Scripture Daily

Context No. 213 of 4322 · Exodus

Context · Reflection

Exodus 4:1-6: in context

1Moses answered, “But, behold, they will not believe me, nor listen to my voice; for they will say, ‘The LORD has not appeared to you.’” 2The LORD said to him, “What is that in your hand?” He said, “A rod.” 3He said, “Throw it on the ground.” He threw it on the ground, and it became a snake; and Moses ran away from it. 4The LORD said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand, and take it by the tail.” He stretched out his hand, and took hold of it, and it became a rod in his hand. 5“This is so 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.” 6The LORD said furthermore to him, “Now put your hand inside your cloak.” He put his hand inside his cloak, and when he took it out, behold, his hand was leprous, as white as snow.

Moses is standing at the burning bush, and he is losing an argument. God has told him to go to Egypt and bring Israel out, and Moses keeps finding reasons he is the wrong man. His objection here is about credibility. They will not believe me, he says. They will say the LORD never appeared to you.

God answers not with a speech but with a question about what Moses is already holding. What is that in your hand? A staff, the ordinary tool of a shepherd, the thing he has carried for forty years in Midian. Throw it down, and it becomes a snake, and Moses runs from it. Then God tells him to reach out and take it by the tail, the end no one grabs, and in his hand it is a staff again. A second sign follows. He puts his hand inside his cloak and draws it out diseased, white with leprosy, then puts it back and it is whole.

The signs are worth noticing for who receives them. They are given to a man who is still saying no, to steady a fear he has already confessed out loud. God does not wait for Moses to feel ready. He works with the shepherd's staff that is already in his grip. What ordinary thing already in my hand am I refusing to throw down, because I am afraid of what it might become?

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