The Two Hurdles Of God’s WillÀpẹrẹ

God demonstrates His surpassing power

Mercifully, God did not condemn Moses for his doubts. Instead, He demonstrated to Moses His mighty power so that the specter of “they” became small in comparison with the splendor of God. “What is that in your hand?” God asked Moses. “A staff,” Moses replied. “Throw it on the ground,” God commanded him. And when he did, the staff became a snake. “Reach out your hand and take it by the tail,” God said. Moses did, and the snake became a staff again.

Moses had a staff in his hand because Moses was a shepherd. Shepherds weren’t favored in Egypt, however. They were detested. When Joseph’s brothers arrived in Egypt to escape the famine of their homeland, Joseph instructed them that all shepherds are detestable to the Egyptians. Shepherds were viewed as the lowest rung of society in Egypt, and Moses knew it. But God told him to take his shepherd’s staff with him to see Pharaoh, and then to use it to achieve His purposes!

Do you know what snakes symbolized in ancient Egypt? Power. In fact, Egyptian soldiers wore headdresses adorned by the cobra, representing the serpent god Apep, the destroyer. So when Moses’ staff turned into a snake and he seized it by the tail, his action would say in effect to God’s people, “I’ve got Egypt and its little-g gods by the tail!” Moses’ willingness to act as God commanded would demonstrate the belief that his life giving God had power over Pharaoh’s destroying, avenging gods. It would be something like striding into the oval office with your hands around the neck of a bald eagle —the symbol of power of the United States of America—and then glaring at the president! God said in Exodus, “This ... is so that they may believe that the LORD, the God of their fathers—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob—has appeared to you”. Even in his lowly shepherd’s clothing, carrying his simple staff, Moses possessed more power in his right hand than all the gods and magicians of Pharaoh’s court combined. Nothing like the power of God to put the voice of “they” in the proper place!