THE ROD OF GOD

      HOME OF ARTICLES 

Exodus 4: 20 Then Moses took his wife and his sons and set them on a donkey, and he returned to the land of Egypt. And Moses took the rod of God in his hand. (NKJV).

In Israelite culture, the rod (Hebrew: מַטֶּה maṭṭeh) was a natural symbol of authority, The phrase "Rod of God" holds significant meaning in the Bible, symbolizing God's authority, power, and judgment. 

   This concept appears in various scriptures, highlighting different aspects of God's interaction with His people and the world. Below, we explore the "Rod of God" through key biblical passages and their original contexts. 

   As a tool used by the shepherd to correct and guide his flock. Moses, in fact, initially carried his rod while tending his sheep, and later it became his symbol of authority over the Israelites.  The rods of both Moses and Aaron were endowed with miraculous power during the Plagues of Egypt.

   God commanded Moses to raise his rod over the Red Sea when it was to be split and in prayer over Israel in battle. At Meriba Moses brought forth water from a stone using his rod. Aaron's rod refers to any of the walking sticks carried by Moses' brother, Aaron, in the Torah. 

   The Bible tells how, along with Moses's rod, Aaron's rod was endowed with miraculous power during the Plagues of Egypt that preceded the Exodus. Later, his rod miraculously sprouted blossoms and almonds to symbolize God's choice of Aaron and his tribe for holy service.

 The staff is first mentioned in the Book of Exodus (Ex 4:2), when God appears to Moses in the burning bush. God asks what Moses has in his hand, and Moses answers "a staff" ("a rod" in the King James Version (KJV)).

 The staff is miraculously transformed into a snake and then back into a staff. The staff is thereafter referred to as the "rod of God" or "staff of God" (depending on the translation).

Moses and Aaron appear before the pharaoh, and Aaron's rod is transformed into a serpent. Pharaoh's sorcerers are also able to transform their own rods into serpents, but Aaron's rod swallows their rods (Exodus 7:10–12). 

Aaron's rod is again used to turn the Nile blood-red. It is used several times on God's command to initiate the plagues of Egypt.

During the Exodus, Moses stretches out his hand with the staff to part the Red Sea. While in the "wilderness" after leaving Egypt Moses follows God's command to strike a rock with the rod to create a spring for the Israelites to drink from (Exodus 17:5–7). Moses does so, and water springs forth from the rock in the presence of the Elders of Israel.

Battle with the Amalekites (Exodus 17:8–16) 

Moses also uses the staff in the battle at Rephidim between the Israelites and the Amalekites (Exodus 17:8–16). When he holds up his arms holding the "rod of God" the Israelites "prevail", when he drops his arms, their enemies gain the upper hand. 

  Aaron and Hur help him to keep the staff raised until victory is achieved. But, before Moses finally agreed to undertake the divine mission to return to Egypt to deliver and bring the children of Israel out of Egypt, God had to perform some miraculous signs to convince Moses and strengthen his confidence in God.

The first of the miraculous signs was the turning of Moses’ shepherd staff or rod to a snake when he cast it on the ground before God.

Exodus 4:1 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.'”

 2 The LORD said to him, “What is that in your hand?” He said, “A rod.”

 3 And he said, “Cast it on the ground.” So, he cast it on the ground, and it became a serpent; and Moses fled from it.

 4 But the LORD said to Moses, “Put out your hand, and take it by the tail” so he put out his hand and caught it, and it became a rod in his hand  (RSV).

Before Moses cast his rod on the ground before God, it was a mere dry wood, staff or stick with which he tended the flock of his father-in-law. However, after Moses had willingly surrendered his rod to God, it ceased to be an ordinary rod or staff to Moses.

  Although God continued to refer to it as Moses’ rod, yet Moses never for once called it his rod after his dramatic encounter with God. Apparently, Moses had completely and permanently relinquished any claim he had to his rod. Therefore, he rightly called it “the rod of God.”

What a lesson for us today!

The rod of Moses represented his whole life. It symbolized his ambition, vocation, wisdom, skills, status, strength or might. His rod was his identity, his instrument, his weapon or defence in the desert. Therefore, when Moses willingly cast his rod on the ground before God, he was surrendering or presenting his whole life to God. 

  Although Moses was not very sure of God’s intention for asking him to cast his rod on the ground, yet he did. This shows Moses’ willingness or mindset to die to himself to abandon, forget or renounce his ambition, vocation, status, skills, wisdom, or strength.

It takes such a willingness, disposition, or mindset to be greatly used of God!

Having surrendered his rod to God, though God never took it from his hand, yet Moses ceased to see it as belonging to him, or as an ordinary shepherd’s staff and thus he never used it again for an ordinary purpose  tending the flock of his father-in-law.  

  After his divine encounter with God, Moses began to see his rod (a symbol of his life) as holy and supernatural  no longer an unholy, common, or ordinary rod for tending the flock. This is why Moses chose to refer to it as “the rod of God” (Exo. 17:9).

  Like Moses, having surrendered your life to Christ, it ceases to be yours and you must treat it as such. The Scripture amply testifies to this truth.

1 Corinthians 6: 20 For you were bought at a price; therefore, glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s. (NKJV).

Romans 14: 7 For none of us lives to himself, and no one dies to himself.

 8 For if we live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to the Lord. Therefore, whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s. (NKJV).

2 Corinthians 5: 14 For the love of Christ compels us, because we judge thus: that if One died for all, then all died.

 15 and He died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again. (NKJV).

    After his supernatural encounter with God, Moses returned to Egypt with a strong conviction that what he was holding in his hand was no longer his former ordinary shepherd rod, but a holy, divine, or supernatural rod. 

