and Aaron spoke all the words that Jehovah had spoken to Moses, and did the signs before the eyes of the people.
Moses had insisted that Israel would never believe him. Now Aaron repeats God's words to the elders and does the signs where everyone can see.
Moses had worried that no one would trust him. But the messenger is not the point.
When God works, every barrier must give way. Moses had said, "the people will not believe me." But the question was not whether they would believe him, but whether they would believe God. When a man is able to view himself simply as the messenger of God, he may feel quite at ease about the reception of his message. It does not take away in the smallest degree from his tender and affectionate concern for those he addresses. Quite the contrary; but it keeps him from that excessive anxiety of spirit which can only make him unfit for calm, elevated, steady testimony. The messenger of God should always remember whose message he bears.
Aaron spoke words Moses had given him, word for word, yet he did not sound like a machine. One writer uses this verse to explain how the Bible itself was written: the style belongs to the man, the words to God.
When Aaron delivered the message to the people, he spoke in words put into his mouth by Moses (Ex. 4:15). Was it mechanical for him? No doubt those who heard him could have said, "That is Aaron to the life." The voice, the intonation, the gesture, all were Aaron's. "Yet he spoke all the words that the LORD had spoken to Moses and did the signs in the sight of the people. And the people believed." So it is with the sacred writers. Each one shows his own characteristics and style.
Aaron did three signs: the rod, the leprous hand, and the water turned to blood. Each one points to something Israel needed rescuing from.
These three signs show Satan's power defeated, the leprosy of the flesh cleansed, and the true character of the world revealed. Satan, the flesh, and the world are all to be seen in them.
Moses, holding these signs, is also a picture of someone greater.
Moses, in receiving these signs and the power to carry them out, is a type of Christ. He will take the rod, the government, into His blessed hand, and then Satan's dominion ends. He will cleanse and restore His people and strike Egypt, the world, with judgment.
Moses had predicted flat failure. The opposite happened.
The word of the Lord was fulfilled. Moses had said, "They will not believe me or listen to my voice." But the people did believe, just as the Lord had said. They heard how He had visited them and looked on their affliction, and His grace touched them. So they bowed their heads and worshipped. It is true that later, when their difficulties grew, they murmured in their unbelief. But that takes nothing away from the beauty of the picture before us. Here we see the word of the Lord, in all its freshness and power, reaching the hearts of the elders and bowing them in adoration in His presence.
Their readiness was no accident. God had timed it.
God had waited until such a time that Israel was ready to receive His messengers. It was He who opened the way.
Belief here was a real start, not the finish. Israel believed and worshipped, yet stayed in Egypt and soon grew worse off than before.
Like a soul made alive, they believed the word of God through Moses and Aaron (Ex. 3:7-10; Ex. 4:30-31), and they longed for deliverance (Ex. 5:1-3). They passed, as it were, through Romans 7 in the brick-kilns of Egypt. They became more wretched than ever, and not delivered at all. Was it, then, an increase of knowledge, or of understanding, that delivered them? … They were delivered truly on the ground of redemption, but it was by the power of God.
- Word — Aaron added nothing of his own. He spoke all that the LORD had spoken, so the only question was whether the people would believe God.
- Voice — the words were God's, the manner was Aaron's. The Bible's writers work the same way: their style, His words.
- Signs — the rod, the leprous hand and the blood show Satan, the flesh and the world answered. They point on to Christ, who will take the rod of government.
- Timing — the people believed where Moses had predicted failure. God had prepared them and opened the way.
- Limit — belief and worship are a true start, not deliverance. Israel still needed redemption and the power of God to bring them out.
And the people believed. And when they heard that Jehovah had visited the children of Israel, and that he had seen their affliction, then they bowed their heads and worshipped.
Moses had insisted that no one would listen to him; instead a whole nation believed and bowed in worship. But these same people would soon be more wretched than ever, which raises a hard question about what their faith was worth.
Moses had objected that Israel would not believe him. One writer says he had asked the wrong question.
When God works, every barrier must give way. Moses had said, "the people will not believe me." But the question was not whether they would believe him, but whether they would believe God. When a man is able to see himself simply as the messenger of God, he can be quite at ease about how people receive his message.
Nobody had yet told them how God would rescue them. They had only two bare facts about Him.
Here we find a lovely picture of the sinner's true attitude when he first has to do with God as a Saviour. It is the moment when the reality of God has gripped his conscience. He has not yet learned His work of grace, nor experienced anything except the great fact that God has stepped in. "God has visited the children of Israel." "He has heard them; He has looked on their affliction." Holding those two points with a firm and mighty grip would spare a soul such deep trouble! "God is"; and "God has visited us, and looked upon our affliction!"
Other people in Scripture bowed like this too. One writer gathers those moments and names what they share.
Israel worshipped when they bowed the head at God's revelation through Moses (Ex. 4:30-31; 12:27), as Moses did at another revelation (Ex. 34:8)… Eliezer worshipped when he bowed his head, for in that act he owned God's goodness to him (Gen. 24:26, 52)… What were all these acts? They were the thankful acknowledgment of God for what He had done or said, and the acceptance of His mercy.
One writer hears in this news a picture of the gospel reaching someone still enslaved.
The people of Israel were slaves. In their affliction, the LORD's gracious words to them through Moses and Aaron were like music in their ears. So now the sweeter message of everlasting mercy comes to the sinner weighed down by the sense of bondage… God loves the sinner. He looks on him with compassion, just as he is. Yes, "God shows His love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us," even while we were still slaves of Satan.
Another writer turns the scene into a question for the reader.
They believed Moses. "Then they bowed their heads and worshipped." This, then, is the first mark of a quickened soul. Have you believed the love of God in sending His Son? This bows your head, and you worship.
Believing did not get Israel out of Egypt. Life there got worse first.
Like an awakened soul, they believed the word of God through Moses and Aaron (Ex. 3:7-10; Ex. 4:30-31), and they longed for deliverance (Ex. 5:1-3). They passed, as it were, through Romans 7 in the brick-kilns of Egypt, and became more wretched than ever, and not delivered at all. Was it, then, more knowledge, or more understanding, that delivered them?… Their deliverance truly rested on redemption, but it came by the power of God.
Commentators differ on how deep this faith went. One writer ties it to the signs the people had just watched.
If you read verses 1-9 with 29-31 of Ex. 4, and verses 30 and 31 of Ex. 14, you will see that this is the people believing the evidence of what they saw. That is a very different thing from the faith which connects the soul with God. As I once said to you, we see the same kind of "belief" in people who were certainly not saved, in Ex. 8:16-19; John 2:23-25; Acts 8:6, 9, 10, 13, 20-23.
Pharaoh heard the same words.
The children of Israel believed the words of God when they saw the signs, and they worshipped. Pharaoh heard the words of God with unbelief and answered with insolence.
- Visited — God saw their affliction and stepped in before they knew anything of His plan. The scene starts with Him.
- Believed — the question was never whether they would believe Moses, but whether they would believe God. A messenger can rest in whose message he carries.
- Bowed — worship is thanking God for what He has done and said. One writer calls this bowed head the first mark of an awakened soul.
- Bondage still — believing did not free them. Deliverance came later, on the ground of redemption and by God's power.
- Tested — commentators differ on how deep this faith went. Some hear new life in it; others hear only belief in signs. Pharaoh met the same words with insolence.