"Put your hand back inside your cloak," said the LORD. So Moses put his hand back inside his cloak, and when he took it out, it was restored, like the rest of his skin. Put your hand back inside your cloakThis command from the LORD to Moses is a continuation of the miraculous sign given to Moses to affirm his divine mission. The Hebrew word for "cloak" is "חֵיק" (cheq), which can also mean bosom or fold. This signifies a place of closeness and protection, symbolizing God's intimate involvement in Moses' life and mission. The act of placing the hand back inside the cloak suggests a return to God's covering and a restoration process that is about to unfold. said the LORD
The phrase emphasizes the authority and direct communication from God. The Hebrew name used here is "יהוה" (YHWH), the covenant name of God, highlighting His eternal presence and faithfulness. This divine instruction underscores the personal relationship between God and Moses, reminding us of God's sovereignty and His active role in guiding His chosen leaders. So Moses put his hand back inside his cloak
Moses' obedience to God's command is immediate and without question. This act of faith is crucial, as it demonstrates Moses' trust in God's power and promises. The Hebrew verb "שׁוּב" (shuv), meaning to return or restore, is implicit in this action, foreshadowing the restoration that is about to occur. Moses' compliance is a model of faithful obedience for believers, showing that trust in God's word leads to miraculous outcomes. and when he took it out
The action of taking the hand out of the cloak is a pivotal moment, representing the transition from affliction to healing. The Hebrew verb "יָצָא" (yatsa), meaning to go out or come forth, is used here, indicating a movement from concealment to revelation. This act symbolizes the unveiling of God's power and the manifestation of His promises, encouraging believers to trust in God's timing and methods. it was restored
The restoration of Moses' hand is a powerful testament to God's healing power. The Hebrew word "שׁוּב" (shuv) is again relevant here, emphasizing the theme of returning to a former state of wholeness. This miraculous healing serves as a sign of God's ability to restore not only physical ailments but also spiritual and communal brokenness. It reassures believers of God's redemptive power and His desire to make all things new. like the rest of his skin
This phrase confirms the completeness of the miracle. The Hebrew word "בָּשָׂר" (basar), meaning flesh or skin, is used to describe the physical aspect of the miracle, ensuring that Moses' hand was indistinguishable from the rest of his body. This total restoration is a metaphor for the comprehensive nature of God's salvation and healing, offering hope that God's work in our lives is thorough and perfect. It serves as a reminder that God's interventions are not partial but complete, reflecting His perfect will and love for His people. Persons / Places / Events 1. MosesThe central figure in this passage, Moses is chosen by God to lead the Israelites out of Egypt. At this point, he is receiving signs from God to validate his mission. 2. The LORD (Yahweh)God is speaking directly to Moses, providing him with signs to demonstrate His power and authority. 3. The CloakA garment that Moses uses to perform the sign. It symbolizes concealment and revelation, as Moses' hand is hidden and then revealed healed. 4. The Leprous HandA miraculous sign given by God to Moses. Initially, Moses' hand becomes leprous, symbolizing impurity and disease, and then it is restored, symbolizing healing and divine power. 5. Mount HorebAlthough not mentioned directly in this verse, it is the location where God appears to Moses in the burning bush and gives him these signs. Teaching Points God's Sovereignty and PowerGod demonstrates His control over physical ailments, showing that nothing is beyond His power to heal or change. Faith and ObedienceMoses' willingness to follow God's instructions, even when they seem strange, is a model of faith and obedience for believers. Signs and WondersGod uses signs to confirm His word and mission. Believers should seek to understand the purpose of signs in their spiritual journey. Restoration and HealingThe restoration of Moses' hand is a powerful image of God's ability to heal and restore what is broken or diseased in our lives. Trust in God's PlanEven when faced with daunting tasks, believers can trust that God equips and empowers them for His purposes. Bible Study Questions 1. How does the transformation of Moses' hand from leprous to healed illustrate God's power and authority? Consider other instances in the Bible where God demonstrates His power over disease. 2. In what ways does Moses' obedience to God's command serve as a model for our own faith journey? Reflect on a time when you had to trust and obey God despite uncertainty. 3. How do the signs given to Moses in Exodus 4 relate to the signs and miracles performed by Jesus in the New Testament? What do these signs teach us about God's character? 4. What can we learn about God's ability to restore and heal from this passage? How can this understanding impact our prayers and expectations for healing today? 