Yahweh Encourages Moses To Go Forward (Exodus 7:1-13).
a Yahweh tells Moses that He has made him as a God to Pharaoh, with Aaron as his prophet (Exodus 7:1).
b Moses is therefore to say all that Yahweh commands, and Aaron must communicate it in diplomatic style to Pharaoh, with the aim of him letting the children of Israel leave the land (Exodus 7:2).
c Yahweh promises that He will harden Pharaoh's heart (make it firm and strong in the wrong direction) and will as a result multiply signs and wonders in Egypt The result is that Pharaoh will not listen to them. Yahweh will then lay His hand on Egypt and bring forth His ‘hosts', that is His people the children of Israel, and He will do it by great judgments (Exodus 7:3-4).
c Then the Egyptians will know that He is Yahweh, when He stretches out His hand on Egypt, and bring the children of Israel out from among the Egyptians (Exodus 7:5).
b And Moses and Aaron did what Yahweh commanded. That is what they did (Exodus 7:6).
a And Moses was eighty years old, and Aaron eighty three years old when they spoke to Pharaoh (Exodus 7:7).
Note that in ‘a' Yahweh tells them that He has made him as a God to Pharaoh, with Aaron as his prophet, while in the parallel their ages are given. This suggests that we are to see a significance in their ages. This may lie in the fact that eight intensified is the indication of a new beginning and thus Moses is to be seen as the Deliverer while Aaron is eight intensified plus three, the one who makes the deliverer complete. See the commentary in respect of this. In ‘b' Moses is to say all that Yahweh commands, and Aaron must communicate it in diplomatic style to Pharaoh, with the aim of him letting the children of Israel leave the land, and in the parallel they do what they are commanded. In ‘c' Yahweh promises that He will harden Pharaoh's heart and will as a result multiply signs and wonders in Egypt (make known that He is Yahweh). The result is that Pharaoh will not listen to them. Yahweh will then lay His hand on Egypt and bring forth His ‘hosts', that is His people the children of Israel, and He will do it by great judgments
‘And Yahweh said to Moses, “Look, I have made you a god to Pharaoh and Aaron your brother will be your prophet. You will speak all that I command you and Aaron your brother will speak to Pharaoh that he let the children of Israel go out of his land.” '
In Exodus 4:16 Yahweh had said that Moses would be ‘as a god' to Aaron, and Aaron would be his ‘mouth'. Now he is to ‘be a god' to Pharaoh with Aaron as his prophet. The idea would seem therefore to be that he will stand aloof and Aaron will speak on his behalf and perform wonders (Exodus 4:17). Moses would not only stand as God's representative but would have the mystique that goes with divinity, and be seen as a god and to be at war with the gods of Egypt, and especially the god Pharaoh. He would be the voice, but Aaron would be the mouth.
Elohim is used here, not in the Hebrew sense of God, but as a faithful rendering of the Egyptian title, neter, "god", which was one of the attributes of Pharaoh. It applied to the living as well as to the dead Pharaoh. Thus he could be called "the glorious god" or "the god without equal". In many cases the Pharaohs were also described as "the good god" (neter nefer), or "the great god" (neter ar). In our passage, the use of Elohim is thus putting Moses on a parallel position to Pharaoh, suggesting with the word an ironical reference to Pharaoh's pretensions.
We probably do not appreciate how powerful Pharaoh felt in being divine but now when he saw Moses he would see someone whom he would soon regard as his equal. Moses was to be the ‘Pharaoh' of the children of Israel, and Aaron would, in his turn, be his prophet, his "mouth". These names given to Moses and Aaron were a guarantee of the signs and wonders that were about to be revealed. These alone could have made Pharaoh see Moses as a God.
“And I will harden Pharaoh's heart and multiply my signs and my wonders in the land of Egypt. But Pharaoh will not listen to you, and I will lay my hand on Egypt and bring forth my hosts, my people the children of Israel, out of the land of Egypt by great judgments. And the Egyptians will know that I am Yahweh when I stretch out my hand over Egypt and bring out the children of Israel from among them.”
The plan is now laid bare. God will harden Pharaoh's heart so that he refuses to let the children of Israel go into the wilderness to worship their God, and this will result in the pouring out of God's mighty judgments in signs and wonders until at last they will be able to go altogether and Egypt will be left glad to see them go and knowing that Yahweh is indeed ‘the One Who is there to act', greater than all the gods of Egypt. By it the Egyptians will know that He is ‘Yahweh'.
It should, however be noted that the gods of Egypt are only mentioned once in the whole Exodus account (Exodus 12:12). From his own point of view Moses was dealing with the living Pharaoh and the gods of Egypt were nothing. He did not see himself as battling with gods in which he did not believe. It was Pharaoh, basking in his own divinity, who would see him as a god.
“My signs and my wonders.” An indication that what was to come would be so outstanding and unique that they would be beyond the expectation of everyone. ‘Signs', that is something that demonstrates Who and What He is. ‘Wonders', that is something to fill men with awe.
