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Exodus 4

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1 And 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.

2 And the LORD said unto him, What is that in thine hand? And he said, A rod.

3 And he said, Cast it on the ground. And he cast it on the ground, and it became a serpent; and Moses fled from before it.

4 And the LORD said unto 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:

5 That they may believe that the LORD God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath appeared unto thee.

6 And the LORD said furthermore unto him, Put now thine 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.

7 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.

8 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.

9 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 land.

10 And Moses said unto the LORD, O my Lord, I am not eloquent, neither heretofore, nor since thou hast spoken unto thy servant: but I am slow of speech, and of a slow tongue.

11 And the LORD said unto him, Who hath made man's mouth? or who maketh the dumb, or deaf, or the seeing, or the blind? have not I the LORD?

12 Now therefore go, and I will be with thy mouth, and teach thee what thou shalt say.

13 And he said, O my Lord, send, I pray thee, by the hand of him whom thou wilt send.

14 And the anger of the LORD was kindled against Moses, and he said, Is not Aaron the Levite thy brother? I know that he can speak well. And also, behold, he cometh forth to meet thee: and when he seeth thee, he will be glad in his heart.

15 And thou shalt speak unto him, and put words in his mouth: and I will be with thy mouth, and with his mouth, and will teach you what ye shall do.

16 And he shall be thy spokesman unto the people: and he shall be, even he shall be to thee instead of a mouth, and thou shalt be to him instead of God.

17 And thou shalt take this rod in thine hand, wherewith thou shalt do signs.

18 And Moses went and returned to Jethro his father in law, and said unto him, Let me go, I pray thee, and return unto my brethren which are in Egypt, and see whether they be yet alive. And Jethro said to Moses, go in peace.

19 And the LORD said unto Moses in Midian, Go, return into Egypt: for all the men are dead which sought thy life.

20 And Moses took his wife and his sons, and set them upon an ass, and he returned to the land of Egypt: and Moses took the rod of God in his hand.

21 And the LORD said unto Moses, When thou goest to return into Egypt, see that thou do all those wonders before Pharaoh, which I have put in thine hand: but I will harden his heart, that he shall not let the people go.

22 And thou shalt say unto Pharaoh, Thus saith the LORD, Israel is my son, even my firstborn:

23 And I say unto thee, Let my son go, that he may serve me: and if thou refuse to let him go, behold, I will slay thy son, even thy firstborn.

24 And it came to pass by the way in the inn, that the LORD met him, and sought to kill him.

25 Then Zipporah took a sharp stone, and cut off the foreskin of her son, and cast it at his feet, and said, Surely a bloody husband art thou to me.

26 So he let him go: then she said, A bloody husband thou art, because of the circumcision.

27 And the LORD said to Aaron, Go into the wilderness to meet Moses. And he went, and met him in the mount of God, and kissed him.

28 And Moses told Aaron all the words of the LORD who had sent him, and all the signs which he had commanded him.

29 And Moses and Aaron went and gathered together all the elders of the children of Israel:

30 And Aaron spake all the words which the LORD had spoken unto Moses, and did the signs in the sight of the people.

31 And the people believed: and when they heard that the LORD had visited the children of Israel, and that he had looked upon their affliction, then they bowed their heads and worshipped.

   

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Arcana Coelestia # 7268

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7268. See, I have given thee a god to Pharaoh. That this signifies the law Divine, and its power over those who are in falsities, is evident from the signification of “giving thee a god,” as being the Divine truth, or what is the same, the Divine law, and also its power (for in the Word where truth is treated of, and also the power of truth, the name “God” is used, but where good is treated of, the name “Jehovah,” see n. 300, 2586, 2769, 2807, 2822, 3910, 3921, 4287, 4295, 4402, 7010); and from the representation of Pharaoh, as being those who are in falsities and infest (n. 6651, 6679, 6683). As to what further regards the signification of “God,” be it known that in the supreme sense “God” denotes the Divine which is above the heavens, but in the internal sense “God” denotes the Divine which is in the heavens. The Divine which is above the heavens is the Divine good, but the Divine in the heavens is the Divine truth; for from the Divine good proceeds the Divine truth, and makes heaven, and disposes it. For that which is properly called “heaven” is nothing else than the Divine formed there, because the angels who are in heaven are human forms recipient of the Divine, and constituting a common form, which is that of man.

[2] And because the Divine truth in the heavens is that which in the Word of the Old Testament is meant by “God,” in the original language God is called Elohim in the plural; and as the angels who are in the heavens are recipient of the Divine truth, they also are called “gods,” as in David:

Who in heaven shall compare himself to Jehovah? or shall be likened to Jehovah among the sons of the gods? (Psalms 89:6).

Give to Jehovah, O ye sons of the gods, give to Jehovah glory and strength (Psalms 29:1).

I said, Ye are gods, and all of you sons of the Most High (Psalms 82:6).

Jesus said, Is it not written in your law, I said, Ye are gods? So He called them gods to whom the Word came (John 10:34-35).

And also in the passages where the Lord is called God of gods, and Lord of lords (Genesis 46:2-3; Deuteronomy 10:17; Numbers 16:22; Daniel 11:36; Psalms 136:2-3).

From all this it can be seen in what sense Moses is called a “god,” here a “god to Pharaoh,” and a “god to Aaron” (Exodus 4:16), namely, because Moses represented the Divine law, which is the Divine truth, and is called the “Word.” Hence also it is that Aaron is here called his “prophet,” and in a former passage his “mouth,” that is, one who utters in a form adapted to the understanding the Divine truth which proceeds immediately from the Lord, and which transcends all understanding. And as a “prophet” denotes one who teaches and utters Divine truth in a form adapted to the understanding, a “prophet” also denotes the doctrine of the church; of which in what now follows.

  
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Thanks to the Swedenborg Foundation for the permission to use this translation.