For a man (Pharaoh) who fancied himself a god, talking with humans is most likely beneath him. They’re regular, everyday people who are going about their regular, everyday lives. Not someone like him, he believes, who acts as a conduit for the power of the gods.
In order to talk to him on his level, Moses needed to become a god. But not in the sense of authority — only Jehovah can have that — but in power. Pharaoh needed to see the reality of God’s abilities in a way that forced him to understand.
That’s what Exodus 7:1 means when It says that Jehovah will make Moses “as God to Pharaoh.” In no way is Moses ever actually replacing God, but in the eyes of Pharaoh, Moses will look like the embodiment of the divine. The miracles will be God’s and the words will be God’s, but they’ll come through Moses.
This isn’t the first time God says this. In Exodus 4:16, after Moses pleads his own inability and begs God to send the message by anyone else, God points his eyes towards his brother, Aaron. In that moment, God tells Moses that he will be “as God to him.”
It’s the exact same idea. Moses doesn’t suddenly become divine, but in terms of the message, Moses is the one who carries the weight. Aaron is the spokesman, but the authority comes from God through Moses.
I’ll admit, this is a difficult concept for brains like mine to fathom. The idea of being like God but not being God is hard to understand, much less put into words (or maybe that’s just me).
It’s all about representation, though. God the Father won’t come down to speak with Pharaoh directly, but Moses can. As such, He will enable to Moses to stand as His representative, acting on behalf of God with power and words.
This is God’s answer to Moses’ only real argument. Moses is absolutely incapable of standing up to Pharaoh based on his own authority, but if God acts through him, it becomes about Jehovah instead.
That should be our attitude when we talk to people about God. It’s easy to think that we’re incapable of bringing a message of salvation to the world, and in a way, we are. The “doctrine of Brady” carries no weight. It delivers on nothing, and has no power or authority.
But if I come bringing the Gospel of Christ, nothing can withstand me. I become a simple emissary to others on behalf of an Almighty God who has the real power. That should give me all the confidence I need.
