It seems strange her that God asks Moses what he has in his hand. God knows and sees everything. So why even ask the question?

1. The staff of Moses

The staff symbolised everything Moses owned at that time. Moses had been a prince of Egypt, with power, prestige and palaces. He had fled from Egypt with nothing.

He was now a shepherd and the sheep probably belonged to his father-in-law. He was a lowly shepherd living out in the middle of the desert in a tent that’s moved whenever they needed to find new pasture for the flocks. The staff represented the totality of Moses’ wealth. He may not have had much, but this staff represented all he had and done.

2. Letting go of everything

God asks Moses what is in his hand. Moss was hanging on to the staff and needed to sign it over to God. God does and wants Moses to realise that if you follow Go then He you and everything you have. It is perhaps the one thing that Moses owned and God wants Him to hand it over in service to Him

3. The staff of God

We can make excuses when God calls us to serve Him. I haven’t got enough money or time to make a difference. God uses Moses with what he has in his hand right now! It wasn’t much. It was just Moses’ staff. When Moses threw it down before the burning bush, it became God’s staff. In Exodus 4:20 we read that once Moses started back to Egypt to lead the Israelites out of slavery, “he took the staff of God in his hand.”

God used the humble shepherd’s staff that was given to God to shake an empire. With that staff of God:-

• Moses struck the Nile river and turned it to blood (7:17)
• He stretched it over the waters of Egypt & brought a plague of frogs upon the land (8:5)
• He struck the dust of the earth and up from the dust rose a plague of gnats (8:16)
• He stretched it toward heaven and down came fire, thunder, and hail (9:23)
• He waved it in the air and a horde of locust invaded the land (10:13)
• He stretched it out over the Red Sea and the waters parted for Israel to pass on dry ground (14:16)
• He struck a rock and water poured forth to quench the thirst of God’s people (17:6)
• When he held it high in the air, the Israelites prevailed in battle over their enemies (17:9)

This was longer was this a mere shepherd’s staff. It was like God had placed in Moses’ hand the very power of the universe! Had the nature of the wood changed? No, it was still the same shepherd’s staff. What was the difference? Now it belonged to God!

What do you have in your hand that YOU own– rather than what God owns? If you throw it down before God. If you give it to God for Him to use. It can be used to shake the foundation of the world.

Categories: Exodus