Exodus 4

Exo 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.

They will not believe me - With this chapter begins the series of miracles which resulted in the deliverance of Israel. The first miracle was performed to remove the first obstacle, namely, the reluctance of Moses, conscious of his own weakness, and of the enormous power with which he would have to contend.

They will not believe me - As if he had said, Unless I be enabled to work miracles, and give them proofs by extraordinary works as well as by words, they will not believe that thou hast sent me. Moses now started a fresh difficulty: the Israelites would not believe that Jehovah had appeared to him. There was so far a reason for this difficulty, that from the time of Jacob-an interval, therefore, of 430 years - God had never appeared to any Israelite. God therefore removed it by giving him three signs by which he might attest his divine mission to his people. These three signs were intended indeed for the Israelites, to convince them of the reality of the appearance of Jehovah to Moses; at the same time, they also served to strengthen Moses' faith, and dissipate his fears as to the result of his mission. For it was apparent enough that Moses did not possess true and entire confidence in God, from the fact that he still raised this difficulty, and distrusted the divine assurance.

Exo 4:2 And the LORD said unto him, What is that in thine hand? And he said, A rod.

A rod - matteh, a staff, probably his shepherd’s crook. As it was made the instrument of working many miracles, it was afterwards called the rod of God; Exo 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.

The First Sign. - The turning of Moses' staff into a serpent, which became a staff again when Moses took it by the tail, had reference to the calling of Moses. The staff in his hand was his shepherd's crook, and represented his calling as a shepherd. At the bidding of God he threw it upon the ground, and the staff became a serpent, before which Moses fled. The giving up of his shepherd-life would expose him to dangers, from which he would desire to escape. At the same time, there was more implied in the figure of a serpent than danger which merely threatened his life. The serpent had been the constant enemy of the seed of the woman (Gen 3), and represented the power of the wicked one which prevailed in Egypt. But at the bidding of God, Moses seized the serpent by the tail, and received his staff again as “the rod of God,” with which he smote Egypt with great plagues. From this sign the people of Israel would necessarily perceive, that Jehovah had not only called Moses to be the leader of Israel, but had endowed him with the power to overcome the serpent-like cunning and the might of Egypt; in other words, they would “believe that Jehovah, the God of the fathers, had appeared to him.” (On the special meaning of this sign for Pharaoh, see Exo_7:10.)

Exo 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.

A serpent - Of what sort we know not, as the word nachash is a general name for serpents, and also means several other things, see Gen_3:1 : but it was either of a kind that he had not seen before, or one that he knew to be dangerous; for it is said, he fled from before it.

A serpent - This miracle had a meaning which Moses could not mistake. The serpent was possibly the Cobra. This was the symbol of royal and divine power on the diadem of every Pharaoh. The conversion of the rod was not merely a portent, it was a sign, at once a pledge and representation of victory over the king and gods of Egypt!

A serpent - it was a sign that Moses did not these miracles by the power of the devil, but had a power over and beyond him, when he could thus deal with the serpent at his pleasure, as to make his rod a serpent, and the serpent a rod, as he saw good:

Exo 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:

take it by the tail - Which to do might seem most dangerous, since it might turn upon him and bite him;

Exo 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.

That they may believe - This is an example of what is called an imperfect or unfinished speech, several of which occur in the sacred writings. It may be thus supplied: Do this before them, that they may believe that the Lord hath appeared unto thee.

That they may believe - The elders and people of Israel; for this miracle was wrought not for the confirmation of Moses's faith; for the sign of the burning bush was given to him to confirm his faith, that it was God that appeared to him, and called him to this work; but this was wrought to confirm the faith of the Israelites in his divine mission:

Exo 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.

Leprous - The instantaneous production and cure of the most malignant and subtle disease known to the Israelites was a sign of their danger if they resisted the command, and of their deliverance if they obeyed it. The infliction and cure were always regarded as special proofs of a divine intervention.

His hand was leprous as snow – Leprosy in the bible was used for many diseases, not just Hansen’s disease as leprosy is called today. Among the diseases included under this word were psoriasis, vitiligo, ringworm, syphilis, mildew, and the rot. These affected not only people but houses and garments. What specifically Moses had is not known. However, it was a spectacular threat to the life and health of Moses in order for it to be a sign.

