The First Sign

God had charged Moses and Aaron with bringing the people out of Egypt regardless what the people thought.  He directed Moses to God to Pharaoh and tell him exactly what God said, in Exodus 6:28-30.  “And it came to pass on the day when the LORD spake unto Moses in the land of Egypt, That the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, I am the LORD: speak thou unto Pharaoh king of Egypt all that I say unto thee.

And Moses said before the LORD, Behold, I am of uncircumcised lips, and how shall Pharaoh hearken unto me?”  As Moses had asked earlier, why should Pharaoh listen when the Israelites didn’t.  After all he was not an eloquent or persuasive speaker and Pharaoh was considered a sort of god. 

God explained he was going to demonstrate that neither Pharaoh nor the other Egyptian gods were comparable to him.  Since they could not see God, they would see Moses as a god and Aaron as his priest, and God would do miracles among them.  God himself would cause Pharaoh to be stubborn so that all the Egyptians would recognize that God is the true God, as Exodus 7:1-5 describes.  “And the LORD said unto Moses, See, I have made thee a god to Pharaoh: and Aaron thy brother shall be thy prophet.  Thou shalt speak all that I command thee: and Aaron thy brother shall speak unto Pharaoh, that he send the children of Israel out of his land.  And I will harden Pharaoh's heart, and multiply my signs and my wonders in the land of Egypt.  But Pharaoh shall not hearken unto you, that I may lay my hand upon Egypt, and bring forth mine armies, and my people the children of Israel, out of the land of Egypt by great judgments.  And the Egyptians shall know that I am the LORD, when I stretch forth mine hand upon Egypt, and bring out the children of Israel from among them.”

Moses was eighty and Aaron eighty four when they set out to deliver Egypt according to Exodus 7:6-7.  “And Moses and Aaron did as the LORD commanded them, so did they.  And Moses was fourscore years old, and Aaron fourscore and three years old, when they spake unto Pharaoh.”  We are never too old to do the Job God gives us, and as Ecclesiastes 8:8 tells us, we can’t retire from his service as long as we are alive.  “There is no man that hath power over the spirit to retain the spirit; neither hath he power in the day of death: and there is no discharge in that war; neither shall wickedness deliver those that are given to it.”  We belong to God and he decides what we are to do, not us.  We don’t have the power decide when we live or die, and we cannot bypass God’s authority. 

God was going to use a series of miraculous events to contrast his power with that of the Egyptian gods.  The first one he would use was the sign he had shown in the wilderness of Moses’ staff turning into a snake. Exodus 7:8-13 describes what happened.  “And the LORD spake unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying, When Pharaoh shall speak unto you, saying, Show a miracle for you: then thou shalt say unto Aaron, Take thy rod, and cast it before Pharaoh, and it shall become a serpent.  And Moses and Aaron went in unto Pharaoh, and they did so as the LORD had commanded: and Aaron cast down his rod before Pharaoh, and before his servants, and it became a serpent.

Then Pharaoh also called the wise men and the sorcerers: now the magicians of Egypt, they also did in like manner with their enchantments.  For they cast down every man his rod, and they became serpents: but Aaron's rod swallowed up their rods.  And he hardened Pharaoh's heart, that he hearkened not unto them; as the LORD had said.”

We are told the Egyptian magicians had developed a trick whereby they caused a snake to become rigid, looking like a stick until it was dropped on the ground to impress the people with their powers.    Moses had carried his walking stick for years.  It was clearly just a piece of wood, and a miracle was required to turn it into a snake.   God had deliberately chosen this first miracle to emphasize he difference in what they did.  Moses snake swallowed their snakes, then turned back into a stick when Moses picked it up.   The magicians could see the difference, but since their effects looked similar, Pharaoh dismissed it as the same trick and refused to listen, exactly as God had warned.