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The following is Pastor Nate’s teaching transcription from Calvary Monterey’s 12/8/20 Tuesday Night Service. We apologize for any transcription inaccuracies.

Preparation For Redemption: God Empowers Moses

Introduction

In our last study in the Book of Exodus, we saw God begin the process of calling Moses to be the figurehead who would be the deliverer, the prophet, the instrument that God would use to deliver the people of Israel from their slavery in Egypt. They of course had grown in Egypt over a number of years, over 400 years and had gone there originally as a small family with favor from pharaoh because of Joseph and the good success and ministry that he had executed as the right-hand man of pharaoh, but Exodus tells us that a day came when a pharaoh arose who did not know Joseph.

He made the labor of the people of Israel hard and oppressed the people of Israel, which led to of course Moses being born and put into a basket in the Nile River, because the pharaoh's edict was to kill the baby boys that were born to the Hebrews from that day forward. Moses was then rescued by pharaoh's daughter herself, raised then until he was weaned in his own mother's home. Then raised in the Egyptian home as a son of pharaoh himself. At 40 years of age, he assumed, Stephen tells us, that the people of God would know that he was the one who would deliver them from their captivity, but they did not receive him.

In fact, one day Moses because he had struck an Egyptian and killed him and word had begun to spread about what he had done, he had to flee for his life and go into the wilderness in Midian, where he met a man named Reuel or Jethro, married his daughter Zipporah, and began to have a family on the backside of the desert out in the wilderness. At 80 years of age, as the people of Israel continued to cry out to God because of their pain and persecution and struggle, God answered their prayer by appearing to Moses in a bush that was burning, yet not consumed. Moses and God began to interact with one another, the place where Moses standing being holy ground, and Moses began to learn more about the God of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob.

He learned that God was calling him to go into Egypt and tell pharaoh, "Thus says the Lord, let my people go." The request was to go three days journey from Egypt in order to have a time of worship to God. The question was would pharaoh acknowledge the Hebrew people belonged not to pharaoh, but belonged to God? Would he allow them a brief journey into worship as the Egyptian people were accustomed to doing in their own right for their own Gods, or would he resist? Now for Moses's part, when he began to experience this call of God upon his life, he began to actually push back. We've seen two of the five questions, or objections that Moses raised before God already in Exodus chapter three.

What if They Will Not Believe Me or Listen to Me?

1 Then Moses answered, “But behold, they will not believe me or listen to my voice, for they will say, ‘The Lord did not appear to you.’ 2 The Lord said to him, “What is that in your hand?” He said, “A staff.” 3 And he said, “Throw it on the ground.” So he threw it on the ground, and it became a serpent, and Moses ran from it. 4 But the Lord said to Moses, “Put out your hand and catch it by the tail”—so he put out his hand and caught it, and it became a staff in his hand”

The first objection was simple. Who am I? Who am I to go and deliver the people of Israel? The second objection was and who are you? What if the people ask me who is the Lord who sent you, and of course God said, "Tell them I am who I am has sent you." We talked about that in our study of Exodus chapter three, but now we come to the third objection of Moses in chapter four verse one. It says, "Then Moses answered, but behold they will not believe me or listen to my voice, for they will say the Lord did not appear to you." As I said, this is the third objection from Moses. What if they will not believe me, and what if they will not listen to my voice? Now this likely was stated in a hypothetical kind of way.

It wasn't that Moses was totally denying any chance that Israel would receive him, but he's throwing out the possibility that hypothetically, they might not receive him. This of course doesn't paint Moses in that grade of a light. We're not seeing a man who is a shining example of faith. There's some unbelief that he's wrestling with in his heart. "Could God really use my life?" Moses is saying, "What if they don't believe me? What if they don't listen to my voice?" The Lord said to him in verse two, "What is that in your hand?" He said, "A staff," and he said, "Throw it on the ground." He threw it on the ground, and it became a serpent and Moses ran from it, but the Lord said to Moses, "Put out your hand and catch it by the tail."

5 “that they may believe that the Lord, the God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has appeared to you.”

