God gave Moses three signs to prove his divine commission, focusing on the first sign: the rod. When Moses cast his rod on the ground, it became a serpent, symbolizing the power of Egypt and Satan over humanity. However, when Moses grasped the serpent by the tail at God's command, it turned back into a rod, representing Christ's victory over Satan's power. This event serves as a type of Christ's triumph over sin and death, restoring dominion to humanity and offering deliverance from Satan's influence.
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Beloved radio, friends, in the precious and the worthy name of the Lord Jesus, we greet you heartily and welcome you to the continued study and meditation of the Word of God in the fourth chapter of the book of Exodus, the second book in our Bible. We would like to read in verse one, reading down through verse three, or verse four, if I may, these words that are found recorded regarding The words of God to Moses, and Moses speaking with God. Verse one of Exodus chapter four. Moses answered and said to God, But behold, they will not believe me, nor hearken unto my voice.
For they will say, The Lord hath not appeared unto thee. And the Lord said unto him, What is that in thine hand? And he said, A rod. 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. And the Lord said unto Moses, Put forth thine hand, and take it by the tail. And he put forth his hand, and caught it. And it became a rod in his hand. We have made mention of the fact that in the first nine verses of this chapter, God gives to Moses three definite miraculous signs of divine intervention, that in the use of them he may prove conclusively to the people of Israel, God had appeared unto him in the midst of the flaming bush of fire, and divinely commissioned him to deliver the people of Israel out of Egypt.
Those three definite signs we have noted, first was the rod, second the hand in the bosom, Third, the water turned into blood. We consider in detail the first sign, the rod. The rod that was the symbol of God's power entrusted to Moses for the deliverance of his earthly people. In the Oriental lands of long ago, The rod was the symbol of authority and power.
The many old monuments of Egypt, in hundreds of cases, illustrated their gods as well as their men, with scepter-like rods in their hands. When we think of this, in relation to our theme, the world in the Book of Exodus, we must remember that Satan... had the power and the authority of this world, and the first divine sign that was given to Moses was the rod of God in the hand of a deliverer who should obtain the victory.
For the power of the serpent must be overcome by God. Now when Moses of the command of God was told, Cast thy rod to the ground. He did so. What was in his hand was the shepherd's rod with which he guided and tended the sheep. It was the symbol of his own authority as the shepherd over the flock. Cast it to the ground is the command of God. And when he cast it upon the ground, it immediately became a serpent. When Moses thus cast the rod upon the ground, up rose the form of the cobra, that specific serpent that had been adopted in Egypt, as the emblem of its majesty.
And as it reared itself, living and effective, it hissed against him without question of doubt. And Moses fled from before it. Now we have noted in chapter three, When Moses saw the bush that was burning with fire in the midst of the desert, we noted that it indicated that Israel, the nation, was still preserved, even though in the midst of the furnace of affliction, for Jehovah was with them. But now as we think of this cobra, the sign of Egypt's majesty and power, on the other hand, the majesty of Egypt, had the mastership over Israel.
And as we see Moses fleeing from before the serpent, we can recognize how Israel had to flee from before the power of Egypt and its gods. But then Moses was commanded, take it by the tail. And when Moses, at his command, took hold of the serpent's tail and held within his grasp the rod of God, because it turned back to a rod again. And when he thus held within his grasp the rod that God had provided, he proclaimed not only divine care for Israel in their affliction, he proclaimed divine power to deliver them.
My beloved, what a wonderful symbol, the rod of power, the rod of God, that he can turn the power of the serpent and overcome it and annul it and restore to the hand of man the government of the earth for the day is coming according to Romans chapter sixteen and verse twenty Paul declared the day will come when God will bruise Satan under your feet but even now in Christ there is deliverance from the power of Satan for everyone who will receive him. Now let's take a look at this rod and the lesson that it has to teach to us.
Now may we again repeat, the rod in the hand of Moses was the symbol of dominion. Literally the shepherd's rod was the symbol of his dominion and his authority, his leadership, over the flock which he kept. But I want you to think of something way back in the book of Genesis. Do you remember in the account of Genesis chapter one and verse twenty-six, when God said, Letters make man, and let them have dominion over all the earth. The cattle, the beef, the birds of the air, the fish of the sea, and so on.
God gave to Adam the rod of dominion to rule the earth. and everything to be under his authority. Do you know what Adam did with that rod? Well, think of what Moses did at the command of God in verse two and verse three particularly. God said to Moses, cast that rod on the ground, and when he did so, he became a serpent from which he fled, as we have noted. Do you know what happened to the rod of dominion in the hands of Adam? In chapter three of the book of Genesis, Adam cast it to the ground. And the authority of this world, the dominion of this world, passed into the hands and under the control of Satan, that wicked serpent, the old serpent, the devil.
My beloved, what a tragedy. God gave Adam federal authority over the whole human race and over every living thing. And the serpent came in and brought sin into the human race. And the authority of this world was translated to Satan. The Lord Jesus calls him in John fourteen, in John sixteen, the prince of this world. Paul writes of him in second Corinthians four, verse four is the God of this age. In Ephesians six and verse twelve, the apostle says the rulers of the darkness of this world are indeed the devil and all of his hosts.
John in first epistle of John chapter five and verse nineteen declares the whole world lies in the wicked one. My beloved, that symbol of dominion, that power of dominion, the devil is used well and is using it mightily today. Now please remember what Moses was told. When that rod became a serpent, God said, take it by the tail. I'm sure he must have been reluctant, but he did so. And the moment he grasped the serpent by the tail, it became a rod again in his hand. Now beloved Moses represents in the story a type of our Lord Jesus Christ. Now let me ask a question.
Has there been any human being who had the authority, the power, the ability to take and annul the power of Satan, to take him by the tail, so to speak? My beloved, there's only been one. The Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, For this purpose was the Son of God manifested, according to First John chapter three and verse eight, that it might destroy the power of the devil, that it might destroy the works of the devil. My beloved radio friend, I want you to listen carefully to me.
In this action of Moses, we have a type of our Lord Jesus Christ coming into this world and taking to himself and by himself handling all the consequences of man's sin, and needing all of Satan's power and triumphing over Satan. For thank God our Lord Jesus was made like unto us in humanity without sin, that it might destroy him that had the power of death and deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. My beloved, let me repeat it again. There's only been one person, the Lord Jesus Christ, who could and who did take the serpent by the tail and restored the rod of dominion into the hands of men.
For thank God someday the Lord Jesus. Then he quote what he says in Revelation one, eighteen. Did he not say there, Behold, I am here that liveth and was dead. Behold, I am alive forevermore, and have the keys of death and hell. Blessed Lord Jesus went into death. He bore the full penalty of your sins and mine upon the cross. And he, hell in hell, laid low, made sin, he sinned all through, bowed to the grave, destroyed it so in death by dying slew. Bless, bless the conqueror, slain, slain in his victory, who lived, who died, who rose again, for thee, his church for thee.
My beloved, here is the most beautiful type. as Moses thus restored the rod again into his hand at the command of God that had become a serpent. Thank God someday our Lord Jesus Christ will reign as man with the rod of dominion in his authority over the earth. My beloved radio friend, may I say this is his power that demonstrates he can save you and deliver you and me from the power of Satan and bring us into his own kingdom. Oh, Father, bless the precious truth we sought to present for thy glory in Jesus' name, amen.