Exodus Chapter 4 in Simple English

Read Exodus Chapter 4

1Moses answered, "But look, they will not believe me. They will not listen to my voice. 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." So he threw it on the ground, and it became a snake. Moses ran away from it.

4The LORD said to Moses, "Reach out your hand and take it by the tail." So he reached out his hand and caught it, and it became a rod in his hand.

5"This is so that they may believe that the LORD God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has appeared to you."

6The LORD said to him further, "Now put your hand inside your coat." So he put his hand inside his coat. When he took it out, look, his hand was leprous, white as snow.

7He said, "Put your hand inside your coat again." So he put his hand inside his coat again. When he pulled it out, look, it had become like the rest of his flesh again.

8"If they will not believe you, and will not listen to the voice of the first sign, then they will believe the voice of the second sign."

9"And if they will not believe even these two signs, and will not listen to your voice, then take some of the water of the river and pour it on the dry ground. The water you take out of the river will become blood on the dry ground."

10Moses said to the LORD, "O my Lord, I am not a good speaker. I never have been, and I am not now, since you have spoken to your servant. I am slow of speech and slow of tongue."

11The LORD said to him, "Who made man's mouth? Who makes a person unable to speak, or deaf, or able to see, or blind? Is it not I, the LORD?"

12"So go now, and I will be with your mouth, and teach you what to say."

13And he said, "O my Lord, please send your message by the hand of someone else."

14Then the LORD became angry with Moses, and he said, "Is not Aaron the Levite your brother? I know that he can speak well. And look, 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 words in his mouth. I will be with your mouth and with his mouth, and I will teach you what you must do.

16He shall speak for you to the people. He shall be a mouth for you, and you shall be to him in the place of God.

17"And you shall take this rod in your hand, and with it you shall do the signs."

18Moses went back to Jethro his father-in-law and said to him, "Please let me go and return to my brothers 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 to Egypt, for all the men who wanted to kill you are dead."

20So Moses took his wife and his sons, set them on a donkey, and returned to the land of Egypt. And Moses took the rod of God in his hand.

21The LORD said to Moses, "When you go back to Egypt, be sure to do before Pharaoh all the wonders which I have put in your hand. But I will harden his heart, so that he will not let the people go."

22And you shall say to Pharaoh, 'This is what the LORD says: Israel is my son, my firstborn.

23"And I say to you, let my son go, so that he may serve me. If you refuse to let him go, look, I will kill your son, your firstborn.'"

24On the way, at the lodging place, the LORD met him and tried to kill him.

25Then Zipporah took a sharp stone and cut off the foreskin of her son, and threw it at his feet, and said, "Surely you are a bloody husband to me."

26So he let him go. Then she said, "You are a bloody husband," because of the circumcision.

27The LORD said to Aaron, "Go into the wilderness to meet Moses." So he went, and met him at the mountain of God, and kissed him.

28Moses told Aaron all the words of the LORD who had sent him, and all the signs which he had commanded him to do.

29Then Moses 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 where the people could see.

31And the people believed. When they heard that the LORD had come to the children of Israel, and that he had seen their suffering, they bowed their heads and worshipped.

Explanation

Exodus 4

In short

God gives Moses three miraculous signs to prove his mission to the Israelites: a staff that turns to a serpent, a hand that becomes diseased and then heals, and water turning to blood. When Moses worries he cannot speak persuasively, God assigns Aaron as his spokesman, and the two set out for Egypt with the promises and warnings Moses must deliver to Pharaoh.

Context

Moses has just told God he cannot lead the Israelites out of Egypt because they will not believe him (chapter 3). Now God answers his doubt by equipping him with signs. After addressing Moses's concern about his speaking ability, God sends him back to Egypt. On the way, an unexplained crisis involving circumcision nearly costs Moses his life. Aaron then meets Moses, and together they gather the Israelite elders and perform the signs before them.

What the text says

Verses 1-9: God responds to Moses's doubt with three signs. The staff becomes a serpent (verse 3), then returns to being a rod (verse 4). Moses's hand becomes leprous white, then heals (verses 6-7). Water from the river can be poured on dry ground and become blood (verse 9). Each sign is meant to convince the people.

Verses 10-17: Moses objects that he is "slow of speech" (verse 10). God replies by asking who made mouths and makes people deaf or seeing (verse 11), and promises to teach Moses what to say (verse 12). When Moses still resists, asking God to send someone else (verse 13), God's anger kindles (verse 14). God names Aaron as Moses's brother and spokesman (verses 14-16). Aaron will speak for Moses; Moses will be "instead of God" to Aaron (verse 16). Moses will carry the rod to perform signs (verse 17).

Verses 18-28: Moses returns to his father-in-law Jethro and asks to go back to Egypt; Jethro agrees (verse 18). God confirms the journey is safe (verse 19). On the way, the Lord meets Moses at an inn and seeks to kill him; Zipporah circumcises their son and the threat passes (verses 24-26). Aaron meets Moses and kisses him (verse 27). Moses tells Aaron everything God said and commanded (verse 28).

Verses 29-31: Moses and Aaron gather the elders of Israel, Aaron speaks the Lord's words and performs the signs, and the people believe, bowing and worshipping when they hear the Lord has visited them and seen their affliction.

Takeaways

God equips the reluctant messenger with signs and a partner to overcome human weakness and doubt.
The mission succeeds among the Israelites when the signs are performed and the message delivered, but Pharaoh's hardening is already promised as part of God's plan.
Unexplained tensions surface in the text itself, as when the Lord seeks to kill Moses, suggesting the relationship between God and His chosen servant holds complications beyond simple obedience.

Exodus 4 - Simple English