PICK UP THE ROD

Today we’re going back to Moses’ time. The time when Moses saw the burning bush and approached it and found out that it was God. God had a mission He wanted Moses to complete. But let’s see what Moses said in Exodus 3:11- “But Moses protested to God, “Who am I to appear before Pharaoh? Who am I to lead the people of Israel out of Egypt?” then God said “I will be with you” (Exodus‬ ‭3:12‬ ‭NLT‬‬). You’d think that made Moses feel calm and excited to go but no. In Exodus 4:1 Moses is still going on about “What if they won’t believe me or listen to me? What if they say, ‘The Lord never appeared to you’?” then the verses after that (Exodus 4:2-3) God asks Moses “What is that in your hand?” “A rod,” Moses replied. “Throw it down on the ground,” the Lord told him. So Moses threw down the rod, and it turned into a snake! Moses jumped back. Then the Lord told him, “Reach out and grab its tail.” So Moses reached out and grabbed it, and it turned back into a rod in his hand.”Exodus‬ ‭4:2-4‬.

Let’s pause there and look at something deep and let’s link it to that moment. A rod. Yes a rod. I googled what a rod is and I found out that a rod something used to protect the sheep from predators that might seek to harm them. A rod is made out of trees. Now let’s move forward to John 15 when God described Himself as a figure of a tree. Read John 15 and you will see God saying “I am the vine and you are the branches…”. So now I have been led to believe that, that rod was made from God. Since our God is a sovereign God, everything has been predestined so what looks like nothing in Moses’ time was later on explained (in John 15) as a figure of God. I hope you’re still following.

Now a serpent. From the start of the Bible (Genesis), we all learnt that Satan disguised himself as a snake and deceived Eve. So Satan has always been know as a serpent. A deceiving manipulative snake. Now let’s come back to Exodus 4:2-4. When Moses was doubting himself that he cannot do it, the Lord asked him, “What is that in your hand?” “A rod,” Moses replied. “Throw it down on the ground,” the Lord told him. So Moses threw down the staff, and it turned into a snake! Moses jumped back”. Moses had a lot of fear and guilt in him. He was just too scared to go so he just started making excuses. But when God told him to drop the stick, he dropped it. Pay attention here. When Moses dropped the staff it turned into a snake. Remember how I said a snake is being associated with Satan. As soon as Moses dropped the stick, at that point, it was Moses dropping the fears, his guilt, his excuses, the "you can't do it" satanic lies that he puts in us. He was dropping everything that was pulling him back from going to rescue the Israelite. Today I pray that you drop the rod you’re holding. Shepherds don’t hold rods cause they think it’s cool. The rod has a purpose and if you won’t use the purposes of it, don’t hold one. Any rod that has lost its purpose, that for some reason you are still holding on to it, today I pray you get the realization of how ineffective it is and that you drop it as you read this.

Now watch this. Verse 4, “Then the Lord told him, “Reach out and grab its tail.” You must be insane to see a moving well-alive snake and pick it up. But this shows the power and confidence God was giving to Moses. You won’t pick that rod back in the same way amen? You will pick that rod back up with confidence and power. You will pick that rod up with readiness. Moses picked up the moving snake and it turned into a rod. He dropped negativity but he rose back up with positive.“So Moses reached out and grabbed it, and it turned back into a rod in his hand.” (Exodus‬ ‭4:2-4‬‬‬). Now let me draw your mind to something. God told Moses in Exodus‬ ‭3:12‬ (‭NLT‬‬) that “I will be with you”. What did I say about the rod in the beginning. Moses dropped the devil and picked up God. Now you need to see this. God said He will be with Moses and from the stories of Moses, how many times did that rod go with Moses and how many times did Moses use that rod? A numerous amount of times. The basic shepherd rod was not a normal ordinary rod anymore. It was God physically walking with Moses. God was with Moses physical and He demonstrated various of times His power through that rod. To make long story short, what I’m saying to you today is drop that rod but the important thing is PICK IT BACK UP. Pick it up. Pick up your rod and let God led you into doing greatness.

Prayer: Our Father in Heaven, hallowed be your name. God, we have come to understand that you want us to drop everything and pick You up as we continue our fruitful and amazing promising journey. Anything that’s holding us back we drop it in Jesus name. Please go down with us as we pick up the rod. Let the rod rise up with us in Jesus name, Amen.