Moses: His Call and Protest

KEY VERSE: “Now therefore go and I will be with thy mouth, and teach thee what thou shalt say.” —Exodus 4:12

SELECTED SCRIPTURE: Exodus 3:1-12

AT THE burning bush, the Lord explained to Moses that the time had come when he would deliver the Israelites from their slavery in Egypt and “bring them out of that land unto a good land and a large, unto a land flowing with milk and honey.” (Exod. 3:7,8) To Moses the Lord also said, “Come now therefore, and I will send thee unto Pharaoh, that thou mayest bring forth the children of Israel out of Egypt.”—vs. 10

Remembering, no doubt, his first attempt to help his people and how completely it had failed, it was logical for Moses to ask, “Who am I, that I … should bring forth the children of Israel out of Egypt?” Replying to this question, God said to Moses, “Certainly I will be with thee; and this shall be a token unto thee, that I have sent thee: When thou hast brought forth the people out of Egypt, ye shall serve God upon this mountain.”—vss. 11,12

But Moses had still another question. Forty years prior to this, when he had attempted to help his people, he was asked, “Who made thee a prince and a judge over us?” (Exod. 2: 14) Now he wanted to know how he would answer questions of this sort from his own people. He knew that they would demand by what authority he had come to deliver them. True, he would tell them that the God of their fathers had sent him; but then, as he said, they would want to know more than this. “They shall say to me,” Moses continued, “What is his name?” How was he to answer this question?—Exod. 3:13

Replying, the Lord said to Moses, “I AM that I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you. And God said moreover unto Moses, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, The Lord God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath sent me unto you: this is my name forever, and this is my memorial unto all generations.”—vss. 14,15

The Lord outlined a plan for Moses to follow. First he was to gather the elders of Israel together and explain to them that the Lord’s time had come to deliver the Israelites, and, with the elders, he was to appear before Pharaoh and request that the Israelites be given the privilege of going three days’ journey into the wilderness, where they might offer sacrifices. (vss. 16-18) The Lord warned that permission for this would not be granted and that consequently he would bring plagues upon Egypt until Pharaoh would be willing to release the Israelites.

All of this appeared startling to Moses, who, after forty years of tending flocks for his father-in-law, had little confidence in his ability to lead his people out of bondage, especially in view of the certain opposition of Pharaoh. So again he appealed to the Lord for assurance. “They will not believe me, nor hearken unto my voice,” he said to the Lord, “for they will say, The Lord hath not appeared unto thee.”—Exod. 4:1

Then Jehovah gave Moses three signs, each of them a miracle, by which he might know, and the people might be convinced, of his divine appointment and authority. He was told to cast his rod upon the ground, and when he did, it became a serpent. When he picked it up, it became a rod again. Then he was told to put his hand into his bosom, and when he did it became leprous, but returned to a normal, healthy condition when he put it into his bosom the second time. He was told also that if these two signs were not convincing then he was to take water from the river and pour it upon the ground and it would become blood.—vss. 2-9

Convinced that he would be able to establish the fact that God had sent him, Moses then hesitated for another reason. He said to the Lord, “O my Lord, I am not eloquent, neither heretofore, nor since thou hast spoken unto thy servant: but I am slow of speech, and of a slow tongue.” (vs. 10) Replying to this, the Lord reminded Moses that he was the Creator of the tongue, implying that Moses need have no fear. God then informed him that his brother, Aaron, would accompany him on his mission and would serve as his mouthpiece: “He shall be to thee instead of a mouth, and thou shalt be to him instead of God.”—vss. 11-17

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