Bible Characters – Part 5

Series – July/August 2023 – Grace & Truth Magazine

Bible Characters
Gleanings From The Old Testament,Part 5

Moses’ Calling
Then it will be, if they do not believe you, nor heed the message of the first sign, that they may believe the message of the latter sign. And it shall be, if they do not believe even these two signs, or listen to your voice, that you shall take water from the river and pour it on the dry land. The water which you take from the river will become blood on the dry land. —Exodus 4:8-9 NKJV

Three Signs
The calling of Moses offers some highly interesting lessons in connection with the subject of preaching. It was accompanied by three signs, which also present to us three aspects of preaching. It is good to reflect on this since we live in a time when many a preacher proclaims the gospel with the help of so-called signs and miracles. This is called “power-evangelism.” However, these people are unable to perform the signs which Moses did before the unbelievers at Pharaoh’s court. And, their preaching often also lacks the spiritual lessons which can be learned from these signs.

On the other hand, Bible-based preaching:

1. Puts Christ Himself in the center, drawing the audience’s attention to Him alone.
2. Speaks about man’s total depravity.
3. Announces the coming judgment.

These points are illustrated by the three signs accompanying the calling of Moses, the man of God.

Moses, Moses!
It was with much hesitation that Moses set out to do the work the Lord ordered him to do – to lead the Israelites out of Egypt and into freedom. He kept bringing up all kinds of objections (3:10,13).

Obviously, 40 years of tending the flock of his father-in-law Jethro had thoroughly changed him into a meek and lowly man, now 80 years of age. Forty years before, Moses had adopted a totally different attitude when of his own will he went to visit his brethren. At that time he supposed the Israelites would understand that God had sent him to be their helper and savior. However, they did not, and they pushed him away (2:11-14; Acts 7:23-27).

Now, after Moses spent 40 years shepherding flocks, the time had come for God to deliver His people. Therefore Moses had to return to Egypt. God was faithful to His promises given to the patriarchs. Moses got very clear orders, and all his objections were met with divine answers. He was even given the power to perform signs before the Israelites to convince them of the legitimacy of his calling.

Obviously, as Paul remarked later (1 Cor. 1:22), even in those times the Jewish people wanted signs. In this respect, they resemble the preachers of our time who strive to perform signs and miracles, although it is quite doubtful whether this is according to God’s will in our days.

Nonetheless, Moses did have this commandment, and the signs he performed conveyed a clear message as well. They had a specific meaning and, therefore, are also valuable to us as New Testament believers.

Moses As A Type Of Christ
Moses, the powerful liberator of the sons of Israel, is not only a beautiful example for our personal life of faith, but he is specifically a type of Christ. The three signs which Moses was allowed to perform speak of Christ’s power over the three sworn enemies of mankind – Satan, sin and death. When we think of how He overcame these powerful enemies, we get an idea of His majesty and of His heavenly calling as our Savior and Redeemer. Then the Lord will become great before us, just as Moses was made great in the sight of the Israelites and the Egyptians when he performed these signs (Ex. 11:3).

The Rod Turned Into A Serpent. The first sign was the rod which turned into a serpent. God did not demand great things of Moses. He did not ask him a difficult question when He, in Exodus 4:2, said, “What is that in your hand?” It was just a shepherd’s rod. Moses had to give it up and throw it on the ground. Are we ready to give up our means and possibilities for God’s service? God is willing to use us, but He can do so only if we dedicate our lives to Him.

In Moses’ case, he got his rod back, and he was able to use it to help God’s people and lead them through the desert. Later, this simple shepherd’s rod was even called “the rod of God” (17:9). With this rod Moses called up the plagues on the land of Egypt, divided the waters of the Red Sea and cleaved the rock at Horeb (Ex. 7–10, 14, 17).

This rod was the symbol of the special authority of Moses, the man of God. Strangely enough, the rod changed into a serpent as soon as Moses threw it on the ground. What does this mean? It speaks of the consequences of the fall of man, when Satan seized that which had been entrusted to man and brought it under his control. Moses was not the only one who had been invested with authority. Man in the person of Adam was given authority to exercise in the various relationships into which God had placed him. Sadly, this was corrupted profoundly by the fall of the first man, who had been enticed by “that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan” (Rev. 12:9).

Fortunately, the second Man has come, the Man from heaven, that is, the Lord Jesus Christ. He overcame Satan, and He has been invested with all authority and power “in heaven and on earth” (Mt. 28:18). God has “seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come” (Eph. 1:20-21).

He is the mighty Redeemer of His people, who holds in check even the power of Satan, just as Moses reached out his hand and took the serpent, whereupon it became a rod in his hand. By faith this is a reality for us, a clear sign, although as yet it is not visible to all that all things have been subjected to Him. But that moment will come soon, just as it did for Egypt (see Ex. 7:8-13).

Put Your Hand In Your Bosom. But there was yet another problem that had to be solved. The Redeemer was confronted not only with the power of the evil one but also with the power of sin, of which the second sign which Moses had to perform speaks. “He put his hand in his bosom, and when he took it out, behold, his hand was leprous, like snow” (4:6). Leprosy is a well-known picture of the corrupting power of sin. But that was not the end of the story; Moses put his hand in his bosom again, and it was restored (v.7).

This sign shows us the victory of our Lord over the power of sin. He has “put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself” (Heb. 9:26). He was made “to be sin for us” on the cross (2 Cor. 5:21). “He Himself is the propitiation for our sins” (1 Jn. 2:2). He “bore our sins in His own body on the tree” (1 Pet. 2:24). And He can cleanse sinners; He makes us white as snow (Isa. 1:18).

By nature, we all are sinners (lepers) in the sight of God. The wrong acts we do with our hands originate in our sinful hearts. It is not just that we commit sins; we are sinners. As soon as we recognize this and turn to God in prayer, we shall be saved. Cleansing is available for repentant sinners. To us who believe, there is no doubt that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness (Lk. 5:13,24; 1 Jn. 1:9).

Water Changed Into Blood. The third sign was meant for those who did not believe – the people who disregarded the first two signs, as is clearly stated here (Ex. 4:8-9, 7). It was a sign of the judgment that was to follow. The announcement of God’s judgment is also part of the preaching of the gospel, as confirmed by Paul in his speech to the Greek philosophers on Mars’ hill (Acts 17:30-31).

Moses had to take water from the Nile and pour it on the dry land; then the water changed into blood. This spoke about the judgment which was going to strike the land of Egypt, the judgment of death (Ex. 7:14-25). This judgment will have its counterpart in the plagues which will befall the world in the end times (Rev. 16:3-7). Then the day of grace will be past and to the unbelievers nothing but the judgment of death will be left.

This last sign testifies to the fact that Christ has power over death and the grave, the power to execute judgment also. The Father “has committed all judgment to the Son,” who now holds the “keys of Hades and of Death” (Jn. 5:22; Rev. 1:18). It will be terrible to meet Him not as the Savior but as the Judge, and to experience forever that “the wages of sin is death” (Rom. 6:23).

In contrast, all who “believe on the Lord Jesus Christ … will be saved” (Acts 16:31)!

By Hugo Bouter (adapted)

Look for Part 6 of this Series next month.