Exodus 4:1-17
1 Then Moses answered, “But behold, they will not believe me or listen to my voice, for they will say, ‘The Lord did not appear to you.’” 2 The Lord said to him, “What is that in your hand?” He said, “A staff.” 3 And he said, “Throw it on the ground.” So he threw it on the ground, and it became a serpent, and Moses ran from it. 4 But the Lord said to Moses, “Put out your hand and catch it by the tail”—so he put out his hand and caught it, and it became a staff in his hand— 5 “that they may believe that the Lord, the God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has appeared to you.” 6 Again, the Lord said to him, “Put your hand inside your cloak.” And he put his hand inside his cloak, and when he took it out, behold, his hand was leprous like snow. 7 Then God said, “Put your hand back inside your cloak.” So he put his hand back inside his cloak, and when he took it out, behold, it was restored like the rest of his flesh. 8 “If they will not believe you,” God said, “or listen to the first sign, they may believe the latter sign. 9 If they will not believe even these two signs or listen to your voice, you shall take some water from the Nile and pour it on the dry ground, and the water that you shall take from the Nile will become blood on the dry ground.” 10 But Moses said to the Lord, “Oh, my Lord, I am not eloquent, either in the past or since you have spoken to your servant, but I am slow of speech and of tongue.” 11 Then the Lord said to him, “Who has made man’s mouth? Who makes him mute, or deaf, or seeing, or blind? Is it not I, the Lord? 12 Now therefore go, and I will be with your mouth and teach you what you shall speak.” 13 But he said, “Oh, my Lord, please send someone else.” 14 Then the anger of the Lord was kindled against Moses and he said, “Is there not Aaron, your brother, the Levite? I know that he can speak well. Behold, he is coming out to meet you, and when he sees you, he will be glad in his heart. 15 You shall speak to him and put the words in his mouth, and I will be with your mouth and with his mouth and will teach you both what to do. 16 He shall speak for you to the people, and he shall be your mouth, and you shall be as God to him. 17 And take in your hand this staff, with which you shall do the signs.”
Excuses are terribly easy to make, especially when they are employed to avoid something very unpleasant. It is difficult to imagine many things more unpleasant than the prospect Moses faced of having to walk back into Egypt, face the Pharaoh whose house he had abandoned and whose laws he had broken in killing an Egyptian, and face his own people who neither saw him as a leader nor felt compelled to. Even so, that is precisely what the Lord God called Moses to do. Moses responds to God’s call on his life by offering excuses and objections. Let us consider these this evening.
Objection #1: The Israelites May Not Believe Moses (v.1-9)
The first objection was true enough as far as it went.
1 Then Moses answered, “But behold, they will not believe me or listen to my voice, for they will say, ‘The Lord did not appear to you.’”
If you listen to this objection closely, it really has more than one component. Starting with the last component first, Moses fears the incredulity and skepticism of the Israelites: “…they will say, ‘The Lord did not appear to you.’” It is a reasonable fear. God speaking to Moses through a burning bush is indeed one of the stranger occurrences of the Bible, and I suspect that any of us might be a little hesitant at having to recount the story to people not predisposed to trust us anyway.
Throughout my years as a pastor I have had numerous church members pull me aside in private and tell me of God speaking to them in odd and unusual ways. Almost without fail they begin their testimonies with something like this: “Now, I know this sounds crazy, and you may think I’m crazy after I tell you this, but the other day…” I once had a lady tell me how the Lord spoke to her in a dream. After telling me the dream, she said, “Pastor, I’m not crazy. I promise.”
For myself, I am always quick to assure those who have had these experiences that I have literally no reason not to believe them as long as the content of the dream or vision does not violate the clear teachings of Scripture. To be sure, we should be careful with these kinds of things, but let us be clear on this fact: God has appeared to His people throughout time in ways diverse and fascinating. He spoke to Moses through a burning bush. I have no reason to think He does not occasionally speak to His people today in strange ways as well.
Moses feared the skepticism of the Israelites. However, I rather suspect that the first part of his objection is the real crux of the matter: “But behold, they will not believe me or listen to my voice.” He is speaking here from experience. Perhaps you remember Moses’ first foray into leadership over the Hebrews. It is recorded in Exodus 2:
13 When he went out the next day, behold, two Hebrews were struggling together. And he said to the man in the wrong, “Why do you strike your companion?” 14 He answered, “Who made you a prince and a judge over us? Do you mean to kill me as you killed the Egyptian?”
That’s not exactly the most ringing endorsement. Moses feared the rejection of those he was supposed to lead. In his mind, he had every reason to think that this was going to go poorly. However, God introduces another reason into the mix, and this was a reason to believe it would go just as God said it would. Let us observe the Lord’s response to Moses.
