But today we begin way back early
in the scripture in Exodus chapter 4, and let's read the first nine
verses of this chapter. It concerns Moses and his call
and commission to go deliver the children of Israel out of
Egypt. So in Exodus chapter 4, verse
1 through 9, what about miracles? The question. Moses answered
and said, But behold, they will not believe me, nor hearken unto
my voice, for they will say, The Lord hath not appeared unto
thee. And the Lord said unto him, What
is that in thine hand? And he said, A rod. And he, that
is God, said, Cast it on the ground. He cast it on the ground,
and it became a serpent, And Moses fled from before him. And the Lord said unto him, Moses,
put forth thine hand and take it by the tail. And he put forth
his hand and caught it, and it became a rod in his hand. that they may believe the Lord
God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac,
and the God of Jacob hath appeared unto thee. And the Lord said
furthermore unto him, Put now thy hand into thy bosom. And he put his hand into his
bosom. And when he took it out, behold, his hand was leprous
as snow. And he said, Put thine hand into
thy bosom again. And he put his hand into his
bosom again, and plucked it out of his bosom, and behold, it
was turned again as his other flesh. And it shall come to pass,
if they will not believe thee, neither hearken to the voice
of the first sign, that they will believe the voice of the
latter sign. And it shall come to pass, if
they will not believe also these two signs, neither hearken unto
thy voice, that thou shalt take of the water of the river, and
pour it upon the dry land, and the water which thou takest out
of the river shall become blood upon the dry ground." Now, we
want to enter into a discussion of that question, whether these
things are common and continuous. whether they are for a specific
time and a specific purpose and therefore have an end. Let's
begin our study by acknowledging a scriptural fact. When we read
through the scripture, study them very carefully, there is
no denying that there were many miracles that were done in past
time, in past places, in God's dealing with his people through
his prophets and such like. But many miracles were concentrated
when we look in three different or specific periods of time. Many of the miracles and the
supernatural works of God fall into these three periods. And
I think if we counted them by actual number, we would find
the greater majority of them fall into these three periods
of time. And why were they not spread
out equally over the history in God's dealing with his people? Why did God give such strong
concentration of miracles in these three periods of time that
we read about in the scripture? Well, let's identify those three
periods of time. Number one, of course, is the
people or the time of Moses. This period that we're reading
about here in our text today, When he went down into Egypt,
did many signs and wonders to deliver the Jewish people out
of their bondage. Such things as were done there,
we are told in the scripture, were done according to the promise
of God and according to the word of God. Thou shalt do signs,
God said under Moses chapter four and verse 17. That is, using
Aaron's rod, there would be many signs that would be wrought among
them in the land of Egypt. Exodus 4 verse 21, said unto Moses, When thou goest
to return into Egypt, see that thou do all those wonders before
Pharaoh, which I have put in thy hand. Then look at verse
28, And Moses told Aaron all the words of the Lord that had
sent him, and all the signs which he had commanded him, those here
in chapter 4, Exodus 4 and verse 30, and Aaron spake and did signs
in the sight of the people. This was before they're going
in before Pharaoh. So let us recall, if we might,
some of the signs and the wonders and the works that were done
by Moses and by Aaron down in the land of Egypt. In Exodus
chapter 7, you have the miracle of Aaron's rod becoming a serpent
and then swallowing up the rods of Pharaoh's magicians as they
imitated the same thing. And then you have the 10 plagues
that were visited upon the land of Egypt, such things as the
river being turned into blood, the plague of frogs, the plague
of lice, the plague of flies, and the plague of hails and boils,
and locusts and darkness, and finally, the death of every firstborn
without blood in the land of Egypt, and the parting of the
Red Sea as they went out and on their way. So in this period
of time, there was a great concentration of miracles brought through Moses
and Aaron to a specific end, the deliverance of the people
of Israel. Now the second great period of
miracle falls in the time of those great twin prophets Elijah
