Don't Send Me

Introduction

What if God’s plan for your life is very different from your plan for your life? ? Maybe you’ve dreamed of having a husband to come home to and a family to care for ever since you were a little girl. You already have a wedding dress and baby names ready to go. But, what if God’s plan on your life is to forego and frustrate that dream so that you can become a self-denying matriarch in the Kingdom of God? What if God’s plan is to frustrate the dream that you and your husband have of children so that you might fulfill the dream of parentless children waiting to be loved? What if it’s God’s plan to disappoint your dream of having a satisfying career so that you might be an encourager, disciple-maker, and source of joy to other people who work at an otherwise miserable place?

What we’re going to see in Moses, and then again and again after him, is that the historical response to God when He’s called someone to something great is, “Lord, please don’t send me. Please let me just have the life that I wanted instead.” He asks God a series of five questions, hoping to change his mind. We saw the first two last week, and this week, in Exodus 4, we’ll see the last three.

God’s Word

Read Exodus 4:1-17

English Standard Version Chapter 4

4:1 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.”

The Questions of a Call (Headline)

God has called you to do something, but the irony is that there’s a good chance that you won’t be excited to do it when you first hear it. In fact, it will probably sound unreasonable and irrational. It may even sound impossible. Our first reaction when we sense that inclination that God would have us do something new, something big, something great is to begin with a self-evaluation. We begin to analyze our finances and our credentials and our competencies. And, we analyze our dreams and ambitions. It’s usually at this point that we tell God, “No, thanks. I’m good.” We just aren’t financially endowed enough or educated enough or gifted enough to pastor or lead a marriage conference or start a non-profit. Or, it would just cost us too much of our dream, too much of our ambition to move our family to Utah or to ignore the typical college lifestyle to live seriously for Jesus. These are the types of questions that Moses is wrestling with here as he receives God’s call.

Why would anyone “listen”?

4:1 “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.’” He asks, first of all, why would anyone “listen”? The stories of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob must’ve felt like mythology to them, much like stories of the supernatural seem to many in our generation. No one in Israel had heard a word from God in more than 400 years. This means it would seem highly unlikely that they would listen to Moses if he went and told them, “All million of you, pack up your wedding silver because I’m going to lead you away from the baddest military on the planet across the desert into an luscious, but inhabited land because God told me.”

Serpent/Disease/Blood

It shows how little of God we actually know that we even have to ask such things, doesn’t it? Since Moses proved himself ignorant on the greatness of God, God showed him. Moses was a shepherd carrying with him a staff. So, God asks him to drop it on the ground. It’s his staff; so, Moses knows just how plain, how ordinary, how powerless that staff is, doesn’t he? He carries it with him every day. He lays it on the ground, and it turns into a snake from which Moses runs. But, the command of God comes for him to pick it up by the tail, the very thing that he’d just run from, and Moses picks it up, and it’s a staff again. He takes his hand and places it in his cloak, the very same cloak that he wore every day, and it turns white with leprosy. This was a death sentence. But, God tells him to do it again, and He obeys and is well again. He tells him that if he pours the water of the great Nile on the ground on the river, it’ll turn to blood.

Sovereign over Moses

Now, why did God answer Moses this way? Two reasons: First, to show Moses that God was sovereign over him. God is making a believer out of Moses before Moses makes a believer out of his people. Moses feared the snake, but God was above the snake. He couldn’t control his health and disease, but God was in control of health and disease. He had no say in the Nile and nature, but God was directing every drop of the longest river in the world. Moses was going to be the ordinary staff in God’s hand. Alone, he was powerless, but in his hand, he would be an instrument of glory from the Divine to his people. God was making a believer out of Moses because He was sending Moses. And, this is why some of you are wrestling with God on every front today. God is sending you somewhere, but you aren’t ready yet. He’s calling you to be an instrument of his glory, but you haven’t let go of the last inklings of self-reliance yet. God works in you in “private” before He works through you in “public”. And so, he’s at work.

Sovereign Over Egypt

But, God wasn’t just showing his sovereignty over Moses; He was showing his sovereignty over Egypt. By telling Moses to against Egypt, God might as well have told him to build a civilization on Mars, and Moses knew that the Hebrews would hear it the same way. Think through those three signs again. When Moses stood before Pharaoh, do you know what Pharaoh would be wearing? He would have a headdress that showed a cobra curled around his head; he was likely to wear a bracelet showing the same thing. The cobra was the goddess of lower Egypt and symbol of Egypt’s power. And, YHWH could make one out of a stick. The leprosy was a reminder that man lived and died at God’s discretion, and Egyptians, including the Pharaoh, were just men. Pharoah wanted to live as though he was the absolute, as though he was unaccountable, as though he was totally autonomous. If COVID-19 hasn’t taught us anything, it’s taught us how little self-autonomy we actually have. And, the Nile was the source of Egypt’s prosperity. It brought life into the Empire, but it flowed at the command and discretion of the God of Israel. The Lord gives, and the Lord takes away. So, God answers Moses by telling him who He is (The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob) and by showing him how sovereign and how mighty He really is.