He put out his hand and caught it, and it became a staff in his hand. Verse five, "That they might believe that the Lord, the God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob has appeared to you." Okay here, God begins to answer Moses's objection, his third objection that the people might not believe in him and might not believe that he was a messenger of God. He answers Moses's objection by telling him that he will give him the power to perform various signs and wonders. In this passage, he'll show him three miraculous things that will serve as evidences that he is a messenger, a prophet from God.

Now later in the Book of Deuteronomy, Moses would actually talk about false prophets who came with signs and wonders. It wasn't that their signs and wonders that made them into false prophets, but he said, "If they do signs and wonders, yet they contradict the revealed word of God, then you must reject them. If they ask you to worship other Gods, then you must reject them. Do not follow the signs and wonders. You have to follow the truth of God's word," but there were also times where God would send prophets who were declaring his truth and his word, and drawing the people of Israel to the worship of Yahweh or Jehovah, and God would give them signs and wonders.

Sign #1 - Serpent

A man like Elijah or Elisha, men like those are great examples of men who God deposited miraculous power into their lives. They perform various signs and wonders, yet they did not con conflict with the word of God. They were true prophets, and Moses here is going to be one of those true prophets. God is going to give him signs and wonders that will back up the word that he speaks, the message that he declares. Now this first sign is so interesting. Moses takes his staff, and he will throw it on the ground. He actually does it right here before the Lord at this burning bush. Throws it on the ground, and his staff miraculously becomes a serpent. Moses for his part, he runs from the serpent. He is fearful of this snake.

It's a humorous moment. It might be an image of what he is doing with these objections, running from something that he thinks is abundantly scary, something that he feels is a threat. Running from the call of God upon his life, but he should not be running from the call of God, just as he should not be running from this staff whom God made into a serpent. God is in control, and he is using Moses's life. Listen, there are times in our lives where we feel the temptation to run from the scary things that God has called us to. We feel a need to maybe bend the truth of God's word to fit our impulses, or desires, or the Lord is asking us to do something that is difficult and painful, yet we resist.

We should not run from the call of God. We should run to the things that the Lord has asked us to do. All I can say as a testimony is that every time I've said yes to the difficult things that God has put in front of my life, the difficult things that God has asked me to do, I have benefited greatly from the experience. my character has been transformed. My relationships have gotten more solid. I've been connected to the right people and door after door has opened whenever I've said yes to the scary things that God has asked me to do. I pray that you would do the same, but this first sign of the serpent being cast down is meant to convey a message. All of these signs are meant to convey messages.

They're not just random, fantastic powers that Moses is going to receive, but they communicate something. Perhaps what's being communicated with this first sign is that snakes symbolized power and life to the Egyptians, but God was declaring to Moses that he would overcome the powers that are there in Egypt. He would eventually perform this sign and when Moses did in front of pharaoh, his serpent would eat the other serpents that the magicians of pharaoh would produce. In other words, it's a message. God's power is more powerful than the powers of Egypt. God's beast or God's serpent consumes the serpents or the beasts that come out of Egypt. As strong as they are, God is stronger.

Sign #2 - Leprosy

6 Again, the Lord said to him, “Put your hand inside your cloak.” And he put his hand inside his cloak, and when he took it out, behold, his hand was leprous like snow. 7 Then God said, “Put your hand back inside your cloak.” So he put his hand back inside his cloak, and when he took it out, behold, it was restored like the rest of his flesh.

That's likely somehow the message or the sign of this first sign that God gave to Moses, but that wasn't all that God gave to Moses. In verse six, it says again, "The Lord said to him put your hand inside your cloak." He put his hand inside his cloak and when he took it, behold, his hand was leprous like snow. Then God said, "Put your hand back inside your cloak." He put his hand back inside his cloak and when he took it out behold, it was restored like the rest of his flesh. This second sign is a sign of leprosy. Moses puts his hand inside of his cloak. When he draws it out, his hand is leprous. Then he puts his hand back inside his cloak and draws his hand out again, and his hand is restored like the rest of his flesh.

