READ Exodus 7.
GOD’S DESIGN: Only God’s Word through Moses will bring
judgment before Pharaoh and it will finally release the nation of Israel.
Although we are going to see signs and wonders God is not going to use these so
that Pharaoh will release Israel. God is only going to use His Word because
Pharaoh has rejected it (Exod.5). We
reject God’s Word, we reject Him. Some of us only dust our Bibles on a Sunday
morning. Ultimately, God is going to finally judge Pharaoh for rejecting His
Word. Moses will appear before Pharaoh as if God
Himself has come to speak His Word
(v.1). The way God instructed what
Moses should do he did: Before Pharaoh, Moses said to Aaron to throw down
Aaron’s staff (v.9-10). This was an object lesson for Pharaoh to perceive that how God
spoke to Moses; Moses speaks to Aaron. Now Moses speaks to Aaron and Aaron to
Pharaoh.
Signs and wonders cannot do what God’s Word can do. When signs and
wonders follow, it is because God’s Word is in its right place. David in a psalm
tells us what God Himself has done: “God
has magnified His Word above all His name” (Psalm 138:2, KJV). Thinking the
thoughts of Spurgeon: “We see the stars, we see the sun and the moon, we see
flowers, and we see human beings! These are all part of God’s great handiwork.
He can create the same again if He wanted to. But there is something that even
God cannot do. He cannot create another Word.” Moses will first be given
utterance to speak and then Aaron will explain the further meaning (v.2). Luther said, “The world was
conquered by the Word.”
Then the rod turned the water into blood being the first plague but
it made Pharaoh hostile. All the signs and wonders didn’t make Pharaoh change
(v.4). Imagine if you were in Egypt in those days
and heard by way of reports the signs and wonders of God, how would you respond?
You would want to seek those signs for yourselves! Same after Moses and
Aaron brought about God’s signs before the Pharaoh. Even Egypt was able to
perform miracles but Aaron’s rod swallowed Egypt’s serpents and since the rods
which became serpents was a mark of authority, Egypt had no authority. Aaron’s
rod becoming a serpent to overpower was only a sign that the fight is now on but
the victory will come through the Word. These signs and wonders was a test to
Israel. They were acts of mercy intended to arouse repentance and faithful
obedience (v.5).[1]
By the time we come to our
suggested parallel chapter in Luke
10 we see that Christ sends seventy two witnesses out to preach the oracles
of the Kingdom of God to the Gentiles. They had a mission to accomplish in a
certain time frame and they were not to waste time anywhere (v.4). When they returned they were more
impressed with the miracles they performed but Jesus cautions them that faith in
Him was more important – that as a matter of salvation their names being written
in heaven is what truly counts (v.20).
As Pharaoh rejected the Word of
God, the wheel has turned in Jesus’ time – God’s own people have rejected the
Word. Jesus passes His woes on Chorazin, Bethsaida and Capernaum. Jesus tells a
parable of the Good Samaritan to His audience and makes a profound point. His
lesson was that the religion of both the Priest and the Levite hindered them
from saving the man injured by robbers. But an outcast – a Samaritan (mixed
breed) passed by and helped the man. The Samaritan’s Word was as good as His
character. He paid the hospital the expenses for the injured stranger and gave
His Word that when He comes back He will further pay any more expenses incurred
(v.35). Like Moses who was treated
as an outcast, Christ was treated as an outcast. He is the Good Samaritan Is Christ going to stop promising what His
Word can do? No, He is going to accomplish what He started.
I’ll never forget my first experience using an automatic car wash. Approaching it with the dread of going to the dentist, i pushed the money into the slot, nervously checked and rechecked my windows, eased the car up to the line, and waited. Powers beyond my control began moving my car forward as if on a conveyor belt. There was i, cocooned inside, when a thunderous rush of water hit my car from all directions. What if i get stuck in here or water crashes in? I thought irrationally. Suddenly the waters ceased. After a blowdry, my car was propelled into the outside world again, clean and polished.