A KNIFE TO A GUN FIGHT.

God often has his servants bring a knife to a gunfight. Or, in the case of Moses, which was a stick or staff (in other contexts, the word can also mean “scepter”).

With a simple piece of wood, Moses fought against the most powerful leader of the most powerful nation on earth. Sounds foolish, doesn’t it? Yes, but when it comes to heaven’s arsenal, our Lord prefers to use foolish weapons to defeat the wise and powerful of the world.

With this staff, Moses and Aaron turned the Nile to blood (Exodus. 7:20) and held it over the sea so the Israelites could pass through (14:16). With this same staff by which he had punished Egypt, he also blessed Israel with drinking water from a rock (17:5-6).

What made this staff so powerful? Was it magical wood? No. God connected his word of promise and power to this simple element of creation. It was a vehicle for his gracious work in this world. The stick’s power came from God’s claim upon it. It was, indeed, “the staff of God” (Exodus. 4:20; 17:9).

As such, this wooden staff is like the jars of Gideon or the waters of baptism. They are all the unpretentious ways our Lord chooses to defend us. Each of them, in their own way, are the word of God made visible. A word of wood. A word of pottery. A word of water. They are not the words we would look for, or even hope for, but they are the words of life itself. 

Simple things which many would scoff at as silly or foolish, these are what our Lord likes to use. The ultimate example of which is “Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God” (1 Cor. 1:23-24).

Hallelujah!

Happy Sunday 🥂