Now I should say that when in the Bible especially in the Old Testament you see these descriptions of leprosy, it may or may not be referring to the modern forms of leprosy or Hansen's disease that we are conscious of. It could be describing all different sorts of skin conditions that plagued people at that time and still plagued people in our modern time. Many or assorted skin conditions and diseases were often thought of as leprous back in that time, but still, it's a significant moment. He puts his hand in his cloak, draws it out, and there's something wrong with his hand. The skin condition exists, and then he puts his hand back in his cloak and draws it out a second time, and his hand is healed.

What does this sign mean? Well, perhaps it has something to do with the ability of God to deal with the heart of the Egyptians and the Israelites. He puts his hand in his cloak, near his chest, near the heart so to speak, and perhaps the leprous hand is representative of the leprous heart of pharaoh and the leprous heart of the Egyptians. He puts his hand in again and withdraws his hand, and it is clean. Perhaps that reflects the pure-hearted nature of God's people, the people of Israel, or perhaps it communicates what God is able to do. He is able to cleanse the heart. He's able to deal with the heart.

He's going to deal very severely with the heart of the Egyptians, with the heart of pharaoh and in one sense, with the heart of the people of Israel as well, but there's also just the blanket statement in this sign that God is able to take away health, and God is able to give health and that would be an important lesson in the days and months to come through the plagues and then at the beginning of their sojourn in the wilderness. That was the second sign, but verse eight, it says, "If they will not believe you, God said, or listen to the first sign they may believe the latter sign and if they will not believe even these two signs or listen to your voice, you shall take some water from the Nile and pour it on the dry ground, and the water that you shall take from the Nile shall become blood on the dry ground."

Sign #3 - Blood Water

8 “If they will not believe you,” God said, “or listen to the first sign, they may believe the latter sign. 9 If they will not believe even these two signs or listen to your voice, you shall take some water from the Nile and pour it on the dry ground, and the water that you shall take from the Nile will become blood on the dry ground.”

The first sign was the turning of a staff into a serpent. The second sign was the turning of a clean hand into a leprous hand and then back into a clean hand again. This third sign is the turning of the Nile River water into blood water. Now to understand this sign, you have to know that the Egyptian people, especially at that time regarded the Nile River as the source of life and productivity. Everything for them centered around the Nile. Its faithfulness, its constant flow, its predictable flood seasons is what led to Egypt becoming a superpower. They were able to develop a society because of the Nile's presence. It was the vein the heart of the nation of Egypt. It was an all-important body of water.

It was so significant and important to developing who they were, and this sign means that God is touching the very core of Egypt, the very core of who they are. God's power extends to even the very thing that produced life for them as a people, that made them productive in the first place. God was demonstrating that he could kill one of their deities when he turned the Niles water into blood. It's like the Nile River has died, and now it is bleeding because it is dead. Now in a sense, this sign also revealed the sin of the Egyptians. Remember, the pharaoh had asked for the death of the Hebrew boys and had mandated that they be thrown into the Nile River.

It's as if the pharaoh thinks that the throwing of the boys into the Nile covers up the crime, but when the Nile is turned into blood, it will be a sign that the crime is known, that the blood of these baby boys is crying out from the Nile River itself. It brings to light the slaughter of these Israelite children. It shows what happened in this river. If you recall back in the Book of Genesis, when Cain killed Abel, the blood of Abel cried out from the earth God said, and here the blood of the Hebrew children cries out from the Nile River. These signs demonstrate that God will bring to light the sins of Egypt. The monster of Egypt, the serpent is destroyed, their leprous heart is revealed and the blood that is on their hands will become known revealed by God.

What About My Difficulty in Speech?

10 But Moses said to the Lord, “Oh, my Lord, I am not eloquent, either in the past or since you have spoken to your servant, but I am slow of speech and of tongue.” 11 Then the Lord said to him, “Who has made man’s mouth? Who makes him mute, or deaf, or seeing, or blind? Is it not I, the Lord? 12 Now therefore go, and I will be with your mouth and teach you what you shall speak.”

As I said, each one of these signs was not just a supernatural thing for Moses to do to garner authority or attention, actually communicated a message from God. That was God's answer to Moses's third objection, what if they will not believe me or listen to me, but in verse 10, he has his fourth objection. It says, "But Moses said to the Lord, O my Lord, I am not eloquent either in the past or since you have spoken to your servant, but I am slow of speech and tongue." Then the Lord said to him, "Who made man's mouth? Who makes him mute or deaf or seeing or blind? Is it not I, the Lord? Now therefore go and I will be with your mouth and teach you what you shall speak." Here, Moses's fourth objection is very simple.

