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| 1 Then responded Moses, and said, And lo! they will not believe me, neither hearken to my voice,–for they will say, Yahweh, hath not appeared unto thee. |
Will not believe me – Moses was distrustful of his ability and was fearful and reluctant. R5419:1
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| 2 And Yahweh said unto him–What is this in thy hand? And he said–A staff. |
What Is that in thine hand? – God can use our humblest talent to his praise. If, then, we would serve, we should look to see what we have in our hands. R5419:2
A rod – Signifying divine authority. R4058:4
A special manifestation of divine power and rule. R5419:5
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| 3 Then said he–Cast it to the earth. And he cast it to the earth, and it became a serpent,–and Moses fled from the face thereof. |
Became a serpent – Symbolizing that all the evil there is in the world is the result of God's having let go of his rod of authority temporarily. R4058:4
Those things closest to us might become injurious except for God's power to overrule. R5419:2
Antitype may be that the power of God may appear to be evil. Evil has seemed to triumph for these 6000 years. R5419:5
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| 4 And Yahweh said unto Moses, Put forth thy hand, and take it by its tail: So he put forth his hand, and laid hold of it, and it became a staff in his hand:– |
Put forth his hand – Typifying God's purpose to lay hold upon present evil conditions. R4058:4
It became a rod – Typifying the re-establishment of divine authority. R4058:4
Representing God's power to turn evil things into good things through the operation of faith. R2910:4, R5419:3
From this we should realize that of ourselves we could accomplish nothing. R5419:2
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| 5 that they may believe that Yahweh, God of their fathers,–God of Abraham, God of Isaac, and God of Jacob–hath appeared unto thee. |
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| 6 Then said Yahweh unto him, yet again–Bring, I pray thee, thy hand, into thy bosom. So he brought his hand, into his bosom,–and then took it out, and lo! his hand, was leprous,–like snow, |
He put his hand – Leprosy is a symbol of sin. Divine power was first manifested without sin or imperfection or blemish (in Jesus Christ); secondly, that the same divine power, hidden for a time, was afterward manifest in sin and imperfection (in his Body members); and thirdly, that the same divine power, hidden again for a time, will subsequently be manifest without sin (in the glorified Christ). R4059:2
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| 7 And he said–Put back thy hand into thy bosom: So he put back his hand, into his bosom,–and then took it out of his bosom, and lo! it had come again, like his own flesh: |
Was turned again – By and by the Church is to be received into his bosom and "changed" in the first resurrection. R4059:3
As his other flesh – Be used again of the Lord as his agent in stretching forth his rod and bringing forth the plagues, and delivering the residue of God's people. R4059:3
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| 8 thus shall it come to pass, if they will not believe thee, nor hearken to the voice of the first sign, then will they believe the voice of the next sign; |
Voice of the first sign – Literature on the subject of "Why evil was permitted" has been circulated to the extent of millions of copies throughout the world ever since the year 1879. R4058:6
Voice of the latter sign – The sign of the leprous hand-the "Millennial Dawn" series of volumes (later called "Studies in the Scriptures"), the first of which was published in 1886. In these books the relationship between justification, sanctification and deliverance is distinctly shown. R4059:4
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| 9 and it shall come to pass, if they will not believe, even these two signs, nor hearken to thy voice, then shalt thou take of the water of the river, and pour it out on the dry land,–so shall the water which thou hast taken from the river, become, yea it shall become blood, on the dry land. |
Water of the river – The truth, as contained in millions of pages of tracts, poured upon the symbolic earth, society, liberally on many lands and in many languages. R4059:6
Upon the dry land – Typifying society. R4059:5
Shall become blood – To society the truth seems repulsive, undesirable, bloody. They not only view the typical sacrifices as bloody but they resent the thought that the antitypical sacrifice for sins was the death (blood) of Christ. R4060:1
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| 10 And Moses said unto Yahweh–Pardon, O My Lord! not a man of words, am I, neither heretofore, nor since thou hast spoken unto thy servant,–for, heavy of mouth, and heavy of tongue, I am. |
I am not eloquent – Moses was so meek that he could not realize that with divine help he would be successful. R5262:2
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| 11 Then Yahweh said unto him–Who appointed a mouth for man, or who appointeth him to be dumb, or deaf, or seeing, or blind? Is it not, I, Yahweh? |
Have not I – He is the author of all life and indirectly our Creator. R2902:2
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| 12 Now, therefore, go,–and, I, will be with thy mouth, so will I direct thee, what thou shalt speak. |
I will be with thy mouth – So God declares to the humble ones now; that having no confidence in ourselves, we should have every confidence in God. R5262:4
