1 AND Moses answered and said, But, behold, they will not believe me, [ Again Moses questions God. Why? because he has not had sufficient experience with God I suppose. My personal opinion this is about the time that God gives Moses the great vision found in Moses 1. Moses does not understand all this things and God kind of says, "Ok Moses, time out, you arn't getting it, let me show you - the creation, who I am, who you are and we will start from there." ] nor hearken [ Hebrew "Shema" is translated here as hearken which means to "listen" and "obey". ] 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? [ So the Lord places a scepter/a staff/a rod as the answer to Moses’ crisis of authority. Remember where we are in this moment, Moses is speaking with God in the burning bush. Now, the Exodus account doesn’t say that God broke off a branch of the burning bush and gave it to Moses. But what if God gave Moses a branch straight from the burning bush? Would that have helped convence Moses? The scriptures are highly symbolic. So, I don’t know if God gave Moses a literal branch of a sacred tree, but the symbolism is clear. Some scholars suggest that the burning bush on the top of the mountain was representative of the tree of life. So with a branch of the sacred tree of life in his hand, Moses could convey to the Israelites that he had been chosen by God to be their civil and spiritual leader. And along with that responsibility, God had given him the authority to execute his office. And we do know that later on in verse 31 Moses says when he showed the people the staff “the people believed”. The staff or rod symbolized not only the authority of God, but the power of God is made abundantly clear in verse 17, when God says to Moses: “And thou shalt take this rod in thy hand, wherewith thou shalt do signs.” Further suggestion that there might be some linkage with the staff to the tree of life is found in Numbers 17:8, when Aaron, Moses’ brother’s rod, begins to bud: “Behold the rod of Aaron brought forth buds and bloomed blossoms and yielded almonds.” When the rod starts to sprout like a tree, the connection between the rod and the tree of life again is suggested. Scepters are a ubiquitous characteristic of kingship the world over. Genuine scepters are always made from the wood of a tree. The transference of wands to magicians and witches is probably a degeneration of the original doctrine in the ancient tradition. ] 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. [ God tells Moses to pick up the snake. Trust building exercise. ] And he put forth his hand, and caught it, and it became a rod in his hand: [ If Moses was anything like me that would have been a relief. ]

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. [ His hand becomes deseased to the point of the skin almost falling off as fresh snow can be moved by even the slightest wind. This is not a good situtation, would Moses have feared? ]

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. [ He trusts God again and does as he is told. He put's his hand into his bosom and pulls it out to find that his hand and the flesh haas been restored. Trust exercise number 2 complete. ]

8 And it shall come to pass, if they will not believe thee, neither hearken [ Hebrew "Shema" is translated here as hearken which means to "listen" and "obey". ] 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 [ Hebrew "Shema" is translated here as hearken which means to "listen" and "obey". ] 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. [ A foreshadowing of the first plague of Egypt. ]

10 ¶ And Moses said unto the LORD, O my Lord, I am not eloquent, [ Moses just does not let up. Another excuse or reason why he can'. Why? Because he has nt come to learn of God and how he works, that when we are on his errand he is there with us. This is why I think that God took him aside and taught him in Moses 1. ] neither heretofore, nor since thou hast spoken unto thy servant: but I am slow of speech, and of a slow tongue. [ Yeah, he speaks Egyptian but he doesn't speak the language of his own people. So he is not regarded as competent, as a worthy ambassador of this. That's a little bit different twist I think than we sometimes think of as what's Moses' problem with language. No, I don't think he stutters. No, I don't think he has a speech impediment. I think he's telling us that because he was raised in Pharaoh's court as a young man, he speaks Egyptian. That's his mother tongue and he's trying to learn Hebrew or a form of Hebrew, Northwest Semitic. So we have Moses telling the Lord I don't speak so good the Hebrew lingo. I don't speak Northwest Semitic. As a result, I'm not viewed by either the Israelites or Pharaoh and his court as an eloquent and polished ambassador. ]

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 [ Possibly the literal branch of a sacred tree (the burning bush) the staff or rod symbolized the authority of God. ] in thine hand, wherewith [ With this staff that I have given you. ] thou shalt do signs. [ Which he will later do when he strikes the rod on a rock and it produces water, the source of life. And Moses also, uses the rod to part the Red Sea, perform miracles which release the Israelites from the bondage of the Egyptians, just as God promised he would do when he spoke to Moses in the burning bush. ]

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. [ I would like to postulate here that it was not God that did this, but this was changed or perverted by some scribe somewhere to edit Satan out. This sounds like the tactics of Satan, this would have been done to subvert the mission of God. So I think that common sense would suggest that this has not come to us as it should. As far as it is translated correctly. So is this then Satan appearing to Moses as an angel of light - something that Moses should have had some familiarity with (Moses 1 with satan), however here he has discised himself fulfilling what he is called - the great accuser the father of all lies. ]

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.