A. God gives Moses signs to confirm his ministry.
1. (1) Moses asks, "How will they believe me?"
Then Moses answered and said, "But suppose they will not believe me or listen to my voice; suppose they say, 'The Lord has not appeared to you.'"
a. But suppose they will not believe me: It was not wrong for Moses to initially ask Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh? in Exodus 3:11; this was a logical question considering how great the task was. Yet God answered this question more than adequately in Exodus 3:12: I will certainly be with you. After that point, and in this passage, Moses' questions show unbelief more than sincere seeking.
b. But suppose they will not believe me or listen to my voice: In Exodus 3:18, God promised that the leaders of Israel would listen to Moses. He said, "they will heed your voice." When Moses makes this protest he may as well be saying, "But what if you are wrong, God?"
i. It was good when Moses had no confidence in the flesh; but it is bad that he now lacked confidence in God.
2. (2-5) The first sign: Moses' rod turns to a snake and back again.
So the Lord said to him, "What is that in your hand?" He said, "A rod." And He said, "Cast it on the ground." So he cast it on the ground, and it became a serpent; and Moses fled from it. Then the Lord said to Moses, "Reach out your hand and take it by the tail" (and he reached out 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, has appeared to you."
a. What is that in your hand: This reflects a precious principle regarding how God uses men - God used what Moses had in his hand. Moses' years of tending sheep were not useless. Those years had put into Moses hand things he could use for God's glory. God didn't use the scepter that was in Moses' royal hand when he lived in Egypt, but He did use the simple shepherd's staff.
i. God likes to use what is in our hand.
· God used what was in Shamgar's hand (Judges 3:31)
· God used what was in David's hand (1 Samuel 17:49)
· God used the jawbone of a donkey in Samson's hand (Judges 15:15)
· God used five loaves and two fish in the hand of a little boy (John 6:9)
b. He said, "A rod": That rod of Moses would part the Red Sea. It would strike a rock and see water pour forth. It would be raised over battle until Israel was victorious. It would be called the rod of God (Exodus 4:20; 17:9).
c. It became a serpent: Not only did Moses' rod become a snake; it became a real snake that was frightening enough to Moses that he ran from it.
d. Reach out your hand and take it by the tail: We see the faith of Moses when he reached out to grab the snake when God commanded him to. The tail is the most dangerous place to grab a snake; yet Moses was unharmed.
i. In this little incident Moses learned how to do what God tells him to do even when it is uncomfortable.
e. That they may believe that the Lord God of their fathers . . . has appeared to you: This miracle would make the children of Israel realize that the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob was with them and that the God of the covenant had not forsaken them.
3. (6-9) The second and third signs: Moses is made leprous and whole again; water turns to blood and back again.
Furthermore the Lord said to him, "Now put your hand in your bosom." And he put his hand in his bosom, and when he took it out, behold, his hand was leprous, like snow. And He said, "Put your hand in your bosom again." So he put his hand in his bosom again, and drew it out of his bosom, and behold, it was restored like his other flesh. "Then it will be, if they do not believe you, nor heed the message of the first sign, that they may believe the message of the latter sign. And it shall be, if they do not believe even these two signs, or listen to your voice, that you shall take water from the river and pour it on the dry land. And the water which you take from the river will become blood on the dry land."
a. It was restored like his other flesh: Each of the first two signs have to do with conversion. Something good and useful (a rod or a hand) is converted to something evil (a serpent or a leprous hand), and significantly, they are then converted back again.
i. There was a real message in the first two signs. The first said, "Moses, if you obey Me, your enemies will be made powerless." The second said "Moses, if you obey Me, your pollution can be made pure." Doubts in each of these areas probably hindered Moses, and before those signs ministered to anyone else, the ministered to Moses. This is the pattern with all God's leaders.
b. The water which you take from the river will become blood on the dry land: The third sign is simply a sign of judgment. Good, pure waters were made foul and bloody by the work of God and they did not turn back again. This showed that if the miracles of conversion did not turn the hearts of the people, then perhaps the sign of judgment will. If they do not believe even these two signs, or listen to your voice shows that if the sign of judgment is only given when unbelief persists in the face of the miracles of conversion right before them.
