14th.: Moses’ 3rd Response to God's Commission
Many people claim to speak for God.
Therefore, it is not wrong to be skeptical of such proclamations
Moses thought that the Israelites would be skeptical
of him, if he came 'speaking for God'.
So Moses asked God,
“But behold, they will not believe me, nor hearken unto my voice, for they will say, ‘The Lord has not appeared unto thee.’” (Exo. 4:1).
God did not rebuke Moses for this question.
Rather, God gave Moses a couple of miraculous signs.
1. Turn a dead wood staff into a living, moving animal – a snake. (Exo. 4:2-4).
2. Moses healthy hand was leprous, then healed. (Exo. 4:6-7).
3. Take water from the Nile River, and pour it onto dry ground. God would then change that water into blood (Exo. 4:8-9).
God gave powerful signs, to show that he was coming to answer the Jews prayers.
When someone comes to us claiming to be from God, we don’t have to believe them, just because they say so.
If nothing else, we should ask the Lord, if He sent them.
As a postscript, Exo. 4:29-30 tells us that Moses
eventually did the signs in front of the Israelites, and they believed.
But the Egyptians did not accept the Hebrew God as true,
even with the first signs that Moses gave.
“Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits, whether they are of God, because many false prophets are gone out into the world.” (1st John 4:1)