Exodus 4:2 Then the Lord said to him, "What is that in your
hand?"
"A staff," he replied.
It was a tool. It was a symbol of himself—a simple shepherd. The
shepherd never went anywhere without his staff. It was his guide, his weapon of
defense, and of course it supported him when he was tired. Now God said,
"Throw it down!” He threw it down, and it turned into a snake. Moses’
reaction was instinctive. The story reads, "Moses fled.” You bet he did, and I would have too. He had
no love for snakes. Now came the real test of faith. God said, "Pick it up,
Moses." Picking up a deadly snake is not a wise thing to do regardless of
how the experts do it. God said, "Pick it up by the tail." That
leaves the head free to do what it wants to. The Bible doesn't say what Moses
said, but I can imagine, "Lord, you don't seem to understand that is a
live snake.” “Lord, you wouldn’t want to
kill it first, would you?” The Lord said, “Moses, pick it up."
I have always loved the writing of the British pastor F.B.
Meyer who writes:
“What is that
in your hand? And he said, a Rod.” It was probably only a shepherd’s crook.
What a history, however, awaited it! It was to be stretched out over the Red
Sea, pointing a pathway through its depths; to smite the flinty rock; to win
victory over the hosts of Amalek; to be known as the Rod of God. When God wants
an implement for his service He does not choose the golden scepter, but a
shepherd’s crook; the weakest and meanest thing He can find—a ram’s horn, a
cake of barley meal, an ox-goad, an earthen pitcher, a shepherd’s sling. He
employs a worm to thresh the mountains and make the hills as chaff. A rod with
God behind it is mightier than the vastest army.[i]
Notice that God used what was familiar to Moses to teach him an important
lesson. Moses’ problem is our problem. He couldn’t see how he was supposed to
do what God had asked him to do. God used the stick to say to Moses if I can
use this stick, I can use you.
