God had a purpose in making this request.
• God was deeply concerned about His people’s suffering
• God heard their cries of sorrow
• God wanted to deliver them from their enslavement
To start with, Moses was a VERY RELUCTANT PROPHET! From Exodus 3:11-22 to Exodus 4:1-17, there is a continuation of Moses making up excuses for why He could not do what God had asked him to do.
I. THE RELUCTANT PROPHET
Exodus 4:1-17, deals with this continuation of excuses by Moses. “And Moses answered and said, But, behold, they will not believe me, nor hearken unto my voice: for they will say, The LORD hath not appeared unto thee. And the LORD said unto him, What is that in thine hand? And he said, A rod. And he said, Cast it on the ground. And he cast it on the ground, and it became a serpent; and Moses fled from before it. And the LORD said unto Moses, Put forth thine hand, and take it by the tail. And he put forth his hand, and caught it, and it became a rod in his hand: That they may believe that the LORD God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath appeared unto thee. And the LORD said furthermore unto him, Put now thine hand into thy bosom. And he put his hand into his bosom: and when he took it out, behold, his hand was leprous as snow. And he said, Put thine hand into thy bosom again. And he put his hand into his bosom again; and plucked it out of his bosom, and, behold, it was turned again as his other flesh. And it shall come to pass, if they will not believe thee, neither hearken to the voice of the first sign, that they will believe the voice of the latter sign. And it shall come to pass, if they will not believe also these two signs, neither hearken unto thy voice, that thou shalt take of the water of the river, and pour it upon the dry land: and the water which thou takest out of the river shall become blood upon the dry land. And Moses said unto the LORD, O my Lord, I am not eloquent, neither heretofore, nor since thou hast spoken unto thy servant: but I am slow of speech, and of a slow tongue. And the LORD said unto him, Who hath made man's mouth? or who maketh the dumb, or deaf, or the seeing, or the blind? have not I the LORD? Now therefore go, and I will be with thy mouth, and teach thee what thou shalt say. And he said, O my Lord, send, I pray thee, by the hand of him whom thou wilt send. And the anger of the LORD was kindled against Moses, and he said, Is not Aaron the Levite thy brother? I know that he can speak well. And also, behold, he cometh forth to meet thee: and when he seeth thee, he will be glad in his heart. And thou shalt speak unto him, and put words in his mouth: and I will be with thy mouth, and with his mouth, and will teach you what ye shall do. And he shall be thy spokesman unto the people: and he shall be, even he shall be to thee instead of a mouth, and thou shalt be to him instead of God. And thou shalt take this rod in thine hand, wherewith thou shalt do signs.”
As we look at the life of Moses in this passage of scripture, we see Moses standing before the burning bush making up all kinds of excuses.
As he stands alone before the burning bush, and God speaks to him, he gives God his first excuse. “If I tell Israel that you have appeared to me in this fashion…THEY WON’T BELIEVE ME!”
The reason God wants him to go to Egypt and lead the children of Israel out of bondage, is because He is greatly concerned about them. Exodus 3:9-10 “Now therefore, behold, the cry of the children of Israel is come unto me: and I have also seen the oppression wherewith the Egyptians oppress them. Come now therefore, and I will send thee unto Pharaoh, that thou mayest bring forth my people the children of Israel out of Egypt."
When the Lord told Moses this, In Exodus 3, the excuses started flowing. When we turn to Exodus 4, the excuses continue to flow.
Look at Exodus 4:1, "And Moses answered and said, But, behold, they will NOT BELIEVE ME, NOR HEARKEN UNTO MY VOICE: for they will say, The LORD hath not appeared unto thee."
Moses is saying to God that what is happening here, on Mt. Sinai, is too much for a mortal to be convinced is true. Listen, perhaps you have heard someone that claimed to have a supernatural encounter and you might have thought, “WONDER WHAT THEY ARE SMOKING?”
Moses is telling God that no one is going to believe about this burning bush that is not consumed by fire and God’s voice coming out of the bush when he tells them. They will say, “The LORD hath not appeared unto thee."