5. How does the context of Moses' encounter with God at Mount Horeb shape our understanding of his mission and the challenges he faced? How can we apply this understanding to our own callings and challenges? Connections to Other Scriptures Leviticus 13-14These chapters detail the laws concerning leprosy, highlighting the seriousness of the disease and the significance of Moses' hand being healed. Numbers 12:10-15Miriam's leprosy and subsequent healing serve as another example of God's power over disease and His ability to restore. Luke 5:12-13Jesus heals a man with leprosy, demonstrating His divine authority and compassion, paralleling God's power shown to Moses. People Aaron, Isaac, Israelites, Jacob, Jethro, Moses, Pharaoh, ZipporahPlaces Egypt, Horeb, Midian, Nile RiverTopics Behold, Bosom, Bringeth, Cloak, Drew, Flesh, Inside, Plucked, Putteth, Rest, Restored, RobeDictionary of Bible Themes Exodus 4:7 5136 body Exodus 4:1-9 1449 signs, purposes Exodus 4:1-13 7758 preachers, call Exodus 4:5-9 5104 Moses, foreshadower of Christ Exodus 4:6-7 5390 leprosy Library January 13. "Thou Shalt be to Him Instead of God" (Ex. Iv. 16).
"Thou shalt be to him instead of God" (Ex. iv. 16). Such was God's promise to Moses, and such the high character that Moses was to assume toward Aaron, his brother. May it not suggest a high and glorious place that each of us may occupy toward all whom we meet, instead of God? What a dignity and glory it would give our lives, could we uniformly realize this high calling! How it would lead us to act toward our fellow-men! God can always be depended upon. God is without variableness or shadow of turning. …
Rev. A. B. Simpson—Days of Heaven Upon Earth May the Eleventh but -- --!
"And Moses answered and said, But----" --EXODUS iv. 1-9. We know that "but." God has heard it from our lips a thousand times. It is the response of unbelief to the divine call. It is the reply of fear to the divine command. It is the suggestion that the resources are inadequate. It is a hint that God may not have looked all round. He has overlooked something which our own eyes have seen. The human "buts" in the Scriptural stories make an appalling record. "Lord, I will follow Thee, but----" There …
John Henry Jowett—My Daily Meditation for the Circling Year May the Twelfth Mouth and Matter
"Now therefore go, and I will be with thy mouth." --EXODUS iv. 10-17. And what a promise that is for anyone who is commissioned to proclaim the King's decrees. Here can teachers and preachers find their strength. God will be with their mouths. He will control their speech, and order their words like troops. He does not promise to make us eloquent, but to endow our words with the "demonstration of power." "And I will teach thee what thou shall say." The Lord will not only be with our mouths, …
John Henry Jowett—My Daily Meditation for the Circling Year A Bundle of Myrrh is My Well-Beloved unto Me; He Shall Abide Between My Breasts.
When the Bride, or rather the lover (for she is not yet a bride), has found her Bridegroom, she is so transported with joy, that she is eager to be instantly united to Him. But the union of perpetual enjoyment is not yet arrived. He is mine, she says, I cannot doubt that He gives Himself to me this moment, since I feel it, but He is to me, as it were, a bundle of myrrh. He is not yet a Bridegroom whom I may embrace in the nuptial bed, but a bundle of crosses, pains and mortifications; a bloody husband …
Madame Guyon—Song of Songs of Solomon Preaching (I. ).
Earthen vessels, frail and slight, Yet the golden Lamp we bear; Master, break us, that the light So may fire the murky air; Skill and wisdom none we claim, Only seek to lift Thy Name. I have on purpose reserved the subject of Preaching for our closing pages. Preaching is, from many points of view, the goal and summing up of all other parts and works of the Ministry. What we have said already about the Clergyman's life and labour, in secret, in society, in the parish; what we have said about his …
Handley C. G. Moule—To My Younger Brethren To the Saddest of the Sad
I often wonder what those preachers do who feel called to make up their message as they go on; for if they fail, their failure must be attributed in great measure to their want of ability to make up a moving tale. They have to spread their sails to the breeze of the age, and to pick up a gospel that comes floating down to them on the stream of time, altering every week in the year; and they must have an endless task to catch this new idea, or, as they put it, to keep abreast of the age. Unless, indeed, …
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 34: 1888 The Sweet Uses of Adversity
Now, I propose to address myself to the two classes of persons who are making use of this question. First, I shall speak to the tried saint; and then I shall speak to the seeking sinner, who has been seeking peace and pardon through Christ, but who has not as yet found it, but, on the contrary, has been buffeted by the law, and driven away from the mercy-seat in despair. I. First, then, to THE CHILD OF GOD. I have--I know I have--in this great assembly, some who have come to Job's position. They …
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 5: 1859 "For if Ye Live after the Flesh, Ye Shall Die; but if Ye through the Spirit do Mortify the Deeds of the Body, Ye Shall Live.
