And Jehovah said to Moses, See, I have made thee God to Pharaoh; and Aaron thy brother shall be thy prophet.
Before the long contest with Egypt begins, God gives Moses his final briefing. He opens it with a startling word: Moses will stand in God's own place before Pharaoh, and his brother Aaron will speak for him.
The title describes a role, not a nature. The ESV says God made Moses "like God to Pharaoh"; older translations read "a god to Pharaoh," and that is the wording in the quotes below. One writer sets out the orders the two brothers were given.
after
The dealings with Pharaoh were now to start in earnest. So the first seven verses of Exodus 7 give us the instructions under which Moses and Aaron were to act. Moses directly represented God before the king, and Aaron was to act as his "prophet," or spokesman. God is invisible, so Moses was to be His visible representative. Aaron was to speak and act under the direction of Moses, though in fact he was the older brother. Once more we see how the first has to give place to the second.
Moses had objected that he could not speak well. The answer he receives is that Pharaoh will not be able to brush him aside.
Moses had protested that he was a man of uncircumcised lips. Even so, God assured him that He was making him a god to Pharaoh, so Pharaoh would not be able to ignore him completely. Aaron was to be Moses' prophet. He would speak all that Moses passed on to him as the command of God. The only object was to demand that Pharaoh release the children of Israel.
Most people assume a prophet is someone who predicts the future. This verse, with the earlier promise about Aaron in chapter 4, points to a different meaning.
A few words about this term, which is so often misunderstood. The common idea is that a prophet was someone who foretold things to come. But this will not do. Many passages that use the word "prophet" make no sense on that basis at all. Of Abraham the LORD said to Abimelech, "he is a prophet" (Genesis 20:7)... Moses argued with the LORD about going before Pharaoh. The LORD told him, "your brother Aaron shall be your prophet"; and again, "he shall speak for you to the people" (Exodus 4:16; 7:1). Here we get the divine thought. The prophet was God's spokesman to the people; he was a forth-teller rather than a foreteller.
Exodus calls Moses a god twice. The two uses point in different directions.
Twice the LORD said that Moses should be a god. A god to Aaron (4:16) and a god to Pharaoh (7:1). He received divine authority and power over Pharaoh. To his spokesman Aaron he was also a god, because the word he gave him to pass on to Pharaoh was the word of the Lord.
The plagues that follow are not just a run of disasters. They take aim at Egypt's religion.
The ten plagues were especially suited, in the wisdom of God, to humble Egypt. It was not only a blow to the land. It was not only deep pain and anguish for the people, growing worse and worse. It was a solemn contest between the LORD and the gods of Egypt. God aimed the plagues to strike them most sharply in what made up their religion. For instance, take the Nile: we know how Egypt boasted in that river, which they thought was the great earthly symbol of God.
God does not only give orders here. He tells His servants how the whole thing will end before it starts.
The Lord in this way told His servants what He intended to do, and how it would be done. He unrolled the scroll of the future before their eyes. He did this to prepare them for their task and to strengthen their faith. In the same way He has revealed to us the course of this world's history... He wanted Moses and Aaron to share His own purposes about the world, the god of this world, and his poor, wretched slaves. He wants the same for us. How it strengthens the heart and braces the soul to be filled with the thoughts of God!
- Sent. Moses is not made great in himself. God is invisible, so He put Moses in His own place before Pharaoh as the man Egypt could see.
- Strengthened. The title answers Moses' excuses. The man who said he could not speak is now the man Pharaoh cannot ignore.
- Spokesman. A prophet speaks for God; he is not mainly a predictor of the future. Aaron speaks Moses' words as Moses speaks God's, so the line runs from God to Pharaoh's ear.
- Struggle. The plagues are a contest between the LORD and the gods of Egypt. They strike at what Egypt worshipped.
- Shared. God tells His servants the outcome before the fight begins. He still shows His people where history is going, and that braces the soul for the work.
Thou shalt speak all that I command thee; and Aaron thy brother shall speak unto Pharaoh, that he let the children of Israel go out of his land.
In Exodus 7, Moses stands before Pharaoh as God's visible stand-in. Verse 2 divides the work: Moses receives the words, Aaron carries them to Pharaoh, and the demand is settled before either man speaks.
The instruction divides one task between two brothers. One stands in God's place; the other opens his mouth.
Moses directly represented God before the king, and Aaron was to act as his "prophet," or spokesman. God is invisible, so Moses was to be His visible representative. Aaron was to speak and act under the direction of Moses, though he was in fact the older brother. Once more we see how the first has to give place to the second.
God calls Aaron the prophet of Moses. Two verses set side by side show what the word means.
Perhaps we will find God's own definition of this word by comparing Exodus 4:16 and 7:1... Perhaps this gives us the clearest definition of a prophet in the Word of God: he is God's "spokesman to the people." Often God speaks of judgment or blessing to come, and then the spokesman tells what will happen in the future. But his first duty is to be God's spokesman. That duty often includes rebuke, or urging people on. Let us always remember the most important thing about a prophet. He speaks for God, not for himself, and not out of his own mind.
Moses is not given a topic to develop. He is given words, and the word "all" leaves him no room to select among them.
There was a way in which he could have been put to shame before the people. The way to avoid it was to "speak to them all that I command you". If we bring our own thoughts into our service, we must not be surprised when it fails. But if we minister God's own word in the power of the Spirit, He will stand by His own word.
The danger runs both ways for any servant with a message. He can cut it down, or he can add to it.
It is unworthy of a servant to cut down the message of his Master. Only let him take care to add nothing to His words, and nothing to the tone in which he should deliver them. Much depends on this, especially in dealing with others.
The message has one point. Israel must go, and the reason lies in whose they are.
He claimed full deliverance for the people, because they belong to Him, and so that they might hold a feast to Him in the wilderness. Nothing can ever satisfy God about His chosen people except their complete freedom from the yoke of slavery. "Unbind him, and let him go" is the great motto of God's gracious dealings with people who are held in Satan's chains and are still the objects of His eternal love.
God's aim reaches past the border. And behind Pharaoh's refusals stands another opponent.
In Jehovah's demands to let His people go we see His purpose. He must bring His people right out of Egypt (the world) and set them apart for Himself. Before they could worship and serve Him, He had to deliver them from Egypt. It is so with us. Pharaoh is a picture of Satan, the god of this age. He raised his objections, just as Satan opposes a full and complete deliverance of God's people.
Before Moses speaks a word, God tells him how the confrontation will end. The briefing is not information only; it is equipment.
So the Lord told His servants what He intended to do, and how He would do it. He unrolled the scroll of the future before their eyes to prepare them for their task and to strengthen their faith... He wanted Moses and Aaron, as He also wants us, to share His own purposes about the world, the god of this world, and his poor, downtrodden slaves. How it strengthens the heart and steadies the soul to be filled with the thoughts of God! And what grace on His part to share those thoughts with us, so that we may speak to others with authority and power!
- Sender. God Himself is invisible, so Moses stands before Pharaoh in His place. The authority is borrowed, not his own.
- Spokesman. "Prophet" here means mouthpiece — Aaron's whole job is to say what he was given, not what he thinks.
- Script. "All that I command you" rules out both trimming and adding. A servant who mixes in his own thoughts should expect his work to fail.
- Summons. The message never softens. Israel must go out of the land, because only full release satisfies God for the people He calls His own.
- Certainty. God tells His servants the outcome before the struggle starts. Sharing His thoughts is what lets them speak with authority.