Just think about it, if someone came to you with such a story…WOULD YOU BELIEVE THEM? To be honest with you, I do not think I would!
Moses’ first concern was that they wouldn’t believe his account of what happened. But as persistent as Moses was in his reluctance not to go, God was as persistent in convincing him to go.
HOW DID GOD CONVINCE MOSES TO OBEY HIS REQUEST?
God used THREE SUPER NATURAL signs.
(1) GOD ASKS MOSES WHAT WAS IN HIS HAND
Remember, he was in the field as a Shepherd when this happened. He was herding sheep for his father-in-law Jethro when he was confronted with the burning bush. Moses had a wooden staff used in herding the sheep in his hand.
WHAT DID HE USE THIS WOODEN STAFF FOR AS A SHEPHERD? Moses literally leaned upon his staff for support and survival. God told him to get rid of it and throw it down.
Moses obeyed God and threw it down and it turned into a snake.
Now it must have been a good sized snake and a very poisonous snake, because when his wooden staff turned into a snake, the Bible tells us he FLED BEFORE IT. Exodus 4:2-3 “And the LORD said unto him, What is that in thine hand? And he said, A rod. And he said, Cast it on the ground. And he cast it on the ground, and it became a serpent; and Moses fled from before it.”
Now one thing that shepherds were familiar with was snakes. After throwing his wooden staff down, he no longer has his staff to lean on and protect himself from snakes. But things get worse! The LORD told Moses to pick up the snake – by the tail. Exodus 4:4, “And the LORD said unto Moses, Put forth thine hand, and take it by the tail. And he put forth his hand, and caught it, and it became a rod in his hand:”
Any shepherd knows that you do not pick up a snake by his tail. (You do not usually pick up a snake, but you certainly do not pick one up by the tail). If you are going to pick one up, you take your wooden staff and pin his head to the ground and then pick the snake up by the head, so that it cannot twist and curl and bite.
When Moses picked the snake up by the tail, the snake turned back into his wooden staff.
Now by this time, you would think that Moses believed that God can do anything…right? God had:
• Caused a bush to burn and not be consumed
• Spoken to him out of a burning bush
• Changed a wooden staff into a snake
• Changed the snake it into a wooden staff again
God repeats His command that He wanted him to go and deliver His people out the bondage of Pharaoh. But look what happens.
Listen, if you do not want to do something, you can always come up with an excuse as to why you can’t do it. (Ask any preacher about these kinds of excuses, they know a great deal about them.)
Illus: A boy did not like going to school, and when he arrived at school he had a note in his hand saying, “Please excuse ___________ his grandmother passed away.” He did this on many occasions and finally the teacher said:
• “You have had six grandmothers die this year”
• “You have had two grandfathers die”
• “You have had two uncles die”
• “You have had a number of cousins die”
“What do you have to say about all this?” The boy said, “Yes, it has been a very bad year for our family.”
When a person does not want to do something, they can come up with all kinds of excuses. Moses did not want to be the man that would lead God’s people out of Egypt. HE DID NOT BELIEVE HE WAS THE MAN FOR THE JOB! Listen, if Moses could not do it God would not have asked him to do it.
Illus: Can you imagine a parent asking a two year old boy to move a refrigerator across a room? A parent that would make such a request from a two year old child would be foolish.
When God tells us to do something and we tell him we cannot do it, we are accusing God of being foolish to be asking us to do such a thing. Everything this Bible tells us to do, WE CAN DO! If we could not, GOD WOULD NOT TELL US TO DO IT!
After all these miracles that Moses saw:
• The burning bush
• God’s voice out of the burning bush
• The Staff turning into a snake
• The Snake turning into a staff
Moses was STILL THE RELUCTANT PROPHET!
• He said, "Who am I to do such a thing?"
• God answers, "It is not who you are, but who I am. Tell them I AM SENT YOU.”
