Exodus 4:1-17 Then Moses answered, “But behold, they will not believe me or listen to my voice, for they will say, ‘The Lord did not appear to you.’” ² The Lord said to him, “What is that in your hand?” He said, “A staff.” ³ And he said, “Throw it on the ground.” So he threw it on the ground, and it became a serpent, and Moses ran from it. ⁴ But the Lord said to Moses, “Put out your hand and catch it by the tail”—so he put out his hand and caught it, and it became a staff in his hand— ⁵ “that they may believe that the Lord, the God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has appeared to you.” ⁶ Again, the Lord said to him, “Put your hand inside your cloak.” And he put his hand inside his cloak, and when he took it out, behold, his hand was leprous like snow. ⁷ Then God said, “Put your hand back inside your cloak.” So he put his hand back inside his cloak, and when he took it out, behold, it was restored like the rest of his flesh. ⁸ “If they will not believe you,” God said, “or listen to the first sign, they may believe the latter sign. ⁹ If they will not believe even these two signs or listen to your voice, 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.”

¹⁰ But Moses said to the Lord, “Oh, my Lord, I am not eloquent, either in the past or since you have spoken to your servant, but I am slow of speech and of tongue.” ¹¹ Then the Lord said to him, “Who has made man’s mouth? Who makes him mute, or deaf, or seeing, or blind? Is it not I, the Lord? ¹² Now therefore go, and I will be with your mouth and teach you what you shall speak.” ¹³ But he said, “Oh, my Lord, please send someone else.” ¹⁴ Then the anger of the Lord was kindled against Moses and he said, “Is there not Aaron, your brother, the Levite? I know that he can speak well. Behold, he is coming out to meet you, and when he sees you, he will be glad in his heart. ¹⁵ 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 both what to do. ¹⁶ He shall speak for you to the people, and he shall be your mouth, and you shall be as God to him. ¹⁷ And take in your hand this staff, with which you shall do the signs.”

Before looking more closely at Exodus 4, I want us to pause and consider what God has called you to. I don’t mean this specific moment—but in your day-to-day life. Are you a follower of Christ? Are you a student, a son, a daughter, a husband, a wife, a father, a mother, an older man or woman, an employee, or a manager? God is calling you to responsibility. Are you obeying that call to follow Christ, or are you excusing yourself from duty?

Our last time looking at the book of Exodus, we saw Moses encounter God at the burning bush in the wilderness of Midian, at the mountain of God. God approached Moses in the flame of fire to call Moses to the task of saving the Hebrews out of Egypt. The Hebrews had fallen into slavery and oppression after their fathers sojourned in Egypt during the famine of Genesis 41-47. Moses had sought to save them in chapter 2, but the people rejected him. At the burning bush, Moses asked the Lord, “If I come to the people of Israel and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ what shall I say to them?’” (3:13) God replied by saying, “I AM WHO I AM.” God then told Moses how he would work to accomplish the salvation of the Hebrews and bring them up into “a land flowing with milk and honey.” (3:17) God told Moses, “Go and gather the elders of Israel together” (3:16) and he assured Moses, “they will listen to your voice.”

This brings us to this morning’s text. Moses is still at the burning bush, listening to the LORD’s instructions. The passage is organized into two main sections: verses 1-9, which I will call the “dialog of unbelief.” The second section, verses 10-17, is the “dialog of eloquence.” In each section, Moses presents an objection to the LORD, and the LORD, in turn, answers him.

I want us all to see how God used Moses despite his objections and weaknesses. The outcome of Moses’ mission was in no way dependent upon him. Moses was God’s servant and was fully equipped to fulfill God’s task. Just as God equipped Moses, so he also equips us today.