and Elisha and according to First and Second Kings, you have a
record of their many works. When Elisha's miracle went before,
his mantle then fell upon Elisha, who worked yet more wonders than
had his master or his predecessor. He parted the waters. He cured
the leprosy of Naaman. He revived the dead child on
one occasion. He caused iron to float in the
river, and that's not something you see every day. He caused
a cruise of oil to never run dry that the little widow might
have her sustenance. He sent two she-bears out of
the woods to devour the mocking children of the man of God. He cured the poisoned parties at one time
in his miracle, and the two established the School of the Prophets in
Israel and sought to restore true religion again in Israel
and among the people. Now, suffice it to say, they
began their ministry in a time of apostasy. These men came to
Israel in a time of apostasy, when idolatry was prevalent and
present because all too prevalent, and as A.W. Pink said, the character
of Elisha's ministry and mission was in keeping with Israel's
condition at the time. In other words, these miracles
were done by these men among them in keeping with the time
and the condition of Israel and its religion. The very fact that
these miracles were needed, necessary, and sent by God indicates the
state into which Israel had fallen when these men ministered there. Notice, if you might, a small
similarity between the times of Elijah and Elijah and the
time of Christ and the Apostle, how that one followed the other
very closely, when the miracles of the latter followed closely
upon those of the former. Then, The third great period
of miracles, you know, and that would be the time of Christ and
immediately following that, the apostle. In this period of time,
the Lord and his apostle did all manner of great works among
Israel. And again, it was a time of apostasy
and defection as they were about to put to death the Messiah.
Reading B.B. Warfield in his book Counterfeit
Miracles, I think is the name of it, when our Lord came down
to the earth, he said he drew heaven with him, and the signs
that accompanied his ministry were but the trailing clouds
of glory which he brought with him from heaven, unquote. Such things as the dead resurrected
one after four days. Deaf ears were unstopped. Blind
eyes were made to see. All manner of disease and affliction
were healed by the Lord. Demons were cast out, and people
put again in their right mind. But now we ask ourselves the
question concerning all of this, and the question, to get at it
a little bit more in depth, is this. These things all held something
in common. all three periods of time that
we're dealing with had something in common. What is the common
thread, therefore, that we find in all of them as it weaves its
way through all three of these time periods? Was it what gave
them a commonality so that they had a purpose from God Almighty? In other words, What is the main
purpose of these periods of miracles? Why did it please God to send
them in the time that he did? Why did he equip Moses and the
Apostle and Elijah and Elisha to be able to work miracles,
signs, and wonders? Why were miracles more prevalent
and more concentrated in these periods of time and less in other
periods of time in the history? And were these miracles directed
more toward the happiness and the good of the people of God,
or were they for the glory of God that it might be manifest
among the people? Did Christ, for example, work
his miracles and his healing so that he could help as many
as possible? If so, why did he at one time
heal one man in one place and not a multitude of others that
were there, as he did in John chapter 5? And then the question,
did Moses, Elisha, Elijah, and the apostles of our Lord work
miracles so they could be respected, build a big crowd, build a big
church, be looked upon as, quote, God's men of faith and power,
unquote, as we see today. Were people healed so that they
could feel better about themselves and strictly for the sake of
the person? In short, what is or was the
chief reason for the miracles performed by the servants of
God in these particular three time frames? Why so many Concentrated
in this period if we look at it. It tells us something it
gives us a hint So let's notice the statement made by Moses unto
the Lord We read it in Exodus chapter 4 and verse 4 and 5 and
the Lord said to Moses Put forth our hand take it by the tail
and he put forth his hand caught it it became a rod why look at
verse 5 and that they may believe that the Lord God their Father,
the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, has appeared unto thee."
