The Berean Pursuit
Then Moses answered, "What if they do not believe me or listen to my voice? For they may say, 'The LORD has not appeared to you.'?"
And the LORD asked him, "What is that in your hand?"
"A staff," he replied.
"Throw it on the ground," said the LORD. So Moses threw it on the ground, and it became a snake, and he ran from it.
"Stretch out your hand and grab it by the tail," the LORD said to Moses, who reached out his hand and caught the snake, and it turned back into a staff in his hand. "This is so that they may believe that the LORD, the God of their fathers-the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob-has appeared to you."
Furthermore, the LORD said to Moses, "Put your hand inside your cloak." So he put his hand inside his cloak, and when he took it out, his hand was leprous, white as snow.
"Put your hand back inside your cloak," said the LORD.
So Moses put his hand back inside his cloak, and when he took it out, it was restored, like the rest of his skin.
And the LORD said, "If they refuse to believe you or heed the witness of the first sign, they may believe that of the second. But if they do not believe even these two signs or listen to your voice, take some water from the Nile and pour it on the dry ground. Then the water you take from the Nile will become blood on the ground."
"Please, Lord," Moses replied, "I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since You have spoken to Your servant, for I am slow of speech and tongue."
And the LORD said to him, "Who gave man his mouth? Or who makes the mute or the deaf, the sighted or the blind? Is it not I, the LORD? Now go! I will help you as you speak, and I will teach you what to say."
But Moses replied, "Please, Lord, send someone else."
Then the anger of the LORD burned against Moses, and He said, "Is not Aaron the Levite your brother? I know that he can speak well, and he is now on his way to meet you. When he sees you, he will be glad in his heart. You are to speak to him and put the words in his mouth. I will help both of you to speak, and I will teach you what to do. He will speak to the people for you. He will be your spokesman, and it will be as if you were God to him. But take this staff in your hand so you can perform signs with it."
Then Moses went back to his father-in-law Jethro and said to him, "Please let me return to my brothers in Egypt to see if they are still alive."
"Go in peace," Jethro replied.
Now the LORD had said to Moses in Midian, "Go back to Egypt, for all the men who sought to kill you are dead." So Moses took his wife and sons, put them on a donkey, and headed back to Egypt. And he took the staff of God in his hand.
The LORD instructed Moses, "When you go back to Egypt, see that you perform before Pharaoh all the wonders that I have put within your power. But I will harden his heart so that he will not let the people go.
Then tell Pharaoh that this is what the LORD says: 'Israel is My firstborn son, and I told you to let My son go so that he may worship Me. But since you have refused to let him go, behold, I will kill your firstborn son!'?"
Now at a lodging place along the way, the LORD met Moses and was about to kill him. But Zipporah took a flint knife, cut off her son's foreskin, and touched it to Moses' feet. "Surely you are a bridegroom of blood to me," she said.
So the LORD let him alone. (When she said, "bridegroom of blood," she was referring to the circumcision.)
Meanwhile, the LORD had said to Aaron, "Go and meet Moses in the wilderness." So he went and met Moses at the mountain of God and kissed him. And Moses told Aaron everything the LORD had sent him to say, and all the signs He had commanded him to perform.
Then Moses and Aaron went and assembled all the elders of the Israelites, and Aaron relayed everything the LORD had said to Moses.
And Moses performed the signs before the people, and they believed. And when they heard that the LORD had attended to the Israelites and had seen their affliction, they bowed down and worshiped.
After that, Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and said, "This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: 'Let My people go, so that they may hold a feast to Me in the wilderness.'?"
But Pharaoh replied, "Who is the LORD that I should obey His voice and let Israel go? I do not know the LORD, and I will not let Israel go."
"The God of the Hebrews has met with us," they answered. "Please let us go on a three-day journey into the wilderness to sacrifice to the LORD our God, or He may strike us with plagues or with the sword."
But the king of Egypt said to them, "Moses and Aaron, why do you draw the people away from their work? Get back to your labor!" Pharaoh also said, "Look, the people of the land are now numerous, and you would be stopping them from their labor."
That same day Pharaoh commanded the taskmasters of the people and their foremen: "You shall no longer supply the people with straw for making bricks. They must go and gather their own straw. But require of them the same quota of bricks as before; do not reduce it. For they are lazy; that is why they are crying out, 'Let us go and sacrifice to our God.' Make the work harder on the men so they will be occupied and pay no attention to these lies."
So the taskmasters and foremen of the people went out and said to them, "This is what Pharaoh says: 'I am no longer giving you straw. Go and get your own straw wherever you can find it; but your workload will in no way be reduced.'?"
So the people scattered all over the land of Egypt to gather stubble for straw. The taskmasters kept pressing them, saying, "Fulfill your quota each day, just as you did when straw was provided."
Then the Israelite foremen, whom Pharaoh's taskmasters had set over the people, were beaten and asked, "Why have you not fulfilled your quota of bricks yesterday or today, as you did before?"