4. (10) Moses makes an excuse: "I can't speak well."
Then Moses said to the Lord, "O my Lord, I am not eloquent, neither before nor since You have spoken to Your servant; but I am slow of speech and slow of tongue."
a. O my Lord, I am not eloquent: After these remarkably persuasive signs, Moses still objected to God's call. Moses revealed that he was not confident with his ability to speak - slow of speech is literally "heavy of mouth."
b. I am slow of speech and slow of tongue: It seems that Moses' excuse was not justified. Clearly 40 years before this Moses was not slow of speech and slow of tongue. Acts 7:22 says Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and was mighty in words and deeds.
i. In those years of silence - preaching only to the sheep - Moses had to deal with all the discouragement and sense of failure and condemnation that accumulated over 40 years. It isn't hard to see why he now believes he can't do what he clearly thought he could do before.
ii. Instead of Moses "regressing" in speaking ability during those years in the desert, it is far more reasonable to believe that he has simply lost confidence in himself - something that can be good, but not if it makes him lose confidence in what God can do in him.
5. (11-12) God's response to Moses' excuse.
So the Lord said to him, "Who has made man's mouth? Or who makes the mute, the deaf, the seeing, or the blind? Have not I, the Lord? Now therefore, go, and I will be with your mouth and teach you what you shall say."
a. Who made man's mouth? The fact that Moses believed that he was not eloquent is completely beside the point. The God who created the most eloquent mouths who ever lived was on his side.
b. Who has made man's mouth? Or who makes the mute, the deaf, the seeing, or the blind? Have not I, the Lord? This is a dramatic statement revealing the sovereignty of God, and God reveals it in the context of an invitation to trust God and to work with Him.
i. There is not the slightest sense of fatalism in this declaration of God's sovereignty. It is never "God is so mighty we can't do anything," but it is always "God is so mighty, He can work through us if we make ourselves available."
c. Some have thought it cruel that God would say He makes the mute, the deaf, . . . the blind. Nevertheless the point here is not to analyze the origin of evil, but to show that God is so mighty that He can even call the mute, the deaf, and the blind to do His work. Moses' perceived inadequacies don't matter at all.
i. If Moses was a poor speaker, was this news to God? Does God have trouble keeping track of who is deaf, who is blind, and who is mute? Does Moses really think God made a mistake here?
ii. If Moses was a poor speaker, it didn't matter - the mighty God said, "I will be with your mouth and teach you what you shall say." By extension, God is sufficient for us, no matter what real or imagined inadequacies we have.
6. (13-17) Moses' unwillingness, and God's reply.
But he said, "O my Lord, please send by the hand of whomever else You may send." So the anger of the Lord was kindled against Moses, and He said: "Is not Aaron the Levite your brother? I know that he can speak well. And look, he is also coming out to meet you. When he sees you, he will be glad in his heart. Now you shall speak to him and put the words in his mouth. And I will be with your mouth and with his mouth, and I will teach you what you shall do. So he shall be your spokesman to the people. And he himself shall be as a mouth for you, and you shall be to him as God. And you shall take this rod in your hand, with which you shall do the signs."
a. Please send by the hand of whomever else You may send: Finally, Moses is done with excuses and declares the real state of his heart. Simply, he would much rather that God send someone else. His problem isn't really a lack of ability, it is a lack of willingness.
i. "It's common for men to give pretended reasons instead of one real one." (Benjamin Franklin)
b. So the anger of the Lord was kindled against Moses: God was not angry when Moses asked, "Who am I?" (Exodus 3:11). He was not angry when Moses asked, "Who should I say sent me?" (Exodus 3:13). He was not angry when Moses disbelieved God's Word and said, "suppose they will not believe me or listen to my voice" (Exodus 4:1). He was not even angry when Moses falsely claimed that he was not and had never been eloquent (Exodus 4:10) - but God was angry when Moses was just plain unwilling.