Now, let's notice that statement as we look at it. How wonderful
it is that God is telling Moses the purpose and the intent behind
these things. Why did God not say to Moses,
for example, go down to Egypt and have him to say to the people,
look, God has sent me down here to deliver you. All of you get
ready. We're going to leave out. Follow
me. Make ready, pack, let's be go. You do what I tell you. Moses
could have said to them, I am come in the name and the power
of God. Obey me and follow me. I am come to lead you in the
way that God would have you to go. Would they hearken to such
a man? Moses knew they would not. Moses said as much here. They're
not going to believe that. They're not going to believe
me. They're not going to believe you appear to me. and they're
not going to believe that you have sent me. I remember one
time, it's in Exodus chapter 2, when the Lord tried to deliver
an Israelite, and you know what happened to that, he fled the
country. Earlier in his life, Moses had sought to deliver the
children of the Hebrew from Egyptian bondage and oppression. He sought
to act the part of a mediator, if you remember, between two
Hebrews that were in a fight about some matter, rebuking the
one who was in the wrong, chiding him for his error. You'll find
that in chapter 2 and verse 13. What was the man's response? when Moses intervened between
those two Israelites. Did they say one to another,
oh look, this is Moses, the man of God, sent from God, God's
deliverer. What is it that you want us to
do? What do you wish us to do? Not on your life, because we
read very clearly that they reviled Moses for his attempt and he
fled out of the country. in Exodus 2 and 14, and he said,
that is, the Hebrew at fault said to Moses, who made you a
prince or a judge over us? Will you kill me like you killed
the Egyptian? And those words burned in the
heart and the conscience of Moses, and he fled the country where
he married a wife. You'll find that in Exodus 2
and verse 16. When the Lord appeared to him
in the backside of the desert, you remember, and gave him his
call and commissioned him to go and deliver the children of
Israel out of their bondage. You have that in chapter 3, verse
1 through 18. But here, Then our next point God gave
Moses three signs in order to manifest his calling and to manifest
his authority three Undeniable proofs that God was with him
and that God had sent him and they are listed in Exodus chapter
4 here they are quickly and The first one is in verse 2 through
verse 5. That was the changing of Moses'
rod into a serpent, and then changing it again back into the
rod. And in Exodus chapter 3 and verse
10, You can see it. Moses responds in verse 11, Who
am I that I should go unto Pharaoh and say unto him, I am come to
bring forth the children of Israel out of Egypt? Verse 13, Who am
I going to say has sent me? In whose name and authority do
I go? Then in Exodus 4 and 1, Behold,
they will not believe me, they're not going to hearken unto me,
they're not going to listen unto my voice, for they will say the
Lord has not appeared unto you. But the Lord did appear unto
him, in a burning bush. And they might say to him, man,
I think you had a sunstroke. You've been out in the sun too
long. If he just came and gave the command. God said, what's
that in your hand? A rod. Throw it down. And it
became a serpent and it scared Moses. And like anyone, he fled
from the presence of that rather ominous looking serpent, I imagine. An ordinary stick. in his hand
became a crawling, perhaps venomous snake on the ground. slithering
along before Moses, perhaps even at him and near him, so that
he fled. Why a serpent? Why not an eagle
or domesticated animal of some sort? The serpent was a symbol
of the devil, also an enemy of the seed of the woman, as we
learn in Genesis chapter three, and may symbolize old wicked
Pharaoh, head of the Egyptian kingdom, who ruled in Egypt. Satan is often referred to as
a serpent, and there may be that connection. In all probability,
according to Exodus chapter 4 and verse 30, Moses demonstrated
the sign in a private council with the Jewish elders, for there
we read this, quote, and he did the signs in the sight of the
people for the confirmation His calling and his commission it
was done under them which accomplished the aim expressed there in verse
5 that they might believe and Exodus chapter 4 31 and the people
Believed when they saw the things that were done now as to the
rod of Moses becoming a serpent In Exodus 7, verse 11 through
12, the magicians of Pharaoh imitated this sign or this miracle. For when Aaron cast down his
rod, before old wicked Pharaoh and he became a servant, a serpent,
then the servants or magicians of Pharaoh duplicated the feat
in their own. You know, I thought along there
of 2 Thessalonians 2 and verse 9 of the one who does lying wonders
after or in the power of Satan. However, When they cast down
their rods and they became serpent, then the rod of Aaron swallowed
