The Story of Moses: Excuses
Exodus 3-4 (Part 1)
Pastor Jefferson M. Williams
Chenoa Baptist Church
03-23–2025
Hernia
In the summer of my sophomore year in college, I applied to work at a camp for handicapped kids in Virginia. It was an amazing camp and I was excited to spend my summer making a difference in these kid’s lives.
I was excited until about three week’s before I was supposed to leave. Then my excitement turned into terror. I had never really been away from home. I had never worked with handicapped kids. I wouldn’t be paid much and I had a car payment.
Five days before the camp began, I called the person that hired me and told her I couldn’t come. My excuse? I’m embarrassed that I lied and said I had a hernia. I’m not sure I knew exactly what a hernia was but fear had gotten the best of me. She was disappointed but understood.
I have always wondered how my life would be different if I had not let my fear win the day that summer.
Review
Last week, we found Moses in the backside of the desert after spending 40 years, (14,000 days), doing the same thing. Leading, protecting, and taking care of sheep. The flock wasn’t even his. He was a nobody in the middle of nowhere.
But God had a plan to get his attention - a bush that was aflame with the presence of God. Moses turned aside to see what was going on and God defined the terms of this interaction.
In the Middle East, it is still customary to remove your shoes when you enter a house. It’s a sign of respect, humility, and reverence.
In synagogues and mosques today it is required that you remove your shoes when entering.
God then gives Moses the reason for the warning. He is standing on “holy ground.” This is the first time the word “holy” is used in the Bible.”
If Moses had looked around, all he would have seen was a barren landscape. It didn’t look very holy to him.
But it wasn’t the place that made it holy but the presence in the place. God was there!
And He had a message for Moses. He had heard the cry of the Israelites and seen their misery. He had not been on vacation and He wasn’t uncaring.
He had been preparing a deliverer in the desert for the last forty years and the time had come for their deliverance.
Remember, from last week - God is the God of second chances!
“So now, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt.”
Forty years earlier, Moses had tried to kickstart this whole deliverance thing on his own and he failed. Now he is older, wiser, and more humble. God thought he was ready. But Moses had excuses why he wasn’t the right one for the job.
Remember how D.L Moody described Moses’s life:
“Moses spent 40 years thinking he was somebody; 40 years learning he was nobody, and 40 years discovering what God can do with a nobody”.
Turn with me to Exodus 3, verse 11.
Prayer.
Excuse Number #1: Who I am?
In 1992, a man running for lieutenant governor of Washington State legally changed his name to “Absolutely Nobody.” He wanted to introduce himself, “Hi! I’m absolutely nobody. Vote for me.”
This guy and Moses could have been friends.
“But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?” (Ex 3:11)
Wait a minute! What does Moses mean, “who am I?” He is the absolute perfect person for this mission. Raised in Egypt, fluent in the language and culture, forty years of experience of leading and protecting a group of sheep under his care.
It’s never a good thing when God calls us and our first word in response is “but…”.
Forty years ago, Moses was arrogant and impetuous. Forty years in the desert had humbled him. But this wasn’t humility. He was questioning his adequacy.
Forty years earlier, he was confident and impulsive. He knew he was the deliverer. He didn’t hesitate to kill the Egyptian taskmaster. But that all blew up in his face. That was a long time ago.
How does God respond?
“And God said, “I will be with you. And this will be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you will worship God on this mountain.” (Exodus 3:12)
God promises His presence. He will be with him as he accomplishes this mission. He will not go alone.
More than that, He also promises a sign to support the promise. After Moses leads them out of Egypt, they will end up right back here at Mr Horeb, better known as Mt. Sinai. This is where they will worship God and where Moses will receive the Ten Commandments from the very hand of God.
Moses was focused on himself. God said, “You are correct. You finally understand. “Who am I?” is not the right question. Moses, you need to remember whose you are!
We need the same reminder today!
The writer of Hebrews reminds us that God promises to “never leave us or forsake us.” (Heb 13:5)
Paul writes that we “can do all things through Him who gives us strength.” (Phil 4:13)
He also proclaimed to the Corinthian church:
“But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them—yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me.” (I Cor 15:10)
When he asked God to take away his thorn in the flesh, God said no but reminded him that “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” (2 Cor 12:9)
It is not about who we are. It is about Who goes with us, Who empowers us, Who strengthens us, and Who supports us.