Look at verse 5. Moses said they are not going to believe that God appeared to him. Evidently, God wanted Moses to tell them how He appeared unto him. Why? Look at verse 5, “That they MAY BELIEVE that the LORD God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath appeared unto thee.”
God told Moses to tell them about:
• The burning bush
• The voice out of the bush
• The staff turning into a snake and the snake turning into a staff
Why did God want Moses to tell them about these things? The Bible says, “THAT THEY MAY BELIEVE IN THE GOD OF THEIR FATHERS.” They had been in bondage for four hundred years, and they needed to know that the God of their fathers is still a miracle working God.
The things God had done so far were small miracles. God’s miraculous delivering of them was a big miracle. THEY NEEDED THEIR FAITH STRENGTHEN SO MOSES NEEDED TO TELL THEM GOD APPEARED TO HIM.
(2) HE TOLD MOSES TO PUT HIS HAND INSIDE HIS CLOTHING NEXT TO HIS CHEST
Look at Exodus 4:6-7, “And the LORD said furthermore unto him, Put now thine hand into thy bosom. And he put his hand into his bosom: and when he took it out, behold, his hand was leprous as snow. And he said, Put thine hand into thy bosom again. And he put his hand into his bosom again; and plucked it out of his bosom, and, behold, it was turned again as his other flesh.”
Notice, in dealing with Moses:
• God dealt with Moses hand, when he asked what was in his hand
• Now God told Moses to put his hand into his bosom
God showing Moses that HE WANTS HIS HANDS, AND HE ALSO WANTS HIS HEART.
Moses put his hand in his bosom, and he now has a leprous skin disease. Yahweh then told Moses to put his hand back next to his chest, next to his heart. Again, Moses obeyed. When he pulled it back out of his garment, he discovered that his flesh had been restored.
Illus: Missouri is known as the SHOW ME STATE. People will tell you that they are from Missouri, and to convince them, you have to SHOW THEM!
Moses must have been from Missouri. Moses was so stubborn, that after God showed him all these signs, he still was not convinced to go to Egypt. You would think seeing all these supernatural things, would convince him that his God can do the impossible.
(3) WATER TURNED TO BLOOD
Exodus 4:8-10, “And it shall come to pass, if they will not believe thee (Israel), neither hearken to the voice of the first sign, that they will believe the voice of the latter sign.” If they do not believe all these signs I have done and I want you to tell them about, I will let them SEE FOR THEMSELVES THAT I HAVE APPEARED UNTO YOU. “And it shall come to pass, if they will not believe also these two signs, neither hearken unto thy voice, that thou shalt take of the water of the river, and pour it upon the dry land: and the water which thou takest out of the river shall become blood upon the dry land.”
He is to take some of the water from the Nile River and pour it on the ground. IT WILL TURN TO BLOOD. The purpose of these three signs is to create faith in the Israelites that Yahweh has appeared to Moses, and that the message of deliverance is true.
But still this RELUCTANT PROPHET was hiding behind excuses. But notice that GOD WAS GETTING ANGRY WITH HIM. The ever-reluctant Moses, having not only seen the signs but actually performed them, now offers his last excuse: "I am not a good speaker."
Look at Exodus 4:10-17, “And Moses said unto the LORD, O my Lord, I am not eloquent, neither heretofore, nor since thou hast spoken unto thy servant: but I am slow of speech, and of a slow tongue. And the LORD said unto him, Who hath made man’s mouth? or who maketh the dumb, or deaf, or the seeing, or the blind? have not I the LORD? Now therefore go, and I will be with thy mouth, and teach thee what thou shalt say. And he said, O my Lord, send, I pray thee, by the hand of him whom thou wilt send. AND THE ANGER OF THE LORD WAS KINDLED AGAINST MOSES, and he said, Is not Aaron the Levite thy brother? I know that he can speak well. And also, behold, he cometh forth to meet thee: and when he seeth thee, he will be glad in his heart. And thou shalt speak unto him, and put words in his mouth: and I will be with thy mouth, and with his mouth, and will teach you what ye shall do. And he shall be thy spokesman unto the people: and he shall be, even he shall be to thee instead of a mouth, and thou shalt be to him instead of God. And thou shalt take this rod in thine hand, wherewith thou shalt do signs.”
