One-Year Bible Reading Plan  : Seekers & New Believers |  October 13 | Exodus Chapter 4: Divine Signs, Excuses and Obedience, The Warning of Circumcision, and the People's Worship  

🦌 Opening Today’s Reading 

Dear brothers, sisters, and friends, peace be with you in the Lord!

Welcome to Day 26 of our Old Testament journey! Today, we explore Exodus Chapter 4.

In Chapter 3, God revealed Himself in the burning bush, issuing the monumental call for Moses to lead Israel out of Egypt. Yet faced with such a staggering mission, Moses—who had lived as an obscure shepherd in the wilderness for forty years—was consumed by self-doubt, fear, and hesitation.

In Chapter 4, we witness God's profound patience and redeeming grace. Responding to Moses' persistent excuses, God not only performs extraordinary signs to confirm His presence, but also appoints Aaron as his spokesman and companion. After a solemn warning regarding Covenant circumcision on the road, Moses steps forward with the rod of God in hand, while the elders of Israel bow their heads in worship.

This chapter marks the transformation from reluctance to surrender, revealing how God equips those whom He calls.

Let us enter Exodus Chapter 4 with humble and obedient hearts.

📖 Context Snapshot : The Shepherd's Rod, The Slow-Tongued Servant, and Divine Sovereignty 

1. What Happened Before: The Burning Bush Commission

Before reading Chapter 4, let us recall the awe-inspiring encounter in Chapter 3. An eighty-year-old Moses was tending sheep near Mount Horeb when he saw a bush burning with fire yet unconsumed. God called to him out of the midst of the bush, revealing Himself as the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and declaring His holy name: "I AM THAT I AM." God commissioned Moses to stand before Pharaoh and bring His people out of bondage. Yet Moses responded with insecurity: "Who am I, that I should go unto Pharaoh?"

2. Today's Drama: Miraculous Signs, Aaron's Appointment, and the People's Worship

As the gravity of the divine call rested upon Moses, deep anxiety lingered in his heart. He raised a third objection to God: "They will not believe me, nor hearken unto my voice." To resolve Moses' fears, God graciously stooped down to perform three miraculous signs before him. God asked, "What is that in thine hand?" Moses replied, "A rod." When he cast the wooden staff onto the ground, it instantly transformed into a fearsome serpent; at God's command, Moses reached out to catch its tail, and it became a shepherd's rod once more. God then instructed Moses to put his hand into his bosom; when he drew it out, his hand was snow-white with leprosy. Putting it back into his bosom, it was completely restored. God promised that if the people disbelieved these two signs, water taken from the Nile would turn into blood upon the dry land.

Even with these divine signs, Moses remained hesitant, offering a fourth excuse: "O my Lord, I am not eloquent... but I am slow of speech, and of a slow tongue." God gently reminded him of the Creator's power: "Who hath made man's mouth? or who maketh the dumb, or deaf, or the seeing, or the blind? have not I the Lord?" God promised to be with his mouth and teach him what to speak. Yet in desperation, Moses pleaded his ultimate hesitation: "O my Lord, send, I pray thee, by the hand of him whom thou wilt send." At this, the anger of the Lord was kindled against Moses, yet in mercy, God provided a solution—appointing his articulate elder brother, Aaron, to meet him and serve as his spokesman, while Moses would be as God to him, holding "the rod of God" to perform signs.

Finally laying aside his objections, Moses returned to his father-in-law Jethro to seek his blessing, gathered his wife and sons, and set out for Egypt carrying the rod of God. On the journey at a lodging place, a startling incident occurred: the Lord met Moses and sought to kill him. Moses had neglected to circumcise his son according to the holy Covenant. Recognizing the gravity of the moment, his wife Zipporah took a sharp flint, cut off the foreskin of her son, and cast it at Moses' feet, averting divine judgment. This solemn encounter reminded Moses that as a covenant leader of God's redemption, he had to maintain holiness within his own household first.

Meanwhile, God prompted Aaron to journey into the wilderness to meet Moses. The brothers met at the mountain of God, embraced, and Moses shared all the words of the Lord and the signs commanded. Arriving in Egypt, they gathered the elders of the children of Israel, and Aaron declared all the words that the Lord had spoken, while Moses performed the signs before the people. Hearing that the Lord had visited the children of Israel and looked upon their affliction, the people bowed their heads and worshipped. Four centuries of silent waiting culminated in a sacred moment of adoration.

💡 Questions to keep in mind while reading today:

• "What Is That in Thine Hand?": God did not give Moses a celestial weapon, but transformed his everyday wooden staff. How does God use the ordinary resources we already possess?

• Divine Patience and Righteous Anger: From patient signs to righteous anger over Moses' refusal, what does this reveal about God's holiness and mercy?

• The Incident at the Lodging Place: Why did God confront Moses regarding circumcision before he faced Pharaoh? What lesson does this offer to those who serve God today?

💡 Today’s Scripture Verse - Exodus 4

4 And Moses answered and said, But, behold, they will not believe me, nor hearken unto my voice: for they will say, The Lord hath not appeared unto thee.

2 And the Lord said unto him, What is that in thine hand? And he said, A rod.

3 And he said, Cast it on the ground. And he cast it on the ground, and it became a serpent; and Moses fled from before it.