No worries, Moses. I will be with you. That’s all you need.
Some of you know this feeling. God has called you to something and your response has been “God, I’m really a nobody. I can’t do this.”
You need to hear God say, “You are right, you can’t do this. But with me, you can!”
Boxing legend George Forman died this week at 76 years old. But it wasn’t the first time he had died.
[George Forman talks about dying and Christ coming alive in him]
Moses reluctantly agrees to entertain the idea of going back to Egypt but now reveals another excuse.
Excuse #2: I Don’t Know Your Name
Moses said to God, “Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ Then what shall I tell them?”
Moses remembers the last time he tried to be a deliverer to the people.
He imagines how the conversation will go.
"Hey look, it’s Moses, back from the dead! You have a lot of nerve showing your face back here. What did you come back for?”
“Well, see I was in the desert and the God of your fathers appeared to me in a burning bush and He sent me to you.”
There is some muffled laughter in the crowd. Then someone speaks up, “The God of our fathers? Where has the God of our fathers been for the last four hundred years? Where has He been as we cried out for deliverance? He’s been pretty quiet Moses. What is His name? What kind of God are you talking about? What is His character and how is He going to get us out of this mess?”
"If they do ask these questions,” Moses says to God in the midst of a burning bush, “what in the world do I say?”
Moses is afraid that he will not have answers to their questions.
Many people feel the same today when sharing their faith with others. What if they ask me a question that I can’t answer?
That’s easy. Be honest. Say, “I don’t know but I will try to get the answer to that question for you.”
God give an amazing promise to the disciples that we can lean into:
“But when they arrest you, do not worry about what to say or how to say it. At that time you will be given what to say, for it will not be you speaking, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.” (Matt 10:19-20)
I’ve had times when I was sharing my faith and God seemed to give me the exact right words at the exact right time. It’s amazing, humbling, and exciting.
Back to God’s name. In the Bible, someone’s name gave a picture of their character. Jacob lived up to his name - deceiver. Barnabas’s encouragement echoed his name - son of encouragement. And Nabal, the fool, proved his parents were right to name him that.
But what is God’s name? God tell Moses:
“I am who I am. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I am has sent me to you.’” (Exodus 3:14)
In the Hebrew, there are no vowels, only consonants. So this is YHWH, where we get the name - Yahweh. Jehovah in Greek. The self-existence one, the Alpha and Omega, with no beginning and no end. The eternal and unchanging One. The personal God who is near to us. The One who is/will be. Nothing about me will ever change. This name for God is used 6,800 times in the Bible.
The Jewish people considered this name so holy that they didn’t speak or write this name. They would use Adonai, Lord.
God is described by many different names describing different parts of his character.
El Roi (Gen 16:13) - the God who sees.
He sees your pain, your confusion, your doubt. He is not on vacation. He sees and He cares.
Jehovah Jireh (Gen 22:14) - The God who provides
God knows your needs and He will provide for you in ways that will amaze you.
Jehovah Rapha (Exodus 15:26) - The God who Heals
God is the healer of our bodies and souls. Sometimes, He heals and restores our health and other times He heals us completely and take us home to be with Him.
Jehovah Nissi (Exodus 17:15) - The Lord is my Banner
God gives us the victory over temptation, sin, and death, not through our own strength, but through His. We can hide under His banner.
Jehovah Shalom (Judges 6:24) - The Lord is my Peace
God is the God of peace. He can provide you with the peace that passes all understanding.
Jehovah Raah (Psalm 23:1) - the Lord is my Shepherd
God is the Shepherd and we are the sheep. He leads beside quiet waters and restores our souls.
Jehovah Tsidkenu (Jeremiah 23:6) - the Lord is our Righteousness
We have no righteousness of our own. We can never hope high enough for God’s holiness. But Jesus exchanged His righteousness for our sin when He died on the cross.
El Shaddai (Gen 17:1) - Lord God Almighty
El Elyon (Psalm 9:2) - God Most High
Michael Card wrote a song for his first album that he later allowed a 22 year old singer-songwriter named Amy Grant to record in 1982 entitled “El Shaddai.” Surprisingly, at the Dove Awards, it won song of the year and Michael Card won songwriter of the year. In 2001, it was voted one of the songs of the century.
El Shaddai, El Shaddai, El-Elyon na Adonai
Age to age You’re still the same. By the power of the name
El Shaddai, El Shaddai, Erkahmka na Adonai
We will praise and lift You high, El Shaddai
“I am,” means that God is present, cares about their trouble, and mighty to save.