This last excuse was, “I have a speech problem, I cannot be the man for this job.” Verses 11-12, “And the LORD said unto him, Who hath made man’s mouth? or who maketh the dumb, or deaf, or the seeing, or the blind? have not I the LORD? Now therefore go, and I will be with thy mouth, and teach thee what thou shalt say.”
God’s perfect will for Moses was to let God use Him. But God could not do His perfect will in his life, but had to do HIS PERMISSIVE WILL. Aaron was a smooth talker, and God said, “Ok, Moses I will let Aaron be your mouthpiece.”
Moses’ stubbornness in not doing it God’s way, and bringing in Aaron, caused some problems later in the life of Moses. Remember, when Moses was in Mt. Sinai receiving the Ten Commandments, the devil used Aaron to make the golden calf for the people to worship.
Any time we do not do things God’s way, there is a price to be paid somewhere down the road.
Notice, as God tell him to go, He tells him, “And thou shalt take this rod in thine hand, wherewith thou shalt do signs.”
Conclusion:
God was telling Moses that He wanted . . .
• His Staff
• His Hands
• His Heart
• His Mouth
When Moses was willing to obey the Lord, God gave Him assurance that those who wished to kill him were dead and it would be safe for him to return to Egypt.
After this experience that Moses had Mt. Sinai, God gives him further instructions. Exodus 4:18-31, “And Moses went and returned to Jethro his father in law, and said unto him, Let me go, I pray thee, and return unto my brethren which are in Egypt, and see whether they be yet alive. And Jethro said to Moses, Go in peace. And the LORD said unto Moses in Midian, Go, return into Egypt: for all the men are dead which sought thy life. And Moses took his wife and his sons, and set them upon an ass, and he returned to the land of Egypt: and Moses took the rod of God in his hand. And the LORD said unto Moses, When thou goest to return into Egypt, see that thou do all those wonders before Pharaoh, which I have put in thine hand: but I will harden his heart, that he shall not let the people go. And thou shalt say unto Pharaoh, Thus saith the LORD, Israel is my son, even my firstborn: And I say unto thee, Let my son go, that he may serve me: and if thou refuse to let him go, behold, I will slay thy son, even thy firstborn. And it came to pass by the way in the inn, that the LORD met him, and sought to kill him. Then Zipporah took a sharp stone, and cut off the foreskin of her son, and cast it at his feet, and said, Surely a bloody husband art thou to me. So he let him go: then she said, A bloody husband thou art, because of the circumcision. And the LORD said to Aaron, Go into the wilderness to meet Moses. And he went, and met him in the mount of God, and kissed him. And Moses told Aaron all the words of the LORD who had sent him, and all the signs which he had commanded him. And Moses and Aaron went and gathered together all the elders of the children of Israel: And Aaron spake all the words which the LORD had spoken unto Moses, and did the signs in the sight of the people. And the people believed: and when they heard that the LORD had visited the children of Israel, and that he had looked upon their affliction, then they bowed their heads and worshipped.”
Before we close I would like you to look at verse 26. Barnes commentary explains this verse in this way: “Moses was attacked by a sudden and dangerous illness, which he knew was inflicted by God. The word "sought to kill" implies that the sickness, whatever might be its nature, was one which threatened death had it not been averted by a timely act. Zipporah believed that the illness of Moses was due to his having neglected the duty of an Israelite, and to his not having circumcised his own son; the delay was probably owing to her own not unnatural repugnance to a rite, which though practiced by the Egyptians, was not adopted generally in the East, even by the descendants of Abraham and Keturah. Moses appears to have been utterly prostrate and unable to perform the rite himself. She took it upon herself to carry out this rite.”
We see . . .
I. THE RELUCTANT PROPHET