So the Israelite foremen went and appealed to Pharaoh: "Why are you treating your servants this way? No straw has been given to your servants, yet we are told, 'Make bricks!' Look, your servants are being beaten, but the fault is with your own people."
"You are slackers!" Pharaoh replied. "Slackers! That is why you keep saying, 'Let us go and sacrifice to the LORD.' Now get to work. You will be given no straw, yet you must deliver the full quota of bricks."
The Israelite foremen realized they were in trouble when they were told, "You must not reduce your daily quota of bricks." When they left Pharaoh, they confronted Moses and Aaron, who stood waiting to meet them.
"May the LORD look upon you and judge you," the foremen said, "for you have made us a stench before Pharaoh and his officials; you have placed in their hand a sword to kill us!"
So Moses returned to the LORD and asked, "Lord, why have You brought trouble upon this people? Is this why You sent me? Ever since I went to Pharaoh to speak in Your name, he has brought trouble on this people, and You have not delivered Your people in any way."
But the LORD said to Moses, "Now you will see what I will do to Pharaoh, for because of My mighty hand he will let the people go; because of My strong hand he will drive them out of his land."
God also told Moses, "I am the LORD. I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob as God Almighty, but by My name the LORD I did not make Myself known to them. I also established My covenant with them to give them the land of Canaan, the land where they lived as foreigners. Furthermore, I have heard the groaning of the Israelites, whom the Egyptians are enslaving, and I have remembered My covenant.
Therefore tell the Israelites: 'I am the LORD, and I will bring you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians and deliver you from their bondage. I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with mighty acts of judgment. I will take you as My own people, and I will be your God. Then you will know that I am the LORD your God, who brought you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians. And I will bring you into the land that I swore to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. I will give it to you as a possession. I am the LORD!'?"
Moses relayed this message to the Israelites, but on account of their broken spirit and cruel bondage, they did not listen to him.
So the LORD said to Moses, "Go and tell Pharaoh king of Egypt to let the Israelites go out of his land."
But in the LORD's presence Moses replied, "If the Israelites will not listen to me, then why would Pharaoh listen to me, since I am unskilled in speech?"
Then the LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron and gave them a charge concerning both the Israelites and Pharaoh king of Egypt, to bring the Israelites out of the land of Egypt.
These were the heads of their fathers' houses:
The sons of Reuben, the firstborn of Israel, were Hanoch and Pallu, Hezron and Carmi. These were the clans of Reuben.
The sons of Simeon were Jemuel, Jamin, Ohad, Jachin, Zohar, and Shaul, the son of a Canaanite woman. These were the clans of Simeon.
These were the names of the sons of Levi according to their records: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari. Levi lived 137 years.
The sons of Gershon were Libni and Shimei, by their clans.
The sons of Kohath were Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel. Kohath lived 133 years.
The sons of Merari were Mahli and Mushi.
These were the clans of the Levites according to their records.
And Amram married his father's sister Jochebed, and she bore him Aaron and Moses. Amram lived 137 years.
The sons of Izhar were Korah, Nepheg, and Zichri.
The sons of Uzziel were Mishael, Elzaphan, and Sithri.
And Aaron married Elisheba, the daughter of Amminadab and sister of Nahshon, and she bore him Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar.
The sons of Korah were Assir, Elkanah, and Abiasaph. These were the clans of the Korahites.
Aaron's son Eleazar married one of the daughters of Putiel, and she bore him Phinehas.
These were the heads of the Levite families by their clans.
It was this Aaron and Moses to whom the LORD said, "Bring the Israelites out of the land of Egypt by their divisions." Moses and Aaron were the ones who spoke to Pharaoh king of Egypt in order to bring the Israelites out of Egypt.
Now on the day that the LORD spoke to Moses in Egypt, He said to him, "I am the LORD; tell Pharaoh king of Egypt everything I say to you."
But in the LORD's presence Moses replied, "Since I am unskilled in speech, why would Pharaoh listen to me?"
Brothers, if someone is caught in a trespass, you who are spiritual should restore him with a spirit of gentleness. But watch yourself, or you also may be tempted. Carry one another's burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.
If anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself.
Each one should test his own work. Then he will have reason to boast in himself alone, and not in someone else. For each one should carry his own load. Nevertheless, the one who receives instruction in the word must share in all good things with his instructor.
Do not be deceived: God is not to be mocked. Whatever a man sows, he will reap in return. The one who sows to please his flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; but the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life.
Let us not grow weary in well-doing, for in due time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to the family of faith.
See what large letters I am using to write to you with my own hand!
Those who want to make a good impression outwardly are trying to compel you to be circumcised. They only do this to avoid persecution for the cross of Christ. For the circumcised do not even keep the law themselves, yet they want you to be circumcised that they may boast in your flesh.
But as for me, may I never boast, except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. For neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything. What counts is a new creation.
Peace and mercy to all who walk by this rule, even to the Israel of God.
From now on let no one cause me trouble, for I bear on my body the marks of Jesus.
The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit, brothers.
Amen.