In our passage this week, God continues to speak to Moses out of the burning bush. He has told Moses that he is sending him to Egypt to deliver Israel out of oppression. Moses feels the weight of this commission. He has reservations. God first answers these hesitations by teaching Moses his name and by assuring Moses he will be with him.
When Moses objects that the Israelites will not believe him, God gives Moses three signs to use as evidence that he has been sent by God. Now Moses has misgivings about his ability to speak. In verse 10, he tells God: “Oh, my Lord, I am not eloquent, either in the past or since you have spoken to your servant.”
There is speculation that Moses meant he had a speech impediment, or perhaps Moses felt he had no oratory skills. Whatever the case, God answers this objection by telling Moses he is sovereign over any handicaps his people may have: “Who has made man’s mouth? Who makes him mute, or deaf, or seeing, or blind? Is it not I, the Lord?”
In other words, God is telling Moses he is very aware of Moses’ handicap. It is not outside of God’s sovereignty. The method of delivering God’s word is not vital. God will tell Moses what to say, and Moses is to say it. What God does with his word, he will do according to his purpose. If Moses stammers in speaking God’s word, it is not one whit less than God’s word.
We learn here that the weakness of an instrument sometimes makes it all the more useful to reveal God’s glory. Moses is going to be used to deliver Israel, not because he is great, but because God has ordained it. God is the deliverer of Israel and the judge of Egypt. The weakness of Moses will all the more manifest the strength of God.
How does this affect you? Realize that the more you seek God’s glory the closer you are to the truth. You can do nothing apart from God. You cannot even breathe, much less serve God without God’s strength. The more autonomous you see yourself the more you are in darkness. Those who serve God are those who listen and submit to his word. Pharaoh will resist God’s word and be destroyed. Moses will grow to the point that his principal concern is to see God’s glory.
In verse 13 we see at this point Moses’ vision is directed at his own weakness not God’s strength. He literally begs: “Oh my Lord, please send someone else.” The words of Moses plead that God can chose anyone he pleases; there has to be many, many choices better than me. But God has chosen Moses, so Moses it will be. He helps Moses in two ways.
First, he gives Moses a sense of his anger. We read in verse 14, “The anger of the Lord was kindled against Moses.” God doesn’t say, “Well Moses, you just need to get some self-confidence.” Moses has self-confidence. He is opposing God’s will. God’s displeasure with Moses reflects his disposition toward the resistance to His holy will. A fear of God is the beginning of wisdom.
Fear of God is a gift from God. The sense to know God’s anger at sin and rebellion is what leads us to Christ, our need of a Savior. Every man or woman resists God’s will; however, not all know that God is displeased with it. Our self-affirming, self-esteem era vitiates against the truth of the gospel.
We also learn that there is a difference between God’s anger as a judge of sinners, and his anger as a Father to his children. His anger as a judge is to destroy his enemies; his anger at his children is to destroy their rebellion to his will which makes them miserable.
His anger toward his children is not judicial but corrective. The judicial anger has been taken away in Christ. Christ suffers wrath so his people do not.
The second way God helps Moses is to send Aaron his brother to help him. If Moses needs training wheels to learn to trust God, God will provide them, even though he will not permit Moses to resist his will without fatherly correction. Aaron’s presence will help Moses practically and be an encouragement to him. Aaron is a good speaker, and Aaron loves his brother.
When you follow God’s will according to his revealed word instead of your own feelings toward it, God will provide you with what you need. It doesn’t mean the path will not be hard; it means he will be with you.