For Us and With Us

When the call of God comes on your life, you’re not going to stop being nervous. You’re not going to stop having doubts. But, God reassures his people. He never sends you to “Egypt” with an untested “staff”. God used Moses’ staff so that every time he doubted he could look to his hand for assurance. The assurance that God was for him. That’s the point of his name. He’s always with his people, as He was Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. And, God is with him. That’s the point of his demonstration of power. And, when He calls you, you better believe He’s going to give you a message for your doubts and fears: He is for you, and He is with you. You won’t have all of the plans in detail, but you’ll have your staff — a powerful memory or a precious scar or an encouraging friend that keeps reassuring you to go on. And, it’ll remind you: You’re just an ordinary “staff”, but you’re in his “hand”. And, He uses ordinary staffs to divide seas and conquer armies and save his people. He uses ordinary staffs to change family cycles and overcome community indifference to God and to give children hope.

Isn’t there someone “better”?

v. 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 speech and of tongue.” Moses responds back immediately with, “Yea, but...” “Yea, but I’m really dumb. I don’t speak well. My mouth is slow, and my mind is slower!” He’s asking: Isn’t there someone “better”? How often do we respond to God with “Yea, but...”? “Yea, but my plate is full.” “Yea, but I’m not a Bible scholar.” “Yea, but I’m struggling to have a quiet time.”

Our Contribution: Weakness

v. 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?” And, do you know how God responds? This is awesome. God says back to Moses, “Yea, but...” You’ll never out “Yea, but” God, by the way. He’s holding a hand of aces. So, God goes back to his sovereignty yet again in a form we’ll find throughout scripture by responding to Moses’ questions with His own questions. This sounds similar to when God confronts Job in his misery and says, “Where were you when I told the oceans where to stop?” Moses, “Who do you think made you, speech problem and all?” God not only knew about Moses’ weakness; He was counting on it. One of the hardest lessons for sinners to learn is that it’s our weakness, and not our strength, that we contribute to our relationship with God. In fact, you can’t even have a relationship with God until you begin to grasp that. God uses our greatest “weaknesses” to call us to “faith”. That’s why he asks him, “Who has made man’s mouth?” It’s his greatest weakness, his greatest insecurity, and it’s his contribution to the relationship.

Anxiety is Misaimed Faith

But, it’s more than a call to faith; it’s a call to the right faith. It’s a call to lose faith in yourself and to gain faith in God. It’s about the object of your faith. Moses was anxious, and he was anxious because his faith was misguided. Anxiety is the body’s way of telling us that our “faith” is “misaimed”. Honestly, why are you anxious? Is it because you believe YOU will fail? Is it because you believe YOU aren’t up for the call God has placed on you? Is it because you are worried YOU aren’t strong enough? My goodness, that’s the point. You aren’t, and if you look to you, you’ll only find worry and inadequacy there. You absolutely CANNOT do what God has call you to do. But, you should do it anyway. You can answer every anxiety and every insecurity with, “Yea, but”. “Yea, but God is able. Yea, but God is for me. Yea, but God is with me.”

Can’t you use someone “else”?

v. 13 “But he said, ‘Oh my Lord, please send someone else’.” Finally, Moses seems to be exasperated with God. He’s out of excuses, but he still doesn’t want to do it. As politely and cordially as he can frame it to, you know, a holy God manifested in a burning bush, Moses asks: Can’t you use someone “else”? That’s our role in this story. God wants to do something great through us, and we become exasperated with him because of it.

Insecurity is Unbelief

v. 14 “The anger of the LORD was kindled against Moses” As cordially as Moses’ asks, and this is Moses’ writing down this account amazingly (I think I’d have left this part out of my autobiography), it says that God’s anger began to burn against Moses. This morning, I have no doubt that God has been dealing with so many of you over the last few weeks/months/years, and you keep delaying your obedience. You have tons of “Yea, buts...” You have valid reasons why you haven’t obeyed God. You’re bad at all the good things and good at all the bad things. But, I want you to see Moses’ experience, and lay it over your own. Insecurity in God’s call is “unbelief”, not “humility”. If God is the One calling us, then our unwillingness to obey reveals more about what we believe about God than what we believe about ourselves.

The Stability of the Mission

And so, God tells Moses, “I”m giving you your brother. I’m giving both of you what to say. I’m giving you your staff of assurances. And, I’m going to give you supernatural signs through your staff. Don’t you think I have it covered?” The stability of the “mission” lies with God, not his “messengers”. God’s message is greater than his messengers. His covenant for Israel and his new covenant with us is dependent upon his faithfulness, not ours.

Many of you know Steve Mann, our mission partner from South Africa. Five years ago, I was sitting with him on the other side of the world, pouring out my heart about how anxious I felt. I told him: “I always feel like the church is about to fall apart.” And, I remember what he said: “That’s the point. That’s how God works in you to keep you drawing near to him. That’s how He proves to us and to everyone else that it’s Him and not us.” Whatever scary call God has placed on your life, go for it. Do it. Obey him. And, in the end, you’ll think back on your pleas of “Don’t send me” and realize you wouldn’t trade God’s plan for yours for anything.