“Bring forth my hosts.” The word ‘hosts' is used of armies (Genesis 21:22 and often), of ‘the host of heaven' meaning the sun, moon and stars (Deuteronomy 4:19; Nehemiah 9:6: Psalms 33:6; Psalms 148:2; Isaiah 34:4; Isaiah 45:12; Jeremiah 33:22), of the panoply of gods represented by them (Deu 4:19; 2 Kings 21:3; 2 Kings 21:5; Jeremiah 8:2; Daniel 8:10; Zephaniah 1:5), and of the heavenly hosts of God's armies (Genesis 32:2) so that God can later be known as ‘Yahweh of hosts' (first found in 1 Samuel 1:3), and of all things in creation (Genesis 2:1). The thought here may be that they are being brought forth as His hosts, as His army to bring His judgment on Canaan. But it may just represent them as His numerous people whom he would mobilise (‘number') for the advance on Canaan (see Exodus 12:37; Numbers 1-2; Numbers 26:1-51).
“And the Egyptians will know that I am Yahweh when I stretch out my hand over Egypt and bring out the children of Israel from among them.” Knowing that He is Yahweh involves seeing Him in action. His successful actions will reveal what He is and the meaning of His name.
The hardening of Pharaoh's heart was so that he would not compromise and thus so ameliorate the position that Israel would have no reason for leaving. But Yahweh was not here intending to harden the heart of a compassionate man. He was ensuring that a cruel, arrogant and evil despot did not for the sake of expediency compromise. What was at stake here was the whole future of Israel.
It must be remembered that humanly speaking Pharaoh had Israel under a slave contract. This would put them in the wrong if they simply disappeared. Yahweh would not encourage the breaking of treaties. Thus it was important that Pharaoh by his own choice insisted that they leave. Of course, once he sent his army after them having first made an agreement with them which he was then intending to break, he had put himself in the wrong and himself broken the contract. Thus Israel was no longer bound by it.
‘And Moses and Aaron did so. As Yahweh commanded them so they did.'
This is to let us know immediately that Moses and Aaron did do what Yahweh commanded. They were obedient. We have seen similar brief comments previously. They were typical of Israel's ancient writings. Part of what is in mind here is found in Exodus 7:2.
‘And Moses was eighty years old and Aaron eighty three years old when they spoke to Pharaoh.'
“Eighty years old.” It could be that we are to see in this not a literal number but ‘two generations', with forty years representing a generation. The first being seen as ended when he fled from Egypt as ‘grown up' (Exodus 2:11), the second covered his life in Midian and has brought him to this stage. The third stage, that of old age will take him up to his death (Deuteronomy 31:2; Deuteronomy 34:7), The ‘eighty three' of Aaron would then simply be this ‘eighty' with the three years of completeness representing that he was a little older than Moses.
But the parallel with verse 1 suggests that these descriptions in some way tied up with the fact that Moses had been made a God to Pharaoh and Aaron his prophet. Eight is the number of deliverance. There were eight people who were delivered in the ark (Genesis 7:7 compare 1 Peter 3:20). Circumcision which brought men into the covenant with Abraham and delivered them from the world into the covenant community was carried out on the eighth day (Genesis 17:12; Philippians 3:5). It was the eighth day of the feast of Tabernacles, the day that signalled the end of the agricultural year, on which deliverance was proclaimed (later citing Isaiah 12:3). It was on the eighth day that God would accept His people when the new altar of Ezekiel was built, following seven days of atonement, when the new deliverance began (Ezekiel 43:27). It was on the eighth day that Aaron and his sons began their priestly ministry of deliverance and atonement (Leviticus 9:1). The cleansing and deliverance of the one time skin diseased man was accomplished on the eighth day (Leviticus 14:10; Leviticus 14:23). It is probable that the eight hundred years of the early patriarchs (Genesis 5:4-19 - each conjoined there with another significant number), indicated their long triumph over death (although it came in the end). Here then the eighty years was probably intended to indicate that these two were God's appointed deliverers.
Moses and Aaron Perform Their First Wonder in Pharaoh's Presence (Exodus 7:8-13).
a Yahweh tells Moses and Aaron that when Pharaoh asks them to prove themselves by a wonder they are to cast down the staff that it become a large snake (Exodus 7:8-9).
b They did as He commanded and it became a snake in front of Pharaoh and his servants (Exodus 7:10).
b Pharaoh then called forth his wise men, sorcerers and magicians and they did the same (Exodus 7:11).
a When they did so Aaron's staff swallowed up their staves, thus revealing a further wonder. But Pharaoh's heart was hardened and he did not listen to their words just as Yahweh had declared 12-(Exodus 7:13).
Thus in ‘a' they perform a wonder by their staff turning into a large snake, while in the parallel there is another wonder as their staff eats up the staves of the magicians. In ‘b' their turning their staff into a snake is paralleled by the Egyptians doing the same.
