In Exodus 4:1-5 we are given the sign of the rod and snake. This sign is made up of three things: The rod or staff, the snake, and Moses action of taking it up by the tail.
• The rod or staff: To a shepherd, the rod had many functions, but its primary one was very basic, support. It was used to support a person as they walked up difficult terrain. It was also used as a tool to protect the sheep and to lead the sheep. But in each of these cases, it was always used as a support. Now, spiritually speaking, what is it that supports you as you walk along in this life? Is it not God’s grace through His Son? Without that, we cannot walk at all. God had said that He was the Great I Am—that is, He is the One that can alone support us. To which Moses replied that he was still afraid of failure. So, God is saying, “Hey, Moses, it is by grace that you stand, not human effort.”
• Vs. 3 Casting it to the ground where the rod became a snake: There are two parts here that need to be looked at.
• The casting of the rod to the ground: Following the idea here that the rod represented God’s grace, it seems as though God is saying that to not rely upon His grace is to not be able to stand or support yourself. Why is this being said to Moses? Well, because Moses was seeing his ability to stand only from his abilities and not the Lord’s.
Folks, when we Christians try to do anything apart from His grace, we lose the only basis of support. Paul would say in 2 Corin. “Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as being from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God.”
• It became a serpent: There are three words in Hebrew that are translated snake or serpent. This is the most common one, and it is used some 30 times. In fact, this is the word used in Gen. 3: 1, referring to the devil. Another interesting thing is that when Moses did this to Pharaoh in chapter 7:10, the word used there is different; there it means sea monster. Look at Moses’ reaction here—it says that, “he fled from it.” Simply put, this sign scared him. So, what is God telling Moses here in this sign? Well, I propose that God is saying, “When you cast aside my grace as a basis of support, you open up yourself to the enemy.”
• Vs. 4 Reach out your hand and take it by the tail:
I know a little bit about catching snakes. I was always taught how to catch a snake was by the head and never by the tail, because if you grab a snake by the tail, they will reach right around and bite you. So what you do is distract them with one hand while you reach around with the other and quickly grab them right behind the head. If you can control the head, you control the whole snake. So why would God tell Moses to grab it by the tail?
Now, get this! The only way you could do this, especially if you were as afraid as Moses was here, is by faith! God was teaching Moses some great things about why we fail and how to overcome it. We fail when we try to stand apart from His grace, but we can be victorious when by faith we take hold of our failure and trust God as He alone has authority over the greatest reason for failure—the devil.
Did you know that even Satan cannot thwart God in your life if you, by faith, take hold of His grace? Notice what happened to that snake when Moses was obedient—it turned right back into a rod. Folks, perhaps you have thrown down His grace in an area of your life, and the enemy has gotten in and made a mess. I want to assure you that if you reach out your hand toward the God of grace, He will support you! As God tells Moses in verse 5, the Israelites will believe that He has sent you when they see that you, through Him, have authority over the devil, even though you have failed before.