God continues to tell Moses what he is to say:
“God also said to Moses, “Say to the Israelites, ‘The Lord the God of your fathers—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob—has sent me to you.’ “This is my name forever, the name you shall call me from generation to generation.” (Exodus 3:15)
God made a covenant with Abraham in Genesis 15 to make his “offspring as numerous as the stars in the sky.” (Gen 15:5)
God had renewed that covenant with his son Isaac and his grandson Jacob.
God is a covenant making-promise keeping God. They can trust Him. He is working out his plans in His ways.
And they need to remember that God’s delay doesn’t mean God’s denial.
Butch Wilmore is one of the astronauts that was aboard the International Space Station for the last 9 months and finally got to return to earth this past week.
When asked how he felt about being stuck in space, listen to what he says.
[Reel of Butch Wilmore talking about the timing of God’s plans.]
All that God has revealed to Moses about his name is to be communicated to the elders of Israel and then to Pharaoh himself.
“Go, assemble the elders of Israel and say to them, ‘The Lord, the God of your fathers—the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob—appeared to me and said: I have watched over you and have seen what has been done to you in Egypt. And I have promised to bring you up out of your misery in Egypt into the land of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites—a land flowing with milk and honey.’” (Exodus 3:16-17)
Again, God says go and tells Moses exactly what to say. Then God tells him how the elders will react and how Pharaoh will react.
“The elders of Israel will listen to you. Then you and the elders are to go to the king of Egypt and say to him, ‘The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, has met with us. Let us take a three-day journey into the wilderness to offer sacrifices to the Lord our God.’ But I know that the king of Egypt will not let you go unless a mighty hand compels him. So I will stretch out my hand and strike the Egyptians with all the wonders that I will perform among them. After that, he will let you go.
Moses needn’t worry about how the elders will respond to him. They will listen to him and be all in on the mission. They will even go with Moses to confront Pharaoh. They will test the king of Egypt with a small request.
Pharaoh will not be so receptive. He will have to have a mighty hand against him in order to let the people go.
But God promises his presence and His power in the form of wonders, (plagues) upon the people. Then he will let them go.
Not only will Pharaoh let them go, but they will be compensated for 400 years of slave labor by plundering the Egyptians:
“And I will make the Egyptians favorably disposed toward this people, so that when you leave you will not go empty-handed. Every woman is to ask her neighbor and any woman living in her house for articles of silver and gold and for clothing, which you will put on your sons and daughters. And so you will plunder the Egyptians.” (Exodus 3:21-22)
So God tells him exactly what is going to happen, how it is going to happen, and what an amazing success his mission to deliver the Israelites will be.
And Moses says, “Wow! That’s great! I’ll head to Egypt on the next camel.” Unfortunately, that is not what he said. He actually came up with another excuse.
Jesus is I AM
When Jesus used the title “I am,” He was referencing this name.
"Your father Abraham rejoiced at the thought of seeing my day; he saw it and was glad.” “You are not yet fifty years old,” they said to him, “and you have seen Abraham! “Very truly I tell you,” Jesus answered, “before Abraham was born, I am!” At this, they picked up stones to stone him, but Jesus hid himself, slipping away from the temple grounds.” (John 8:56-59)
They weren’t going to stone Him because He believed in the resurrection. They were going to stone Him because He said His name was “I am”, claiming to be God!
Jesus said,
I AM the bread of life. (John 6:35)
I AM the light of the world. (John 8:12)
I AM the door. (John 10:9)
I AM the Good Shepherd. (John 10:11)
I AM the resurrection and the life. (John 11:26)
I AM the true vine. (John 15:5)
At Jesus’s arrest, He asked them who they wanted. They replied, “Jesus of Nazareth.”
His response sent them to their knees, “I AM He.” (John 18:6).
When the high priest asked Jesus if He was the Messiah, He replied,
“I AM,” said Jesus. “And you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven.” (John 14:62)
Jesus was making his identity clear, He is, “I am that I am!” He is God. And instead of worshipping Him, the people mocked Him, spit on Him, condemned him, and crucified Him.
And yet, Jesus didn’t stay dead! Three days later, He rose from the grave, proving that the check God wrote at the cross had cleared!
Ending Song: Christus Victor
