Signs of God’s Calling and Sending

Signs of God’s Calling and Sending

Sep 19, 2018 | Ministry Portions, Wednesday Bible Study

Three Subjective Signs

Today's Verses

Exodus 4:

1 Then Moses answered and said, What if they do not believe me or listen to my voice, but say, Jehovah has not appeared to you?
2 And Jehovah said to him, What is this in your hand? And he said, A staff.
3 And He said, Throw it on the ground. And he threw it on the ground, and it became a serpent; and Moses recoiled from it.
4 And Jehovah said to Moses, Stretch out your hand, and take it by its tail – so he stretched out his hand and seized it, and it became a
staff in his hand –
5 That they may believe that Jehovah, the God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has appeared to you.
6 And Jehovah further said to him, Now put your hand into your bosom. And he put his hand into his bosom, and when he took it out, there his hand was, leprous like snow.
7 And He said, Put your hand into your bosom again – so he put his hand into his bosom again, and when he took it out of his bosom, there it was, restored like the rest of his flesh –
8 And if they do not believe you or heed the first sign, then they may believe the next sign.
9 And if they will not believe even these two signs or listen to your voice, then you shall take some of the water of the River and pour it on the dry ground, and the water that you take out of the River will become blood upon the dry ground.

Romans 7:

17 Now then it is no longer I that work it out but sin that dwells in me.
18 For I know that in me, that is, in my flesh, nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but to work out the good is not.

  1. Three signs that are evidence that a servant of God has truly been called and sent by God-Exo. 4:2-4, 6-7, 9:
    1. The sign of the staff becoming a serpent-vv.2-4
      1. The Rod Signifying What We Rely Upon
        1. The meaning of the first sign is that anything we rely on apart from God-our education, our occupation, etc.-is actually the hiding place of Satan, the usurping serpent.
        2. However, when at God’s word we throw it down and then take it up again “by the tail,” i.e., in the way opposite to the practice of the worldly people using it for God’s purpose and not for ourselves, it becomes a staff of authority-vv. 4, 17; Luke 10:19
        3. God did not tell Moses to throw away his rod. Rather, He commanded Moses to cast it down in order that its true nature might be exposed.
    2. The sign of the hand becoming leprous-vv. 6-7
      1. In the second sign, the bosom signifies what is within us, and leprosy signifies sin. This sign shows that our flesh is the embodiment of leprosy; in it there is nothing good, nothing but sin, corruption, and uncleanness-Rom. 7:17-18; cf. Isa. 6:5
      2. Nevertheless, when we obey the Lord by keeping His word, His cleansing power is able to make us clean-cf. 2 Kings 5:1-14
    3. The sign of the water becoming blood-v.9:
      1. Then meaning of the third sign is that in the eyes of God all the earthly supply and worldly enjoyment (the water of the Nile) are nothing but death (blood).
      2. When they are poured out on that which produces life (the ground), immediately the death is exposed.