His hand was leprous as snow - That is, the leprosy spread itself over the whole body in thin white scales; The leprosy, at least among the Jews, was a most inveterate and contagious disorder, and deemed by them incurable. Among the heathens it was considered as inflicted by their gods, and it was supposed that they alone could remove it. It is certain that a similar belief prevailed among the Israelites; hence, when the king of Syria sent his general Naaman, to the king of Israel to cure him of his leprosy, he rent his clothes, saying, Amos I God, to kill and to make alive, that this man doth send unto me to recover a man of his leprosy? 2Ki_5:7. This appears, therefore, to be the reason why God chose this sign, as the instantaneous infliction and removal of this disease were demonstrations which all would allow of the sovereign power of God.

The Second Sign. - Moses' hand became leprous, and was afterwards cleansed again. The expression covered with leprosy like snow, refers to the white leprosy Lev 13:3 And the priest shall look on the plague in the skin of the flesh. And if the hair in the plague has turned white, and the plague in sight is deeper than the skin of his flesh, it is a plague of leprosy. And the priest shall look on him and shall pronounce him unclean. So far as the meaning of this sign is concerned, Moses' hand has been explained in a perfectly arbitrary manner as representing the Israelitish nation, and his bosom as representing first Egypt, and then Canaan, as the hiding-place of Israel. If the shepherd's staff represented Moses' calling, the hand was that which directed or ruled the calling. It is in the bosom that the nurse carried the sucking child Num 11:12 Have I conceived all this people? Did I bring them forth, that You should say to me, Bear them in your bosom like a nursing father carries the sucking child, to the land which You swore to their fathers?, the shepherd the lambs Isa 40:11 He shall feed His flock like a shepherd; He shall gather the lambs with His arm, and carry them in His bosom, and shall gently lead those with young, and the sacred singer the many nations, from whom he has suffered reproach and injury Psa 89:50 Remember, Lord, the scorn of Your servants; how I bear in my bosom the insult of all the mighty people. So Moses also carried his people in his bosom, i.e., in his heart: of that his first appearance in Egypt was a proof. But now he was to set his hand to deliver them from the reproach and bondage of Egypt. He put his hand into his bosom, and his hand was covered with leprosy. The nation was like a leper, who defiled every one that touched him. The leprosy represented not only “the servitude and contemptuous treatment of the Israelites in Egypt” but the impurity of Egypt in which Israel was sunken. This Moses soon discovered, and on more than one occasion afterwards; so that he had to complain to Jehovah Num_11:11-12 And Moses said to Jehovah, Why have You afflicted Your servant? And why have I not found favor in Your sight, so that You lay the burden of all this people upon me? Have I conceived all this people? Did I bring them forth, that You should say to me, Bear them in your bosom like a nursing father carries the sucking child, to the land which You swore to their fathers? But God had the power to purify the nation from this leprosy, and would endow His servant Moses with that power. At the command of God, Moses put his hand, now covered with leprosy, once more into his bosom, and drew it out quite cleansed. This was what Moses was to learn by the sign; whilst Israel also learned that God both could and would deliver it, through the cleansed hand of Moses, from all its bodily and spiritual misery. The object of the first miracle was to exhibit Moses as the man whom Jehovah had called to be the leader of His people; that of the second, to show that, as the messenger of Jehovah, he was furnished with the necessary power for the execution of this calling. In this sense God says, in Exo_4:8, “If they will not hearken to the voice of the first sign, they will believe the voice of the latter sign.” A voice is ascribed to the sign, as being a clear witness to the divine mission of the person performing it. Psa 105:27 They showed His signs among them, and wonders in the land of Ham.

Exo 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.

Exo 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.

If they will not believe - Probably intimating that some would be more difficult to be persuaded than others: some would yield to the evidence of the first miracle; others would hesitate till they had seen the second; and others would not believe till they had seen the water of the Nile turned into blood, when poured upon the dry land; Exo_4:9; the first sign respects his rod, the other his hand.

Exo 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.

and pour it upon the dry land - in turning the waters of the river into blood, thereby avenging the blood of innocent babes drowned there by the Egyptians.

The Third Sign. - If the first two signs should not be sufficient to lead the people to believe in the divine mission of Moses, he was to give them one more practical demonstration of the power which he had received to overcome the might and gods of Egypt. He was to take of the water of the Nile (the river, Gen_41:1) and pour it upon the dry land, and it would become blood. The Nile received divine honors as the source of every good and all prosperity in the natural life of Egypt, and was even identified with Osiris. If Moses therefore had power to turn the life-distributing water of the Nile into blood, he must also have received power to destroy Pharaoh and his gods. Israel was to learn this from the sign, whilst Pharaoh and the Egyptians were afterwards to experience this might of Jehovah in the form of punishment (Exo_7:15.). Thus Moses as not only entrusted with the word of God, but also endowed with the power of God; and as he was the first God-sent prophet, so was he also the first worker of miracles, and in this capacity a type of the Apostle of our profession (Heb_3:1), even the God-man, Christ Jesus.

