The “sign miracle” of Aaron’s staff being turned into a serpent. What is the meaning behind it? Why, when the Egyptian magicians so easily replicated it, did the Lord command for it to be a sign to Pharaoh? How does this help to harden Pharaoh’s heart? How do we reconcile the hardening of Pharaoh’s heart, and the hardening in part that has come over Israel, according to the apostle Paul? Is there a message here for us as modern day disciples of Messiah Yeshua/Jesus? When we face trial, or fear over preserving our own legacy, what does these seemingly unrelated stories tell us? Give a listen!
When called by God, there is a risk that we may believe we are autonomous in vocation, this is a dangerous disposition indeed.
The Torah portion וָאֵרָא/Va’era, meaning “I appeared,” provides an interesting lesson in growth and leadership. Moses, as we know from the Torah, the Apostolic Scriptures and Jewish tradition is highly respected, and rightly so. Yet, often overlooked is the importance of his relationship with his brother, Aaron.
“And the Lord said to Moses, ‘Look, I am appointing you as a man of authority before pharaoh, and Aaron your brother will be your spokesman.’”
When Moses was called by God, he did not have a very good opinion of himself. In fact, he used this perception as the basis for his argument to disqualify himself from service to the Lord. When Moses says, “I am not eloquent … I am slow of speech and of tongue …” (Ex. 4:10), the Lord says, “Who has made mans mouth?”
Still, knowing that Moses was yet fragile, he calls someone to come alongside Moses to be his voice: Aaron. Yet, Aaron is not just a mouthpiece, he is a support that allows Moses to grow into his calling. Even though Moses was called to lead Israel at age 80, he was effectively discipled into this position by his older brother Aaron. Read to the words of the Lord:
“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. 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. He shall speak for you to the people, and he shall be your mouth, and you shall be as God to him. And take in your hand this staff, with which you shall do the signs” (Ex. 4:14-17).
When Aaron saw Moses, his heart was glad. He would become a support for Moses. Aaron would speak the words Moses was told, and the Lord would “teach you both what to do.” Aaron became a facilitator for Moses, but not to his own detriment. As Moses fulfilled his calling, in the unfolding history of Israel, Aaron would also be fulfilled in his calling.
With Aaron’s support, even mentoring, Moses was enabled to become who God called him to be: the real Moses, not the disqualified Moses. Still, as much as Moses needed Aaron’s help, Aaron needed Moses as well.
In Exodus 6, the Torah records the genealogy of Moses and Aaron, concluding with “These are the Aaron and Moses to whom the Lord said, “Bring out the people of Israel from the land of Egypt by their hosts” (Ex. 6:26). Here Aaron is listed first, but then in Exodus 6:27 we read, “It was they who spoke to Pharaoh king of Egypt about bringing out the people of Israel from Egypt, this Moses and this Aaron.” The rabbis find this to be an indication of their equality, as one was not greater than the other.
By the end of their lives Moses and Aaron would be the men God called them to be: the real Moses and the real Aaron. Moses, having benefited from the support of Aaron, would then support Aaron as he was called to serve as the anointed High Priest of Israel. Moses the “slow of speech” prophet and leader of Israel, by his brothers support, would anoint Aaron, the compromising sculpture of the Golden Calf, to be the uncompromising High Priest of God’s righteous standard before the Brazen Altar.
What facilitated this change? They were supported in their time of growth by someone that God had sent into their life.
I do not often insert myself into these devotional writings, but for the sake of my point, I will. As a “pastoring teacher” or rabbi, (Eph. 4:11) my job description is simple, but continuous, as Paul writes regarding the gift ministries that Messiah gave to His congregation; they are: “to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Messiah, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Messiah, so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes” (Eph. 4:12-14; cf. 4:15-16).
How am I able to do this, as inept as I am, O Lord? The Lord sent older brothers into my life, as pastors and teachers, fathers in the faith, to come alongside and support me as the Lord matured, and continues to mature, me. Men like Dr. John Looper, Dr. Karl Coke, Dr. Michael Lake, the late Bishop Daniel Herzog, and the elders of Messiah Congregation. As the Lord has sent me to support and edify those He has entrusted to my care as a bishop in their lives, He has provided the same for me, just as He had done for those who mentored me.
