Exodus 4 NLT
Signs of the Lord’s Power
4 But Moses protested again, “What if they won’t believe me or listen to me? What if they say, ‘The Lord never appeared to you’?” 2 Then the Lord asked him, “What is that in your hand?” “A shepherd’s staff,” Moses replied. 3 “Throw it down on the ground,” the Lord told him. So Moses threw down the staff, and it turned into a snake! Moses jumped back. 4 Then the Lord told him, “Reach out and grab its tail.” So Moses reached out and grabbed it, and it turned back into a shepherd’s staff in his hand. 5 “Perform this sign,” the Lord told him. “Then they will believe that the Lord, the God of their ancestors—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob—really has appeared to you.” 6 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Now put your hand inside your cloak.” So Moses put his hand inside his cloak, and when he took it out again, his hand was white as snow with a severe skin disease.[a] 7 “Now put your hand back into your cloak,” the Lord said. So Moses put his hand back in, and when he took it out again, it was as healthy as the rest of his body. 8 The Lord said to Moses, “If they do not believe you and are not convinced by the first miraculous sign, they will be convinced by the second sign. 9 And if they don’t believe you or listen to you even after these two signs, then take some water from the Nile River and pour it out on the dry ground. When you do, the water from the Nile will turn to blood on the ground.”
10 But Moses pleaded with the Lord, “O Lord, I’m not very good with words. I never have been, and I’m not now, even though you have spoken to me. I get tongue-tied, and my words get tangled.” 11 Then the Lord asked Moses, “Who makes a person’s mouth? Who decides whether people speak or do not speak, hear or do not hear, see or do not see? Is it not I, the Lord? 12 Now go! I will be with you as you speak, and I will instruct you in what to say.” 13 But Moses again pleaded, “Lord, please! Send anyone else.” 14 Then the Lord became angry with Moses. “All right,” he said. “What about your brother, Aaron the Levite? I know he speaks well. And look! He is on his way to meet you now. He will be delighted to see you. 15 Talk to him, and put the words in his mouth. I will be with both of you as you speak, and I will instruct you both in what to do. 16 Aaron will be your spokesman to the people. He will be your mouthpiece, and you will stand in the place of God for him, telling him what to say. 17 And take your shepherd’s staff with you, and use it to perform the miraculous signs I have shown you.”
Moses Returns to Egypt
18 So Moses went back home to Jethro, his father-in-law. “Please let me return to my relatives in Egypt,” Moses said. “I don’t even know if they are still alive.” “Go in peace,” Jethro replied. 19 Before Moses left Midian, the Lord said to him, “Return to Egypt, for all those who wanted to kill you have died.” 20 So Moses took his wife and sons, put them on a donkey, and headed back to the land of Egypt. In his hand he carried the staff of God.
21 And the Lord told Moses, “When you arrive back in Egypt, go to Pharaoh and perform all the miracles I have empowered you to do. But I will harden his heart so he will refuse to let the people go. 22 Then you will tell him, ‘This is what the Lord says: Israel is my firstborn son. 23 I commanded you, “Let my son go, so he can worship me.” But since you have refused, I will now kill your firstborn son!’”
24 On the way to Egypt, at a place where Moses and his family had stopped for the night, the Lord confronted him and was about to kill him. 25 But Moses’ wife, Zipporah, took a flint knife and circumcised her son. She touched his feet[b] with the foreskin and said, “Now you are a bridegroom of blood to me.” 26 (When she said “a bridegroom of blood,” she was referring to the circumcision.) After that, the Lord left him alone.
27 Now the Lord had said to Aaron, “Go out into the wilderness to meet Moses.” So Aaron went and met Moses at the mountain of God, and he embraced him. 28 Moses then told Aaron everything the Lord had commanded him to say. And he told him about the miraculous signs the Lord had commanded him to perform.
29 Then Moses and Aaron returned to Egypt and called all the elders of Israel together. 30 Aaron told them everything the Lord had told Moses, and Moses performed the miraculous signs as they watched. 31 Then the people of Israel were convinced that the Lord had sent Moses and Aaron. When they heard that the Lord was concerned about them and had seen their misery, they bowed down and worshiped.
As I was reading Exodus 4, I started to feel a sense of kinship with Moses. In this particular case it was not a good thing. Let me pull up some verses that were said by Moses, that I too, found myself saying at one point in time:
4 But Moses protested again, “What if they won’t believe me or listen to me? What if they say, ‘The Lord never appeared to you’?”
10 But Moses pleaded with the Lord, “O Lord, I’m not very good with words. I never have been, and I’m not now, even though you have spoken to me. I get tongue-tied, and my words get tangled.”
13 But Moses again pleaded, “Lord, please! Send anyone else.”
It was clear that Moses had a lot of fear, worry and anxiety. He didn’t have a lot of confidence in himself and his abilities, which was probably why he said what he said. But with everything he said, God had a response.
When Moses protested again saying, “What if they won’t believe me or listen to me? What if they say, ‘The Lord never appeared to you’?” God responded by giving Moses the ability to perform not one by three miracles for God’s sake so that the people would know that it was God who sent him.
When Moses pleaded with God saying ““O Lord, I’m not very good with words. I never have been, and I’m not now, even though you have spoken to me. I get tongue-tied, and my words get tangled,” giving him every reason why he can’t do it, God responded saying “Who makes a person’s mouth? Who decides whether people speak or do not speak, hear or do not hear, see or do not see? Is it not I, the Lord? Now go! I will be with you as you speak, and I will instruct you in what to say.”
In Moses’ last attempt to try and get out of it, he pleaded to the Lord, saying “Lord, please! Send anyone else.” God became angry with Moses. Then He responded “All right,” he said. “What about your brother, Aaron the Levite? I know he speaks well. And look! He is on his way to meet you now. He will be delighted to see you. 15 Talk to him, and put the words in his mouth. I will be with both of you as you speak, and I will instruct you both in what to do. 16 Aaron will be your spokesman to the people. He will be your mouthpiece, and you will stand in the place of God for him, telling him what to say.”
Now, there are many conclusions and insights that can be drawn from this passage but the one I want to focus in on is that God has a response. On the journey to Maturity and Making Every Effort, there will be times where fear, anxiety, circumstance, situations, insecurities, flaws and all will try and get in the way of what God is calling you to do. But I want to reassure you that God has a response to everything you are faced with, everything you are dealing with, everything you have ever thought of that you think may hinder you. I want you to know that God has already factored in all of those things and still calls on you.
Why? Because of verse 31 “Then the people of Israel were convinced that the Lord had sent Moses and Aaron. When they heard that the Lord was concerned about them and had seen their misery, they bowed down and worshiped.” Because God is concerned about His people and He needs them to know that He still cares for them and hears their cry. It’s not about us, but about others. Our Maturity and Making Every Effort is not just for our benefit but for those around us, for the places that God has strategically put us in. I am reminded to think beyond myself because life is much more than the bubble I live in.
Father, I thank you that you have called us to Maturity and to Make Every Effort with You. Not just for our sake but for the sake of those around us. To be used by you so that the world may experience your goodness and love that you have for them. I thank you that you have a response for every concern, worry and fear that we may hold onto. I thank you that you are Lord and have already considered every possibility and still chose to use us to do your will. We ask that you would continue to help us grow in Maturity and Making Every Effort on this journey. Help us to think and look beyond ourselves so that we can be used by you. Show us how to genuinely love you and genuinely care for others. We do this all only by your grace. We pray this over your people in Jesus’ name, Amen!