Exo 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.

slow of speech and of a slow tongue - The double expression seems to imply a difficulty both in finding words and in giving them utterance.

Since thou hast spoken - This expression seems to imply that some short time had intervened between this address and the first communication of the divine purpose to Moses.

I am not eloquent - I am not a man of words; a periphrasis common in the Scriptures. So Job_11:2, a man of lips, signifies one that is talkative. Psa_140:11, a man of tongue, signifies a prattler. But how could it be said that Moses was not eloquent, when St. Stephen asserts, Act 7:22 And Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians and was mighty in words and in deeds? There are three ways of solving this difficulty:

1. Moses might have had some natural infirmity, of a late standing, which at that time rendered it impossible for him to speak readily, and which he afterwards overcame; so that though he was not then a man of words, yet he might afterwards have been mighty in words as well as deeds.

2. It is possible he was not intimately acquainted with the Hebrew tongue, so as to speak clearly and distinctly in it. The first forty years of his life he had spent in Egypt, chiefly at court; and though it is very probable there was an affinity between the two languages, yet they certainly were not the same. The last forty he had spent in Midian, and it is not likely that the pure Hebrew tongue prevailed there, though it is probable that a dialect of it was there spoken. On these accounts Moses might find it difficult to express himself with that readiness and persuasive flow of language, which he might deem essentially necessary on such a momentous occasion; as he would frequently be obliged to consult his memory for proper expressions, which would necessarily produce frequent hesitation, and general slowness of utterance, which he might think would ill suit an ambassador of God.

3. Though Moses was slow of speech, yet when acting as the messenger of God his word was with power, for at his command the plagues came and the plagues were stayed; thus was he mighty in words as well as in deeds.

And Moses said unto the Lord - Notwithstanding the above miracles, he seems unwilling to go on the Lord's errand to Pharaoh and to the Israelites, and therefore seems to invent a new objection after all his other objections had been sufficiently answered:

I am not eloquent - or "a man of words", that has words at command, that can speak well readily, and gracefully; such an one, he intimates, was proper to be sent to a king's court, that was an orator, that could make fine speeches, and handsome addresses, for which he was not qualified:

but I am slow of speech, and of a slow tongue - possibly had some impediment in his speech, could not freely and easily bring out his words, or rightly pronounce them.

O my Lord, I am not eloquent - He was a great philosopher, statesman, and divine, and yet no orator; a man of a clear head, great thought and solid judgment, but had not a voluble tongue, nor ready utterance; and therefore he thought himself unfit to speak before great men, and about great affairs. Moses was mighty in word, Act_7:22, and yet not eloquent: what he said was strong and nervous, and to the purpose, and distilled as the dew, Deu_32:2 My doctrine shall drop as the rain; my speech shall drop down as the dew, as the small rain on the tender plant, and as the showers on the grass; though he did not deliver himself with that readiness, ease and fineness that some do.

Exo 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?

Who hath made man’s mouth? - Jehovah both could and would provide for this defect. He had made man's mouth, and He made dumb or deaf, seeing or blind. He possessed unlimited power over all the senses, could give them or take them away; and He would be with Moses' mouth, and teach him what he was to say, i.e., impart to him the necessary qualification both as to matter and mode. - Moses' difficulties were now all exhausted, and removed by the assurances of God. But this only brought to light the secret reason in his heart. He did not wish to undertake the divine mission.

Exo 4:12 Now therefore go, and I will be with thy mouth, and teach thee what thou shalt say.

Compare with this our Lord’s promise to His Apostles; Mat_10:19 But when they deliver you up, take no thought how or what you shall speak; for it shall be given you in that same hour what you shall speak. Mar_13:11 But whenever they lead you away and deliver you up, take no thought beforehand what you should speak or think. But speak whatever shall be given to you in that hour. For it is not you who speaks, but the Holy Spirit.

Exo 4:13 And he said, O my Lord, send, I pray thee, by the hand of him whom thou wilt send.

send by the hand of him whom You will send – A phrase meaning "choose any other man, not me!" Moses shows his heart here, with no more “real” objections, he still asks God to send another. The anger of God was now excited by this groundless opposition. But as this unwillingness also arose from weakness of the flesh, the mercy of God came to the help of his weakness, and He referred Moses to his brother Aaron, who could speak well, and would address the people for him (Exo_4:14-17).