Why is this important? The saints of God in Messiah have been commissioned as part of the Great Commission. We all have shortcomings that we magnify in our minds, but as God told Moses, paraphrased, “Who made you?” As we grow in faith, matured by study, prayer and process in tribulation, we have support, principally from the promised Holy Spirit, but then visibly by our Aaron, or by our Moses.
Dear reader, you are not disqualified because you are “slow of speech.” He knows your limp, and He is the support for your limp; and He sends brothers and sisters into your life to help you limp and live by faith in the One Who is conforming you to the image of Messiah (Ro. 8:28-29), as you walk in your calling.
In Numbers 20:11 Moses famously strikes the Rock to which the Lord commanded him to speak. After this incident, Moses would not be allowed to lead Israel into the Promised Land. Why? He disobeyed God, and even though Israel were prone to disobedience and complaint, the disobedience of Moses could be used as justification for continued disobedience: “If Moses disobeyed and the Lord answered, why not us?”
Tragic. Moses has led Israel, and on many occasions, suffered because of them. In his moment of frustration, in a moment of anger, he disobeys and will not enter with the people. As I’ve taught on numerous occasions, the Lord had a greater plan for Moses that would come generations later (Matt. 17).
Yet in Numbers 20:12 we read:
וַיֹּאמֶר יְהוָה, אֶל-מֹשֶׁה וְאֶל-אַהֲרֹן
“And the Lord spoke to Moses and to Aaron…”
Why Aaron? Here is a hard lesson for all of us to learn, one that often makes us very uncomfortable.
In Numbers 20:10, the Torah tells us that Moses and Aaron assembled the people in response to the issue of water. While Moses struck the Rock in disobedience, Aaron also failed. How? He failed to correct Moses. He failed to speak up.
In Numbers 20:6, the Lord called both Moses and Aaron, and in 20:8 He says: “Take the staff, and assemble the congregation, you and Aaron your brother, and tell the rock before their eyes to yield its water. So you shall bring water out of the rock for them and give drink to the congregation and their cattle.”
As Moses lifted his staff, Aaron should have corrected him: “No Moses, speak to the Rock.” Isn’t the effect much the same? Didn’t the Rock yield its water? Israel, grumbling and in disbelief, should have witnessed the rock obeying the spoken command of God. If a rock obeys, and brings forth that which is not natural to it, shouldn’t we?
There are times in the life of faith when the natural inclination to stoniness overcomes our hearts due to circumstance, and even disbelief. Rather than life giving water springing up from within, the well is covered over in doubt. What should we do?
Paul writes in Galatians 6:1-2, “Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted. Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Messiah.”
Moses was angry. Aaron should have spoken to the stoniness of Moses’ heart to open the fount of living water in order that he speak the impossible for the Lord to be glorified. Aaron was accountable in this as well, just not in the same manner of Moses.
Israel was panicked and angry. Moses was angry. Aaron, as the high priest and minister of reconciliation, should have spoken to one heart, in order for that heart to speak to many others.
It seems we have heartaches by the dozens these days. Those heartaches can cause stoniness. Paul gives us an example, and a command, to come alongside of, and through the Spirit of gentleness, speak words of truth and healing to break up that which has become hardened by trial, allowing the living waters to flow once again.
As James teaches, “My brothers, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone brings him back, let him know that whoever brings back a sinner from his wandering will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins” (Jas. 5:19-20).
This is not easy to do correctly. It can be humbling. It can be uncomfortable. It can be upsetting. However, to speak up, in faith, at the right moment, with the right spirit, can change seemingly impossible circumstances, allowing the Lord to be glorified and people to be changed.
Aaron died in the wilderness as well, in this very chapter of Numbers (20:28). We learn so much from someone who stood silent. One important lesson being, as ministers of reconciliation, we cannot stand in silence, but rather, we call out: “be reconciled to God” (2 Cor. 5:20).
the mountain mensch 