4 And the Lord said unto Moses, Put forth thine hand, and take it by the tail. And he put forth his hand, and caught it, and it became a rod in his hand:

5 That they may believe that the Lord God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath appeared unto thee.

6 And the Lord said furthermore unto him, Put now thine hand into thy bosom. And he put his hand into his bosom: and when he took it out, behold, his hand was leprous as snow.

7 And he said, Put thine hand into thy bosom again. And he put his hand into his bosom again; and plucked it out of his bosom, and, behold, it was turned again as his other flesh.

8 And it shall come to pass, if they will not believe thee, neither hearken to the voice of the first sign, that they will believe the voice of the latter sign.

9 And it shall come to pass, if they will not believe also these two signs, neither hearken unto thy voice, that thou shalt take of the water of the river, and pour it upon the dry land: and the water which thou takest out of the river shall become blood upon the dry land.

10 And Moses said unto the Lord, O my Lord, I am not eloquent, neither heretofore, nor since thou hast spoken unto thy servant: but I am slow of speech, and of a slow tongue.

11 And the Lord said unto him, Who hath made man's mouth? or who maketh the dumb, or deaf, or the seeing, or the blind? have not I the Lord?

12 Now therefore go, and I will be with thy mouth, and teach thee what thou shalt say.

13 And he said, O my Lord, send, I pray thee, by the hand of him whom thou wilt send.

14 And the anger of the Lord was kindled against Moses, and he said, Is not Aaron the Levite thy brother? I know that he can speak well. And also, behold, he cometh forth to meet thee: and when he seeth thee, he will be glad in his heart.

15 And thou shalt speak unto him, and put words in his mouth: and I will be with thy mouth, and with his mouth, and will teach you what ye shall do.

16 And he shall be thy spokesman unto the people: and he shall be, even he shall be to thee instead of a mouth, and thou shalt be to him instead of God.

17 And thou shalt take this rod in thine hand, wherewith thou shalt do signs.

18 And Moses went and returned to Jethro his father in law, and said unto him, Let me go, I pray thee, and return unto my brethren which are in Egypt, and see whether they be yet alive. And Jethro said to Moses, Go in peace.

19 And the Lord said unto Moses in Midian, Go, return into Egypt: for all the men are dead which sought thy life.

20 And Moses took his wife and his sons, and set them upon an ass, and he returned to the land of Egypt: and Moses took the rod of God in his hand.

21 And the Lord said unto Moses, When thou goest to return into Egypt, see that thou do all those wonders before Pharaoh, which I have put in thine hand: but I will harden his heart, that he shall not let the people go.

22 And thou shalt say unto Pharaoh, Thus saith the Lord, Israel is my son, even my firstborn:

23 And I say unto thee, Let my son go, that he may serve me: and if thou refuse to let him go, behold, I will slay thy son, even thy firstborn.

24 And it came to pass by the way in the inn, that the Lord met him, and sought to kill him.

25 Then Zipporah took a sharp stone, and cut off the foreskin of her son, and cast it at his feet, and said, Surely a bloody husband art thou to me.

26 So he let him go: then she said, A bloody husband thou art, because of the circumcision.

27 And the Lord said to Aaron, Go into the wilderness to meet Moses. And he went, and met him in the mount of God, and kissed him.

28 And Moses told Aaron all the words of the Lord who had sent him, and all the signs which he had commanded him.

29 And Moses and Aaron went and gathered together all the elders of the children of Israel:

30 And Aaron spake all the words which the Lord had spoken unto Moses, and did the signs in the sight of the people.

31 And the people believed: and when they heard that the Lord had visited the children of Israel, and that he had looked upon their affliction, then they bowed their heads and worshipped.

🌟Daily Heart-Check:  From Human Frailty to the "Rod of God" 

Synchronized with the core questions from our reading guide:

• Surrender Your "Rod," and God Will Make It His Own:
  Moses' staff was merely a piece of wood used for herding sheep. Yet when he yielded it to God, it became "the rod of God"—an instrument of divine authority. God does not demand vast human resources; He asks for a heart willing to surrender what is already in hand.

• God's Calling Rests on His Presence, Not Our Eloquence:
  Moses fixed his eyes on his limitations ("I am slow of speech"), but God redirected his attention to the Creator ("Who hath made man's mouth?"). When called to serve or step out in faith, we often shrink back due to perceived shortcomings. Yet God's power is made perfect in weakness; He seeks obedient vessels, not self-sufficient giants.

• Covenant Integrity Precedes Public Leadership:
  The confrontation at the lodging place carries a profound warning. Moses was called to lead a nation in covenant obedience, yet his own house neglected the mark of the Covenant. God values our personal holiness above our public service. Before God uses us to impact others, we must align our private lives with His holy truth.

🎵 Response Song :  

🙏 Closing Prayer

Sovereign Heavenly Father, Creator of All Things and Sustainer of the Weak,

As we read Exodus Chapter 4 today, our hearts are humbled by Your profound patience toward Moses. Faced with his hesitation and fears, You provided miraculous signs, appointed companions, and promised Your divine presence with his mouth.

Lord, forgive us for the times we hesitate and make excuses like Moses, focusing on our deficiencies rather than Your supreme power. Grant us obedient courage to yield whatever ordinary "rod" we hold into Your sovereign hands.

Keep our hearts and households aligned with Your holy Covenant. May we remain faithful in private devotion before stepping out in public service. And as we witness Your care and deliverance in our lives, grant us hearts that bow down in quiet, reverent worship.

In the matchless and redeeming name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, we pray, Amen!