The Dialog of Unbelief

The first section, the “dialog of unbelief,” begins with Moses’ statement of disbelief. In chapter 3, God told Moses, “Go and gather the elders of Israel together and say to them, ‘The LORD, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, has appeared to me… And they will listen to your voice…” (3:16, 18) As we see, though, in chapter four, Moses does not believe God. He says, “But behold, they will not believe me or listen to my voice, for they will say, ‘The LORD did not appear to you.’” God had spoken clearly and promised that the elders of Israel would believe him. But Moses did not believe. Yet God was gracious to him and did not reprove him. Moses will later learn that God is “merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness” (34:6). Moses experiences this grace here, though he may not have realized it then.

Rather than reproving Moses, God offers three signs that he is to use to demonstrate his authority as God’s messenger. These signs transformed one thing into something else. The staff in Moses’ hand would become a serpent. His hand, once inside his cloak, would become leprous. The water Moses would take from the Nile would become blood when poured onto the ground.

This three-fold demonstration to Moses would comprise three witnesses to confirm Moses’s divine authority. God asks Moses, “What is that in your hand?” It is an interesting rhetorical question, for God knew what it was, as did Moses. But Moses responds, “A staff.” The LORD commanded it be thrown upon the ground, and Moses did so. He is teaching Moses to obey. The LORD asks, and Moses responds. The LORD commands, and Moses does. The staff, once thrown upon the ground, “became a serpent.” This was no mere likeness of a serpent, for Moses ran from it. It frightened him! The LORD again commands, “Put out your hand and catch it by the tail.” Moses again does as commanded: “it became a staff in his hand.” Immediately, the LORD instructs Moses on its meaning, “that they may believe the LORD, the God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has appeared to you.” The sign was meant to authenticate the message.

The lesson continues, “Again, the LORD said to him, ‘Put your hand inside your cloak.” Moses again follows orders: “when he took it out, behold, his hand was leprous like snow.” Snakes are one thing. I hate snakes! I don’t want anything to do with them. But I think I would like this much less! I can almost picture his face full of horror and wonder as he considers what will happen to his hand and who he is talking to?! The LORD doesn’t seem to leave him pondering his condition long. He commands Moses, “Put your hand back inside your cloak.” Again, Moses is learning to obey the LORD. He does as commanded, “and when he took it out, behold, ‘it was restored like the rest of his flesh.” This sign also has a purpose— “if they will not…listen to the first sign, they may believe the latter sign.” (4:8) Again, the sign was meant to authenticate the message.

The LORD now offers the third sign, “If they will not believe even these two signs or listen to your voice, you shall take some water from the Nile and pour it on the dry ground, and the water that you take from the Nile will become blood on the dry ground.” Notice that this sign may only be performed in Egypt. Moses cannot attempt this one now. He seems to understand that the God who performed the first two signs will not fail to perform the third.

This “dialog of unbelief” ends with growing belief. Moses seemingly believes the LORD will ensure that the elders of Israel in Egypt will believe him, accepting the final sign in faith. Yet not all is well. In verse ten, we begin the second main section of the passage—the “dialog of eloquence.” The LORD has diffused Moses’s disbelief, but he has another excuse prepared. Do you know someone like this? Maybe you are like this yourself?

It is so easy for us to sneer at people in the Bible. God just performed two incredible signs after appearing in a burning bush—and Moses makes up excuses to disobey? The reality is that we’re not all that different than Moses, or almost anyone else in the Bible, for that matter.

The Dialog of Eloquence

Well, Moses has another excuse handy. “Oh, my Lord, I am not eloquent, either in the past or since you have spoken to your servant, but I am slow of speech and of tongue.” The second half of our passage is the “dialog of eloquence.” For someone claiming he is “not eloquent,” Moses sure does a lot of talking. His voice is the primary human voice in Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy! So why does Moses use this excuse? Some commentators argue that Moses suffers from “some kind of speech defect, such as stammering.”¹ Others say Moses is following the “Ancient Near Eastern” custom of “exaggerated humility.”² One or both of those may be true, but I don’t think either theory really explains what is happening in this scene. Moses does not want to go and do what God is commanding; he is stalli...

The Lord Equips His Servant