January 18, 2009 "Moses pt. 2" Exodus 4:1-17

Exodus 4:1-4:17 Moses pt. 2 1-18-09

Last week we started looking at the story of God calling Moses to liberate his people from Egypt.

The Israelites multiplied in Egypt to the point of outnumbering the Egyptians, so a new Pharaoh enslaved them. Forced labor designed to kill them did not work, so he commanded all Israelite baby boys to be thrown into the Nile.

Moses’ mom places him in a makeshift ark and positions him to be found by a daughter of the Pharaoh. When Pharaoh’s daughter finds Moses she raises him as her own. Moses most likely gets educated among the Egyptian elite.

When Moses is about 40 he attempts to give justice to an Israelite being beaten by an Egyptian taskmaster. He kills the man, and hides his body in the desert.

When the Pharaoh finds out, he attempts to kill Moses, so Moses flees to Midian and lives there for 40 years.

One day, God appears to Moses through a burning bush – a flame burns the bush, but does not consume it. In the conversation so far Moses finds out God’s name – “I will be what I will be. I am what I am.” YHWH.

These 4 Hebrew letters form what’s known as the tetragrammaton. God says this is his name forever, his title for all generations.

God commands Moses to tell the Israelite leaders that God has heard and seen what is going on and has come to liberate them. God will lead them out of Egypt to the land of Canaan.

Then God tells Moses, “They will listen to your voice, and you shall go with the elders to tell the king of Egypt ‘we’re outta here.’”

Read Text

Then Moses answered, "But suppose they do not believe me or listen to me, but say, 'The LORD did not appear to you.'"

The LORD said to him, "What is that in your hand?" He said, "A staff." And he said, "Throw it on the ground." So he threw the staff on the ground, and it became a snake; and Moses drew back from it.

Then the LORD said to Moses, "Reach out your hand, and seize it by the tail"-- so he reached out his hand and grasped it, and it became a staff in his hand -- "so that they may believe that the LORD, the God of their ancestors, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has appeared to you."

Again, the LORD said to him, "Put your hand inside your cloak." He put his hand into his cloak; and when he took it out, his hand was leprous, as white as snow. Then God said, "Put your hand back into your cloak"-- so he put his hand back into his cloak, and when he took it out, it was restored like the rest of his body -- "If they will not believe you or heed the first sign, they may believe the second sign.

If they will not believe even these two signs or heed you, 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."
But Moses said to the LORD, "O my Lord, I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor even now that you have spoken to your servant; but I am slow of speech and slow of tongue."

Then the LORD said to him, "Who gives speech to mortals? Who makes them mute or deaf, seeing or blind? Is it not I, the LORD? Now go, and I will be with your mouth and teach you what you are to speak."

But he said, "O my Lord, please send someone else."

Then the anger of the LORD was kindled against Moses and he said, "What of your brother Aaron, the Levite? I know that he can speak fluently; even now he is coming out to meet you, and when he sees you his heart will be glad.

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 what you shall do. He indeed shall speak for you to the people; he shall serve as a mouth for you, and you shall serve as God for him. Take in your hand this staff, with which you shall perform the signs."


Excuses, excuses, excuses…When God calls us to do something, is there any excuse we can give that He will consider valid?

Would our God who knows us intimately inside and out ask us to do something we cannot do?

God asks Moses to do an incredible thing – liberate over a million souls entrapped in brutal slavery. Moses does what we all do when we sense a call to do something good or even extraordinary.

He looks at himself and assesses his own ability. Can I succeed in this endeavor? If I think I can, I might move forward, if I think I can’t, I won’t. As Moses grades his ability to do what God calls him to do, he comes up short in his own eyes. He knows he has no credibility with his own people or the Egyptian rulers. He knows his inarticulate speech and his speech impediment make him unqualified.

So Moses asks God, “What if they don’t listen to me or what if they don’t believe you’ve actually appeared to me?”

This is a relatively strong argument given his failed attempt to be a liberator 40 years earlier and his status as a murderous outlaw. He has a death warrant waiting for him in Egypt and his people do not trust him.

But God had already told Moses explicitly, “They will listen to your voice” – Your fellow Israelites and the Egyptians will hear you.

Moses challenges God’s previous promise, but God doesn’t get angry. Other prophets appearing later in Israel’s history will object based on natural weaknesses too. Jeremiah claims to be too young to speak for God. Isaiah claims to be a man of unclean lips – unworthy to speak God’s Word.

God displays amazing patience and attempts to get Moses’ eyes off of himself and onto Him.

He asks Moses, “What is in your hand?” And Moses replies, “A staff.” As a shepherd, Moses used this staff to support his steps in the wilderness, to guide his father’s flock to good land, and to drive away wild animals. This staff comes to represent the power of God to guide Moses’ steps through the desert of Sinai, to lead God’s people to the Promised Land, and to strike down the enemies of God.

God tells Moses to throw it on the ground, and the moment he does, the staff turns into a snake. Moses responds the same way you or I would. He jumps out of the way. He’s not startled like we would be at the sight of a gardener snake, he’s fearful of his life and runs away.

Next, God tells Moses to grasp the snake by the tail. Any snake handlers here today? Anyone know the proper way to hold a poisonous snake?

You grab it behind its head so that it cannot turn and bite you. The most dangerous place to grab a snake is by the tail. Grab a snake by the tail and it will wrap around and bite you.

God looks for Moses to grab the snake in the worst possible spot to reveal his faith in Him. Do you feel Moses’ relief when the moment he grabs the snake it turns back into a staff?

God interprets this event by saying; this power I give to you is so that the people will believe that I have appeared to you. The people will believe you if you throw down your staff and it turns into a snake. Yeah God, that ought to do it.

