Exodus 7:1-7

Moses was "as God" to Pharaoh in that he was the person who revealed God’s will (Exodus 7:1). Pharaoh was to be the executor of that will. Aaron would be Moses’ prophet as he stood between Moses and Pharaoh and communicated Moses and God’s will to the king. Exodus 7:1 helps us identify the essential meaning of the Hebrew word nabhi (prophet; cf. Exodus 4:10-16; Deuteronomy 18:15-22; Isaiah 6:9; Jeremiah 1:7; Ezekiel 2:3-4; Amos 7:12-16). This word occurs almost 300 times in the Old Testament and "in its fullest significance meant ’to speak fervently for God’" [Note: Leon J. Wood, The Prophets of Israel, p. 63. (]

"The pith of Hebrew prophecy is not prediction or social reform but the declaration of divine will" [Note: Norman Gottwald, A Light to the Nations, p. 277. See also Edward J. Young, My Servants the Prophets, ch. III: "The Terminology of Prophetism," for discussion of how the Old Testament used the Hebrew words for prophets.]

God referred to the miracles Moses would do as signs (i.e., miracles with special significance) and wonders (miracles producing wonder or awe in those who witnessed them, Exodus 7:3). [Note: See Ken L. Sarles, "An Appraisal of the Signs and Wonders Movement," Bibliotheca Sacra 145:577 (January-March 1988):57-82.] The text usually calls them "plagues," but clearly they were "signs," miracles that signified God’s sovereignty.

The ultimate purpose of God’s actions was His own glory (Exodus 7:5). The glory of God was at stake. The Egyptians would acknowledge God’s faithfulness and sovereign power in delivering the Israelites from their bondage and fulfilling their holy calling. God’s intention was to bless the Egyptians through Israel (Genesis 12:3), but Pharaoh would make that impossible by his stubborn refusal to honor God. Nevertheless the Egyptians would acknowledge Yahweh’s sovereignty.

The writer included the ages of Moses and Aaron (80 and 83 respectively) as part of God’s formal certification of His messengers (Exodus 7:7). [Note: See G. Herbert Livingston, "A Case Study of the Call of Moses," Asbury Theological Journal 42:2 (Fall 1987):89-113.]

"It is a common feature of biblical narratives for the age of their heroes to be stated at the time when some momentous event befalls them . . ." [Note: Cassuto, pp. 90-91.]

"D. L. Moody wittily said that Moses spent forty years in Pharaoh’s court thinking he was somebody; forty years in the desert learning he was nobody; and forty years showing what God can do with somebody who found out he was nobody." [Note: Bernard Ramm, His Way Out, p. 54.]