24..Conjuring Up A Storm
Based on EX: CHs.4 & 5...Read more there.

Out by Mt. Horeb (Sinai) Moses continues to argue with YHWH about his going back to Egypt. To go to the Pharaoh on God's behalf & the Hebrews' to demand he 'let my people go' as the African-American slavery song later puts it is a big ask! The story as it's been passed down is that to convince Moses, YHWH performs a couple of conjuring tricks!  Although we can’t pretend to understand this, we can use our imagination, & even enjoy it as a good story! Maybe it’s just a simple demonstration to convince Moses that if God can do anything, then in God's Name, so can Moses? Reportedly the Egyptians had been noted for such magic, & it will crop up again a little further down the track. But whether what's going on here has anything to do with the Egyptians’ interest in magic we simply don't know! But surely God is doing more than merely teaching Moses how to be a conjurer! First God tells Moses to throw his staff down on the ground. There it turns into a snake; and then back again into a staff. Next God tells Moses to place his hand inside his coat. When Moses takes it out it looks as if his skin has become diseased, but when he puts his hand back inside his coat & brings it out again his hand has returned to normal. However we understand (or don’t!) these 'tricks' maybe we’re meant to imagine them as God foreshadowing more serious acts than magic, & on a much larger scale. A divine threat to the Pharaoh & his people that if they continue to ill treat the Hebrews & refuse to free them there will be dire consequences! No sleight of hand this time! It would help to keep in mind that the events to follow will also demonstrate YHWH's power is greater than that of the Egyptians' gods! Despite raising objection after objection, Moses knows when he is beaten, & prepares to return to Egypt after being reassured by God that those seeking his life are dead now. But that's another story...25: A Plague on All Your Houses!

{1} Brevard Childs [Exodus, SCM Press, p.77] neatly summarises what all this is foreshadowing as: ‘The people will believe (Moses & God); the king will be hardened; the Egyptians will be plagued; deliverance will occur; & the Egyptians will be despoiled’. {2} For an overview of the Moses story from an early Christian point of view see Stephen's defence in AC 7.

Question: If we’re ever faced with what appears to be, or someone claims to be some ‘sign’ or ‘wonder’, how do we set about interpreting that?