Exodus 4: Making God Mad

Synopsis:

Moses tells God he can’t do this because no one will believe him. So God shows him a couple of “signs” he can use to prove he has God on his side. The first is turning a rod into a snake. The 2^nd is covering his hand in leprosy and turning it healthy again. Moses then argues that he isn’t a very good speaker and which point God gets angry and says, fine, I will use your brother Aaron to speak on your behalf and you can do the signs. So Moses goes back to Jethro and asks permission to go to Egypt to see his family. On the way there, they stop at an Inn and God apparently tries to kill Moses but his wife intervenes by cutting the foreskin off her son. They continue on, meet up with Aaron. Moses tells Aaron everything and together they go to speak to the Israelites who do, in fact, believe them.

In other words:

Moses tries to talk God out of using him as a messenger, but God insists.

What I think really happened:

The specific signs Moses witnesses, it’s like he is having a bad trip or something. Definitely seems like a hallucination.

Favorite bit:

Exodus 4:10 – Moses tries a 2^nd excuse and this pisses off God, quite a bit.

Strangest bit:

(Exodus 4:24-26) The attempted murder and circumcision by Zipporah is REALLY strange. There are too many pronouns and it is impossible to follow who is doing what and why. And, it doesn’t seem to have any impact on the story, so, really, it’s just confusing. 

Oddest bit:

That God is so mad at Moses, he wants to kill him, but isn’t able to because of a piece of bloody foreskin.

Moral Lesson learned:

If you don’t feel comfortable with a deal, negotiate a better one, even if you are negotiating with God. (Exodus 4: 10-13)