MOSES: WHAT DO YOU HAVE IN YOUR HAND?

Exodus 4:2  And Jehovah said unto him, What is that in thy hand? And he said, A rod.
 Moses--a humble man used by God to do great things.

“Hardships often prepare ordinary people for an extraordinary destiny.”--C.S. Lewis


He was named Moses by Pharaoh's daughter because, "... she called his name Moses, and said, Because I drew him out of the water." (Exodus 2:10)

"Now when Pharaoh heard this thing, he sought to slay Moses. But Moses fled from the face of Pharaoh, and dwelt in the land of Midian: and he sat down by a well." (Exodus 2:15)
Born as a slave-child, and one marked for death as well, his status was changed to 'son of Pharaoh's daughter, and raised in the palace of Pharaoh.  Reads like a dream come true...until one day when he is forty years old he visits his brethren and tries to rescue them from an Egyptian.  The Egyptian is killed, and now Moses becomes a marked man, who is forced to flee for his life.  Now he spends the next forty years in exile in Midian.  He becomes a shepherd for his father-in-law.  Does he intend to spend the rest of his days quietly tending sheep?  Probably, but then God appears to him in the flaming bush.  After commissioning Moses to GO bring God's people out of Egypt Moses tries to tell God, 'Thanks, but no thanks".  God will not be dissuaded, and at long last asks the all important question:  
   "And Jehovah said unto him, What is that in thy hand? And he said, A rod." (Exodus 4:2 )

 Was Moses thinking about his ill advised attempt at delivering the children of Israel in the previous attempt?  Did he think on the reply of the Israelite who had been "striving with his fellow" when the man asked him, 'who made thee a prince and a judge'?  Did he think about the people he had left behind in Egypt?  What had he learned in the last forty years, and how had it changed him from the prince Moses, and shaped him into the shepherd Moses?  And shaped him into God's leader, God's lawgiver, and God's prophet...Moses, what is in thy hand?

 "This is that Moses, who said unto the children of Israel, A prophet shall God raise up unto you from among your brethren, like unto me." (Acts 7:37)

"And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us (and we beheld his glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father), full of grace and truth." (John 1:14)
"Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was born, I am. (John 8:58)

 "The good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good; and the evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth that which is evil: for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh." (Luke 6:45)
"For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also." (Luke 12:34)
And today Jesus asks us--What is in thy heart?  

 "But the things which proceed out of the mouth come forth out of the heart; and they defile the man.   For out of the heart come forth evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, railings:  these are the things which defile the man;" (Matthew 15:18, 19, 20)



"Who in the days of his flesh, having offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death, and having been heard for his godly fear,
  though he was a Son, yet learned obedience by the things which he suffered;
 and having been made perfect, he became unto all them that obey him the author of eternal salvation;" (Hebrews 5:7, 8, 9)


 This is a little difficult to wrap my mind around, to get a grasp on, but...what did Jesus think when he came to this earth not as the Creator, but as the Son of God? How did it change him and mold him into the Savior; the author of salvation?


 "And he said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind." (Matthew 22:37)

 "And that in the good ground, these are such as in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, hold it fast, and bring forth fruit with patience." (Luke 8:15)

And still Jesus asks you and I, "What is in thy heart?"