Rom. viii. s 13, 14.--"For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die; but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God." The life and being of many things consists in union,--separate them, and they remain not the same, or they lose their virtue. It is much more thus in Christianity, the power and life of it consists in the union of these things that God hath conjoined, so that if any man pretend to …
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning The Hardening in the Sacred Scripture.
"He hath hardened their heart."-- John xii. 40. The Scripture teaches positively that the hardening and "darkening of their foolish heart" is a divine, intentional act. This is plainly evident from God's charge to Moses concerning the king of Egypt: "Thou shalt speak all that I command thee; and I will harden Pharaoh's heart, and multiply My signs and wonders in the land of Egypt. But Pharaoh shall not harken unto you, and I will lay My hand upon Egypt, and the Egyptians shall know that I am the …
Abraham Kuyper—The Work of the Holy Spirit The Quotation in Matt. Ii. 6.
Several interpreters, Paulus especially, have asserted that the interpretation of Micah which is here given, was that of the Sanhedrim only, and not of the Evangelist, who merely recorded what happened and was said. But this assertion is at once refuted when we consider the object which Matthew has in view in his entire representation of the early life of Jesus. His object in recording the early life of Jesus is not like that of Luke, viz., to communicate historical information to his readers. …
Ernst Wilhelm Hengstenberg—Christology of the Old Testament Flight into Egypt and Slaughter of the Bethlehem Children.
(Bethlehem and Road Thence to Egypt, b.c. 4.) ^A Matt. II. 13-18. ^a 13 Now when they were departed [The text favors the idea that the arrival and departure of the magi and the departure of Joseph for Egypt, all occurred in one night. If so, the people of Bethlehem knew nothing of these matters], behold, the angel of the Lord appeareth to Joseph in a dream, saying, Arise [this command calls for immediate departure] and take the young child and his mother, and flee into Egypt [This land was ever the …
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel Appendix xii. The Baptism of Proselytes
ONLY those who have made study of it can have any idea how large, and sometimes bewildering, is the literature on the subject of Jewish Proselytes and their Baptism. Our present remarks will be confined to the Baptism of Proselytes. 1. Generally, as regards proselytes (Gerim) we have to distinguish between the Ger ha-Shaar (proselyte of the gate) and Ger Toshabh (sojourner,' settled among Israel), and again the Ger hatstsedeq (proselyte of righteousness) and Ger habberith (proselyte of the covenant). …
Alfred Edersheim—The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah A Canticle of Love
It is not only when He is about to send me some trial that Our Lord gives me warning and awakens my desire for it. For years I had cherished a longing which seemed impossible of realisation--to have a brother a Priest. I often used to think that if my little brothers had not gone to Heaven, I should have had the happiness of seeing them at the Altar. I greatly regretted being deprived of this joy. Yet God went beyond my dream; I only asked for one brother who would remember me each day at the Holy …
Therese Martin (of Lisieux)—The Story of a Soul Exodus
The book of Exodus--so named in the Greek version from the march of Israel out of Egypt--opens upon a scene of oppression very different from the prosperity and triumph in which Genesis had closed. Israel is being cruelly crushed by the new dynasty which has arisen in Egypt (i.) and the story of the book is the story of her redemption. Ultimately it is Israel's God that is her redeemer, but He operates largely by human means; and the first step is the preparation of a deliverer, Moses, whose parentage, …
John Edgar McFadyen—Introduction to the Old Testament Links Exodus 4:7 NIVExodus 4:7 NLTExodus 4:7 ESVExodus 4:7 NASBExodus 4:7 KJV
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