41 Then Moses said , "What if they will not believe me or listen to what I say ? For they may say , ' The Lord has not appeared to you.' " 2 The Lord said to him, "What is that in your hand ?" And he said , " A staff ." 3 Then He said , "Throw it on the ground ." So he threw it on the ground , and it became a serpent ; and Moses fled from it. 4 But the Lord said to Moses , "Stretch out your hand and grasp it by its tail "-so he stretched out his hand and caught it, and it became a staff in his hand -
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Exodus 4:1-4
Commentary on Exodus 4:1-9
(Read Exodus 4:1-9)
Moses objects, that the people would not take his word, unless he showed them some sign. God gives him power to work miracles. But those who are now employed to deliver God's messages to men, need not the power to work miracles: their character and their doctrines are to be tried by that word of God to which they appeal. These miracles especially referred to the miracles of the Lord Jesus Christ. It belonged to Him only, to cast the power of the devil out of the soul, and to heal the soul of the leprosy of sin; and so it was for Him first to cast the devil out of the body, and to heal the leprosy of the body.