Good morning. God had confronted Moses at the burning bush. He had told him what lay ahead, what God had determined to be Moses’ mission. Moses was to return to Egypt and lead God’s people away from Egyptian captivity and take them to the land God had promised to them through their ancestors. Moses wasn’t exactly enthusiastic about God’s decision that he was the right man for the job.
Moses decided that this was a good time to be practical. He knew that the people wouldn’t be willing to believe him. After all, they would be putting their lives on the line, obeying the words of an old man who had run away 40 years earlier. Moses had a good point, but God had a better answer: Then Moses answered, “But behold, they will not believe me or listen to my voice, for they will say, ‘The Lord did not appear to you.’” The Lord said to him, “What is that in your hand?” He said, “A staff.” And he said, “Throw it on the ground.” So he threw it on the ground, and it became a serpent, and Moses ran from it. But the Lord said to Moses, “Put out your hand and catch it by the tail”—so he put out his hand and caught it, and it became a staff in his hand—“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.” Exodus 4:1-5
It took some nerve, and faith, for Moses to reach out and grab that snake, but he did. God told Moses that this would be repeated to testify to the Israelites that Moses was indeed sent by God.
This was the same rod, the same stick Moses had used for a walking staff, and it would be raised to part the Red Sea. It was the staff that struck the ground so that water would flow in the desert. Perhaps it was to be as much a sign to Moses as it was to the people. A constant reminder that just as God could turn a stick into a snake and back again, He could melt the stubborn hearts of His stiff-necked people.
From time to time, we all need a reminder of God’s power and presence. My suggestion for those moments is: read your Bible. What God has done and what God is doing is always amazing!
Vern