Aaron's Staff

I recently had a conversation with someone about The Ten Commandments movie (clip below). It involved the staff that Moses threw down in front of Pharaoh. In the movie, Moses says, "Aaron, cast down my staff." and hands his staff to his brother Aaron, who threw it down. What does the Bible say happened?

"The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, ⁹“When Pharaoh says to you, ‘Perform a miracle,’ then say to Aaron, ‘Take your staff and throw it down before Pharaoh,’ and it will become a snake.”

¹⁰So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and did just as the Lord commanded. Aaron threw his staff down in front of Pharaoh and his officials, and it became a snake." - Exodus 7:8-10

It was Aaron's staff that turned into a snake, not the staff of Moses.

Later on, when God instructed Moses and Aaron to turn the water into blood in front of Pharaoh, God told Moses, "Tell Aaron, ‘Take your staff and stretch out your hand over the waters of Egypt." - Exodus 7:19

Once again, it was Aaron's staff.

What about the plague of frogs? That came next.

"Then the Lord said to Moses, “Tell Aaron, ‘Stretch out your hand with your staff over the streams and canals and ponds, and make frogs come up on the land of Egypt.’”

⁶So Aaron stretched out his hand over the waters of Egypt, and the frogs came up and covered the land." - Exodus 8:5-6

Now, there was no staff involved at all! It was just Aaron! And he keeps going! Exodus 8:16 and the plague of gnats - Aaron and his staff. But things changed at this point. Now, in Exodus 8:21, God alone performs His wonders with a plague of flies.

‘This is what the Lord says: Let my people go, so that they may worship me. ²¹If you do not let my people go, I will send swarms of flies on you and your officials, on your people and into your houses. The houses of the Egyptians will be full of flies; even the ground will be covered with them.

²²“‘But on that day I will deal differently with the land of Goshen, where my people live; no swarms of flies will be there, so that you will know that I, the Lord, am in this land. ²³ I will make a distinction between my people and your people. This sign will occur tomorrow.’” - Exodus 8:20-23

Finally, in Exodus 9, Moses' staff gets involved.

"When Moses stretched out his staff toward the sky, the Lord sent thunder and hail, and lightning flashed down to the ground." - Exodis 9:23

My point is this: we should not be getting our theology from Hollywood.

Did you ever see Aaron with HIS staff in the movie clip? No. Yet God had Aaron to use it extensively in the Bible. It was Aaron's staff that budded in Numbers 17, not the staff of Moses. But whether it was Aaron or Moses that Pharaoh encountered, it was ALL the power of God at work.

Finally, in my opinion, any movie about biblical times and people should be watched with a Bible in your lap and a steaming cup of discernment in your hand.

Let My People Go - Ten Commandments movie

The Exodus Gospel

Do you remember this scene from The Ten Commandments? It's going to be happening again soon.

To reset the scene, Moses was up on Mt. Sinai talking with God. Moses had just received the ten commandments when God said this:

"And the Lord said unto Moses, Go, get thee down; for thy people, which thou broughtest out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves." - Exodus 32:7

Take a look around the planet these days. What do you see? Haven't we corrupted ourselves? How soon will it be before God has had enough and sends Jesus down?

Joshua met Moses on his way back down the mountain and said, "There is a noise of war in the camp." (Exodus 32:17)

Is there not "a noise of war" in our country? Look at Portland. It's been over two months. Look at the Middle East. War is coming and Turkey and Iran are at the heart of it.

So what happened when Moses arrived at the camp? He witnessed God's people sinning. You can see the golden calf that they were worshipping on the right side of the picture above. What happened next? Well, Joshua blew his trumpet (a shofar). That sound should send chills down the spine of every believer on earth.

"Then Moses stood in the gate of the camp, and said, Who is on the Lord's side? let him come unto me. And all the sons of Levi gathered themselves together unto him." - Exodus 32:26

When all of God's children, the ones who came to Moses, had fled the others and ran towards God and Moses, what happened next?

"And he (Moses) said unto them, Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, Put every man his sword by his side, and go in and out from gate to gate throughout the camp, and slay every man his brother, and every man his companion, and every man his neighbor." - Exodus 32:27

All those who did not choose to follow God, but chose to follow their own god, were put to death. The movie showed the earth swallowing them up. How ironic.

Do you see the similarities to today? Those who do not run to Jesus and seek HIs forgiveness of their sin are condemned to death. This is not something that should be taken lightly. Go back and read Exodus 32:7 again. Who was killed? Everyone who did not call on the name of the Lord!

Who is that in YOUR life? Is it your brother? Your mother? Your sister-in-law? Your child? All will suffer the wrath of God unless they choose Jesus . . . and quickly.

This is not some trivial argument about wearing masks. Who cares about a mere virus compared with the mighty outstretched hand of God? But just in case plagues are your thing, look at the last verse of Exodus, Chapter 32.

"And the Lord plagued the people, because they made the calf." - Exodus 32:35

God plagued the people because they had turned their back on Him. Are we any different than they in today's world?

Chapter 32 of Exodus is an Old Testament offering of what we must choose today: the ways of the world or Jesus. The question is, which will it be? Each day that passes is one day closer to the return of Jesus and His judgement of ALL the people of the earth. Have you made YOUR choice?

Moses Returns from Mt. Sinai - The Ten Commandments

Bundage

Yesterday was Good Friday - a day we Christians set aside to honor our Lord and Savior, Jesus. He was killed on a Friday and was brought back to life on Sunday. THAT was amazing. But there is another amazing twist to the story and it took place 1500 earlier.

The story of Moses and The Ten Commandments. Life was good for the Israelites in Egypt until a new pharaoh took over. He made them all into slaves. The were in bondage to him.

In the movie The Ten Commandments, Charlton Heston (Moses) pronounces the word bondage as "bundage" - at least it sounds that way to my family. We like to say the word along with him and then we laugh when we watch that movie each year.

But being in bondage is not a good thing. It's not funny at all. It's basically like being a slave. It IS being a slave. Did you know that you are in "bundage" right now? You are. So am I. We are ALL in bondage to sin. Only the part of the pharaoh in OUR "movie" is played by Satan. And guess who plays the part of Moses? No, it's not Charlton Heston. It's Jesus. HE is OUR promised deliverer.

Watch what Moses does throughout the movie. Simplify it. Distill is down. What are the things he does? Well, he has compassion for his people who are in bondage. And so Jesus has compassion for us in our sin. As the deliverer Moses confronts pharaoh, Jesus will judge Satan and triumph over him. Moses performed miracles. So did Jesus. Moses freed God's people. So did Jesus. Moses took God's people to the promised land. So does Jesus. Moses followed the will of God. So does Jesus. Get the point?

Jesus can save YOU from the bondage of sin. All you must do is follow the deliverer and you will be set free.

"Jesus answered them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is the slave of sin." - John 8:34

Just before God gave Moses the Ten Commandments he spoke these words . . .

"²I am the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage." - Exodus 20:2

Watch the movie for yourself. See how many similarities between Moses and Jesus YOU can find. It's amazing.

Exodus, Bondage & The Ten Commandments