I am wondering if anyone has any information on the 3 signs of Moses in Exodus 4? Why these three signs and what is the purpose? Any EGW quotations? Thanks

The three signs of Moses?

That is a new one on me!

I will need to do some research on that one!

Daryl:
It is in Exodus 4. The three signs are the rod turning into a serpent and then back, Moses hand turned leprous and then back, and the water of the Nile turned into blood. My question is why these signs and why would they appeal to Israel? Do these three signs have anything to do for us today?

I thought I would post those verses here on the for everybody to see:

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Exodus 4:1 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.

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I never thought of them as three signs before. It goes to show that you can always learn new things from the Bible.

And, your questions are good and interesting questions.

Now to see if we can find any answers to those questions.

I was hoping Ed would do a search in the spirit of prophecy and spiritual gifts and story of redemption.

When I get a chance, I will do a search on this myself.

I notice that in this passage, Moses appears to be stating some doubts about something. Looking at Ex.4:1, we see Moses make the statement of trepidation: “Behold; they will not believe me.”

Who was Moses speaking to when he made this statement?

Obviously, he was talking with God here, and having another one of his many debates with God. (or was this not a debate, but something else?).

A brief look at the Biblical context here will give us a broader picture here of what is going on. Moses had asked God a previous question, (Ex.3:13), "What shall I say unto them?" and this was followed by God’s promise to him, of His continuing guidance and protection; but what else did this question by Moses signify?

It appears to be telling us that Moses, by this question, is implying his willingness to go where God was directing; and to inquire for more information from God regarding his assignment

Ex.3: 13 And Moses said unto God, Behold, when I come unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto them, The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you; and they shall say to me, What is his name? what shall I say unto them?
14 And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you.

Now, as the passage moves into Ex.4:1-9, we see another side of this story developing. In this first part of chapter four, he appears to be very much opposed to the idea of accepting God’s commission:” Behold, they will not believe me.” Some I have talked with about this passage have tried to defend |Moses by saying things like how Moses really meant to say: “What if the people won’t believe me?” But is this a correct approach to this passage, either in it’s translation, or in it’s explanation?

It is much more likely that since Jacob had gone to Egypt, more than two hundred years earlier, that no divine revelation had been imparted to Israel , by God, and that because doubt as to the validity to Moses’ claims to having received divine revelation/commission, we must go with the wording of the text as it reads: “Behold; they will not believe me.” Moses was simply giving an honest evaluation of the situation. Doubt about his claims to divine revelation/commission, would easily arise; and Moses was seeking more information and direction from God, by that statement.

This leads me to a question though: What is the difference between divine revelation, and divine inspiration; and how does this difference, (if any), relate to prophets of old, as well as to the prophetic office, and claims, of Ellen G White, and her adherents?

Apparently, Moses had received the highest civil and military training available back then, (P.P. pg. 244-45), and he was thus fitted to take preminence, over the great leaders of the land, (P.P., pg.246), but this does not seem like the same kind of person that God called, in the prophetic ministry of Ellen G White. Mrs. White was anything but “preminent,” and “important,” in the society of the 1800s. Why is this an important, distinguishing point to make?

The SDA Bible Commentary says:

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God provided immediate signs by which He might validate His mission. These three signs were intended to convince the Israelites of the fact that God had appeared to Moses, but served at the same time to strengthen Moses' faith and dissipate his fear of failure. This was to be th evidence that God had called Moses to be the leader of Israel and endowed him with the power to discharge this responsibility.

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Both the why and the purpose of the three signs were answered in the above quote.

Good point Daryl, with the above quote.

I believe the rod which Moses had, signified the method God would use to help bring back Israel to repentance; but it also symbolized something else, not as directly related to the general population; but more intended for Moses. This is where each of the 3 signs can apply to us personally; when we look at how they were intended to speak to Moses personally.

Obviously, in Ex.3 – 4, we see Moses being given the divine commission of leading the people out of Egypt. All Moses had in his hand to do this work, was a simple rod. I can just see the look of hesitancy on Moses’ face when God asked him: “What have you got there in your hand?” Moses was probably thinking to himself: “What is He up to now? How can I do even half of what God wants me to with only this rod?”

The other “signs” all stemmed in some way from the rod. Why might this be?

I haven't heard from Greg, therefore, I assume his question/s has/have been answered?