What about my difficulty in speech? I cannot speak. Now it's hard to ascertain exactly what Moses is alluding to. Some people suspect that he had a speech impediment of some kind, that he perhaps struggled with a stutter, but Acts chapter seven, verse 22 tells us from Stephen's mouth or a commentary about Moses that Moses was instructed in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and he was mighty in words and deeds. Perhaps Moses had a speech impediment that God then strengthened him through. Perhaps Moses was simply afraid of public speaking, like so many people are, or perhaps Moses was merely trying to find a way to wiggle out of God's calling upon his life. Either way, God's answer is crystal clear.

He just says, "Who made man's mouth? In other words Moses, I am in control. I will give you the words to speak. I made your mouth, and I will help you be the messenger that you must become for the people of Israel and to pharaoh. You might not feel eloquent. You might not feel that you are quick of speech and tongue, but it's of no matter because I made your mouth, and I can empower your mouth and your words according to my will." This is a constant theme of scripture, where God prepares the mouth of his messengers. On the day of Pentecost, the spirit poured out in the first move of the holy spirit in the brand new church was to gift that collection of believers on that day with tongues of fire, and they began to speak in languages they did not previously know.

The crowds heard them speaking in these languages, glorifying God with them, but understanding that they had no business knowing these languages. It caused the people to gather together, to hear Peter's evangelistic message in Acts chapter two. In the Book of Jeremiah, Jeremiah is presented as a man who had received a burning fire of the word in his heart. God was preparing his speech. Even when Jeremiah didn't want to speak, he said, "But I have to." It's like a burning fire within, woe to me if I do not, but speak the word of God. In the Book of Ezekiel, Ezekiel is presented as eating a scroll. It was a symbol of him taking in, ingesting the word of God, so that he would have something to declare to God's people.

Can You Find Someone Else?

13 But he said, “Oh, my Lord, please send someone else.” 14 Then the anger of the Lord was kindled against Moses and he said, “Is there not Aaron, your brother, the Levite? I know that he can speak well. Behold, he is coming out to meet you, and when he sees you, he will be glad in his heart. 15 You shall speak to him and put the words in his mouth, and I will be with your mouth and with his mouth and will teach you both what to do. 16 He shall speak for you to the people, and he shall be your mouth, and you shall be as God to him. 17 And take in your hand this staff, with which you shall do the signs.”

Of course, the Prophet Isaiah who had a long and incredible ministry of delivering God's word, before his ministry began, his lips were touched with the coal from the altar of the heavenly throne room of God. It was a way for God to cleanse his lips, so that he might be able to speak with a holy mouth on his behalf. You see, God he is able to prepare the mouth, the words of his messengers for his people. God answered Moses's fourth objection. Here's his fifth, verse 13, "But he said, "O my Lord, please send someone else," then the anger of the Lord was kindled against Moses and he said, "Is there not Aaron your brother the Levite? I know that he can speak well. Behold, he is coming out to meet you and when he sees you he will be glad in his heart.

You shall speak to him and put the words in his mouth, and I will be with your mouth and with his mouth, and will teach you both what to do. He shall speak for you to the people, and he shall be your mouth and you shall be as God to him, and take in your hand this staff with which you shall do the signs." Now Moses's fifth and final objection is really simple. "Why don't you find someone else God? Why have you chosen me? I don't want to do this ministry. I don't want to do this work." He just says, "Please send someone else." Now at this point, we just have to pause and observe the humanness of Moses. Tell me you haven't felt this way before. God please, just send someone else, I'm so tired, I can't do this particular work, I don't want to do this particular work.

It was Moses's cry to God, please God send someone else. Now for his part, the Lord it says in verse 14 had his anger kindled against Moses. Why was God angry with Moses at this point? I think it was likely because he knew that Moses was speaking out of disobedience, even more than he was speaking out of fear. God knows who he is. God knows his power and might, and God perhaps wanted Moses to have more confidence in him, more faith and trust in him and his ability, but it's also possible that Moses had all of those things, but there was merely a defiant spirit within his heart, that it wasn't fear or insecurity, but that all of these questions were a mask for the simple, reality that he did not want to go.

