The Prince of Egypt skipped over it and the Ten Commandments didn't mention it no movie about The Exodus ever brings these signs up there are three mysterious signs that God gives to Moses at the burning bush what are these signs and why are they so hard to interpret Pastors in every church I've been to seem to shy away from these verses why what is it about these signs that is so mysterious and difficult I believe these signs tell a deeper story and at The Burning Bush Moses tells God that the people will not believe that
God sent him to deliver them so God gives Moses these three signs the first sign is that Moses was to throw his staff on the ground and it would become a snake I was completely in shock once I found out what this sign meant the second sign was that Moses was to put his hand inside his cloak and when he pulled it out suddenly his hand was white with Leprosy why what do the sign of the hand of leprosy mean the third sign was that Moses was to take water from the Nile and pour it
on the ground and it would become blood out of all the signs that God could have possibly come up with why would God choose a staff turning into a snake a hand of leprosy and water turning to blood to make the Israelite Nation believe that God sent Moses to deliver them the meaning of the third sign of the Nile River water turning to blood will make your jaw hit the floor and tears come to your eyes these signs were meant to tell a deeper Story the Redemption story let's look at the first sign the sign
of the staff turning into a snake the Lord tells Moses to throw his staff on the ground and when he does the staff becomes a serpent and Moses ran from it why did Moses run from the serpent because he was scared head serpents can bite and kill you but what did the serpent represent Satan and his seed Moses and Israel would have known this they knew how sin came into the world through that ancient serpent who is the devil furthermore their Egyptian slave masters identified themselves with serpents one historian says here the Cobra represented in
particular the national God of Lower Egypt and was the the foremost symbol of pharaoh reflecting his claim to Divine royalty sovereignty and power therefore it constantly appears on his crown or helmet as depicted in reliefs paintings and statutes his scepter is often a stylized Cobra even the Egyptian gods are frequently depicted with a scepter in the form of a snake they knew Egypt could represent a seed of the serpent so what happens next Moses was staring at this serpent that was slithering and hissing on the ground in front of him but the Lord said to
Moses put out your hand and catch it by the tail so he put out his hand and caught it and it became a staff in his hand what does this signify Israel was under the oppression of the serpent the Egyptians and Pharaoh had injected their venom into Israel but now the serpent was going to be Changed by the power of God into a dry stick Yahweh has all authority over the serpent Israel would have understood the sign that's why the Lord says in verse 5 that they may believe that the Lord the god of their
fathers the god of Abraham the god of Isaac and the god of Jacob has appeared to you this sign is a story of their being set free and it came with a miraculous demonstration of power it is possible that the Israelites could have seen Moses as that snake as well since Moses was Egypt to them Moses grew up in the Palace of Egypt in their royal family he wore their clothes ate their food took part in their Customs so to the Israelites he could have been the snake but as we see later on that snake
of Moses ate up the snakes of the Egyptians but for us Believers to today who live after the coming of the Messiah we see that Jesus Christ is the staff God the Good Shepherd whose rod and staff Comfort his sheep and that he became the cursed serpent in order to set the slaves free Moses cast his staff on the ground and it became a serpent and he took it up and it became a staff again signifying how that Christ when he was sent down by God to the Earth and was made sin for us he
became guilty for our sakes he was cursed on the cross and appeared in the form of sinful flesh he appeared in our place having our guilt imputed on him remember in John 3:14 that Jesus told Nicodemus that just as Moses lifted up the bronze snake in the wilderness so the son of man must be lifted up that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him we are a generation of vipers the staff became a serpent so Christ became a serpent temporarily by his being made sin on our behalf that everyone who looks to him
and believes may be saved the second sign was the sign of the hand of leprosy the Lord said to Moses put your hand inside your cloak and he put his hand inside his cloak and when he took it out behold his hand was leprous like snow this is the first mention of leprosy in scripture but it was not unknown to the ancient world leprosy is an infectious disease that causes severe disfiguring skin sores and nerve damage in the arms legs and skin areas around the body the first effective treatment for leprosy didn't become available until
the 1940s so what would Israel have known about this disease it was incurable there was no human remedy to get leprosy in the ancient world was not only a death sentences but it was to live a life in complete Exile when God dictated the law to Moses later the leper was to live in isolation outside the camp Leviticus 13:45 the lepos person who has the disease shall wear torn clothes and let the hair of his head hang loose and he shall cover his upper lip and cry out unclean unclean he shall remain unclean as long
as he has the disease he is unclean he shall live alone his dwelling shall be outside the camp Moses's leprous hand was a sign of an incurable and shameful disease but what does the second part of the sign signify then God said put your hand back inside your cloak so Moses put his hand back inside his cloak and when he took it out behold it was restored like the rest of his flesh if they will not believe you God said or listen to the first sign they may believe the latter sign God was confident they
would have understood the meaning of the sign so what would they have understood this mean that though Israel had been plagued with slavery and cruelty for two centuries God was going to cure them their slavery that was beyond all human remedy was going to be remedied by God himself not only that but as they would soon find out God was going to give this leprosy this incurable plague to Egypt there is a reason why the 10 plagues are called plagues as Matthew Henry said Moses by the power of God would bring all these sore diseases
upon Egypt that's what God himself called his judgments on Egypt eypt a plague a wasting disease so this sign tells the story of Israel being cured of her disease of slavery by Almighty Jehovah no one had a remedy except for God alone but there is a deeper Truth For Us Christ cured you and I of the incurable disease of sin by bearing it all upon himself listen to how Jonathan Edwards puts it Moses's hand is represented the hand or arm of of the Lord which often in the Old Testament signifies the Messiah by God's plucking
