Sovereignty Displayed for the Glory of God

Before I read Exodus, I wasn't aware of Exodus 4 and how most of what goes on in this chapter is omitted in children's books and popular media. In my opinion, people are afraid to portray God as someone who inflicts pain and as someone who would come in the image/form of a murderer (Verse 24). In many theological cases, it's justified that God permits things to happen, such as leprosy or murder. But in these passages, it seems to point to otherwise, and this is one of the most commonly used passages to try and disprove a good and loving God. 

Three signs of God's sovereignty that we'd be inclined to deny:

1. God is in control of our sicknesses and all of the natural "bad" things that happen. In this passage, God displays his power over sicknesses, disease, and signs of evil (blood and a snake). It's interesting to note that God had Moses display His power through leprosy, blood, and a serpent. In the old days and even now, it's only natural to associate these with something evil or something that isn't pure and holy. In a more symbolic sense, God is sovereign over the things we detest and the things we fear.

2. God is in control of anything we were born with, and that He gave us these deficiencies at birth. Verse 11 is God's display of sovereignty over humans. In the old days, a disability is usually seen as a curse. But in this passage, God takes credit for having the power over the disabilities we were born with. And He followed this immediately with words of encouragement. In verse 12, God tells Moses that given His dominion over these things, He will be the one to help Moses speak to Pharaoh. Even then Moses questioned God and so He had Aaron become the spokesperson.

3. God is in control and has power over death. This is important because verse 19 onward emphasizes this power of God. It's manifested through the timeliness of the death of the Egyptians and the threat of death used to make Moses and his family a branch under the covenant of God and Abraham (via circumcision). 

We usually cringe whenever we associate God with these things because we want a God that is on the other side of the 2-sided moral coin, that on one hand we have a good God and on the other side we have us or Satan. But on the contrary, there is no coin. There is no duality that is even equal to the power of God. He displays His glory through the most righteous of people and through the most wicked of events. He is sovereign over all things, good and bad. If you doubt this, think about the most evil act committed in the history of mankind: the death of Jesus on the cross. If you're not willing to give God credit for giving His son and inflicting His wrath on Jesus through Pilate, the Jews, and the Herod, then you're saying it was never His saving grace on that cross. But the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and the God that led Moses to Egypt is the God who displays sovereignty over all things.