He was 80 years old. He'd been living as a shepherd in the Midianite wilderness for so many years, his family was developing. This would be a hardship in his life and he resists now God's call to go, but even though Moses was not at this point of his life the likely servant or messenger, he was the man that God wanted to use. Moses was on the run and unknown. He was a foreigner for all intents and purposes, but as we've seen in a previous study, he was continually concerned for justice. He struck the Egyptian. He became an arbiter between the two arguing Hebrews and at the well in Midian, he defended Jethro's daughters. He was concerned for righteousness. He wanted people to be treated justly, and that made him a great candidate to deal with the terrible injustice of the people of God suffering at the hands of pharaoh.

The Lord announced to Moses, "Well, if you're really nervous about doing this work, I will send your brother Aaron, the Levite to join you in this ministry. He's coming out right now in fact. He'll be glad in his heart. You've got to speak to him, put the words in his mouth, and he will be a messenger for you." Aaron was going to serve as Moses's prophet. Now, it's possible that Moses is learning in this conversation that Aaron, the Levite is his brother he might not have known, but it's of course also possible that he knew full well who Aaron was and that Miriam, their older sister was also a relative of his. Now all of these arguments settled and finished. Moses now gets busy about the project of returning to Egypt.

The Return to Egypt

18 Moses went back to Jethro his father-in-law and said to him, “Please let me go back to my brothers in Egypt to see whether they are still alive.” And Jethro said to Moses, “Go in peace.”

19 And the Lord said to Moses in Midian, “Go back to Egypt, for all the men who were seeking your life are dead.” 20 So Moses took his wife and his sons and had them ride on a donkey, and went back to the land of Egypt. And Moses took the staff of God in his hand.

It says in verse 18, Moses went back to Jethro, his father-in-law and said to him, "Please let me go back to my brothers in Egypt to see whether they are alive," and Jethro said to Moses, "Go in peace." The Lord said to Moses and me Midian, "Go back to Egypt for all the men who were seeking your life are dead." Moses took his wife and his sons, and had them ride on a donkey and went back to the land of Egypt. Moses took the staff of God in his hand. Now here's Moses, he's presented on a journey going with his family back to Egypt to obey God, and he has a staff of God in his hands.

One thing to note is that it says in verse 20 that he took his wife and his sons, plural, and that's interesting because at this point of the story, we only know about the birth of Gershom from chapter two, but his second son, Eliezer must have also been born by this time, even though he's not mentioned by name until chapter 18. Now after this episode, Moses's family is actually going to be absent from him all the way until they're reunited in chapter 18 after the parting of the waters of the red sea, where they will meet at Mount Sinai.

21 And the Lord said to Moses, “When you go back to Egypt, see that you do before Pharaoh all the miracles that I have put in your power. But I will harden his heart, so that he will not let the people go. 22 Then you shall say to Pharaoh, ‘Thus says the Lord, Israel is my firstborn son, 23 and I say to you, “Let my son go that he may serve me.” If you refuse to let him go, behold, I will kill your firstborn son.’ ”

There is Moses though beginning his journey with his family at this point and the Lord said to Moses verse 21, "When you go back to Egypt, see that you do before pharaoh all the miracles that I have put in your power, but I will harden his heart, so that he will not let the people go. Then you shall say to pharaoh, thus says the Lord, Israel is my firstborn and I say to you, let my son go that he may serve me. If you refuse to let him go, behold, I will kill your first born son." Now this is an amazing statement. It tells us that from the very beginning, Moses knows what is going to happen at the end. He's going to have a conflict with pharaoh.

He doesn't know all of the details, but what he knows is that this conflict will conclude with the death of pharaoh's firstborn son, that would as we know, be the last straw, the Passover event that would free the people of Israel from their slavery to Egypt. Pharaoh would finally relent once his firstborn son died at the hands of God, but what Moses doesn't know is that there will be a lot of buildup to get to that particular point and part of that buildup is described by God here in verse 21.