‘And Yahweh spoke to Moses and to Aaron saying, “When Pharaoh speaks to you, saying, ‘Show a wonder in your support.' Then you will say to Aaron, ‘Take your staff and throw it down before Pharaoh so that it becomes a large snake (tannin).' ” And Moses and Aaron went in to Pharaoh and they did just as Yahweh had commanded them, and Aaron cast down his staff before Pharaoh and before his servants and it became a large snake.'
Moses and Aaron again approached Pharaoh and his high officials (his servants). He was now aware that they came in the name of Yahweh so he challenged them. ‘Support your case with a show of divine power, a ‘wonder'.' So they did so. Aaron threw down the staff and it became a large snake.
The word for snake here is ‘tannin', different from that in Exodus 4:13 and Exodus 7:15 below. It possibly refers to a larger snake. It was also the word used for sea creatures and large reptiles such as crocodiles, including mythical monsters. But it may just be used for variation here and so that the reader will link it with the ideas of demi-gods, seeing the snake as a symbol of them.
The staff Aaron threw down was probably that of Moses which he now carried as a symbol of Moses' authority and status (he certainly used it in Exodus 4:30). It may, however, have been his own It is called Aaron's staff (Exodus 7:12) but that is not necessarily significant. It could mean only that he was the bearer of it. But it matters little. God was not limited in His use of staves.
Pharaoh was probably not impressed. He had seen things like this before. ‘Signs and wonders' on a minuscule scale were the forte of magicians around the world, and especially in Egypt where they proliferated. They were like the prominent conjurors of today.
‘Then Pharaoh also called for the wise men and the sorcerers and they also, the magicians of Egypt did just the same with their enchantments, for they threw down, every man, his staff, and they became snakes.'
The wise men and magicians were also able to do what appeared to be a similar thing. Their staves also became snakes. It would in fact appear that the Egyptian cobra can be rendered immobile if pressure is applied to the muscles at the nape of the neck after it has been charmed. This procedure is pictured on several ancient Egyptian scarab-amulets and was presumably the technique employed here. Alternately this may have been done by conjuring.
The wise men and the sorcerers'. These would have had long training in sacred writings, rituals and spells in temple schools. They were not averse to using conjuring and performing ‘wonders' in order to impress the uninitiated. Egypt's greatest magicians were the hry-tp (compare Hebrew hartom - magician), the chief lector-priests.
“But Aaron” s staff swallowed up their staves.'
It is significant that it says ‘staff' and not ‘snake'. The staff was the symbol of authority and status. Thus we have here Moses' and Aaron's authority and status revealed as greater than that of the magicians. This should have given Pharaoh pause for thought, especially as the snake had significance in Egyptian mythology as a semi-divine creature and Pharaoh himself often bore the symbol of the uraeus-snake on his head for protection when he went into battle. The power of Moses was thereby revealed. Pharaoh's protective snake will do him no good. It will be eaten up.
This incident should have brought home to Pharaoh that the serpents of Egypt with all their significance, stood no chance against Yahweh. He was Lord over all, and could swallow everything whole whether earthly or heavenly.
‘And Pharaoh's heart was strong and he did not listen to them, just as Yahweh had said.'
In Exodus 4:21 Yahweh had said that He would harden Pharaoh's heart. Yahweh was seen by His people as, and revealed Himself as, sovereign over all. Everything that took place was therefore seen to be as a result of His activity. So in one sense if men hardened their hearts it was because Yahweh had done it. But the use of the passive tense lets us realise that here the action was indirect rather than direct. Pharaoh had taken up such an attitude that he was engaged in hardening his own heart. Yahweh did not make a good man evil, He allowed an evil man full sway in his evil. Pharaoh was not an innocent tool, but totally blameworthy.
We note here that God was gradually revealing His power to Pharaoh. He began with lesser wonders which could partly be duplicated but through which He demonstrated His superiority, and would then move on to greater. Had Pharaoh been discerning there would have been no problem and no plagues. And God is like this with all men. He does not force Himself on them but gives them indications of His power and presence. Then it depends on their response whether they receive more. Yet at the same time He works His sovereign will.
Note for Christians.
Moses had been a shepherd, but now, because he had obeyed God, he had become as ‘a god'. Each of us can be ‘gods' in the place where He has put us. For if we are Christians it is not only we who are there but within us is the living God. Christ lives through us. And as we allow Him to do so day by day so will God be present in all the situations around us. For we are the main means by which God seeks to break through into the world. If we fail to reveal Him the world will never know Him.
Being a god would not be easy for Moses. Things lay ahead that he had never dreamed of. But he learned here from the beginning through the sign of the snake that whatever Satan threw against him God could gobble it up. Thus did he have nothing to fear. If you are a Christian people may multiply snakes against you. But do not be afraid, for if you look to Him, God will gobble them up. He will ‘bruise Satan under your feet shortly' (Romans 16:20).