The Signs of Jesus Reveal God’s Grace, Sufficiency, Provision and Overabundance;

the Signs of Moses Reveal God’s Judgment and Cursing of Those Who Will Not Believe

The book of John lists a specific series of miracles which Jesus does, and several of these seem to be parallel to the signs which God performed at the hand of Moses. The key is the verse John 1:17: For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. God, through the signs of Moses, condemned Egypt; God, through the signs of Jesus, brought everlasting life. Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law (Gal. 3:13a).

The Parallel Signs of Moses and Jesus

The Great Signs of Moses

The Great Signs of Jesus

The first great miracle of Moses was, he turned the Nile River into blood (Ex. 7:17–21). The Nile River was the lifeblood of Egypt and without it, there would have been no great nation Egypt. Moses, turning the Nile into blood represented the judgment of God.

In addition to this judgment, all of the waters of Egypt continued to be cursed by God, being filled with frogs, when then defiled the entire land as well. Ex. 8:1–14

Jesus, for the first of His signs, turned water into wine. Instead of cursing mankind (as Moses did), Jesus blesses man with this sign. The marriage at Cana represents our union with Christ, and the wine represents the blessings of God. In fact, it is the cursing of God through Moses which gives meaning to this first miracle of Jesus. Cursing and condemnation come at the hand of Moses, but grace and deliverance come by the hand of Jesus Christ. John 2:1–11.

One of the signs which God did against Egypt was turning the dust of the earth into gnats, which plagued Egypt (Ex. 8:16–17). At this point, the servants of pharaoh—the palace magicians—admitted, “This is the finger of God.” (Ex. 8:19). A similar plague was brought on with flies polluting the land. The magicians are no longer called in the duplicate the signs of Moses (Ex. 8:21–31). Moses prayed to God, when Pharaoh relented, and the flies were all removed.

In the second great sign that Jesus performed, there was an official of Capernaum whose son was ill. Without going to his home, Jesus healed this man’s son. The man’s servants testified as to the hour that his son was healed, and, as a result, they all believed in Jesus. John 4:47–54

Moses then brought 2 plagues upon Egypt, first striking the livestock with a plague, and then he threw soot from a kiln up in the air, and it came down and became boils on the skin of the Egyptians and their remaining animals. Under judgment, they were struck with a physical ailment. In fact, Pharaoh’s magicians were no longer able to stand before Moses. Ex. 9:1–11

There was a man who was by the Bethesda pool in Jerusalem, who had been lame for 38 years, and Jesus told him to take up his small bed and walk. Whereas, God, through Moses, struck Egypt with an physical infirmity, to the point where some could not stand; Jesus healed a man of his infirmity, making him able to walk for the first time in 38 years. John 5:1–15

Then we have a pair of related signs. In the signs of Moses, Egypt, under judgment, has its food supply destroyed. Through Jesus, a meager amount of food was transformed into enough to feed 5000.

In the book of Exodus, God brings a great hail storm over Egypt, with rain, lightning and hail, striking down the plants and the animals and people who were out in the field at the time of the storm. Ex. 9:17–26

Later, Moses stretched out his staff over the land of Egypt, and God brought a dense swarm of locusts, as has never been seen before. They ate all fruits of the trees and the plants of the land, leaving a cursed Egypt with nothing to eat. When the pharaoh asked to be forgiven, God brought a great wind, which blew all of the locusts into the Sea of Reeds. Ex. 10:1–15

There were 5000 who had come to Jesus during the Passover feast, and Jesus took the 5 barley loaves and 2 fish of a young boy, and fed the crowd with this, and had food leftover (John 6:1–13). This sign represents the overabundance of the provisions of God.

We have another great wind blowing when the ship the disciples were in was in the Sea of Galilee, on its way to Capernaum. At this time, Jesus walked on the water to the disciples. Just as quickly as God blew the locusts into the sea, Jesus and His disciples were at the shores of Capernaum. John 6:16–21

God cursed the land of Egypt with darkness, a darkness so thick that it could be felt (Ex. 10:21–23). This represents the spiritual darkness that we are in prior to salvation.

Jesus healed the man who was born blind from birth (John 9:1–41). In this narrative, the Pharisees question this man and his parents in great detail, saying to him, “You are His [Jesus’] disciple, but we are disciples of Moses.” (John 9:28b). In this, they affirm that they are blind and cursed by the Law, and this man, once blind, can now see, and is saved by Jesus (John 9:37–41).

For the final cursing of God, all of the firstborn of Egypt were killed. The only homes where God did not curse them, was where the blood of the lamb was found on the sides and top of the doorway (which represents our Lord dying on the cross for our sins—this blood making a cross and duplicating the wounds on his hands, head and feet). Ex. 11:1–12:30.

In contrast to the cursing of the Law, our Lord gives life. In His 7^th great sign, Jesus raises Lazarus from the dead. John 11:40–44.

Also, after the signs of Moses, there was almost always an expression of unbelief on the part of the Pharaoh (Ex. 7:22–23 8:15, 32 9:12 10:20, 27); and after the miracles of Jesus, there was almost always an expression of faith in Him (John 2:11 4:53 5:15 6:14, 68 9:38 11:45).