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Exodus 4 |
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| 4:1
And 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. |
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| 4:2
And the LORD said unto
him, What is that in thine hand? And he said, A rod. |
 (4:2-9)
God shows Moses some magic tricks
First, throw your rod on the
ground; it will become a snake. Then grab the snake by the tail and it will become a rod again. Next,
make your hand appear leprous, and then cure it. And finally, pour water on the
ground and it will turn into blood. (That ought to do it!)
Is magic OK?
What the Bible says about magic
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| 4:3
And 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.
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| 4:4
And the LORD said unto
Moses, Put forth thine hand, and take it by the tail. And he put forth his
hand, and caught it, and it became a rod in his hand:
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| 4:5
That 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. |
 "The Lord God ... hath appeared unto thee."
Can God be seen?
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| 4:6
And 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. |
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| 4:7
And 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. |
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| 4:8
And 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. |
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| 4:9
And 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. |
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| 4:10
And 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. |
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| 4:11
And 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? |
God brags about making people deaf and blind.
Why are some people born with disabilities? Because
God deliberately makes them that way.
Who makes people deaf and blind?
What the Bible says about blind and
handicapped people
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| 4:12
Now therefore go, and I will be with thy mouth, and teach thee what thou
shalt say.
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| 4:13
And he said, O my LORD, send, I pray thee, by the hand of him whom thou
wilt send. |
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| 4:14
And 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. And also,
behold, he cometh forth to meet thee: and when he seeth thee, he will be
glad in his heart. |
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| 4:15
And 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. |
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| 4:16
And 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. |
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| 4:17
And thou shalt take this rod in thine hand, wherewith thou shalt do signs. |
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| 4:18
And 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. |
Who was Moses' father-in-law?
God
Attacks Moses
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| 4:19
And the LORD said unto Moses in Midian, Go, return into Egypt: for all the
men are dead which sought thy life.
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| 4:20
And 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.
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| 4:21
And 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. |
God hardens Pharaoh's heart the first time.
God begins the process of "hardening
Pharaoh's heart" (see also Ex.7:3, 13, 9:12, 10:1,
20, 27, 11:10,
14:4, 8), thus making it
impossible for any of the plagues that God sends to have any beneficial effect.
But according to 1 Samuel 6:6, God didn't harden
the Pharaoh's heart; the Pharaoh did it
himself.
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| 4:22
And thou shalt say unto Pharaoh, Thus saith the LORD, Israel is my son,
even my firstborn:
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| 4:23
And 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. |
"If thou refuse to let him
go, behold, I will slay thy son, even thy firstborn."
God threatens to kill Pharaoh's firstborn son.
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| 4:24
And it came to pass by the way in the inn, that the LORD met him, and sought to kill
him. |
"The LORD met him, and sought to kill him."
God tries to kill Moses
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| 4:25
Then 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. |
"A bloody husband art thou to me."
God decides to kill Moses because his son
had not yet been circumcised. Luckily for Moses, his Egyptian wife 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. So he [God] let him
go."
What the Bible says about penises
 Zipporah
Fiorentino Rosso (1523-24)
| 4:26
So he let him go: then she said, A bloody husband thou art, because of the
circumcision.
| | 4:27
And 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.
| | 4:28
And Moses told Aaron all the words of the LORD who had sent him, and all
the signs which he had commanded him.
| | 4:29
And Moses and Aaron went and gathered together all the elders of the
children of Israel:
| | 4:30
And Aaron spake all the words which the LORD had spoken unto Moses, and
did the signs in the sight of the people. |
 Moses and Aaron Convince the
People
| | 4:31
And 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.
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