2 The Lord said to him, “What is that in your hand?” He said, “A staff.” 3 And he said, “Throw it on the ground.” So he threw it on the ground, and it became a serpent, and Moses ran from it. 4 But the Lord said to Moses, “Put out your hand and catch it by the tail”—so he put out his hand and caught it, and it became a staff in his hand— 5 “that they may believe that the Lord, the God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has appeared to you.” 6 Again, the Lord said to him, “Put your hand inside your cloak.” And he put his hand inside his cloak, and when he took it out, behold, his hand was leprous like snow. 7 Then God said, “Put your hand back inside your cloak.” So he put his hand back inside his cloak, and when he took it out, behold, it was restored like the rest of his flesh. 8 “If they will not believe you,” God said, “or listen to the first sign, they may believe the latter sign. 9 If they will not believe even these two signs or listen to your voice, you shall take some water from the Nile and pour it on the dry ground, and the water that you shall take from the Nile will become blood on the dry ground.”
What is happening here? The Lord is doing a couple of things in this response, and both are important. The most obvious thing the Lord is doing is demonstrating His power to Moses so that Moses would believe and know that the God who called Him was the God who is able to accomplish the task to which He called him. This is no weak God. As we saw last week, God was not risking. God did not have His fingers crossed, hoping this would all work out. God knew what He was doing. What is more, God was able to do what He called Moses to do. Thus, God turned Moses’ staff into a snake and back into a staff again and God turned Moses’ hand leprous and back to normal again to demonstrate to Moses that He is a powerful God.
But there’s something else here, something that perhaps we might miss if we don’t think carefully. Notice that the two demonstrations of power (the staff and the hand) and the one promised demonstration of power (turning the Nile water into blood) all would have frightened Moses as well. It is not just that God wants Moses to see His power. It is also that God needs Moses himself to fear His power.
Why is this so? It is so because the first decision a minister of God has to make is a decision concerning who he is going to fear more: God or the congregation. Israel was Moses’ congregation. It is a daunting and humbling thing to try to lead God’s people. It is a daunting and humbling thing to dare to say, “Thus saith the Lord,” and no true minister will dare to say that unless he is actually speaking God’s revealed Word. Even then, there is a subtle but powerful temptation to edit the message so as not to offend or anger the audience.
Many minsters have the same relationship with their congregations as tiger trainers do with their tigers: they know they’re called to lead them, but they fear pushing too far lest the tiger have the trainer for lunch. It is a tragic mentality to fall into, especially as the Bible does not present the minister/congregation relationship in terms of trainer and tiger but rather in terms of shepherd and sheep. But the question remains: who will God’s ministers fear more? What will be the driving motivation of a leader’s ministry?
In truth, God needs leaders who fear Him above anybody else. God needs leaders who know the awesome power of a Holy God. Moses needed to reach the point where his fear of God was greater than his fear of either Pharaoh or the Israelites. It is the same point that Jesus needs us to reach, as He says in Matthew 10:
26 “So have no fear of them, for nothing is covered that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known. 27 What I tell you in the dark, say in the light, and what you hear whispered, proclaim on the housetops. 28 And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell. 29 Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. 30 But even the hairs of your head are all numbered. 31 Fear not, therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows. 32 So everyone who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven, 33 but whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven.
Let me ask you: who do you fear more, God or man?
Objection #2: Moses’ Lack of Eloquence (v.10-12)
Moses’ objections seem to deteriorate in value and quality as he voices them. Thus, his next objection was that he simply wasn’t a good speaker.
10 But Moses said to the Lord, “Oh, my Lord, I am not eloquent, either in the past or since you have spoken to your servant, but I am slow of speech and of tongue.”
One senses that Moses was grasping at straws at this point. The Lord’s reaction was telling and needed:
11 Then the Lord said to him, “Who has made man’s mouth? Who makes him mute, or deaf, or seeing, or blind? Is it not I, the Lord? 12 Now therefore go, and I will be with your mouth and teach you what you shall speak.”
In many ways, this exchange is reminiscent of the first. Moses objects that he is unsure of what might happen and the Lord reminds him that He, the Lord, has the power to accomplish the task. “Who has made man’s mouth?” is therefore a crucial question. “You did!” is the only honest answer. In asking this question of Moses, God is reminding Moses that it isn’t simply a matter of Moses’ mouth and Moses’ power and Moses’ strength. The Lord would speak through Moses.
It is interesting to see how often great men of God were aware of the limitations of their own mouths. In Jeremiah 1, we find an almost identical exchange:
4 Now the word of the Lord came to me, saying,
5 “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations.”
6 Then I said, “Ah, Lord God! Behold, I do not know how to speak, for I am only a youth.”
7 But the Lord said to me, “Do not say, ‘I am only a youth’; for to all to whom I send you, you shall go, and whatever I command you, you shall speak.
8 Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you to deliver you, declares the Lord.”
9 Then the Lord put out his hand and touched my mouth. And the Lord said to me,
“Behold, I have put my words in your mouth.
10 See, I have set you this day over nations and over kingdoms, to pluck up and to break down, to destroy and to overthrow, to build and to plant.”
11 And the word of the Lord came to me, saying, “Jeremiah, what do you see?” And I said, “I see an almond branch.” 12 Then the Lord said to me, “You have seen well, for I am watching over my word to perform it.”
