Who did God send with Moses to talk to Pharaoh?

"And the Lord said unto Moses, See, I have made thee a god to Pharaoh; and Aaron thy brother shall be thy prophet. Thou shalt speak all that I command thee; and Aaron thy brother shall speak unto Pharaoh, that he send the children of Israel out of his land. And I will harden Pharaoh's heart, and multiply My signs and My wonders in the land of Egypt. But Pharaoh shall not hearken unto you, that I may lay My hand upon Egypt, and bring forth Mine armies, and My people the children of Israel, out of the land of Egypt by great judgments. And the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord, when I stretch forth Mine hand upon Egypt, and bring out the children of Israel from among them. And Moses and Aaron did as the Lord commanded them, so did they." (Ex. 7:1-6.)

Though Moses had protested that he was of uncircumcised lips, God assured him that He was making Moses a god to Pharaoh, therefore that Pharaoh would not be able to totally ignore Moses. Aaron was to be Moses' prophet and would speak all that Moses communicated to him as the command of God, the only object being to demand that Pharaoh release the children of Israel. Again He tells Moses that He will harden Pharaoh's heart and will use Pharaoh's stubbornness as a cause of multiplying His signs and wonders in Egypt (v. 3). There was no reason for Moses and Aaron to be discouraged by Pharaoh's refusals, for God was in perfect control of this. Egypt would only incur the greater judgment by their defiance, and would find by painful experience that God is absolutely Lord (v. 5).

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 point of fact he was the elder. Once more we see how the first has to give place to the second.

But though all of Moses' objections were answered, he still resisted. He simply does not want to obey, and pleads with the Lord to send someone else instead of him (v. 13). In this he certainly went too far, and stirred the anger of the Lord against him. Could He excuse Moses? Not at all: Moses must go. Yet the Lord's compassion is again seen in His telling Moses that Aaron his brother was already on his way to meet Moses, and would be glad for their reunion (v. 14). Aaron could speak well, and God would allow Moses to speak the words of God to Aaron, so that Aaron might repeat them to the people and to Pharaoh (vv. 14-16). Aaron's mouth would be the instrument by which Moses would speak to the people, and Moses would be the instrument by which God would speak to Aaron. Moses must also take the rod by which to perform the signs God would order.

That is, "Send any one, but not me." Five times did he thus raise objections to the Lord's commands, presuming upon His forbearance and long-suffering. But now "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. 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. 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. And thou shalt take this rod in thine hand, wherewith thou shalt do signs." (vv. 14-17.) Thus the halting of Moses was overcome, but not until the anger of the Lord was kindled against him on account of his unwillingness to obey His word; but he lost much. Aaron was henceforward to be associated with him, and indeed was to have the most prominent place before man; for he was to be the spokesman of his brother. In tender grace, however, the Lord reserves to His servant Moses the chief place before Him, giving him the honour and privilege of being the medium of communication between Himself and Aaron. Aaron was to be a "mouth" for Moses; Moses was to be to Aaron "instead of God;" i.e. he was to impart to Aaron the message to be delivered. The purposes of God cannot be frustrated; but we may suffer from our obstinacy and disobedience. It was so with Moses. How many times afterwards, during the forty years' sojourn in the wilderness, must he have bewailed the unbelief that led him to refuse the trust which the Lord desired to commit to his hands alone! Finally, the rod of authority is given to Moses — the rod wherewith he was to display the power of God in miraculous signs as an attestation of his mission. This rod plays a most important part throughout the career of Moses, and it is most instructive to trace the occasions of its appearance and use. Here it becomes, as it were, the seal of his mission, as well as the sign of his office; for in very truth he was invested with the authority of God to lead His people out of the land of Egypt.

[Aa'ron] Eldest son of Amram and Jochebed, of the tribe of Levi. We first read of him when Moses was excusing himself from being sent to deliver Israel from Egypt because he was 'slow of speech.' Jehovah declared that his brother Aaron who was coming to meet him could speak well and should be his spokesman. Aaron accompanied Moses in his interviews with Pharaoh, and with his rod some of the miraculous plagues were called forth. He with Hur held up the hands of Moses on the Mount when Israel fought with Amalek. Ex. 17:12. Aaron with his two sons Nadab and Abihu with seventy of the elders, went with Moses into the mount where "they saw the God of Israel: and there was under his feet as it were a paved work of a sapphire stone, and as it were the body of heaven in his clearness." Ex. 24:9-10. When Moses retired higher into the mount, he left Israel in charge of Aaron and Hur. Ex. 24:14.

The meeting of Moses and Aaron was most cordial, and Moses had time to inform Aaron, on their journey toward Egypt, of all God's words to him and of the signs commanded by the Lord (v. 28). Thus they would be prepared together to speak to the people and to Pharaoh.

Now to Moses God repeated in substance what He had told him at Horeb. Pharaoh would refuse to let the people go. But go they should, after Egypt had been smitten by the direction and by the power of Jehovah. All was working as God had foreseen, and as He previously declared. Moses, therefore, was not to be disheartened; but, with Aaron as his spokesman, he was again to seek an interview with the king.

God had sent Moses to deliver them, and Aaron was to be his mouth-piece and prophet. They went in to speak to Pharaoh, as the Lord had commanded, and Aaron cast down his rod, at the demand of Pharaoh to show a proof of their divine mission; and Aaron's rod became a serpent. The rod (the sign of power) had become Satanic, and under this the people were held captive. Just as in the profession of Christianity the form of godliness had all its power from the enemy, and was without the power of life by the truth. Moses fled before it, when first it was shown him by God in the desert; and now the faithful would also flee, or turn away.

Moses' age was 80 years and Aaron's 83 when they spoke to Pharaoh. They are before the monarch to show a miracle. Moses did not use his rod as before the elders of Israel , but it was Aaron's rod which was cast down and became a serpent. There is likewise another word used for serpent. In chapter 4:3, it is nachash, the same word as in Genesis 3. But the word used in chapter 7 is thanin, which the Septuagint translates dragon. This does not show that there were two different records, but that the two events have a different significance. Aaron's rod, which later blossomed, is the type of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, the mighty victor over Satan, sin and death. Aaron's rod swallowing the rods of the magicians of Egypt seems to indicate the complete triumph of Jehovah over him who has the power of death.