Exo 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.

Aaron the Levite - This is the first mention of Aaron, his elder brother, who was born three years before him. The words “he can speak well,” probably imply that Aaron had both the power and will to speak. Aaron is here called “the Levite,” with reference, it may be, to the future consecration of this tribe. Or perhaps Aaron is called the Levite, because he was a descendant of Levi, and yet so was Moses; perhaps this is added here, to distinguish him from others of the same name in other families; and it is likely that Moses added this title to him, in his account of this affair, because he was the first of the tribe of Levi that was employed in the priestly office:

He cometh forth - is on the eve of setting forth to meet at His mount, Exodus 4:27. Not that Aaron was already on the way, but that he would go to meet his brother, at God’s command, perhaps because the enemies of Moses were dead Exo_4:19.

he cometh forth to meet thee - having had an intimation from God of Moses's call to come into Egypt, and deliver his people from their bondage, he immediately set out to meet him, whereby he showed more faith, zeal, and courage, than Moses did; and this is said to animate him, and was a new sign, and would be a fresh confirmation of his faith, when he should see it accomplished, as he did:

And the anger of the Lord was kindled against Moses - For the objections, excuses, and delays he made with respect to his mission. In what way this anger was expressed is not easy to say. However, though the Lord was angry with Moses, yet without any change of affection to him, he still retained and expressed a great regard to him; did not reject him from his service as he might have done, but employed him, and preferred him to his elder brother. Moses shows himself to be a faithful historian in recording his own weaknesses, and the displeasure of God at them:

And the anger of the Lord was kindled against him - Even self-diffidence when it grows into an extreme, when it either hinders us from duty, or clogs us in duty, is very displeasing to him.

I know that he can speak well - speak very freely, fluently, in an eloquent manner;

Exo 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.

Thou shalt speak - Moses thus retains his position as “mediator;” the word comes to him first, he transmits it to his brother.

And thou shalt speak unto him, and put words in his mouth - Or "things", the matter and substance of what he should say, who being a man of words, an eloquent man, and a good spokesman, would put them into proper language, and express them fluently:

I will be with thy mouth, and with his mouth - Ye shall be both, in all things which I appoint you to do in this business, under the continual inspiration of the Most High.

Exo 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.

Instead of God - The word “God” is used of persons who represent the Deity, as kings or judges, and it is understood in this sense here: “Thou shalt be to him a master.” Moses will give to Aaron the message God wishes to be spoken.

and thou shall be to him instead of God - Aaron was to stand between Moses and the people, and speak for him; and Moses was to stand between God and Aaron, and in God's stead, and tell him what orders he had received from him, and which he should communicate; a civil magistrate, one that had the power of life and death; the administration of civil affairs belonged to Moses, and Aaron, though the elder brother, was subject to him; and in this sense Moses was a god to him; and so in after times, the judges of Israel, they that sat in Moses's chair, were called gods, Psa_82:1 A Psalm of Asaph. God stands in the congregation of God; in the midst of the gods He judges.

He shall be thy spokesman - Literally, He shall speak for thee (or in thy stead) to the people.

He shall be to thee instead of a mouth - He shall convey every message to the people;

Exo 4:17 And thou shalt take this rod in thine hand, wherewith thou shalt do signs.

And thou shall take this rod in thine hand - Which he then had in his hand, and was no other than his shepherd's staff: The staff or crook he carried as a shepherd, that he might not be ashamed of that mean condition out of which God called him. This rod must be his staff of authority, and must be to him instead, both of sword and sceptre.

Exo 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.

let me go, I pray thee - as Jethro had been kind and beneficent to him, he did not choose to leave him without his knowledge and consent, and especially to take away his wife and children without it:

and see whether they be yet alive - it seems by this that Moses had heard nothing of them during the forty years he lived in Midian, which may be thought strange, since it was not very far from Egypt; and besides the Midianites traded in Egypt, as we learn from Gen_37:28 but this must be ascribed to the providence of God, that so ordered it, that there should be no intercourse between him and his brethren, that so no step might be taken by them for their deliverance until the set time was come. Moses did not acquaint his father-in-law with the principal reason of his request, nor of his chief end in going into Egypt, which it might not be proper to acquaint him with, he being of another nation, though a good man; and lest he should use any arguments to dissuade Moses from going, who now having got clear of his diffidence and distrust, was determined upon it: though some ascribe this to his modesty in not telling Jethro of the glorious and wonderful appearance of God to him, and of the honor he had conferred on him to be the deliverer and governor of the people of Israel:

and see whether they be yet alive - By the “brethren” we are to understand not merely the nearer relatives of Moses, or the family of Amram, but the Israelites generally. Considering the oppression under which they were suffering at the time of Moses' flight, the question might naturally arise, whether they were still living, and had not been altogether exterminated.