Without any preamble, God tells Moses to put his hand inside his cloak. He does so and when he takes it out, his hand is leprous – diseased – as white as snow.

OK, this just seems mean. Leprosy is a contagious and ritually defiling skin disease. People with this disease are separated from the community and the law will later require them to announce their presence by dressing differently, keeping their hair messy, and crying out, “Unclean! Unclean!” in public places.

In an instant, Moses has leprosy. I guarantee you Moses does not reply (looking at hand) “Huh, that’s interesting.” I imagine an agonized wail and a scene where it looks like Moses fights his own hand.

God tells him to put his hand back inside his cloak – touch your bare chest with your diseased hand! This would spread the disease! But Moses settles down and obeys and when draws his hand out of his cloak, the disease hasn’t spread, instead, his hand is restored.

God reveals his power to Moses. “I am the God who has power over disease and healing. I am with you. I am sending you. Get your eyes off of yourself and onto me.”

Then God tells him that if the people won’t believe these signs he is to draw water from the Nile and pour it on the ground. When he does so, it will become blood. Moses can’t practice this wonder here in the desert, but it does foretell the first plague God uses to reveal his presence to the Egyptians.

Even after this experience, Moses returns to assessing himself and his ability or lack of ability to do what God calls him to do.

He says, “I’ve never been an eloquent speaker. I have a speech impediment that remains even now after I’ve met you and we’ve spoken together.”

His objection is twofold. He’s not competent, lacking the qualifications for being a good motivator of the Israelites or the Egyptians. And, he has a physical disability – a speech impediment.

Have you ever felt incompetent for a given task? Have you ever seen yourself as unfit physically, mentally, or spiritually for what God wants you to do or say?

Moses tells God, “I believe you are all that you are, but I am still who I am – same old stuttering Moses.”

Again, God attempts to get Moses’ eyes off himself and onto Him. God says, “Who gives speech, who makes them mute or deaf, seeing or blind? It’s me! I not only know your difficulty, but I made you the way you are. Go! Do as I say and I, the God of speech will teach you what you are to say.”

We see an ongoing biblical pattern of God using weakness for his strength. In the Bible we continually see the weak made strong, the last coming first, the lowly being made great. The pattern exists to draw attention to God instead of glorifying the human agent of God’s work.

The ultimate weakness – the death of Christ on a cross – is the greatest strength of God to forgive and the greatest strength for those who receive from him. He offers forgiveness, love, and a new kind of eternal life.

Through this entire dialog, God remains with Moses and reveals his identity and promises to enable Moses to do what he’s asking him to do. God is not upset. He doesn’t mind it and maybe even likes it when we come to him in honesty and talk about why we resist what he wants us to do.

But then Moses says something wrong. Moses simply says, “Yahweh, please send someone else. All excuses aside, I don’t want to go. Send someone else.”

This makes God angry. The text says literally, “God’s nostrils flared.” His anger flames against Moses. Blatant refusal to do what God asks Moses to do and what God asks us to do makes God angry.

Even in his anger, God gives Moses a partner in his brother Aaron. He’s already on the way to meet Moses, so it was probably already God’s plan to send them in partnership, but this wasn’t the way God wanted the conversation to go.

Together, Moses and Aaron approach the Israelite leaders and the Egyptian leaders in order to gain the release of the slaves.


What do we learn from this story? How does this text call us to faith in God? How does this story address our lives as Christ followers?

Did you notice I changed the sign outside the church? It now says, “Messes welcome.”

God’s grace, his forgiveness, his love is sufficient to bring us into relationship with him. The cross of Christ stands as a sign of God’s great love for us. He’s done all that is needful to create relationship with us.

If we enter into that relationship – if we draw near to the burning bush of God’s love to hear from God we will hear him offering forgiveness and love. Then he will give us marching orders for our lives.

We live in the age of what Peter calls the “priesthood of all believers.” God’s Spirit moves within all believers for carrying out of God’s will.

None of us have arrived and become perfect. We don’t become great and then get used by God to do his will. He works within our messiness, our imperfections, and our fears. He knows what we can and cannot do and he knows his ultimate power to let his will be done in us and through us.

God asks us to get our eyes off of ourselves – our own weaknesses and past failures – and to fix our eyes on God. He will not ask us to do what we cannot do. He only needs us to utilize his power to carry out our lives of service.

I think it was Fred Craddock who recently wrote about his desire at an early age to be a preacher. He felt called by God to proclaim God’s Word. When given his first opportunity to preach, he studied hard and rose to the pulpit. He spoke poorly for a grand total of 5 minutes. His next sermon wasn’t much better or longer.

If Craddock had kept his eyes on himself – his seeming lack of ability and his obvious failure – he would have abandoned his call, but because Craddock kept his eyes on God and the surety of his call, he has been used by God to preach for over 35 years. He’s been instrumental in training and building up today’s preachers.

What is God calling you to do? God remains active in our world today. How does he want you to participate in his activity? How does he want you to speak for him or act on his behalf?

If we don’t know, we need to get straight to listening.

If we do know, what excuses do we use to get out of doing what God wants us to do? What will my family think? Will my husband think I’m crazy? Will I be laughed at? Will I still be happy? Will I fail? I’m not qualified. I’m not gifted. I have a physical difficulty.

God welcomes dialog. He will patiently listen and interact with us based on our objections. One thing God can’t stand is out and out refusal.

We each have a job to do in this life. We have a calling to act for and even speak for God. The question is not our ability, but God’s power working through us. The question isn’t who we are, but rather who God is. He is the God who made you, loves you, and will enable you to go down the path he has for you.

Let’s get our eyes off ourselves and onto God and get on with living in active obedience to him.