Read Exodus 2:23-4:26 at Bible Gateway.
Paragraph divisions
Exo 2:23-25 {s} God acknowledged the children of Israel
Exo 3:1-4:17 {p} Call of Moses: words + signs of YHVH
Exo 4:18-26 {p} Return to Egypt with authority + obedience
Original Hebrew
And God heard their groaning, and God remembered His covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. And God saw the children of Israel, and God acknowledged them. {s} Exo 2:24-25
We studied remembered and acknowledged last week. For today I want to point out that God takes this action because He is in covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
And you shall take in your hand this rod, with which you shall do the signs. Exo 4:17
Sign is Strong’s H226, oth, a concrete noun meaning, “sign,” from Strong’s H225 אות uwth, a primitive root meaning, “to consent.” The ancient pictographs are aleph + vav + tav.
aleph א = the ox head, thus strength, power, leader
vav ו = the tent peg, thus add, secure, hook
tav ת = crossed sticks, thus mark, sign, signal, monument
According to the Ancient Hebrew Lexicon, the plowman drove the ox (aleph) harnessed (vav) to the plow to a distant landmark (tav) on the horizon, in order to keep the furrow straight. The meaning of “consent” comes from the making of a covenant, where two parties arrive at an agreed-upon destination, as an ox arrives at the landmark when plowing. The meaning of “sign” comes from marking the covenant status with a sign of the covenant as a reminder to both parties.
And YHVH said to Moses: “When you go back into Egypt, see that you do before Pharaoh all the wonders which I have put in your hand; but I will harden his heart, and he will not let the people go.” Exo 4:21
Wonders is Strong’s H4159, mowpheth, a concrete noun meaning, “wonder, sign, miracle;” from Strong’s H3302 יפה yaphah, a primitive root meaning, “to shine, to be bright, i.e. to be beautiful.” The ancient pictographs are yud + pey + hey.
yud י = the closed hand, thus work, throw, worship
pey פ, ף = the mouth, thus open, blow, scatter, edge
hey ה = the man with upraised arms, thus look, reveal, wonder, worship, breath
The story the pictographs are telling is of a work (yud) inspiring open-mouthed (pey) wonder (hey); thus something above the normal or natural.
The weak plus strong paragraphs following it combined, seem to be proclaiming that because God is in covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and keeps His covenant in the forefront of His mind, He equipped Moses with the ability to perform signs, works which inspired open-mouthed wonder, testifying that their source was above the normal or natural, i.e., supernatural. These signs and wonders bore witness that God was a party to the covenant of which Moses was testifying before Pharaoh.
And I submit, it is still the same today. The covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob has not been abolished but fulfilled in Messiah Yeshua, and the signs and wonders with which He has empowered His body to perform are for the purpose of bearing witness that God is a party to the covenant of which we testify before the world.
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