He says that, "I will harden pharaoh's heart." Now, it is abundantly clear throughout the story of pharaoh and God interacting with each other that God hardened pharaoh's heart numerous times, but some people conclude that this means that pharaoh never exercised his own freewill, but the Bible describes not only God hardening pharaoh's heart, but pharaoh hardening pharaoh's heart as well. In fact, this expression I will harden pharaoh's heart is used here for the first time, and there are 10 places throughout the Book of Exodus where this word hardening is used of pharaoh in the sense that God is the one doing the hardening, but another 10 times, it is pharaoh who is hardening his heart, not God, but pharaoh himself who is hardening his heart.

Even more significant is the fact that pharaoh alone was the agent of hardening in the first sign and in all the first five plagues. In other words, at the beginning, it was pharaoh hardened, pharaoh hardened, pharaoh hardened. It's not until the sixth plague that God began to harden pharaoh's heart. This is an important detail that we should not miss. God would harden pharaoh's heart, but pharaoh hardened his heart as well. If you can say it this way, he began the process. Once his heart got to a certain place, God continued to confirm his heart in that direction. This was part of God's judgment upon this man, who had determined that he would not submit to the God of the universe.

24 At a lodging place on the way the Lord met him and sought to put him to death. 25 Then Zipporah took a flint and cut off her son’s foreskin and touched Moses’ feet with it and said, “Surely you are a bridegroom of blood to me!” 26 So he let him alone. It was then that she said, “A bridegroom of blood,” because of the circumcision.

Now as Moses journeyed verse 24, it says, "At a lodging place on the way, the Lord met him and sought to put him to death. Then Zipporah took a flint and cut off her son's foreskin, and touched Moses's feet with it and said, "Surely you're a bridegroom of blood to me." He let him alone. It was then that she said a bridegroom of blood because of the circumcision." Now none of these verses that I just read are verses that you would likely share with your good Christian friend in a time of discouragement. "Hey, I've got a verse for you. It comes from Exodus chapter four." I don't mean to joke around this passage. It's just that it's fairly confusing. Here's Moses on his journey to Egypt, and God seeks to put him to death.

Then in a seemingly separate episode, Zipporah, his wife comes out and performs this hasty circumcision upon their son who is yet uncircumcised. She takes the remains of that circumcision and throws it at Moses's feet and says, "You're a bridegroom, you're a husband of blood to me," and that's the end of that particular story. What is the connection between these two mysterious things? God intercepting Moses and seeking to kill him, and then Zipporah's response. Well, it seems that there's a connection between these two events. You see, Moses was a descendant, Abraham and Isaac and Jacob.

He was a Hebrew, yet he had not taken his children through the rite of circumcision, which was the outward sign of who they were as God's covenant people. God needed Moses to be prepared for this mission that he was about to go on. God would not have unholy, unsanctified, unconsecrated man do this job. God is pointing out an error in who Moses is. He's not an Egyptian. No matter how much he thinks he's an Egyptian, having been raised in pharaoh's household, he is not an Egyptian. He's not going into pharaoh's house as an Egyptian. He's going as a Hebrew. He's returning to Egypt as an Israelite man, yet he's not behaved like an Israelite man, in that he has not circumcised his sons.

This had to be dealt with so that Moses could assume the right identity as a son of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and prepare himself as a holy man, who is set apart for God. Even though this seems like a strange passage to us, it seems to have been a major preparatory moment in Moses's life for the mission that God had for him. There is some beautiful devotional value in this passage for us today. When God calls us, when he asks us to do certain tasks, we have to remember that he's looking for holy people, set apart people, Godly people for the work. We must allow him to make us practically holy, not only positionally holy by the blood of Jesus. Now, it's likely that at this point, Zipporah and the boys go home to Jethro.

A Brother's Aid

27 The Lord said to Aaron, “Go into the wilderness to meet Moses.” So he went and met him at the mountain of God and kissed him.