his hand out of his bosom is meant his appearing for the Salvation of his people at length the arm of the Lord is made bare the Messiah appears but in such a manner that it was to the surprise and astonishment of those that saw him his appearance was so marred beyond human semblance and his form beyond that of the children of mankind he had no form or Majesty that we should look at him and no beauty that we should desire him he appears in the form of sinful flesh he was as it were diseased with
the leprosy because he took our infirmities and bore our sicknesses he was made sin for us as though he had been all over leprous or sinful the Third final sign was the sign of the water of the Nile River turning to blood what would you say is the worst thing that the Egyptians did to the Israelites slavery yes but something else happened too something perhaps even more personal and painful to their hearts the Egyptians ripped the newborn Israelite babies out of the arms of their mothers and drowned them in the night Pharaoh was worried that
the Israelites were too different from the Egyptians and that at their growing birth rate they would one day become a threat and so Pharaoh decided to commit genocide a very messy and bloody and terrible ordeal every genocidal dictator in history has had to deal with what to do with the dead bodies for Pharaoh the Nile River was the answer the babies would be thrown into the water and there would never be a trace of wrongdoing the Nile would just continue to look like its usual self glistening in the sun flowing along its regular course and
the whole nation of Egypt was in on it when the Israelites would come crying to the Egyptian authorities the authorities could deny it what's your evidence do you have any Witnesses for the Israelites the night would be full of Anguish but in the morning everything would look normal and as if the crime weren't bad enough nature itself would help cover it up up that is until the first plague something miraculous happens during the first plague the water turns to blood the Nile finally reveals Egypt's darkest Secrets Egypt thought that its crimes went unnoticed but now
God through nature reveals Egypt's cruelty God shows that he knows what they've done and that there are no more secrets it's the beginning of justice justice isn't only about punishing the aggressor it's also about compassion for the victim the experience of being oppressed and being broken down is not something that just goes away over time one of the most tragic effects of abuse is the suspicion felt by the abused that they actually deserved what happened there's a type of weird logic behind it the victim feels so much pain but like life seems so normal for
the perpetrator no one knows what happened and life just goes on as if nothing happened so they think maybe it's all just happening in my head that's why abuse needs to be redeemed Justice becomes a source of Solace and Redemption Justice helps the victims see that they're not crazy it wasn't enough for God to just free the people of Israel he had to de deem what was done to them too and when the water of the Nile turned to blood with the first plague God showed the people that they're not crazy it showed that God
knows and cares about the terrible crimes that were committed against them it showed that God remembered their pain and was going to do something about it it was the beginning of compassion the beginning of empathy this was the first plague the first priority that God sent upon Egypt the Nile River turning to blood the Israelites wouldn't have missed the significance of this sign they would have remembered that when Cain killed Abel God heard the Cry of Abel's blood Genesis 4:10 the Lord said what have you done the voice of your brother's blood is crying to
me from the ground and now you are cursed from the ground which has opened its mouth to receive your brother's blood from your hand the blood from Hebrew babies was crying out from the Nile and now God was going to curse the Egyptians for their sakes so this third sign tells the story of God avenging the innocent blood the Egyptians had spill but there is a deeper Truth for us as Believers today all of us are just as guilty as the Egyptians you might say I have never murdered anyone how can you say I'm just
as guilty as the Egyptians because Jesus said so Matthew 5:21 you have heard that it was said to those of old you shall not murder and whoever murders will be liable to judgment but I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment you and I are liable to the Judgment by taking on sin Jesus destroyed sin and Satan first John 3:8 the reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil the shepherd became the serpent no Jesus did not literally become the devil
but he became the embodiment of the curse Galatians 3:13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us Christ came into the world to set you free from a slavery that you can't see or touch the serpent that enslaved you was much more powerful than Pharaoh ever was at least Moses was was able to flee from pharaoh and escape to Midian but no human being ever has or will be able to escape the slavery of that ancient serpent Satan you are under Satan's curse and spell in the blackest darkness
and Christ Jesus at just the right time came to Set You Free by taking your place by becoming the cursed one in in doing that the power the devil had over you was broken if the sun sets you free you will be free indeed that's our first sign Christ the starf and Shepherd sent from God became the cursed serpent in order to set you free but God has rendered even this judgment this sign to his beloved Son what happened to Jesus on the cross he was pierced and out came water and blood God Avenged our
blood guilt by taking it from the side of his own son without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins God cannot free us from the serpent or cleanse our leprous spots by mere mercy God is merciful indeed but he is also just God demanded Justice for Egypt's sins and that why their river turned into blood God demands Justice for your sins and that's why Christ's side was opened up and blood came forth the blood of the Nile is a mere shadow of the boundless River of blood that is available for Sinners when
they come to Jesus Christ the first sign dealt with liberating us from the serpent the second sign dealt with cleansing us from the leprosy of sin this last sign shows us how God accomplishes these things by opening up the Fountain of blood from his own son these signs show how God sent his son into the world to defeat the serpent once and for all to cure our incurable disease and to make Redemption for our sins by his own blood look at that serpent Moses grabbed it by the tail and it turned into a dead stick
Satan no longer has power over your soul he has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son look at that leous hand it is now healed your plague has been removed what sins do do you have that are so wicked that cannot be taken away what defilement has soiled you what wounds have gone so deep that the great physician cannot heal them look at that boundless River of blood if you were pile up all your sins from youth till now it would be like a grain of
sand that would drown in that River all the sins of all the world could not try up that River looked to Jesus Christ the true and better Moses and believe he is the serpent Slayer the leper healer the Fountain of bottomless Soul cleansing blood