Exo 4:19 And the LORD said unto Moses in Midian, Go, return into Egypt: for all the men are dead which sought thy life.

And the Lord said unto Moses in Midian - This was a new revelation, and appears to have taken place after Moses returned to his father-in-law previous to his departure for Egypt.

go, return into Egypt - that is, directly, immediately; before he had only given him a commission at large to go thither, but had not fixed the time when he should go; but now he orders him to set forward at once:

all the men are dead which sought thy life--The death of the Egyptian monarch took place in the four hundred and twenty-ninth year of the Hebrew sojourn in that land, and that event, according to the law of Egypt, took off his proscription of Moses, if it had been publicly issued.

Exo 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.

His wife and his sons - This is the first notice of other sons besides Gershom.

The rod of God - so called, because God ordered him to take it; and besides, he had wrought signs and wonders by it already, and would do many more. The staff of Moses was consecrated by the miracle Exo_4:2 and became “the rod of God.” The sign of sovereign power, by which he was to perform all his miracles; once the badge of his shepherd’s office, and now that by which he is to feed, rule, and protect his people Israel.

Exo 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.

But I will harden his heart - The verb chazak, which we translate harden, literally signifies to strengthen, confirm, make bold or courageous;

but I will harden his heart - it was but a righteous thing in God to give him up to the hardness of his heart, to deny him his grace, which only could soften it, and to leave him to the corruptions of his nature, and the temptations of Satan; and by leaving him to strong delusions, to believe the lying miracles of his magicians: this the Lord thought fit to acquaint Moses with, lest he should be discouraged by his refusal to dismiss Israel. However, Pharaoh’s heart was already inclined towards hardness, in many verses for example Exo 8:32 And Pharaoh hardened his heart at this time also, neither would he let the people go. In the first few miracles, Pharaoh hardened his own heart. God didn’t harden the heart until the 6th plague.

But I will harden his heart - The case of Pharaoh has given rise to many fierce controversies, and to several strange and conflicting opinions. If we take up the subject in a theological point of view, all will allow the truth of this proposition of Augustine, when the subject in question is a person who has hardened his own heart by frequently resisting the grace and spirit of God: “God does not harden men by infusing malice into them, but by not imparting mercy to them.” And this other will be as readily credited: “God does not work this hardness of heart in man; but he may be said to harden him whom he refuses to soften, to blind him whom he refuses to enlighten, and to repel him whom he refuses to call.” It is but just and right that he should withhold those graces which he had repeatedly offered, and which the sinner had despised and rejected. All those who have read the Scriptures with care and attention, know well that God is frequently represented in them as doing what he only permits to be done. So because a man has grieved his Spirit and resisted his grace he withdraws that Spirit and grace from him, and thus he becomes bold and presumptuous in sin. Pharaoh made his own heart stubborn against God, Exo_9:34; and God gave him up to judicial blindness, so that he rushed on stubbornly to his own destruction. From the whole of Pharaoh’s conduct we learn that he was bold, haughty, and cruel; and God chose to permit these dispositions to have their full sway in his heart without check or restraint from Divine influence: the consequence was what God intended, he did not immediately comply with the requisition to let the people go; and this was done that God might have the fuller opportunity of manifesting his power by multiplying signs and miracles, and thus impress the hearts both of the Egyptians and Israelites with a due sense of his omnipotence and justice. The whole procedure was graciously calculated to do endless good to both nations. The Israelites must be satisfied that they had the true God for their protector; and thus their faith was strengthened. The Egyptians must see that their gods could do nothing against the God of Israel; and thus their dependence on them was necessarily shaken. These great ends could not have been answered had Pharaoh at once consented to let the people go. This consideration alone unravels the mystery, and explains everything.

