Faith and trust

The First Step of Faith: Trusting God Before the Impossible

When Moses at eighty stood before Pharaoh, God used a rod to bend history—faith often begins the moment we open our mouths in obedience.

BibleVibe Editorial5 min read
Translation：ESV
Exodus 7:1-20
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GOD replied to Moses, “See, I place you in the role of God to Pharaoh, with your brother Aaron as your prophet. You shall repeat all that I command you, and your brother Aaron shall speak to Pharaoh to let the Israelites depart from his land. But I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, that I may multiply My signs and marvels in the land of Egypt. When Pharaoh does not heed you, I will lay My hand upon Egypt and deliver My ranks, My people the Israelites, from the land of Egypt with extraordinary chastisements. And the Egyptians shall know that I am GOD, when I stretch out My hand over Egypt and bring out the Israelites from their midst.” This Moses and Aaron did; as GOD commanded them, so they did. Moses was eighty years old and Aaron eighty-three, when they made their demand on Pharaoh. GOD said to Moses and Aaron, “When Pharaoh speaks to you and says, ‘Produce your marvel,’ you shall say to Aaron, ‘Take your rod and cast it down before Pharaoh.’ It shall turn into a serpent.” So Moses and Aaron came before Pharaoh and did just as GOD had commanded: Aaron cast down his rod in the presence of Pharaoh and his courtiers, and it turned into a serpent. Then Pharaoh, for his part, summoned the sages and the sorcerers; and the Egyptian priestly magicians, in turn, did the same with their spells: each cast down his rod, and they turned into serpents. But Aaron’s rod swallowed their rods. Yet Pharaoh’s heart stiffened and he did not heed them, as GOD had said. And GOD said to Moses, “Pharaoh is stubborn; he refuses to let the people go. Go to Pharaoh in the morning, as he is coming out to the water, and station yourself before him at the edge of the Nile, taking with you the rod that turned into a snake. And say to him, ‘The ETERNAL, the God of the Hebrews, sent me to you to say, “Let My people go that they may worship Me in the wilderness.” But you have paid no heed until now. Thus says GOD, “By this you shall know that I am GOD.” See, I shall strike the water in the Nile with the rod that is in my hand, and it will be turned into blood; and the fish in the Nile will die. The Nile will stink so that the Egyptians will find it impossible to drink the water of the Nile.’” And GOD said to Moses, “Say to Aaron: Take your rod and hold out your arm over the waters of Egypt—its rivers, its canals, its ponds, all its bodies of water—that they may turn to blood; there shall be blood throughout the land of Egypt, even in vessels of wood and stone.” Moses and Aaron did just as GOD commanded: he lifted up the rod and struck the water in the Nile in the sight of Pharaoh and his courtiers, and all the water in the Nile was turned into blood and the fish in the Nile died. The Nile stank so that the Egyptians could not drink water from the Nile; and there was blood throughout the land of Egypt. But when the Egyptian magicians did the same with their spells, Pharaoh’s heart stiffened and he did not heed them—as GOD had spoken. Pharaoh turned and went into his palace, paying no regard even to this. And all the Egyptians had to dig round about the Nile for drinking water, because they could not drink the water of the Nile. When seven days had passed after GOD struck the Nile, GOD said to Moses, “Go to Pharaoh and say to him, ‘Thus says GOD: Let My people go that they may worship Me. If you refuse to let them go, then I will plague your whole country with frogs. The Nile shall swarm with frogs, and they shall come up and enter your palace, your bedchamber and your bed, the houses of your courtiers and your people, and your ovens and your kneading bowls. The frogs shall come up on you and on your people and on all your courtiers.’”

Exodus 7:1–20 records the commissioning of Moses and Aaron and the first confrontation with Pharaoh. God appoints Moses as 'God to Pharaoh' and Aaron as his prophet; the rod-turned-serpent miracle precedes the hardening of Pharaoh's heart and sets the stage for the plagues. The passage frames faith not as confidence in the messenger, but as trust in the God who sends, speaks, and sovereignly acts.

📖 Exodus
🕰️ Pre-Exodus period (c. 13th century BC)
Narration

Historical & Geographic Setting

Exodus 7 opens in the Nile delta of Egypt, in the royal court where Pharaoh holds court each morning by the water. The events occur during the period of Israelite oppression, traditionally dated to the late second millennium BC, in the era immediately preceding the exodus itself. Moses, now eighty, and Aaron, eighty-three, return to demand the release of a Hebrew slave population. Egypt's priestly magicians are present at court, representing the religious-political establishment that will be challenged. The Nile is both the lifeline of Egyptian civilization and the first target of divine confrontation. From this riverside stage, God announces that He will 'stretch out His hand' over Egypt so that the Egyptians themselves will come to know that He is the LORD. The narrative is therefore not merely political negotiation; it is a theophany unfolding through confrontation, miracle, and hardened resistance.

