Study Questions for Exodus 4:1-31

Verse 1— What is the question that Moses is answering in verse 1? What has been happening in the previous chapters?
What is Moses afraid the people will do about what he has to say to them?
Why will they say this?
Why would Moses think the people would think that God had not shown himself to Moses?

Vss. 2-9 — How did God respond to Moses reaction? What 3 things did God give Moses to convince the people that God had sent him?
Why did he turn the staff into a snake? What was Moses reaction to the snake?
Snake is the same word for the serpent in Genesis 3. It is a sign that God has control over evil in general. The Egyptians worshipped a snake (the snake was a symbol on the official seal of Egypt and it symbolized “all the might, dominion and magic which the gods had endued the divine Pharaoh.”), take a look at their head dresses. So God in creating and then destroying a snake is showing that he is really the one in charge of Egypt.
Why did he turn Moses hand to leprosy?
Why would he turn the water to blood?
What do the signs show?
How sure did God sound that the people would believe the signs?
Why do you suppose God didn’t remind him that in 3:18 he had said that the people would listen to him?

Vss. 10- 12 – What was Moses response to the signs? Why do you think he went on to the fact that he wasn’t a very good speaker? Notice Acts 7:22.
God speaker here meant that he was slow of wit (out of shape for dialog at the expected level), not that he had a physical problem or that he had forgotten Egyptian.
Moses uses the word for “slave” instead of another word that would have made him a simple servant (cf. 32:13).
Notice that so far Moses has not referred to God as Lord.
How did God answer him? What was God’s promise and provision to Moses?
What do you think of God’s approach to Moses? Lk. 12:11-13
What was Moses trying to do? What about all the passages about how godly Moses was in the New Testament? Were they wrong?
Compare 2 Cor. 12:10

Vss. 13 What did Moses say to God’s answer? Moses just didn’t want to go. He has crossed from reluctance into disobedience/sin.

Vss. 14 – What was God’s response to Moses’ wimpiness?
How did God’s anger differ from man’s anger?
How would Moses have known that God was angry? And what would he have done knowing that God was angry with him?
How long ago did God plan to involve Aaron in this plan?
Why would Aaron be excited to see Moses?

Vs. 15 – What will God do with Aaron and Moses since Moses couldn’t speak clearly?

Vs. 16 – How would the arrangement of speaking work?
What did it mean that Moses would be as God to Aaron?

Vs. 17 – What was Moses to take with him back to Egypt? Why?
What do you think of Moses’ task? What you have been thinking had God told you to go to Egypt and tell them to let all their slaves go free?

Vs. 18 – What did Moses do about his obligations to his father-in-law?

Vs. 19 -- What did God tell Moses to do? Why do you suppose God told Moses again to go?

Vs. 20 – So What did Moses take with him back to Egypt? How many sons does he have at this point? 18:4

Vs. 21 – What did God tell Moses to do when he got back to Egypt?
What did he say would happen as a result of the signs before Pharaoh?
Why was God going to harden Pharaoh’s heart?
Why do you suppose he wanted Pharaoh to not let the people go?

Vs. 22-23 – What was Moses to say to Pharaoh because he would not let the people go?
Why would Pharaoh not let the people go to worship God?
When he called Israel his first born son, what did he mean by that phrase? Gen. 27:19; 43:33, 49:3; Deut. 21:15-17.
Hints that there might someday be other sons. Adopted perhaps…

Vss. 24-26 – What happened one night on the road? Why do you suppose God tried to put Moses to death? Possibly by illness.
What did Zipporah do with the knife? Why do you suppose she did this? Perhaps because Moses was not totally ready to lead his people if his son was not circumcised according to the law of God. Zipporah may have been against the Jewish custom, hence her reaction, but the act was necessary for Moses to be made well and for the mission to continue. See 18:2
Why did she call Moses a bridegroom of blood?
What does God trying to kill Moses have to do with circumcising the boy?

Vs. 27-28 – what happened with Aaron finally showed up? How did Aaron respond to the news Moses gave him?

Vs. 29-31 – What did Moses and Aaron do when they got back to Egypt? What was the result? How did the people react when they heard the news that Moses gave them? Do you suppose there is any connection between worship and belief? What is it?
Who are the people worshipping?

Isa. 40:8