 Exodus 4: 20 Then Moses took his wife and his sons and set them on a donkey, and he returned to the land of Egypt. And Moses took the rod of God in his hand. (NKJV).

     With the rod of God in his hand, Moses wrought great exploits, signs, and wonders in Egypt that confounded and humiliated Pharaoh and all the sorcerers, magicians, and wise men in Egypt, and brought out the children of Israel from Egypt, thereby fulfilling his divine purpose in life.

   Just as Moses began to see, call, regard and treat his rod as the holy rod of God after surrendering it to God, having surrendered your life to Christ, you also must begin to see, call, regard and treat yourself as sacred and holy to God  no longer as a common, unholy, natural, or ordinary person.

   Anyone or anything consecrated to God ceases to be common, unholy, natural, or ordinary; but sacred, holy, divine, or supernatural!

As a born-again believer who has willingly and unreservedly yielded his life to God, you must now begin to see and call yourself who and what God said you are now in Christ, not who or what you used to be before surrendering your life to Christ. Having been joined together with Christ, you are now one spirit with Christ (1 Cor. 6:17). Therefore, as Jesus is, so are you now in this world (1 John 4:17).

   In Christ, you are now a new creation. You are righteous, holy, and anointed. You are a king and a priest to God.

   The Scripture amply testifies to this truth.

2 Corinthians 5: 17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. (NKJV).

1 Corinthians 6: 11 And such were some of you. But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God. (NKJV).

2 Corinthians 5: 21 For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. (NKJV).

Colossians 1: 21 And you, who once were alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now He has reconciled.

 22 in the body of His flesh through death, to present you holy, and blameless, and above reproach in His sight– (NKJV).

Revelation 1:  4 John, to the seven churches which are in Asia: Grace to you and peace from Him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven Spirits who are before His throne,

 5 and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler over the kings of the earth. To Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood,

 6 and has made us kings and priests to His God and Father, to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. (NKJV).

If Moses had gone to Egypt to challenge Pharaoh with a mindset that what he was holding in his hand was simply a common or an ordinary shepherd rod, he would have doubtlessly failed and died in Egypt.   Similarly, if you fail to begin to think, speak, operate, walk, act, and live according to your new and divine spiritual position, status, authority and identity in Christ, there is no way you will be able to accomplish God’s purpose for your life.

   Beloved, you are now a joint heir with Christ. His authority, wisdom, power, wealth, and grace are available to you (Rom. 8:17). You are presently seated in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus (Eph. 2:6). You are anointed and sealed with the Holy Spirit (2 Cor. 1:21-22).

You are the temple of God, and you are carrying about the fullness of God in your born-again spirit, just as Christ did while He lived physically in this world (Col. 1:19, 1 Cor. 3:17).

You are no longer a mere flesh or an ordinary natural person. Therefore, like Moses, stop seeing or regarding “your rod” (your life) as natural, ordinary, or common, but as sacred, holy, divine or supernatural. The following are  the significant of the Rod of God in the Bible, symbolizing God's authority, power, and judgment.

The Rod as a Symbol of Authority

Exodus 4:2-4 (NIV):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. 

  In this passage, God uses Moses' staff or rod as a tool to demonstrate His power and authority. The transformation of the rod into a serpent and back again serves as a sign to the Israelites and Pharaoh that God is with Moses. The rod becomes a symbol of God's authority given to Moses to lead His people out of Egypt.

The Rod as a Tool of Judgment

Exodus 7:19 (NIV): The LORD said to Moses, “Tell Aaron, ‘Take your staff and stretch out your hand over the waters of Egypt over the streams and canals, over the ponds and all the reservoirs and they will turn to blood.’ Blood will be everywhere in Egypt, even in vessels of wood and stone.

”Here, the rod is used to execute God’s judgment upon Egypt. The turning of water into blood is one of the plagues sent by God to persuade Pharaoh to release the Israelites from slavery. The rod, therefore, symbolizes God's judgment and power to bring about justice.

 The Rod as a Means of Provision and Protection 

Exodus 17:5-6 (NIV): The LORD answered Moses, “Go out in front of the people. Take with you some of the elders of Israel and take in your hand the staff with which you struck the Nile and go. I will stand there before you by the rock at Horeb. Strike the rock, and water will come out of it for the people to drink.” 

  So, Moses did this in the sight of the elders of Israel. In this instance, the rod is used to provide for the physical needs of the Israelites. Striking the rock to produce water demonstrates God's provision and care for His people. The rod symbolizes God's ability to sustain and protect His followers in times of need.

The Rod as a Sign of God's Sovereignty

Psalm 23:4 (NIV): Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me .In Psalm 23, the rod and staff are symbols of God's guidance, protection, and sovereignty.  The rod, often used by shepherds to protect their sheep, is a comforting reminder of God's constant presence and care. It signifies God's sovereign rule and His commitment to the wellbeing of His people.

Arise today and begin to do mighty exploits and wonders with “the rod of God” in your hand.

Prayer: 

My Dear Heavenly Father, thank You for opening my eyes of understanding today to the truth that having surrendered my life to You, I am no longer a mere, common, or ordinary natural man. Dear Holy Spirit, teach and help me to live and walk daily in the light of this truth, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Conclusion

The "Rod of God" in the Bible is a multifaceted symbol representing God's authority, judgment, provision, and sovereignty. Through various scriptures, we see the rod as an instrument used by God to demonstrate His power, execute His will, provide for His people, and protect them. This rich symbolism underscores the profound ways in which God interacts with and governs His creation.