up all of those of the magician of Pharaoh. And it taught by
some exegete that they were practicing snake charming down in the land
of Egypt. I do not know about that. Giles
thinks that they were sort of sleight of hand artist or trickster
in order that they might placate Pharaoh and keep the people in
bondage, but dazzling them with some kind of sign. But now we
ask, where is the proof of those that say, if men could see signs
and wonders and miracles, how many have said in their life,
if I could but see or witness a miracle, or if I could experience
a miracle, I would believe, I would have faith, I would trust in
Christ and in God. But note the response of Pharaoh
in Exodus 7 and verse 13, and he hardened Pharaoh's heart,
that is, the Lord hardened the wicked King's heart as he had
promised to do back in chapter four of Exodus. How many saw
the miracle, the signs and the wonders of our Lord Jesus Christ,
and instead of calling upon him as the Lord God, as the Holy
One, they accused him of blasphemy, of violating the law of Moses
because he did it on the Sabbath day. Now, there's a second site
here for us, and that's in verses 6 through verse 8 of our chapter. Moses' hand was made leprous
when he put it in his bosom and restored again when he put it
in his bosom again. God commanded Moses, put your
hand in, he did. Leprous, put it in again, and
it returned. Now, the first time when he removed
his hand, the scripture said it was leprous with white leprosy. You can make a study of that
in Leviticus chapter 13 of leprosy and all of that. Now the second
time when he removed his hand from his bosom, it was fully
restored again as it had been prior under that. This miracle
had restored his hand like in an instant as if nothing had
ever been wrong with it. Now this is an evident miracle
because it came and it went Instantaneously. Did not take a while. No grunting
or growling or all that. Immediately one was so, and immediately
the other was so. And let us especially know that
the same action both caused and then cured the leprosy. The same way it came, the same
way it went out, put his hand in his bosom. Which means that
such things as that can only receive their efficacy from God
and by his command at that particular time. Only if God wills it will
a leper's hand be well by putting it into the bosom. Only if God
wills it will Naaman's leprosy be cured by dipping himself in
a muddy river. It would not be effectual to
others. Suppose another man came by and said, well, this is where
Naaman was healed. I got leprosy. I believe I'll
jump in. No, it was by God's appointment and by God's time. Remember Moses, no doubt, performed
this miracle for the Hebrew elders as we read in the scripture.
They saw Moses' hand leprous, then they saw it cured again.
Thirdly, the third sign in verse 9. the power to turn water from
the river Nile into blood. He was to use this last one if
they believed not at the other. He was not now to turn the whole
river into blood, as later would be the case. as the water of
the wedding of Cana was turned into wine by the miracle of our
blessed Lord. So the water of the Nile was
in its ordinary course. in the river from gathering it
out in a vessel, as Moses did, took some of it in a vessel,
dipped it out, brought it out, and poured it on the ground.
And according to God's promise and decree, it became blood as
it fell there upon the ground, ordinary water out of the Nile. As others have pointed out, this
miracle or these miracles speak of the power God put in Moses'
hand that he might wreak havoc upon the people of Egyptian and
of their land. This River Nile was the essence
of their life. It was the essence of their economy,
the waters of the River Nile. As Calvin remarked, in a word,
Egypt attributed the chief part of its prosperity to the Nile
River that ran through it, end of quote. Not only so, but some
contend that the Egyptian looked up on this mighty Nile River
as a sort of a semi-deity. There was life under them and
prosperity under them, a source of life and a prosperity. And yet here's a man sent from
God who has been given the power to actually turn the waters of
the mighty Nile into blood, thus having power to single-handedly
destroy them and their cities and their country. Let us not
forget a couple of things here in connection with this incident.
Number one, Moses later turned the whole river into blood. Remember that? One of the plagues. All water in Egypt turned into
blood in the first plague upon the land, Exodus 7 and verse
19. Secondly, remember, out of the
first plague, there proceeds new ones. From the corruption
of the water, then there came frogs, chapter 8 and 1 through
14. From that came dust, chapter
8 and verse 16, which in turn produced life throughout all
of the land, chapter 8 and verse 16. Now it is time to sum up
the meaning and to sum up the purpose of these signs and miracles
and wonders which Moses was enabled to work upon Egypt, for now restricting
our consideration to Moses and those that were done by him.
