Context: Exodus 4: 1-31
Focus: Exodus 4: 4, 10-12
“For what if they will not believe me or listen to what I say?
For they may say, The Lord has not appeared to you.”
Exodus 4:1
Summary: When God called Moses to deliver his people Israel from Egyptian slavery, Moses was reluctant, asking how the people would know he came from God. God then told him the signs he was to use to prove his relationship with Him. Then Moses told God he was weak in speech and to call someone else. God gets angry and tells him since he has made his mouth, He will also give him the words to say.
(Exodus 4: 1-12)
Reflection: So what is the sign that God has given every believer that God is in them and with them? The sign is the manifestation of the Holy Spirit at work in the believer’s heart. It is the power of the Holy Spirit that convicts and persuades a person that God has come in the flesh, in His Son, Jesus Christ. The staff the believer uses is God’s Word which is the gospel message (gospel) that points to Jesus Christ and has the only power to save.
(Ephesians 1:13)
Paul did not speak eloquently but was content with preaching the simple Word – the message of Christ’s death and resurrection. So the sign the Lord uses to persuade is Christ’s, redemptive love. Therefore, if we have the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit identifies us as coming from the “One True God”. The Holy Spirit has the power to persuade and deliver anyone who believes the gospel message we share. Signs may indeed follow those who believe, but signs and wonders are readily rationalized and fade. It is the Holy Spirit who softens the heart and stays.
(1 Corinthians 2: 1-5, Acts 4:13)
So, as believers, let us focus not on any outward signs, but rather on God’s Word that has the power to save. He will bring glory to Himself as we remember, the greatest thing we can do to prove God is with us (Immanuel) is to lift Jesus in praise.
(John 12:32)
“So he said to me, “This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: ‘Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,’ says the Lord Almighty.” Zechariah 4:6
My Prayer: Lord, forgive me for the times I’ve sought to prove you with a sign that speaks less of you and more of me. Let me decrease and you increase as your Holy Spirit brings revelation to your Truth. For Your Word is Truth; Your Word is enough.
CR: 1 Kings 19: 11-13, Matthew 16:4, Matthew 7:21-23,
John 16:13, 2 Thessalonians 2:9, Matthew 24:24
