Scripture Daily

Context No. 3668 of 4322 · Exodus

Context · Reflection

Exodus 7:1-5: in context

1The LORD said to Moses, “Behold, I have made you as God to Pharaoh; and Aaron your brother shall be your prophet. 2You shall speak all that I command you; and Aaron your brother shall speak to Pharaoh, that he let the children of Israel go out of his land. 3I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and multiply my signs and my wonders in the land of Egypt. 4But Pharaoh will not listen to you, so I will lay my hand on Egypt, and bring out my armies, my people the children of Israel, out of the land of Egypt by great judgments. 5The Egyptians shall know that I am the LORD when I stretch out my hand on Egypt, and bring the children of Israel out from among them.”

As Moses hesitates before his mission, God gives him a startling assurance: see, I have made you like God to Pharaoh, and Aaron your brother shall be your prophet. Moses, who felt inadequate and slow of speech, is told he will stand before Pharaoh with divine authority, as God's own representative.

And God lays out his purpose: through the signs and the deliverance, the Egyptians shall know that I am the LORD. Behind the whole confrontation with Pharaoh is God's aim to make himself known, so that the great empire of the day would come to know the one true God. There is encouragement here for those God sends on daunting missions. He equips his servants with his own authority and works through them to accomplish his purposes. Moses did not go in his own strength but as God's representative, and the goal was not merely Israel's freedom but God's glory made known. When God calls us to a hard task, he goes with us and makes his purposes known through our obedience.

When God calls me to a daunting task, do I go in his authority rather than my own strength, trusting that he works through my obedience to make himself known?

Sources