GREAT STORIES OF THE BIBLE:

Moses struggles with the call

(Exodus 3:17–20; 4:1–20)

Delivered to First Baptist Church, Winnsboro, LA

January 28, 2024 ❋ 10:55 am

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Have you ever been called on to do something you thought you could not do? Maybe you felt that you did not have the knowledge or ability to do what you were asked to do. There is no feeling like that of not being able to do something. Many of us get frustrated when we buy something we have never owned before and have to figure out how to put it together. Oh, and the instructions. Sometimes those are as clear as the Red River.

This morning we are going to look at Moses as he struggles with what God has called on him to do. What is that you ask? Well, God has only called him to go back to Egypt and face Pharoah and tell him to release God’s people from slavery. Moses has been called to lead the people of God out of Egypt. Add to that, He is wanted for murder. Let us look and see how Moses deals with the call of God.

Read Exodus 3:17–20.

1. Moses resists the call of God. (1–9)

In chapter 3, Moses has already asked God, “Who am I to do this?” God said He would be with Moses. Moses then doubts they will believe him and asks what to say if they ask him God’s name. God tells Moses, “I am” is His name. The holy name of God is revealed to us. Yahweh. “Unlike previous names, ‘Yahweh’ does not limit God’s nature to any particular characteristic: he is what he is.”1 The name is so holy the Jews do not speak it.

Moses continues with this struggle to get out of the call of God. Have you been there? God tells you to speak with someone about Him or to minister in some way and you find yourself in a struggle with Him? Let us see how a fellow human, no greater than us, dealt with this.

Look at verse 1. This is Moses trying to get out of doing what he has been called to do, but he does raise a legitimate point. What if they do not believe him? You have to love God. Look at verse 2. “This is the beginning of the development of the concept that Moses’ staff symbolized Yahweh’s power.” Look at verse 3. Yes, that would be me. I would be a fleer in that situation. Fleer: one who flees. Look at verses 4–5. This act of the staff turning into a snake and then back to a staff was to be a sign unto the people that God was with Moses.

In verses 6–7, Moses is instructed to put his hand in his robe and then pull it out. When he does it is white like snow. When instructed to place it back under his robe, he does and then it is healed.

Look at verse 8. So, if they do not listen to the voice of the first sign, maybe they will believe the second sign. The second sign is an immediate cure for a horrible skin disease, which was not available at that time, which should convince them that Moses is with God.

Look at verse 9. Surely this would help them to be convinced that God is at work in Moses. “For God’s servant Moses to demonstrate through this simple act God’s power over the Nile would be to demonstrate God’s power generally over Egypt and the Egyptians.” The Nile River is the longest in Africa. Interestingly enough, the name, “Nile” does not appear in the Hebrew. The Hebrew simply calls it, “the river.”

What do we see here? We see God calling a man to a task and giving Him tools to use. This is what happens when God calls us to a task. If He calls us to do something, then He will give us the tools we need to carry out the task.

God equips those whom He has called.

2. Moses submits to the call of God. (10–20)

One might think that armed with miraculous acts Moses would be ready to go, ready to confront the Pharoah. Ah, but look at verse 10. He is not a man who is good with words. He has never been good with words, slow or heavy of speech and heavy or slow of tongue is Moses. Notice the Lord is prepared for Moses and responds in verses 11–12. Look at verses 11-12. God is in control. He will provide. The yearning in God’s heart is for His people to lean on Him, to depend on Him, for help.

Moses just cannot stop trying. Look at verse 13. The verse literally reads, But he said, Please Lord, now send by the hand which You send whomever you will. The phrasing of the Hebrew worded in English might better be rendered, “With all due respect, sir, you must know someone who is available to send.” Moses opens the door for God to use whomever, just not him. This does not sit well with God. Look at verse 14. Notice, that God does not let Moses off the hook. He is still going to use him. Aaron can express himself in speech and God has him on the way to see Moses. If Moses needs encouragement and a little lighter load of pressure to do this task, then God is going to make it happen. This is a God of no excuses. If He wants to use you, He will.

In verses 15–16, we see that Moses is to speak to Aaron and give him the words to say and God Himself will be with both of their mouths to teach them what they are to do. Aaron will speak for Moses to the people and Moses will be as God to him. In other words, “God was the revealer; Moses, the prophet; and Aaron, the public repeater.” God tells him to take the staff, and with it, he will perform the signs that were shared with him.

At this point, the ball is still in Moses’ court. What will he do? Will He trust God to equip him when the time comes to speak to Pharoah? Will He trust God to protect him? Does Moses trust God? Look at verse 18. Did Moses need Jethro’s permission to leave? No, but today, common courtesy would even call on a son-in-law to be sensitive to the fact that Jethro would be left a little shorter in the workforce if he left. Moses desired to have his leaving be on good terms with a blessing from his father-in-law. “Go in peace,” Jethro tells him.

Look at verse 19. Now this is great news. The fear of death has just shrunk upon hearing those words from God. “It was common practice in the ancient world, as it is in the modern, for a new government to cancel criminal penalties imposed by a previous government, thus granting general amnesty to prisoners and those sought by the law.”

Look at verse 20. Moses packs up his family and moves to Beverly, uh, Egypt. Notice the last sentence of verse 20. A staff could be used as a crutch, a weapon, a walking stick, and a tool to keep animals under control. “By divine designation it became not merely Moses’ staff but God’s.” God said, You shall take in your hand this staff, with which you shall perform the signs. Later, Moses refers to the staff as the “staff of God.”

Notice, that when God called Moses to a task, He enabled Moses to carry out that task. God has called you and me to the task of sharing with others the message of the gospel. He is not sitting back and waiting and watching. He is enabling us to carry out that task. He will give us what we need to do what He has called us to do. Do we trust Him to equip us? Moses was stepping out to Egypt to perform the task given to him. He had to step out. Will you step out to the task? Have you stepped out to find out if God will truly enable you to share the gospel?

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God equips those whom He has called.

God has called you. Will you step out and find out if you trust God in this way?