Though much that was true about Moses, was also true in regard
to the miracles of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. For example,
Christ was a man approved of God among them by miracles and
signs and wonders, Acts chapter 2, and verse 22, but so were
the apostles. They had, as their credentials,
the ability to work miracles. And in each case, their great
wonders and signs were their credentials, that they were sent
by God, that they acted in the authority and in the name of
God. Now, miracles have been used
by God to confirm his word, to give his people evidence that
God was working, or speaking by Moses and Christ and the Apostle. Miracles, signs, and wonders
were used by God to confirm some great work or some great truth
of God Almighty, to introduce some new things. that when God
would bring in a new thing, miracles, signs, and wonders. For example,
deliverance out of Egypt. They'd never seen that before.
Messiah come in the flesh. They'd never seen that before.
Moses and Aaron, Psalm 105, verse 26 and verse 27, he sent Moses,
his servant, and Aaron, whom they had chosen, and they showed
signs among them and wonders in the land of Ham," unquote. Moses was not a self-proclaimed
prophet. He did not anoint himself as
a prophet or a mediator, for none could do these miracles
except God be with him. But God called him and commissioned
him and equipped him with these miracles, signs, and wonders
as justifiable credentials of his authority and of him having
come from God. Moses was, by nature, a meek
man. We read that in Numbers chapter
12 and verse 3. We also learn from his own lip
that he was not an eloquent speaker, chapter 4 and verse 10. But he was endowed by God with
signs and wonders that the people have evidence that he has come
in the name and the authority of God. He has credentials enough
and to spare to command Pharaoh to let my people go and sufficient
that the people have proof that God has sent one among them and
to lead them in a new way and in a new aspect of their life
and to speak and to act in the authority of the name of God
most high. If you turn to the closing words
of the book of Deuteronomy in the last chapter, chapter 34,
when I get there, and verse 10, 11, and 12 of Deuteronomy. And there rose not a prophet
since in Israel like unto Moses. whom the Lord knew face to face
in all the signs and the wonders which the Lord sent him to do
in the land of Egypt to Pharaoh and to all his servants and to
all of his land and in all that mighty hand and in all that great
terror which Moses showed in the sight of all of Israel. So signs had their appointed
purpose and use in that day and time through Moses. Now, let's
make some closing quickly application. The signs and miracles and wonders
began to abate after the deliverance out of the land of Egypt, and
all but ceased after the death of Moses under Joshua, for they
had served their purpose. They had accomplished that for
which God had ordained and had endowed Moses. They were for
Moses and Aaron, and they did not continue the same under Joshua
and the people later when they were settled and established
in the land. Now, jump forward to Christ and
the apostle, and today, we have people with no credentials claiming
they are an apostle or they are some kind of special ministry
of the Lord. If someone says to us, I'm called
to preach. What do we do? Well, we listen
and see if perhaps we can perceive that God has given him the gift
to be a preacher. If one claims to be an apostle,
we say unto him as they did unto Jesus, and as the Lord taught
himself, I'm an apostle. I'm an apostle of Christ. I'm
an apostle of God. Well, we would ask him to drink
a little poison and kiss a snake. and see how he comes out with
that. If one claimed to be Jesus or Messiah, and says, give me
all your money, sell what you have, give it to me, come follow
me, let's buy this land, let's make this commune, let's establish
a Christian community. We might say to that person,
hold it, let us see you raise some dead first of all. Let us see you heal the sick
and multiply a little boy's lunch. Then perhaps we might believe
you. The sea is still a storm. Let's
see you walk on the sea. Let's see you walk to a grave
where he's been dead four days and raise that one back to life. But you see, no sign is needed
if there is nothing new to be known or done or believed. They have already been established
and confirmed by signs and miracles and wonders. And no new ones
are needed unless there is some new revelation from God and some
along that line.