“Why God Wanted to Kill Moses”

K. Adrian Scott

February 8, 2026

Introductory Context.

I must admit along with many other Bible students, other theologians and scholars that this is not only a very unusual text of sacred Scripture, but a difficult one as well. So, please be patient as we walk through this together.

The book of Exodus is the Old Testament book that describes in detail God’s miraculous and merciful rescue of the nation of Israel from the hands of the Egyptians who held Israel in slavery for some four hundred years which is twice as long as the United States has been a nation - “The time that the people of Israel lived in Egypt was 430 years” (Exodus 12.40). I labelled God’s intervention in the deliverance of Israel as merciful because the very reason Israel was entrapped in Egypt in the first place was of their own doing; Israel had been rebellious and they paid a heavy price for their rebellion, and that high price was having been enslaved by the Egyptians.

By God’s sovereign will and divine wisdom, God chooses Moses to become Israel’s leader and has the task of leading God’s people out of the firm grip of Egypt’s hand of oppression and into a new land which God has prepared for God’s people - “Come, I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring my people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt” (Exodus 3. 10).

Isn’t it interesting that a man who was not born an Egyptian but was an abandoned infant left to float on the dangerous Nile River but was providentially rescued by an Egyptian Princess, the daughter of the Pharaoh of Egypt, he was taken into her home and Moses was raised in the court of Pharaoh; this same Moses was now leading his native people, Israel out from Egypt’s oppression. Yes, out from the very people he spent approximately forty years living with - “Now Moses was eighty years old, and Aaron eighty-three years old, when they spoke to Pharaoh” (Exodus 7.7).

Moses may have had some apprehension about going back to Egypt since he was a fugitive from there. Rather or not, Moses feared Pharaoh at this point in his life we do not know, but we do know the last time he was in Egypt some forty years previous Moses killed an Egyptian and fled the country. And since being called by God to be the one who would lead Israel out of Egypt’s bondage, Moses has made several excuses for not wanting to go to Egypt.

#1 – I am nobody. “But Moses said to God, who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the children of Israel out of Egypt?” (3.11).

#2 - I don’t have all the information. “Then Moses said to God, If I come to the people of Israel and say to them, The God of your fathers has sent me to you, and they ask me, what is his name? What shall I say to them” (3.13).

#3 – The people will not believe me - “Then Moses answered, But behold, they will not believe me or listen to my voice, for they will say, The Lord did not appear to you” (4.1).

#4 – I am not a good speaker - “The Lord said to him, What is that in your hand? He said, A staff. 3 And he said, Throw it on the ground. So, he threw it on the ground, and it became a serpent, and Moses ran from it. 4 But the Lord said to Moses, Put out your hand and catch it by the tail—so he put out his hand and caught it, and it became a staff in his hand— 5 that they may believe that the Lord, the God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has appeared to you. 6 Again, the Lord said to him, Put your hand inside your cloak. And he put his hand inside his cloak, and when he took it out, behold, his hand was leprous like snow. 7 Then God said, Put your hand back inside your cloak. So, he put his hand back inside his cloak, and when he took it out, behold, it was restored like the rest of his flesh. 8 If they will not believe you, God said, or listen to the first sign, they may believe the latter sign” (5. 2-8).

#5 – I have no confidence in myself. Please send someone else - “13But he said, oh, my Lord, please send someone else” (4.13). Here is how the Lord responded: “Then the anger of the Lord was kindled against Moses and he said, Is there not Aaron, your brother, the Levite? I know that he can speak well. Behold, he is coming out to meet you, and when he sees you, he will be glad in his heart. 15 You shall speak to him and put the words in his mouth, and I will be with your mouth and with his mouth and will teach you both what to do. 16 He shall speak for you to the people, and he shall be your mouth, and you shall be as God to him. 17 And take in your hand this staff, with which you shall do the signs” (4. 14-17).

What's with all the excuses? Was there still an outstanding warrant for Moses’ arrest? Did someone write a letter to Moses and tell him, ‘Do not come here! The authorities arestill looking for you?’ No, because no one knew of his trip but God and Moses’ family. Finally, Moses has a job in Midian working for his father-in-law and he has no vacation days left.

Concluding Question.

What is your excuse for not obeying the voice of God? Just be honest and God can work with you and calm your fears.

The Text; Telling the Story.

Vv. 18-19; “18 Moses went back to Jethro his father-in-law and said to him, please let me go back to my brothers in Egypt to see whether they are still alive. And Jethro said to Moses, ‘Go in peace. 19 And the Lord said to Moses in Midian, go back to Egypt, for all the men who were seeking your life are dead.”

First, just so Moses knows this is the will of God for him to go back to Egypt, God has given Moses favor with his father-in-law who is also his boss when Jethro approves Moses’ request to go back to Egypt.

I want you to know, whoever me and the Lord is talking to, that there is no such thing as God not making provision for God’s will to be done! Moses’ request for a leave of absence was granted!

God had already taken care of the very thing Moses was afraid of! Moses, your crime has been expunged, and your record is clean, Moses. There is no need to fear; just go!

I ask again - What is your excuse for not obeying God? What are you afraid of?

I know, and certainly God knows some people say, ‘you can’t go back home’ but that is not always true, and at least in Moses’ case it wasn’t true.

One by one, the Lord dismantled Moses’ excuses. First, regarding Israel’s lack of faith in God and Moses, the Lord instructed Moses to throw down his staff and when he did it became a snake. Then picking the serpent up, it turned back into a staff. Second, he told Moses to put his hand inside his clothes and when he pulled his hand back out, the hand had turned leprous. Upon the Lord’s instruction, and again when he put his hand inside his clothing and brought it back out, the leprous hand was just like the rest of his skin again. Lastly, the Lord instructed Moses to take some water from the Nile River and pour it out on the dry ground, and the water from the Nile that Moses poured onto the ground turned into blood on the ground.

The Lord set out to prove to the people God was with Moses so, the Lord performed several miracles, undeniable miracles before the eyes of the people so they would know God was with Moses, and if God was with Moses, the Lord God of Israel was with them also! If God was going with Moses and they were going with Moses, that means God was with them also.

Now, what else do I need to do, Moses? You say you are a man of slow speech? Don’t worry, that is why I have given your brother Aaron, who is an eloquent man, to you. He will speak for you.

v. 20; “So Moses took his wife and his sons and had them ride on a donkey and went back to the land of Egypt. And Moses took the staff of God in his hand.”

Moses gives in and appears to obey God. With Moses taking his family with him suggests he expected the move to be more permanent than temporary. Once Moses believes God he is all in! It’s all or nothing at all. Genuine faith is not dabbling our toes in the water, but true faith is jumping into the water when the Lord says, ‘jump!’

This trip also says something about Moses’ family, or at least his spouse, Zipporah does, because they believe in Moses, and more importantly they believe in the God of Israel, too! They did not experience putting their hands inside their clothing and saw the miracle of the leprous hand healed. Neither did they throw down a shepherd’s staff and see the staff turn into a snake, and neither were they instructed to pour water onto the ground and see it instantly turn to blood, but they believed what they saw God doing. They believed God was working through Moses! Zipporah trusted God before they left and was willing to trust God through their journey and she was willing to trust God once they arrived in Egypt!

The Close.

Lastly, “Moses took the staff of God in his hand.” Why is this important? Of course, God does not need a staff to work His miracles, so why is carrying the staff of God with him important to Moses? Because the staff of God represents the fact that the power with which Moses will perform these miracles before Pharaoh does not come from himself but from another source, and that source is God.

Now, Christian. You and I have the power of God within us, so what is our excuse for not obeying God and confronting our Pharaohs?