That's why they don't appear during the whole plague narrative, but show up later in chapter 18 at Mount Sinai. Apparently, this was enough for Zipporah. She just didn't want to deal with her bridegroom of blood. She's just going to let him go on this mission all on his own. Verse 27 says that, "The Lord said to Aaron go into the wilderness to meet Moses." He went and met him at the mountain of God and kissed him. Moses and Aaron meet. At this point Aaron, is 83 years old, and I'm sure they had much to discuss. There is of course the calling of God, the plans of God. It would have been very exciting for Moses to share with Aaron that God was planning to deliver the people of Israel from their slavery, but they also likely had the previous 40 years to catch up on if they knew that they were brothers.

28 And Moses told Aaron all the words of the Lord with which he had sent him to speak, and all the signs that he had commanded him to do. 29 Then Moses and Aaron went and gathered together all the elders of the people of Israel. 30 Aaron spoke all the words that the Lord had spoken to Moses and did the signs in the sight of the people. 31 And the people believed; and when they heard that the Lord had visited the people of Israel and that he had seen their affliction, they bowed their heads and worshiped.

If this was new information that they were brothers, then they had a lifetime of experiences to discuss out there in the wilderness. They met together, and they journey towards Egypt. Moses verse 28 told Aaron all the words of the Lord with which he had sent him to speak, and all the signs that he had commanded him to do. Then Moses and Aaron went and gathered together all the elders of the people of Israel. Aaron spoke all the words that the Lord had spoken to Moses, and did the signs in the sight of the people and the people believed. When they heard that the Lord had visited the people of Israel and that he had seen their affliction, they bowed their heads and worshiped. In a sense, it works. Moses is received, Aaron is now his sidekick, and they are beginning the work that God has called them to do.

Let me point out a couple of things here at the end of chapter four. First of all, Aaron's presence in Moses's life highlights an important ministry principle that God does not usually ask us to go it alone in the work of the Lord. He often will bring a companion in ministry, a colleague in ministry. God is very good if you look throughout his word at producing ministry teams for his honor. Yes, there were solitary prophets in the Old Testament era, but quite often, what you'll discover is that even those solitary prophets had reliable servants who cared for them and ministered to them and were a right-hand man to them, not only that, but many of those prophets had individuals in Israel who would provide for them and care for them, and were part of their ministry team.

Then of course in the New Testament era, Jesus is portrayed as the ultimate team builder, going up to the mountaintop, selecting the disciples that the father wanted him to select, and pouring into that team over a period of years. Even after he left, when that team then went out into all the world proclaiming the gospel, they formed smaller teams. Paul is a great example of this kind of experience, and that he was constantly adding people to his ministry cohort as they serve the Lord together. Paul explained this methodology in Second Timothy chapter two, when he told Timothy to take the things that he had taught Timothy to teach others who were able to teach others. That is four generations that Paul had in mind. Paul teaching Timothy who is teaching others, who are able to teach others.

God is looking for teams of people that can pass down the methodologies that scripture holds out, and pass down of course the word of the Lord itself. Aaron and Moses, they were forming one of those biblical ministry teams and I would encourage you in your pursuits to honor God with your life, find others that you can serve the Lord with. Even in our workplaces, we can be asking the Lord, "Lord, is there one other person who might join with me in praying for this workspace and praying for this community that we might partner together for the gospel in this area?" Then the other thing I wanted to point out to you is the similarity between Moses's return to Egypt with Jacob's returned to his family many years earlier.

Remember, young Jacob when he had stolen the birthright, he fled for his life. He fled his country because of a crime that he had committed, much like Moses had to flee Egypt because of a crime that he had committed. Esau tried to kill Jacob. He was pursuing Jacob, angry with Jacob, just as pharaoh was trying to pursue Moses. Jacob went to a distant land, just like Moses went to a distant land. Jacob married a woman that he met at the well, just like Moses married Zipporah whom he defended and protected and met at the well. Jacob then prospered just as Moses also prospered. God met Jacob when he returned at the Brook, and God fought with Jacob, wrestled with Jacob, just as God wrestled with Moses because his sons were not yet circumcised.

God wounded Jacob, just as Moses's sons were wounded so to speak through the circumcision. Then finally, when Jacob went into the land, he was reunited with his brother Esau, just as Moses here is reunited to his brother Aaron. Some beautiful similarities that might have stood out to the people of Israel. Jacob who became Israel, his story is parallel by Moses. Perhaps Moses is the man that God has sent.