God Uses A Snake

Moses answered, What if they do not believe me or listen to me and say, The LORD did not appear to you? Then the LORD said to him, What is that in your hand? A staff, he replied. The LORD said, Throw it on the ground. Moses threw it on the ground and it became a snake, and he ran from it. Then the LORD said to him, Reach out your hand and take it by the tail. So Moses reached out and took hold of the snake and it turned back into a staff in his hand. Exodus 4: 1 - 4.

God has called Moses to serve Him in a special mission among God’s people, the Hebrew people. Moses is extremely careful and cautious because, for one thing, he has messed up big time with those Hebrew people, who do not see him as a person sent by God, to help them.  Moses is not saying no, to God’s call. He is not running away from it either. He simply wants advice as to how to handle the people, if they do not believe him or listen to him as a person sent by God.

We are viewing this as Moses’ REST time, when he is made to see things which he has never seen and known before. God Himself is making His servant aware of what he has in his hand and who God is in his life, so that he will be better informed to carry out the new and different work on which he is to embark. Be not disbelieving! By faith, will you not accept this as for you also? Sometimes, what we are called to do for Jesus, is not for outsiders, but to our own, be they family, friends or neighbours, people who are dear to us. This is our time of REST also. The word REST, has been given to us, as a time to - Release, Empty, Stop, Turn.

Our Lord has newness for us, as He had for Moses. We are being called to a more excellent and higher mission, just as Moses was. Moses was no idle person and neither are you. However, the Lord requires something more than what you do at present. Moses was a shepherd, keeping his father-in-law’s sheep. Now the Lord wants him to shepherd His own sheep. I don’t know what the Lord is calling you to do, but I do know that He is calling you to greater works for Him. By faith, you and I need to believe and receive. By faith, we must accept that this REST is imperative, if we are to be obedient.  

As God has come to Moses, just where he is, so our Lord has come to you, just where you are. You never came to God. He has come to you. You never asked Him for any higher calling of service. He has given it to you. You never wanted, or even thought of yourself in that way. He has chosen it for you.

Release - Moses’ past has raised its head, like an ugly, accusing serpent, to be a stumbling block in his path to obedience. Moses has been living with his past, especially the words of the Hebrew, which have never left him. Who made you ruler and judge over us? Are you thinking of killing me as you killed the Egyptian? Exodus 2: 14a. This was very real for Moses and he became afraid, as his actions were made public. Where are you? You’ve been brought to this time, because our Lord has chosen you to do something more for Him, but your past holds you prisoner, and you are simply not free. Your responses to God are all informed and guided by your past. God releases you from all fear and guilt and takes away all that fear as He has done for Moses. He does this by emphasizing that He is the Person who has chosen you. Does He know your past? Does He know your history? Of course He does. Did He know Moses’ history? Of course He did. God is the All Knowing God and He is the All Choosing God.

Empty - Moses carries a staff in his hand at all times, as he victoriously does the work of caring for his father-in-law’s sheep. The staff is good, but it only carries human powers and the clever deceiver, that serpent of a devil, keeps Moses clinging to his staff, with pure natural powers. In the same way, we are kept clinging to our natural skills. God commands Moses to throw his staff on the ground. As simple as this is, God has made Moses’ hands, empty of his staff. What is the staff to Moses? Don’t forget, the staff is what he uses to help him do a great job at shepherding the sheep and is his support and protection in many ways. It’s also a symbol, a living testimony of who he is and what he does. When God empties Moses’ hands of that staff, God is saying and showing something big and extremely important to Moses. You too have a ‘staff’, something human-made, whether it is physical or mental, which you believe in and carry with you at all times. When the staff is no longer in Moses’ hands, it turns into a serpent. God could have chosen any creature, but He chose a snake. The ordinary staff, which over the years, has been manipulated, maneuvered and managed by Moses, emptied from his singular control, displays supernatural works in God’s Hands. What about you? Is there something here that our Lord God is telling you about Himself, regarding the staff you possess, that which you control, manipulate, maneuver and manage? Is there something new, some now way that our God is showing you about what you carry about with you?

Stop – When Moses’ hands are empty of the staff, on its own, it becomes a snake which so scares Moses, he runs from it. Instantly he is humbled. When I think about it, the snake or serpent is the crawling creature that would get you to run away, faster than say, a lizard or a worm. God chooses the snake. It is the snake which God uses to put a stop to many snake-like, venomous, traits in Moses. By faith, we accept these same stops. Here is but one stop. With the appearance of the snake, that which is scary, God stops Moses’ self-controlling mind, and manner, to look to God’s supernaturally controlling power and purpose. Our Wise God knows exactly how to get us to stop our normal, human-driven efforts, to display His handiwork in His infinite power and authority.

Turn – Listen carefully to God’s words to Moses. Reach out your hand and take it by the tail. So Moses reached out and took hold of the snake and it turned back into a staff in his hand. Exodus 4: 4. The word, turn, comes bearing two mighty shows of God's distinct power. There’s the turning back of the servant, in God’s Hands. Isn’t it true that when God commands Moses to reach out his hand and take hold of the snake’s tail, Moses has to turn back? God is still the One and Only Awesome God of Might and Power, who is able to have us turn back, from running away, to do as He commands. There’s the turning back of the snake in God’s Hands. Isn’t it true that when God commands Moses to reach out his hand and take hold of the snake’s tail, the snake turns back also, into his staff?

God uses what He desires, to accomplish His perfect will in you.