Exodus — Chapter 4

And the Lord said to him: What is that in thy hand? He answered: A rod. Lapide notes that Moses, who objected to his mission on account of his slowness of speech, is shown that the instruments God requires are already in his possession. The rod signifies divine power channeled through humble human instruments—a principle of all apostolic ministry. The rod that becomes a serpent prefigures the Cross, which appeared to Pilate and Herod as the instrument of a criminal but was in truth the rod of God's omnipotence.

Moses protests: \"I am not eloquent, neither heretofore nor since thou hast spoken to thy servant: but I am slow of speech, and of a slow tongue.\" Lapide observes that Moses's reluctance was not false modesty but genuine humility and holy fear of so great a mission. He cites Gregory's Pastoral Rule: no one should seize the office of preaching by ambition; the man truly called by God is the man who trembles at the call. The objections of Moses become a model for the minister who, distrusting himself, trusts entirely in divine grace.

God's anger is kindled against Moses's continued resistance, and He grants Aaron as spokesman. Lapide notes an important lesson: excessive self-deprecation that amounts to disobedience displeases God. Humility must be distinguished from pusillanimity; the humble man accepts the burden God imposes with fear and trembling, but he accepts it. Moses's partial failure of faith here was afterward corrected by forty years of intimate converse with God.

Israel is my son, my firstborn. This declaration of Israel's divine sonship by adoption is for Lapide a supreme theological statement. He notes that the title \"firstborn son of God\" applied to Israel collectively is the Old Testament foundation for the title applied to Christ individually (Col. 1:15): Christ is the Firstborn Son by nature, Israel is the firstborn son by adoption, and all Christians through Baptism share in this filial dignity. The Exodus becomes the primal narrative of divine paternal love rescuing His son from bondage.

And when he was in his journey, at the inn, the Lord met him and would have killed him. God's unexpected attack on Moses at the inn because his son was uncircumcised is one of the most mysterious passages in the Pentateuch. Lapide offers the traditional explanation: Moses had neglected to circumcise his son, whether from indolence or from respect for his Midianite wife Zipporah. His commission to circumcise Israel spiritually required him to be beyond reproach in observing the covenant sign. God's near-death encounter teaches that spiritual leaders are held to a stricter standard.

When Moses and Aaron reported to the elders of Israel that God had remembered them, the people believed and bowed their heads and worshipped. Lapide notes the contrast between this initial ready faith and the subsequent murmurings: the faith of consolation is easy; the faith of tribulation is the test. He cites Augustine (Serm. 26 De Temp.): \"It is easy to believe God when everything goes well; the truly faithful believe when everything goes wrong.\" Moses must not be discouraged by the future murmuring since God foresaw it and still commissioned him.