The Scene in Space and Time

The era of Exodus and the giving of the Law, a foundational period of covenant formation in the wilderness journey of Israel.

Meaning of the Passage

Exodus 7:1–20 reveals that faith is not first a feeling but a commission received and obeyed. God tells Moses, 'See, I place you in the role of God to Pharaoh.' Faith begins where God speaks and where His messenger consents to be sent. Aaron is appointed as Moses' prophet—the one who will carry the words; together they model the biblical pattern that obedience is shared and that weakness is supported by calling. The rod-turned-serpent miracle is a visible sign that the God of Israel outranks the gods of Egypt: when Aaron's rod swallows the magicians' rods, the superiority is unmistakable. Yet Pharaoh's heart stiffens. The passage therefore teaches that faith is not validated by immediate results. Pharaoh does not yield; the court does not repent; the Israelites are not yet freed. Faith persists precisely because the God who commissions also promises the outcome: 'The Egyptians shall know that I am the LORD.' Trust, then, is anchored in the character of God, not in the responsiveness of the audience. The eighty-year-old messenger and the eighty-three-year-old speaker embody a further lesson: faith is not the possession of the young, the strong, or the eloquent. It is the posture of those who have heard and who will speak, regardless of age or opposition.

Application for Today

First, identify what God has spoken. The same God who told Moses, 'I place you in the role of God to Pharaoh,' speaks through His word today. Faith begins with receiving a clear word from the Lord and consenting to be its bearer. Many believers stall because they wait for feelings rather than acting on what they have already heard. Second, accept that obedience is rarely solo. Moses had Aaron; Aaron had Moses. In the body of Christ, faith is exercised in community—prophets, encouragers, intercessors, friends who will stand at the river's edge with you. Third, expect opposition and the possibility of hardened hearts, including your own. Pharaoh's stubbornness is recorded 'as the LORD had said.' Faith does not guarantee that listeners will yield; it guarantees that God will accomplish His purpose in His way. Fourth, learn to wield the 'rod' God has given you—prayer, Scripture, gospel words, ordinary acts of faithfulness. The serpent that swallows other serpents is not extraordinary in itself; it is extraordinary because God chose it. Fifth, remember that delay is not denial. The Israelites are not yet free at the close of Exodus 7. The chapter ends with the rod poised above the Nile. Faith trusts that what God has said, He will do, even when the waters have not yet parted.

Reflection

There is a particular courage in the eighty-year-old step forward. The world tends to associate faith with the vigor of youth, with the first flush of spiritual discovery. But here the Bible paints a different portrait: an old man, slow of speech perhaps, carrying a shepherd's rod, walking toward the most powerful throne on earth. Faith is not the absence of weakness; it is the presence of obedience. What would it look like for you today to step toward your own 'Pharaoh'—the entrenched obstacle, the hardened circumstance, the closed door—with only the rod God has given you? Perhaps the rod is a quiet prayer you have been postponing, a difficult word you have been withholding, a habit of trust you have been postponing until you feel ready. The passage gently insists: you will not feel ready. Moses was eighty. Aaron was eighty-three. The Egyptians will not immediately know. But the God who hardens and the God who softens is the same God who says, 'By this you shall know that I am the LORD.' Our part is not to soften the heart in front of us; our part is to stand at the water's edge, rod in hand, and speak. He is faithful who promised. He will do it.

FAQ

If God hardened Pharaoh's heart, did Pharaoh truly have a choice?

Exodus records both that Pharaoh 'hardened his heart' and that God 'hardened Pharaoh's heart.' Scripture presents divine sovereignty and human responsibility together without canceling either. Pharaoh's choices were real; God's rule over history is also real. Faith does not require us to untie the mystery but to trust the God who reigns wisely over it.

Why did God wait until Moses was eighty to send him to Pharaoh?

God's delay was deliberate so that salvation would be seen as His power, not human ability. When Moses confessed, 'I have never been eloquent,' the stage was set for divine strength to be displayed. Faith often becomes purest at the intersection of human weakness and divine timing.

What does the rod-turned-serpent sign mean for believers today?

The sign declares God's authority over all of Egypt's magic and proclaims that the LORD alone is God. For believers today, it reminds us that the ordinary tools God gives—prayer, His Word, a holy life—seem small but in His hand can swallow every opposition. Faith rests not on the tool but on the God who wields it.

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