(Exodus) Exodus 4:1-4

That brings us to chapter 4 here. And we see now the return of Moses to Egypt and the announcement of the deliverance to Israel. But Moses, he has a great many hurdles to get over and a great many questions in his mind.

Now notice, "...And Moses answered and said, But behold, they shall not believe me, nor hearken unto my voice. For they will say, The Lord hath not appeared unto thee." That'd be a natural answer, would it not? "...And the Lord said unto him, What is that in thine hand? And he said, A rod." Now that rod will become the badge of authority for Moses because he's going to use it in many different ways. But now here is the first.

He said, "...cast it on the ground." And he cast it on the ground, became a serpent. And Moses fled from before him. And I think it was a vicious monster, by the way.

The thing to make sure is that actually there'll be no power in that rod at all. It could be an instrument of Satan just as well. It could be satanic.

It must be used for God. It's just like if you've got a dollar bill in your pocket. You take that dollar bill out.

That dollar bill could have been used to help pay for a murder. It could be used for prostitution. It can be used for gambling.

It can be used for liquor and that sort of thing. In other words, that dollar bill can become a serpent, friends. It's only when it's put in the hand of a man of God who's moving at the hand of God that it can be used for God, you see.

This is a tremendous lesson that God is giving here. And the Lord said unto Moses, Put forth thine hand, and take it by the tail. He put forth his hand, caught it, became a rod in his hand.

A great many people say to me about television, it's of the devil. And you remember years ago they used to say of the automobile, it's of the devil. They used to say it of radio, that it's of the devil.

Sure, the devil can use it, uses all these instruments. Sure, the radio is of the devil. It can be used of the devil, but grab that serpent by the tail and help keep the through the Bible radio on the air, friends, and make it a rod in the hand of God today.

I get a little wary of a lot of these super pious people saying, Oh, that's of the devil. And they never give a dime to keep these Christian radio programs on the air. They never try to get a Christian message on TV.

And they never use their automobile to bring some dear saint to church. May I say to you, grab the old serpent by the tail and use it for God today. We need to do that.

Now, God's not through teaching Moses these great spiritual lessons. We're going to see something else. And God says that rod in your hand will become an instrument that will convince the elders.

So God puts into that rod, when it's used according to the will of God in the hand of a man that's yielded to God, it will become his badge of authority. And I believe that a man today, any man that will take the Word of God and preach it as the Spirit of God leads him without any bias or prejudice, I'm confident that God will bless that to the hearts of those that hear. Therefore, we saw that that rod could be an instrument of Satan.

It could become a serpent. But when Moses would take it, would return and become a rod. You will note also now that God gives him another assurance.

And it is an important lesson for him as he assumes this great responsibility.