Exodus 4: Signs, a Spokesman, and Bridegroom of Blood

I have a staff leaning in the corner of my workshop right now. It is a piece of mountain mahogany I cut a few years ago up American Fork Canyon. Nothing special about it. I stripped the bark, sanded it smooth, put a coat of boiled linseed oil on it. It sits there between the workbench and the wall, and I grab it sometimes when I walk up to the house. It is just a stick.

God turned a stick into a snake once. That is worth sitting with for a minute.

What Are the Signs God Gave Moses in Exodus 4

Moses had just spent forty years in Midian putting one foot in front of the other, watching sheep, probably wondering if his life still meant anything. Then a bush burned without being consumed and God told him to go back to Egypt and free his people. Moses was not excited about it. He asked what would make the Israelites believe him.

God gave him three signs.

First, the rod turned into a serpent and back again. A shepherd's staff, dry and dead, becomes something alive and dangerous. Then harmless again. God can do that with anything we hold in our hands.

Second, Moses put his hand inside his cloak and it came out leprous, white as snow. Then he put it back and it was restored. A sign that God controls sickness and health, and that He can use either one to make His point.

Third, water from the Nile poured onto dry ground would become blood. A sign of judgment. The river that Egypt depended on could turn against them at God's word.

And the Lord said unto him, What is that in thine hand? And he said, A rod.

— Exodus 4:2

I keep a staff in my workshop. It is a walking stick. But if God asked me what I had in my hand right now, I would probably have a marking gauge or a chisel or a pencil stub. The point is that the thing is ordinary until God decides otherwise. The power does not come from the tool. It comes from whose hand the tool is in.

I wrote about Exodus 3 last week, and the burning bush is the same idea. Moses asked God who he should say sent him, and God said I AM. Moses asked what proof he could show, and God turned a stick into a snake. The answers were not explanations, they were demonstrations.

Why Did Moses Need Aaron as a Spokesman

After three miracles, Moses still had an objection. He told God he was slow of speech and slow of tongue. He was not being humble, he was trying to get out of the assignment. I recognize that voice because I hear it in my own head whenever something hard comes up.

Here is what God said back:

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?

— Exodus 4:11

God made the mouth, and He can fix it. But Moses did not stop arguing. He asked God to send someone else, and God did the patient thing. He appointed Aaron to be Moses' spokesman. It is a partnership. Moses would receive the words and Aaron would speak them.

I think about the joint between a tenon and a mortise. Neither piece is the whole structure. The tenon is just a cut end of wood, the mortise is just a hole. But when you put them together, they hold tight against forces that would pull them apart. Moses had the message and Aaron had the voice, and together they could stand in front of Pharaoh.

We do not do this alone. God does not seem interested in letting us try.

Meaning of the Bridegroom of Blood in Exodus 4

This is the strangest part of the chapter. Moses is on his way back to Egypt, and the Lord meets him and tries to kill him. Zipporah, his wife, takes a sharp stone, circumcises their son, and touches Moses' feet with the foreskin. She calls him a bridegroom of blood. Then the Lord lets him go.

I have read this passage many times and it still makes me uncomfortable. But here is what I keep coming back to. Moses was about to go tell Pharaoh that God demanded the release of His firstborn son, Israel. And Moses had not even circumcised his own firstborn son. The covenant had to be in order before the mission could proceed.

I teach my son to swing a hammer. I have taught him to read a tape measure and set a bevel gauge. But if I am not keeping the covenants in my own house, none of that matters much. The public work is not separate from the private obedience. You cannot lead people into a covenant you have not kept yourself.

How to Overcome Fear of Calling Like Moses

Moses spent the whole chapter finding reasons not to go. I cannot speak, nobody will believe me, send someone else. God answered every objection, and then Moses went.

The chapter is honest about how reluctance works and how it does not vanish all at once. Moses did not suddenly become brave and confident. He packed his family, put his staff over his shoulder, and started walking toward Egypt. The courage came in the motion, not before it.

That matches my experience. I have never felt ready for the hard thing before doing it. Ready is something you become on the way. You show up with what you have, and that is the pattern.

Aaron met Moses in the wilderness, and they went to the elders of Israel together. They showed the signs. The people believed and bowed their heads and worshipped. The chapter ends with hope.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why did God give Moses signs if He was the one who would actually perform the miracles

The signs were for Moses. He needed something to hold onto when his confidence failed. God gave him tangible evidence of His power, and that is the same reason we get scripture and prayer and the sacrament. We need anchors.

Why was Aaron necessary if God told Moses He would help him speak

Because God works through partnership. He could have given Moses eloquence instantly. He chose instead to give him a brother who could speak for him. That teaches us something about how God builds His work through relationships, not solo performances.

What does the bridegroom of blood incident mean

It means the covenant comes first. Before Moses could demand the release of Israel, God's firstborn, he had to show that he honored the covenant in his own home. Private faithfulness matters before public leadership.

Did Moses actually overcome his fear of speaking

He did not become a great speaker, and Aaron still spoke for him. But he went anyway. God does not remove every weakness before using someone. Our weaknesses are not the thing that stops Him.

I put the staff back in the corner of the workshop when I finished writing this. It is still just a piece of mountain mahogany. But I look at it differently now. I think about what God could do with it if He asked for it.

I do not have a staff I am supposed to turn into a snake. But I have other things in my hands. Tools and words and relationships, the stuff of an ordinary life. Exodus 4 makes me wonder what I am holding that God might want.

— D.