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| 13 And he said–Pardon, O My Lord! send, I pray thee, by the hand of him whom thou wilt send– |
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| 14 Then was kindled the anger of Yahweh against Moses, and he said–Is there not Aaron, thy brother, the Levite? I know that he, can speak. Moreover also, lo! he himself, is coming forth to meet thee, as surely as he seeth thee, so surely will he rejoice in his heart. |
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| 15 Then shalt thou speak unto him, and shalt put the words in his mouth,–and, I, will be with thy mouth, and with his mouth, so will I direct you what ye shall do. |
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| 16 And, he, shall speak for thee unto the people,–so shall it come to pass that, he, shall become thy mouth, and, thou, shalt become to him as God. |
And he – Aaron represents the Royal Priesthood still in the flesh, still sacrificing. R4058:3
Be thy spokesman – The Lord Jesus does not address himself to the true Israelites in person now, but through a mouthpiece. R4058:3
Unto the people – All true Israelites. R4058:3
Be to him instead of God – Moses was to be like God unto Aaron in that he would tell Aaron what he should say and do. Q498:5
Moses, not Aaron, was the one competent for the great work because of his schooling. Aaron was his servant, or mouthpiece, speaking only as authorized by Moses in whom, because of his meekness, God was reposing the responsibility. R5262:4, R4537:1; PD32/44
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| 17 And, this staff, take thou in thy hand,–wherewith thou shalt do the signs. |
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| 18 So Moses went and returned unto Jethro his father-in-law, and said to him–Let me go, I pray thee, and return unto my brethren who are in Egypt, that I may see whether they are yet alive. And Jethro said to Moses: Go and prosper. |
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| 19 Then said Yahweh unto Moses in Midian, Go, return to Egypt,–for all the men are dead who were seeking thy life. |
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| 20 So Moses took his wife and his sons, and caused them to ride upon the ass, and he returned to the land of Egypt,–and Moses took the staff of God, in his hand. |
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| 21 And Yahweh said unto Moses, When thou goest to return to Egypt, see, as touching all the wonders which I have put in thy hand, that thou do them before Pharaoh–but, I, will let his heart wax bold, and he will not suffer the people to go. |
Harden his heart – It was God's goodness that hardened Pharaoh. When the Lord relieved the people and the land from one plague, Pharaoh concluded that it was past and that perhaps no more would come; and so, step by step, God's mercy led him further and further in his hostility. F176; PD33/44; R2911:2, R4703:1
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| 22 Then shalt thou say unto Pharaoh,–Thus, saith Yahweh–My son–my firstborn, is Israel; |
Israel is my son – "Out of Egypt have I called my son." (Matt. 2:15) R1681:6
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| 23 Therefore I say unto thee,–Let my son go, that he may serve me, But, if thou refuse to let him go, behold, I, am going to slay, thy son, thy firstborn. |
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| 24 And it came to pass, on the way, in the resting-place for the night, that Yahweh fell upon him, and sought to kill him. |
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| 25 So Zipporah took a sharp stone, and cut off the foreskin of her son, and cast it down at his feet,–and said–Surely, a bridegroom by rites of blood, art thou to me! |
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| 26 So he let him go. Then, it was that she said, A bridegroom by rites of blood–with regard to the rites of circumcision. |
The circumcision – Symbolizing a cutting off, a separation from the flesh, its aims, hopes and desires. R3022:3
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| 27 And Yahweh said unto Aaron, Go thy way to meet Moses, towards the desert. So he went his way, and fell in with him in the mountain of God, and kissed him. |
Said to Aaron – Representing the sacrificial work of Christ as the Priest. The sons of Aaron represented the Church. R4011:3
Into the wilderness – The meeting of Moses and Aaron seems to symbolize the beginning of the Gospel age. R4011:3
To meet Moses – Moses represented the future work of Christ as the leader and commander of the people. The Church was also typically represented in the body of Moses. R4011:3
Met him – Aaron meeting Moses represents a company meeting Christ in the Kingdom. R82:2*
The mount of God – Mount Horeb, one of the peaks of Mt. Sinai. R4011:3
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| 28 And Moses told Aaron, all the words of Yahweh, wherewith he had sent him,–and all the signs wherewith he had charged him. |
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| 29 So Moses and Aaron went their way,–and gathered together all the elders of the sons of Israel. |
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| 30 And Aaron spake all the words which Yahweh had spoken unto Moses,–and did the signs, before the eyes of the people. |
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| 31 And the people believed,–and, when they heard that Yahweh had concerned himself for the sons of Israel, and that he had looked upon their humiliation, then bent they their heads and bowed themselves down. |
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