The Lord tells Moses that He will be with his mouth. The Lord tells Jeremiah that He will put His words in his mouth. Most dramatically, as Isaiah 6 records, the Lord touched Isaiah lips to empower him to speak:
5 And I said: “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!” 6 Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a burning coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar. 7 And he touched my mouth and said: “Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for.” 8 And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” Then I said, “Here I am! Send me.”
God is in the business of touching the mouths of those He would have speak! Furthermore, it would seem that a recognition of our inability to speak the Word of God in our own strength is actually a prerequisite for usefulness! Paul reached the same point of recognition concerning his own inadequacy to speak. In the second chapter of 1 Corinthians, Paul said this:
1 And I, when I came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom. 2 For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. 3 And I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling, 4 and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, 5 so that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.
This is the great choice: either we will speak out of our own power or we will speak out of the power God grants us. If we will trust in our own power, we will freeze in fear and never speak. If we trust in God’s power, He will give us the words. It is important to realize that this truth is not only for prophets or preachers or teachers. In Matthew 10, Jesus says we all need to understand this:
16 “Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves. 17 Beware of men, for they will deliver you over to courts and flog you in their synagogues, 18 and you will be dragged before governors and kings for my sake, to bear witness before them and the Gentiles. 19 When they deliver you over, do not be anxious how you are to speak or what you are to say, for what you are to say will be given to you in that hour. 20 For it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.
Moses needed to learn this crucial lesson. So do you and I!
Objection #3: Moses’ Fear and Uncertainty (v.13-17)
Moses’ last objection is perhaps the most pitiful.
13 But he said, “Oh, my Lord, please send someone else.”
This is roughly equivalent to, “I just don’t want to do it, Lord!” I suspect, had there been a Tarshish to run to, Moses would have done just as Jonah did. It was not something he wanted to do. He felt utterly inadequate. He felt ill-equipped. He felt weak. He felt uncertain. He was afraid. And even though God had given Moses every theological and demonstrable evidence that He would be with him, Moses still hesitated at the threshold of his calling.
I do not say this in judgment of Moses. Who among us would not have had the same struggle? The spirit might have been willing, but Moses’ flesh was week. At this objection, God speaks in anger to Moses.
14 Then the anger of the Lord was kindled against Moses and he said, “Is there not Aaron, your brother, the Levite? I know that he can speak well. Behold, he is coming out to meet you, and when he sees you, he will be glad in his heart. 15 You shall speak to him and put the words in his mouth, and I will be with your mouth and with his mouth and will teach you both what to do. 16 He shall speak for you to the people, and he shall be your mouth, and you shall be as God to him. 17 And take in your hand this staff, with which you shall do the signs.”
There are two realities at work here. First, God, in His graciousness, decides to give Moses a helper. He decides to send along Aaron, Moses’ brother. The Lord has compassion on Moses.
Even so, note that God’s giving of a helper does not remove the calling that God placed on Moses’ life in particular. This is not a victory for Moses. He does not argue God out of His decision. Note the wording. Even though Moses will now have Aaron, Moses still must speak the words of God. In verse 15, we see that Moses must speak to Aaron “and put the words in his mouth.” While God will be with both of them, He says in verse 16 that Aaron “shall be your mouth, and you shall be as God to him.”
This is critical. It means that although God condescends to give Moses a helper, that helper does not remove the mantle that God has placed specifically on Moses’ shoulders. Moses still must go. Moses still must speak.
There is something here about the inviolable nature of a call. I believe that when God has called you to do something, that calling is yours. You will not know peace until you do it. It is simply a matter of accepting God’s will for you life. He may well turn to another to accomplish the task, but He does not say, “Just forget it, then!” in doing so. Either you will come to terms with what God is calling you to do, or you will not know His peace.
It would perhaps be helpful here to conclude with yet another example of One who had a calling on His life but struggled with the pain of it. His struggle was in a garden called Gethsemane. It is found in Matthew 26:
36 Then Jesus went with them to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to his disciples, “Sit here, while I go over there and pray.” 37 And taking with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, he began to be sorrowful and troubled. 38 Then he said to them, “My soul is very sorrowful, even to death; remain here, and watch with me.” 39 And going a little farther he fell on his face and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.” 40 And he came to the disciples and found them sleeping. And he said to Peter, “So, could you not watch with me one hour? 41 Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” 42 Again, for the second time, he went away and prayed, “My Father, if this cannot pass unless I drink it, your will be done.”
Two times Jesus acknowledges the pain of His task. Two times He subjugates what concerns He had to the will of God. “My Father, if this cannot pass unless I drink it, your will be done.”
It is a powerful picture. Jesus, the God-Man, knew the pain of a hard calling. His calling was harder than any we can imagine or any that we will be called upon to undertake. Yet Jesus desired only to do the will of the One who sent Him. “Your will be done.”
Moses had to reach that point where he could say those words: “Your will be done.”
Isaiah had to reach the point where he could say those words: “Your will be done.”
Jeremiah had to reach the point where he could say those words: “Your will be done.”
Jonah had to reach the point where he could say those words: “Your will be done.”
Paul had to reach the point where he could say those words: “Your will be done.”
The Lord Jesus Himself said those words: “Your will be done.”
All that remains is for you and me to say those words: “Your will be done.”
Will you say them?
Will you go?