Isaiah 55:8-9 states, “My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are my ways your ways. As the heavens are higher than the earth, so my ways are higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.”
At first glance, the story of Moses and the snake appears quirky, maybe even a miracle. Of course, God can turn a staff into a snake. A deeper dive teaches us to trust the strange moments where God uses us in confusing ways that mean more than we realize. The situation with Moses and the snake in Egypt was the first step to the enslaved Hebrews’ deliverance from Pharoah’s control.
What Events Led to Up to Moses and the Snake?
At Exodus 3’s opening, we find Moses living a life of everyday comforts, probably in obscurity, as he had been for 40 years. He was born an Israelite and should have been killed under a decree to kill all infant Israelite males. Instead, he was adopted into Pharoah’s family and raised in luxury. Moses’ birth and adoption are found in Exodus 2:1-10.
As an adult, Moses returned to his people and saw an Egyptian beating an Israelite slave. His reaction was swift and not thought out well: he killed the Egyptian, then hid the corpse. He was found out and again condemned to death (Exodus 2:11-15). Moses fled to Midian, where he married, raised children, and tended sheep for his father-in-law.
But while Moses lived in relative comfort and obscurity for 40 years, the enslaved Israelites called out to God for deliverance (Exodus 2:23-25).
Despite his past sin, God calls Moses to free the Israelites. Exodus 3 details Moses’ encounter with God in the burning bush. Then he learns God’s plan to use him. In their challenging conversation, God continues to provide assurances that he’s sending Moses.
Quaking at the task, Moses drops a big question, “What if they do not believe me or listen to me or say, ‘The Lord did not appear to you’?”
Exodus 4:1 is where the story of Moses and the snake begins. God provides what, on the surface, seems like an unexpected miracle for Moses’ first challenge to Pharoah.
Where Does the Bible First Mention Moses and the Snake?
We find God’s response to Moses’ question in Exodus 4:2-5.
“Then the Lord said to him, ‘What is that in your hand?’ ‘A staff,’ he replied. The Lord said, ‘Throw it on the ground.’ Moses threw it on the ground, and it became a snake, and he ran from it. Then the Lord said to him, ‘Reach out your hand and take it by the tail.’ So Moses reached out and took hold of the snake and it turned back into a staff in his hand. ‘This,’ said the Lord, ‘is so 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.’”
Intriguing elements of this sign include the use of the staff. Moses likely carried his staff with him most of the time. It’s a common shepherd’s tool to guide and protect. Though ordinary, the staff is remarkably necessary. God uses Moses’ staff for freeing the slaves, but also for various future miracles, like parting the Red Sea and drawing water from a rock. The tool doesn’t contain power. It’s the force of God using it.
The snake and Moses’ reaction to it require attention as well. Why a snake? God could turn that staff into anything. I thought about this: what would I want as a sign? A battalion of armed men or angels sounds good. Preferably both. Or maybe a monstrously large leviathan materializing to clench its’ teeth at Pharoah? That would do the trick. I can name many options stronger than a snake. Instead, God uses Moses and the snake. And initially, Moses runs away.
Perhaps surprise or terror sent him running. Or it could be that the staff turned to a specific snake in Egyptian culture known as the Uraeus, a cobra with a flaring hood, ready to strike. God and Moses knew the symbol’s central importance in Egyptian mythology.
Whatever the reason, God tells Moses to “take hold” of the snake, which he does. It returns to a staff. Moses demonstrates trust at this point, not knowing God’s next move.
Very quickly, though, Moses’ trust falters. Despite this powerful sign, he continues in the same vein of fear and challenge, relying on his inadequacy as a speaker to prove he’s not up for the job. At one point, Moses irritates God so much so that “. . . the Lord’s anger burned against Moses.” Even so, God worked with Moses’ insecurities and doubts by telling him his brother Aaron would meet him and go along to be the speaker when needed.
Was Moses the Only One Who Could Turn His Staff into a Snake?
In Exodus 4:28–31, Moses and Aaron enter Egypt and speak to the elders of Israel, performing the signs as commanded and telling God’s plan.
Then Moses told Aaron everything the Lord had sent him to say, and also about all the signs he had commanded him to perform. Moses and Aaron brought together all the elders of the Israelites, and Aaron told them everything the Lord had said to Moses. He also performed the signs before the people, and they believed. And when they heard that the Lord was concerned about them and had seen their misery, they bowed down and worshiped.
In Exodus 5, Moses confronts Pharoah, challenging him with the words of Israel’s God: “Let my people go.” Pharoah responds by incurring even more suffering on the slaves, who turn on Moses. The story plays out in Exodus 6, and it’s not pretty. But despite Moses’ continued fear of his inadequacy, God presses him forward, reminding Moses of His supremacy.
In Exodus 7:8-10, the big showdown with Moses and the snake arrives, though Aaron performs the miracle.
The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “When Pharaoh says to you, ‘Perform a miracle,’ then say to Aaron, ‘Take your staff and throw it down before Pharaoh,’ and it will become a snake.” So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and did just as the Lord commanded. Aaron threw his staff down in front of Pharaoh and his officials, and it transformed into a snake.