Exo 4:22 And thou shalt say unto Pharaoh, Thus saith the LORD, Israel is my son, even my firstborn:

My firstborn - The expression would be perfectly intelligible to Pharaoh, whose official designation was “son of Ra.” In numberless inscriptions the Pharaohs are styled “own sons” or “beloved sons” of the deity. It is here applied for the first time to Israel; and as we learn from Exo_4:23, emphatically in antithesis to Pharaoh’s own firstborn.

Israel is my son, even my firstborn - as dear to him as a man's firstborn is, or as his only son: adoption is one of the privileges peculiar to Israel after the flesh, even national adoption, with all the external privileges appertaining to it, Rom 9:4 who are Israelites; to whom belong the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the Law, and the service of God, and the promises;

Israel is My first-born son - In order that Pharaoh might form a true estimate of the solemnity of the divine command, Moses was to make known to him not only the relation of Jehovah to Israel, but also the judgment to which he would be exposed if he refused to let Israel go. The relation in which Israel stood to Jehovah was expressed by God in the words, “Israel is My first-born son.” Israel was Jehovah's son by virtue of his election to be the people of possession Deu 14:2 For you are a holy people to Jehovah your God, and Jehovah has chosen you to be a peculiar people to Himself, above all the nations that are on the earth. This election began with the call of Abraham to be the father of the nation in which all the families of the earth were to be blessed. On the ground of this promise, which was now to be realized in the seed of Abraham by the deliverance of Israel out of Egypt, the nation of Israel is already called Jehovah's “son,” although it was through the conclusion of the covenant at Sinai that it was first exalted to be the people of Jehovah's possession out of all the nations. The divine sonship of Israel was therefore spiritual in its nature. The choosing of Israel as the son of God was an adoption flowing from the free grace of God which involved the loving, fatherly treatment of the son, and demanded obedience, reverence, and confidence towards the Father. It was this which constituted the very essence of the covenant made by Jehovah with Israel, that He treated it with mercy and love (Hos_11:1; Jer_31:9, Jer_31:20), pitied it as a father pitieth his children (Psa_103:13), chastened it on account of its sins, yet did not withdraw His mercy from it (2Sa_7:14-15; Psa_89:31-35), and trained His son to be a holy nation by the love and severity of paternal discipline. - Still Israel was not only a son, but the “first-born son” of Jehovah. In this title the calling of the heathen is implied. Israel was not to be Jehovah's only son, but simply the first-born, who was peculiarly dear to his Father, and had certain privileges above the rest. Jehovah was about to exalt Israel above all the nations of the earth Deu 28:1 And it will be, if you shall listen carefully to the voice of Jehovah your God, to observe and to do all His commandments which I command you today, Jehovah your God will set you on high above all nations of the earth. Now, if Pharaoh would not let Jehovah's first-born son depart, he would pay the penalty in the life of his own first-born. In this intense earnestness of the divine command, Moses had a strong support to his faith. If Israel was Jehovah's first-born son, Jehovah could not relinquish him, but must deliver His son from the bondage of Egypt.

Thus saith the Lord - This is the first time that preface is used by any man, which afterwards is used so frequently by all the prophets:

Exo 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.

Let my son go, that he may serve me - Which they could not do in Goshen, consistently with the policy and religious worship of the Egyptians; because the most essential part of an Israelite’s worship consisted in sacrifice, and the animals which they offered to God were sacred among the Egyptians. Moses gives Pharaoh this reason Exo 8:26 And Moses said, It is not right to do so, for we shall sacrifice the abomination of the Egyptians to Jehovah our God. Lo, shall we sacrifice the abomination of the Egyptians before their eyes, and will they not stone us?

I will slay thy son, even thy first-born - Which, on Pharaoh’s utter refusal to let the people go, was accordingly done; Exo 12:29 And it happened at midnight Jehovah struck all the first-born in the land of Egypt, from the first-born of Pharaoh that sat on his throne to the first-born of the captive that was in the prison; also all the first-born of cattle.

Exo 4:24 And it came to pass by the way in the inn, that the LORD met him, and sought to kill him.

