exodus 4

Question	Answer	Note---10-02-2016
		Moses raises objection that the people will not believe his word, that he had an encounter with God. This is the first encounter that Moses had with God, and consequently Moses faith needed to be developed quickly.
		3:3 Moses casts his rod to the ground and it became a scary serpent so that it frightened Moses and he had to run from before it.
		It is usually the case that if you are to take up a snake, you take it by the head, so as to minimize the threat of being hurt. Here God advises Moses to take up the snake in the most dangerous way possible, he was to the snake by the tail. This must have been a frightening moment for Moses, but also a test of his faith.
		3:5 Since it was a dangerous thing to pick up a snake by the tail, this would be the tool God uses to demonstrate His power to the people and to Moses
Why did God chose these type of  miraculous events? Why did the rod become a snake? Why did Moses’ hand become leprous?	As it pertains the the leprosy maybe common knowledge was that leprosy was incurable, hence the miracle to cure and infect his hand would have been seen as a godsend.
	Maybe a snake was chosen because of the reputation it had.
Why was there a need to give Moses a sign to show to the people that they would believe that he had had an encounter with the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.	God has always communicated through human agencies, so that He can maintain a relationship with us. He can do it all by himself, but that would not be a relationship.
		God gave Moses 3 signs.
Did Moses have a speech impediment, f so was it a stuttering tong?
Was Moses requesting the Lord to fix his speech impediment?	It seems he was more using his speech impediment as an excuse, but the Lord made it clear that even his speech impediment was for a purpose.
Where is Aaron? Did he run away from Egypt? How is he coming to meet Moses?		4:14 vs 27
Why is Moses seeking approval from Jethro to leave?	Moses is working for him, is married to his daughter and lives with him. Consequently it is out of respect. Moses was leaving with his family.	4:18-20
		Moses staff is now called the rod of God.
		Note that God sets the stage so that His name be glorified in all the Earth.
How could God destroy so many Egyptians.	Similar to the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah, when the sin of a Nation has come up to him, they are punished. So not only did the crying of the Israelites ascend to God, but also the iniquities of the Egyptians.
How could God now call Israel His firstborn?	Unless the type is applied here, this is not clear. Israel was the 3rd in the line of the fathers of the covenenat. Note this has a specific reference to Jesus, but also to Israel as a nation. Never before has God owned a Nation in the way that the Israelites are owned here.	23 Note that God declares Israel to be his firstborn son.,
Note that God warns Phharoah at the onset, that his firstborn will be killed. How then could Pharaoh haved allowed this to happen, inspite of the warning?	Note that Pharaoh was not a beleibver in God, consequently he had no reason to believe that the thing spoken of by Moses would come to pass.
		24 Note that although the verse uses “Lord” it seems it was Moses who was wroth with his wife and threatens to kill child, if he is not circumcised. Zipporah seems to have been disobedient to his command and now, shows her disgust after having completed the ceremony.
How could have Aaron have left Egypt? How was Aron able to go meet Moses?		27-31
		These verses seem to suggest that the children of Israel though slaves still had some amount of freedom.