And Aaron spake all the words which the LORD had spoken unto Moses, and did the signs in the sight of the people.
 ³¹And the people believed: and when they heard that the LORD had visited the children of Israel, and that he had looked upon their affliction, then they bowed their heads and worshipped.


YES, IT'S SO GOOD TO SEE THAT GOD HAS HEARD AND SEEN. THIS IS LIKE HAGAR REALIZING GOD HAS SEEN. THOU, GOD, SEEST ME.