Met him, and sought to kill him - It seems the sin of Moses, was neglecting to circumcise his son, which perhaps was the effect of his being unequally yoked with a Midianite, who was too indulgent of her child, and Moses so of her. The Lord met him, and, probably, by a sword in an angel's hand, sought to kill him - This was a great change. Very lately God was conversing with him as a friend, and now coming forth against him as an enemy. In this case of necessity Zipporah herself circumcised the child without delay; whether with passionate words, expressing the dislike of the ordinance itself, or at least the administration of it to so young a child.

the Lord met him, and sought to kill him-- To dishonor that sign and seal of the covenant was criminal in any Hebrew, peculiarly so in one destined to be the leader and deliverer of the Hebrews; But if Moses was to carry out the divine commission with success, he must first of all prove himself to be a faithful servant of Jehovah in his own house. This he was to learn from the occurrence at the inn: Concerned for her husband's safety, Zipporah overcomes her maternal feelings of aversion to the painful rite, performs herself, by means of one of the sharp flints with which that part of the desert abounds, an operation which her husband, on whom the duty devolved, was unable to do, and having brought the bloody evidence, exclaimed in the painful excitement of her feelings that from love to him she had risked the life of her child.

Met him, and sought to kill him - Moses was attacked by a sudden and dangerous illness, which he knew was inflicted by God. The word “sought to kill” implies that the sickness, whatever might be its nature, was one which threatened death had it not been averted by a timely act. Zipporah believed that the illness of Moses was due to his having neglected the duty of an Israelite, and to his not having circumcised his own son; the delay was probably owing to her own not unnatural repugnance to a rite, which was not adopted generally in the East, even by the descendants of Abraham and Keturah. Moses appears to have been utterly prostrate and unable to perform the rite himself.

Met him, and sought to kill him - Circumcision had been enjoined upon Abraham by Jehovah as a covenant sign for all his descendants; and the sentence of death was pronounced upon any neglect of it, as being a breach of the covenant (Gen_17:14). The punishment fell upon the parents, and first of all upon the father, who had neglected to keep the commandment of God. Now, though Moses had probably omitted circumcision simply from regard to his Midianitish wife, who disliked this operation, he had been guilty of a capital crime, which God could not pass over in the case of one whom He had chosen to be His messenger, to establish His covenant with Israel. Hence He threatened him with death, to bring him to a consciousness of his sin; and also to show him with what earnestness God demanded the keeping of His commandments. Still He did not kill him; for his sin had sprung from weakness of the flesh, from a sinful yielding to his wife, which could both be explained and excused on account of his position in the Midianite's house. That Zipporah's dislike to circumcision had been the cause of the omission, has been justly inferred by commentators from the fact, that on Jehovah's attack upon Moses, she proceeded at once to perform what had been neglected, and, as it seems, with inward repugnance.

Met him, and sought to kill him - As Moses and his family were traveling in their way to Egypt, at an inn where they stopped for the refreshment of themselves and cattle, or in order to lodge all night: so it was, that the Lord met him, and sought to kill him; not the uncircumcised son of Moses, as some think, but Moses himself, who had neglected the circumcision of his son; that from the context, and the fact of Zipporah, after related, seems to be the reason of the divine displeasure, and not his bringing his family with him, supposed to be an hinderance of him in his work, nor of his staying too long at the inn, and not hastening his journey, which are the reasons given by some: and Moses's neglect of circumcision was not owing to the disuse of it among the Midianites, who being the descendants of Abraham, it is highly probable they retained this rite, and that it was used in Jethro's family, since Zipporah well understood the nature of it, and how to perform it; and it looks as if her eldest son had been circumcised before, seeing only one was now circumcised by her; but the Midianites perhaps followed the same practice as the Ishmaelites did, who were their neighbors, and the descendants of Abraham also, who deferred it till their children were thirteen years of age; or if this child was a very young one, it might have been put off, because of the journey they were just about to take, and purposing to do it when come into Egypt; but this was resented by the Lord in Moses, who had such knowledge of the law of God; and this displeasure of Jehovah might be signified either by inflicting some disease upon him, which threatened him with death, or by appearing in a terrible manner, as the angel of the Lord did to Balaam, with a drawn sword in his hand.

Exo 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.

Took a sharp stone - The sharp stone mentioned was probably a knife made of flint, for such were anciently used, even where knives of metal might be had, for every kind of operation about the human body. Zipporah used a piece of flint, in accordance with the usage of the patriarchs.

Cast it at his feet - Showing at once her abhorrence of the rite, and her feeling that by it she had saved her husband’s life.

A bloody husband - Literally, “a husband of blood,” or “bloods.” The meaning is: The marriage bond between us is now sealed by blood. By performing the rite, Zipporah had recovered her husband; his life was purchased for her by the blood of her child.

