The Staff of God

“…And Moses took the staff of God in his hand.” -Exodus 4:20b

n Exodus 3, it didn’t matter what God showed of His power, holiness, plan, compassion, promise, and presence.....Moses didn’t trust he was the guy for the job or that the people would listen to him.

Fear, insecurity, even incompetence was owning him. God asked Moses “what do you have in your hand?” That rod represented more than what I could write here. And God could have said “now take it & twirl it, flip it, break it, etc.” But He instead had him throw it down. And it became a snake he ran from and then God told him to move forward and catch it by the tail.

In Exodus 4, God used something familiar Moses had in his hand to become something he was afraid of....in order to call him to face his fear so the thing could return a more useful tool...even a sign to others.

Moses felt inept especially in speech (even in just what he thought it took for people to listen). The weight of seeing who God is (greater than his fears) hadn’t fully broken through to his heart but God was still at work bringing him to that place. God’s Word was unchanged. The Deliverer was coming to Egypt but it started by coming to His servant in the desert...even using a shepherd’s staff. 

Interesting to see all the ways God used that rod...almost as pivot moments in Moses’ journey. (Parting the Red Sea, holding it up in battle with the help of community, striking a rock to provide water for the people, etc) It was present at many moments of faith and at a moment of faithlessness when God wanted him to speak yet again (Numbers 20).

In Exodus 4, Moses could have refused to throw down the rod when God asked him to or refused to catch it by the tail. But he didn’t. He let God use His own rod to build His servant’s faith and answer a people. It was never about a rod, a snake, a fear, a Moses, or even a people. It was about the God who showed up to be who He is so we wouldn’t miss His heart.