Pharoah responds by calling on his wise men and sorcerers, who (using either occult practices or trickery) as some versions call it, performed what appeared to be the same feat. These wise men and sorcerers protected Egyptian paganism—demonstrating power and authority through spells, curses, and other signs. While we can’t know for certain what occurred, we know that false prophets and witchcraft imitate spiritual authority, using it for evil to keep people in deception and bondage.
How Would the Egyptians Have Reacted to Moses Showing a Snake?
When Moses and Aaron performed the miracle of changing a staff to a snake, the act directly threatened Pharoah’s rule. As Pharoah and all those in attendance knew that snakes played a prominent role in Egyptian religion and mythology. For instance, snakes represented various gods and goddesses, including Apopis, the demon of chaos who fought against Re, the sun god.
Snakes were seen as afterworld protectors that guarded the underworld’s gates, keeping enemies away. This is demonstrated on the mask of the Pharoah Tutankhamun, where the prominent Uraeus (cobra) protects Tutankhamun on his afterlife journey. The coffin of Tanakhtnettahat (or Tahat), a high-ranking Egyptian official, was decorated with 198 snake images.
But most importantly, the Uraeus, a rearing cobra with a flared hood, represented the Pharaohs and their families, making it a symbol of royalty. Information from the Emory University Michael C. Carlos Museum explains the significance of the cobra to ancient Egyptians.
“Actual cobras can be up to eight feet long and when they sit upright and flare their neck ribs into a hood, they present a dramatic and threatening image appropriate for a king. A cobra’s bite can kill, but the snake’s fangs are not its only weapon. Cobras can also shoot streams of venom from glands behind their fangs up to six and a half feet with astonishing accuracy. For ancient Egyptians, the image of the rearing cobra both protected the king and projected his power.”
Nemes, the royal headdress worn by Pharaohs, often included an Uraeus representing supreme power. The snake symbolized Pharoah’s role as Egypt’s ultimate authority and keeper of order, protecting the Egyptians from chaos.
God chose Moses and the snake to challenge every aspect of Pharoah’s rule, power, and authority. The challenge was obvious to all.
What Did Moses’ Snake Eating the Other Snakes Communicate?
The snakes the magicians threw to the ground were real, though likely produced from trickery whether than magic. But just so there’s no doubt, even if one believed they had done the same through occultic practices summoning evil forces, the snake of Moses and Aaron consumed the other snakes. This would shock those in attendance while sending a clear message: Moses represented the One true God. The God above all creation. The One who rules over all spiritual beings.
Given the Egyptian belief that snakes protected the Pharoah’s family in the afterlife and that the snake represented royalty and supreme power, devouring the Egyptian-produced snakes sends another message. Essentially, Pharoah and his kingdom are under the authority of the Hebrew God. Not only that, his authority and the powers of his religious men mean nothing in comparison. This should strike not only awe but terror in Pharoah’s heart. Instead, his heart hardened.
Where Else Does the Bible Mention Moses and a Snake?
The journey from slavery to the Promised Land lasted 40 years because God’s people lacked trust, complained, and worshipped false gods.
God met their needs, but the Israelites’ behavior and attitudes angered Him. Moses intervened on behalf of the Israelites and was then provided instructions on how to correct the situation. Unfortunately, this unhealthy cycle of distrust and idolatry, judgment and punishment, and finally repentance and redemption occurred repeatedly.
Numbers 21:4-9 records one of these instances that includes poisonous snakes (punishment) and a bronze snake (redemption). After the Hebrews complained to Moses, God sent venomous snakes among them. The people asked for Moses to intercede on their behalf.
The Lord said to Moses, “Make a snake and put it up on a pole; anyone who is bitten can look at it and live.” So Moses made a bronze snake and put it up on a pole. Then when anyone was bitten by a snake and looked at the bronze snake, they lived.
Like so many moments in the Bible, this story shows the gospel in miniature. We are all bitten by the poison of our sin and sentenced to death. Jesus, our Messiah, provides redemption so we are no longer spiritually dead in our sin. In this situation, the snake represents Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross. All those who look to him will be saved. Just as the Israelites who looked to the bronze snake and repented lived, so do we. Jesus referred to this passage when he foreshadowed his coming death and resurrection in John 3:14, “Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up.”
Reflecting on the story of Moses and the snake, I’m struck by God’s first question when Moses doubts his ability to make a difference. Simply, “What’s in your hand?”
Moses replies, “A staff.”
Moses’ 40 years in the desert tending sheep meant he likely had a staff with him most of the time. I wonder if God asks the same of us as we desire to serve him. Perhaps our journey begins with knowing and accepting what’s in our hands. Then, when we surrender it, God changes and uses us in unique, often unexpected, ways.
Photo Credit: © Getty Images/rudall30
Ann Vande Zande is a writer, speaker, mentor, and adjunct professor. She enjoys all things outdoors for three seasons in Minnesota, and all things indoors in the cold long one. She’s fortunate to have shared her story and teaching in Focus on the Family Magazine, In Touch, Proverbs 31 Woman, Bible Advocate, and more.
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