Then Zipporah took a sharp stone - Perceiving that it was the neglect of circumcising her son was the cause of the divine displeasure against her husband; and he being either so ill through the disease upon him, or so terrified with the appearance of the Lord to him, in the manner it was, that he could not perform this rite himself, she undertook it; and, according to the Jewish canons, a woman may circumcise;

Of her son - From the word “her son,” it is evident that Zipporah only circumcised one of the two sons of Moses (Exo_4:20); so that the other, most likely the elder, had already been circumcised in accordance with the law.

Exo 4:26 So he let him go: then she said, A bloody husband thou art, because of the circumcision.

So he let him go - God withdrew His visitation from Moses.

So he let him go - The destroying angel withdrew. But still Zipporah cannot forget, but will unreasonably call Moses a bloody husband, because he obliged her to circumcise the child; and upon this occasion, (it is probable) he sent them back to his father - in - law, that they might not create him any farther uneasiness.

So he let him go--Moses recovered; but the remembrance of this critical period in his life would stimulate the Hebrew legislator to enforce a faithful attention to the rite of circumcision when it was established as a divine ordinance in Israel, and made their peculiar distinction as a people.

Exo 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.

In the mount of God - in Horeb, where the Lord had appeared to Moses, and therefore called the mount of God, and where afterwards the law was given, and the covenant made with the people of Israel; and so the Targum of Jonathan paraphrases it,"in the mount on which the glory of God was revealed:" That is, the place where God had met with him.

Aaron met him in the mount of God, and kissed him--After a separation of forty years, their meeting would be mutually happy. Similar are the salutations of Arab friends when they meet in the desert still; conspicuous is the kiss on each side of the head. After the removal of the sin, which had excited the threatening wrath of Jehovah, Moses once more received a token of the divine favor in the arrival of Aaron, under the direction of God, to meet him at the Mount of God (Exo_3:1).

and kissed him - as relations and intimate friends used to do at meeting or parting, to testify affection and respect; and Aaron must on all accounts be glad to meet Moses, both as he was his brother, whom he had not seen for many years, and as he was come to be a deliverer of the people of Israel.

Exo 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.

And Moses told Aaron all the words of the Lord - He declared his mission and commission from God, and gave him the particulars of what was to be said both to the people of Israel and to the king of Egypt; and this he did, because Aaron was to be his spokesman unto them:

Exo 4:29 And Moses and Aaron went and gathered together all the elders of the children of Israel:

All the elders - The Israelites retained their own national organization; their affairs were administered by their own elders, who called a public assembly Aaron was spokesman, and Moses performed the appointed miracles--through which "the people" (that is, the elders) believed and received the joyful tidings of the errand on which Moses had come with devout thanksgiving. Formerly they had slighted the message and rejected the messenger. Formerly Moses had gone in his own strength; now he goes leaning on God, and strong only through faith in Him who had sent him. Israel also had been taught a useful lesson, and it was good for both that they had been afflicted.

Moses and Aaron went--towards Egypt, Zipporah and her sons having been sent back. Compare Exo_18:2.

Exo 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.

Aaron spake all the words - As Moses had related to him, being his mouth and spokesman: It is likely that Aaron was better acquainted with the Hebrew tongue than his brother, and on this account he became the spokesman.

Did the signs - and did the signs in the sight of the people; not Aaron, but Moses, and these were the turning of his rod into a serpent, and the serpent into a rod again; putting his hand into and out of his bosom, when it was leprous, and then doing the same when it was well again; and taking water out of the river, and changing it into blood, which he did for the confirmation of his mission.

Exo 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.

The people believed - They credited the account given of the Divine appointment of Moses and Aaron to be their deliverers out of their bondage, the miracles wrought on the occasion confirming the testimony delivered by Aaron.

They bowed their heads and worshipped - See a similar act mentioned, and in the same words, Gen_24:26 And the man bowed down his head, and worshiped the Lord. The bowing the head, etc., here, may probably refer to the eastern custom of bowing the head down to the knees, then kneeling down and touching the earth with the forehead. The Jewish custom was to bend the body so that every joint of the backbone became incurvated, and the head was bent towards the knees, so that the body resembled a bow; and prostration implied laying the body flat upon the earth, the arms and legs extended to the uttermost, the mouth and forehead touching the ground. In Mat_8:2 the leper is said to worship our Lord but in Luk_5:12 he is said to have fallen on his face. These two accounts show that he first kneeled down, probably putting his face down to his knees, and touching the earth with his forehead; and then prostrated himself, his legs and arms being both extended.

then they bowed their heads, and worshipped - adoring the goodness of God, and expressing their thankfulness for the notice he took of them, and signifying their readiness to obey all instructions and directions that should be given them.