Year 1, Day 53: Exodus 4

Who Doesn’t Start With Excuses?

Reality begins to set in for Moses here in Exodus 4.  As I commented with Jacob, so I will comment here with Moses.  One of the things I love about Moses is that he was not a bastion of faith that does everything right on the first time.  In fact, I’ll just go ahead and say that you will hear this comment from me all over the place as we read the Bible.  This is one of the things that makes the Bible (and Judaism/Christianity) so believable when I find so many of the other religions so unbelievable. 

In the Bible we have humans acting like humans and God still uses them and loves them.  Humans aren’t perfect in the Bible, but God loves them anyway.  It makes what Christ did on the cross believable.  Other religions are set up by people who seem to never make mistakes and set an unattainable goal.  That’s a shame.  But our faith is a faith that lifts up flawed humans and says that God can use them anyway.  That’s pretty cool when you think about it.

So in what way is Moses flawed in this passage?  Moses starts by saying that they will not believe him.  From a divine perspective – of course he is flawed.  They will believe him if God purposes them to believe him.  Moses has a crisis of faith when God has already told him that the way is clear.

From a human perspective we can completely understand where he is coming from.  Moses has murder on his record.  He has killed someone, and both the Hebrew people and the Egyptians had already shown their rejection of him.  He has some reason to doubt just how accepted he would actually become.  Naturally, though, if someone who has killed someone came to you and asked you to follow them, would you?  Now you know why Moses has reason to doubt.

Why Excuses?

I think this trait that we are seeing in Moses is pretty common in human beings.  We get really excited about doing certain things.  We get really excited during the vision process.  But when it comes time to make the vision into a reality that is when we often fail.  It is hard work to do what God desires because the world is always so opposed to that work.  I can understand Moses’ reaction from this perspective, too.  Moses is awed by God and God’s vision; it is a glorious vision.  But when it comes time to act Moses is also awed by what exactly has to happen in order for it to come to fruition that it seems a bit daunting.

God’s Response

God responds and gives him three sets of signs.  God gives him the staff.  God gives him the leprous hand.  And God gives him the ability to turn the Nile water into blood.  This last one is serious – because the Nile was the divine property of the Egyptian gods.  When Moses would change his staff, he was doing something to his own property.  The same thing is true with turning his hand leprous.  But turning the Nile water into blood would be a direct attack from Moses – and therefore God as God gave Moses that ability – against the Egyptian gods.  But this is a process God desires; it is a challenge God desires Moses to do.  God gives Moses these signs so that he could act.

More Doubt

But Moses isn’t done doubting.  He cautions God that he isn’t really the world’s best speaker.  He might not have the sway that God would like him to have with either the Hebrew folks or the Egyptians.  Again God’s plan is awesome but met with the natural human doubts of Moses.

Here God tells Moses about Aaron.  Here’s something interesting that I found as I read through this passage.  God says that Aaron is coming out to meet Moses.  I find that really interesting.  Most people think that by this time in the story Moses is already 80 years old.  They say he spent 40 years in Egypt, 40 years with Jethro, and then 40 years leading the people out of Egypt and through the wilderness.  If this is true, then it’s been roughly 80 years since he was taken out of the Nile as a baby.  After 80 years Aaron comes looking for Moses because he’s curious on his own to find him? 

No, only God could bring that about this timing.  What we can read into the passage given this back-story is that God anticipated Moses’ excuses and doubts and already has Aaron coming out to meet Moses.  I find that pretty cool, too.  God knows Moses’ failings with respect to his humanity and sets Moses up to succeed anyway.  God knows Moses so well that he already knows the excuses will come.  Rather than discard Moses because of his character flaws, he works with him!  How cool is that? 

The next time any of us doubt our ability, we need to remember that if God is in control and we follow God then we can trust that God has set us up to be successful in our venture.  Granted, success is defined by God’s standards and not our own.  But rest assured that if we trust God and follow His leading, God will see our actions and results as a success.

I realize this is easier said than done.  It is easy to be consumed in our own failings.  It is easy to be convinced of the impossibility of our success.  But we serve a God that can overcome our obstacles and still use us along the way!

I hope that you enjoyed this passage as much as I did – and are inspired to evaluate your own talents in light of what God was willing to do for Moses in order that he should be used.

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