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Exodus 4

YHWH answers Moses’ objections with signs and help, while asserting his authority over the messenger and Pharaoh alike.

Moses fears that Israel will reject his message and tells YHWH that he struggles to speak. YHWH gives him signs, promises help with his speech, and appoints Aaron as his spokesman after Moses asks him to send someone else. Moses leaves Midian for Egypt, carrying a warning for Pharaoh about Israel, God’s firstborn. Along the way, Zipporah’s act of circumcision ends a threat to Moses’ life. The chapter closes with Israel believing the message and worshiping.

leadership weightdoubtpraise and worship
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1Moses answered, “But, behold, they will not believe me, nor listen to my voice; for they will say, ‘The LORD has not appeared to you.’”
2The LORD said to him, “What is that in your hand?” He said, “A rod.”
3He said, “Throw it on the ground.” He threw it on the ground, and it became a snake; and Moses ran away from it.
4The LORD said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand, and take it by the tail.” He stretched out his hand, and took hold of it, and it became a rod in his hand.
5“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.”
6The LORD said furthermore to him, “Now put your hand inside your cloak.” He put his hand inside his cloak, and when he took it out, behold, his hand was leprous, as white as snow.
7He said, “Put your hand inside your cloak again.” He put his hand inside his cloak again, and when he took it out of his cloak, behold, it had turned again as his other flesh.
8“It will happen, if they will not believe you or listen to the voice of the first sign, that they will believe the voice of the latter sign.
9It will happen, if they will not believe even these two signs or listen to your voice, that you shall take of the water of the river, and pour it on the dry land. The water which you take out of the river will become blood on the dry land.”
10Moses said to the LORD, “O Lord, I am not eloquent, neither before now, nor since you have spoken to your servant; for I am slow of speech, and of a slow tongue.”
11The LORD said to him, “Who made man’s mouth? Or who makes one mute, or deaf, or seeing, or blind? Isn’t it I, the LORD?
12Now therefore go, and I will be with your mouth, and teach you what you shall speak.”
13Moses said, “Oh, Lord, please send someone else.”
14The LORD’s anger burned against Moses, and he said, “What about Aaron, your brother, the Levite? I know that he can speak well. Also, behold, he is coming out to meet you. When he sees you, he will be glad in his heart.
15You shall speak to him, and put the words in his mouth. I will be with your mouth, and with his mouth, and will teach you what you shall do.
16He will be your spokesman to the people. It will happen that he will be to you a mouth, and you will be to him as God.
17You shall take this rod in your hand, with which you shall do the signs.”
18Moses went and returned to Jethro his father-in-law, and said to him, “Please let me go and return to my brothers who are in Egypt, and see whether they are still alive.” Jethro said to Moses, “Go in peace.”
19The LORD said to Moses in Midian, “Go, return into Egypt; for all the men who sought your life are dead.”
20Moses took his wife and his sons, and set them on a donkey, and he returned to the land of Egypt. Moses took God’s rod in his hand.
21The LORD said to Moses, “When you go back into Egypt, see that you do before Pharaoh all the wonders which I have put in your hand, but I will harden his heart and he will not let the people go.
22You shall tell Pharaoh, ‘The LORD says, Israel is my son, my firstborn,
23and I have said to you, “Let my son go, that he may serve me;” and you have refused to let him go. Behold, I will kill your firstborn son.’”
24On the way at a lodging place, the LORD met Moses and wanted to kill him.
25Then Zipporah took a flint, and cut off the foreskin of her son, and cast it at his feet; and she said, “Surely you are a bridegroom of blood to me.”
27The LORD said to Aaron, “Go into the wilderness to meet Moses.” He went, and met him on God’s mountain, and kissed him.
28Moses told Aaron all the LORD’s words with which he had sent him, and all the signs with which he had instructed him.
29Moses and Aaron went and gathered together all the elders of the children of Israel.
30Aaron spoke all the words which the LORD had spoken to Moses, and did the signs in the sight of the people.
31The people believed, and when they heard that the LORD had visited the children of Israel, and that he had seen their affliction, then they bowed their heads and worshiped.
World English BibleRead in NIV in Psalmlog →Highlighted verses are the most connected.
Key verses
Exodus 4:10Moses shifts from fearing Israel’s disbelief to questioning his own speech, even after receiving signs from God.
Exodus 4:11YHWH grounds his answer to Moses’ fear in his authority as the maker of human speech and senses.
Exodus 4:31Israel’s belief answers Moses’ opening fear, and their worship responds to news that God has seen their affliction.
Where this chapter reaches

Genesis supplies the shared background of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and the covenant practice of circumcision that stands behind the lodging-place episode. Jeremiah shares the pattern of a reluctant messenger raising concerns about speech and receiving God’s promise to provide words.

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Notice

After reading the whole chapter

How does God’s response to Moses’ concern about speech challenge or clarify your view of weakness?

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What stands out about Israel worshiping when they hear that God has seen their affliction?

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Questions people ask about Exodus 4

Did Moses have a speech impediment in Exodus 4?

Moses describes himself as “slow of speech, and of a slow tongue,” but the text gives no diagnosis or precise explanation. His words could describe a speech difficulty or his sense that he lacks eloquence. YHWH promises to teach him what to say and appoints Aaron as spokesman.

Why did God want to kill Moses in Exodus 4?

The supplied text identifies Moses as the person threatened at the lodging place. Zipporah circumcises her son, and the threat ends, linking the danger to uncircumcision within Moses’ household. The passage does not explain why the son remained uncircumcised, whose feet she touched, or the full meaning of her words.

What does God hardening Pharaoh’s heart mean in Exodus 4?

God announces that he will harden Pharaoh’s heart and that Pharaoh will refuse to release Israel despite the wonders Moses performs. This presents God as sovereign over the coming confrontation. The warning about Pharaoh’s firstborn also holds Pharaoh accountable for refusing God’s demand. The chapter does not explain how this hardening works.

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Exodus · 40 chapters
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Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY). Scripture from the World English Bible (public domain). Arc diagram after Chris Harrison and Christoph Römhild (2007).