After telling Mo'ses the great name by which he was to be known in the mission to the Is'ra-el-ites, God commanded him to call together the elders of Is'ra-el and tell them of the Divine Plan which had been arranged for their freedom. God also commanded Mo'ses to ask Pha'raoh to free the He'brews from their bondage. A word of warning, however, went with this final command. The LORD said, "I am sure that the king of E'gypt will not let you go; but I will stretch out My hand and smite E'gypt with all my wonders, and after that he will, let My people go."
In spite of all these wonderful promises from God, Mo'ses still felt himself unable to carry out the mission with success, so the LORD gave him two special signs of encouragement. First, He told him to throw his shepherd's staff upon the ground, and when he did so, it was suddenly turnt into a serpent. Then the LORD told him to pick it up by the tail, and as soon as he touched it, it became a shepherd's staff once again.
The second sign took place when Mo'ses was directed to put his hand into his bosom. When Mo'ses withdrew his hand, it was turnt white by the dread disease of leprosy. Once again he was ordered to place his hand in his bosom, but this time it was completely healed when he withdrew it.
Still worried about his ability to make a successful appeal to Pha'raoh on behalf of My people, Mo'ses complained that he was a very poor speaker. He declared that he had an impediment of speech which would make it impossible for him to address Pha'raoh with any hope of success.The LORD then rebuked him for his unbelief, and for the suggestion that someone else be sent in his place; Mo'ses was told that his brother Aa'ron would speak for him in all the interviews with Pha'raoh,
While these conversations were going on between the LORD and Mo'ses, the heart of Aa'ron was moved to go out toward the wilderness east of E'gypt. Here he was led by the LORD to meet Mo'ses, and to become an assistant in the great work to which his brother had been called. Mo'ses then accepted the call of God, returned to the house of his father-in-law and arranged to leave at once for E'gypt; taking his wife and son.
