The Excuses of Moses Exodus 3 & 4 God called to Moses from

1
The Excuses of Moses

• Exodus 3 4
• God called to Moses from the midst of a burning
  bush
• God called Moses to the task of leading the
  children of Israel out of Egyptian bondage
• In response, Moses gave excuses as to why he was
  not the man for the job.

2
Who Am I?

• But Moses said to God, Who am I that I should go
  to Pharaoh, and that I should bring the children
  of Israel out of Egypt?
• Exodus 311

3
Who Am I?

• Moses had been gone from Egypt for 40 years, a
  mere shepherd.
• He was an 80 year old man.
• Gods response I will certainly be with you
  (vs. 12). (This should be sufficient)
• God is with us, too! (Romans 831)

4
Romans 831

• What then shall we say to these
  things? If God is for us, who can be
  against us?

5
Who Am I?

• Moses had been gone from Egypt for 40 years, a
  mere shepherd.
• He was an 80 year old man.
• Gods response I will certainly be with you
  (vs. 12). (This should be sufficient)
• God is with us, too! (Romans 831)
• God makes us sufficient (2
  Corinthians 35-6 Philippians 413)

6
2 Corinthians 35-6

• Not that we are sufficient of
  ourselves to think of anything as
  being from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from
  God, 6 who also made us sufficient as ministers
  of the new covenant, not of the letter but of the
  Spirit for the letter kills, but the Spirit
  gives life.

7
Philippians 413

• I can do all things through Christ who
  strengthens me.

8
What Shall I Say?

• Then Moses said to God, Indeed, when I come to
  the children of Israel and say to them, The God
  of your fathers has sent me to you, and they say
  to me, What is His name? what shall I say to
  them?
• Exodus 311

9
What Shall I Say?

• Moses knew if he went to the children of Israel,
  they would have questions for him.
• He felt inadequate, in need of guidance.
• Gods immediately told him what to say Thus
  you shall say (vs. 14).

10
Exodus 314

• And God said to Moses, I AM WHO
  I AM. And He said, Thus you
  shall say to the children of Israel, I AM has
  sent me to you.

11
What Shall I Say?

• Moses knew if he went to the children of Israel,
  they would have questions for him.
• He felt inadequate, in need of guidance.
• Gods immediately told him what to say Thus
  you shall say (vs. 14).
• We too may feel our knowledge is inadequate, but
  God has given us what to say! (Mark 1615-16 1
  Corinthians 151-4)

12
Mark 1615-16

• And He said to them, Go into
  all the world and preach the gospel
  to every creature. 16 He who believes and is
  baptized will be saved but he who does not
  believe will be condemned.

13
1 Corinthians 151-4

• Moreover, brethren, I declare to you
  the gospel which I preached to you,
  which also you received and in
  which you stand, 2 by which also you are saved,
  if you hold fast that word which I preached to
  you--unless you believed in vain. 3 For I
  delivered to you first of all that which I also
  received that Christ died for our sins according
  to the Scriptures, 4 and that He was buried, and
  that He rose again the third day according to the
  Scriptures.

14
Suppose They Will Not Believe Me?

• Then Moses answered and said, But suppose they
  will not believe me or listen to my voice
  suppose they say, The LORD has not appeared to
  you.
• Exodus 41

15
Suppose They Will Not Believe Me?

• Moses seems to be afraid of failing. This shows
  a lack of faith in Gods help.
• God gives him three strong signs The Rod
  (42-5) His Own Hand (46-8) and the Water
  (49).

16
Exodus 42-5

• So the LORD said to him, What is that
  in your hand? He said, A rod. 3 And
  He said, Cast it on the ground. So
  he cast it on the ground, and it became a
  serpent and Moses fled from it. 4 Then the LORD
  said to Moses, Reach out your hand and take it
  by the tail (and he reached out his hand and
  caught it, and it became a rod in his hand), 5
  that they may believe that the LORD God of their
  fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac,
  and the God of Jacob, has appeared to you.

17
Exodus 46-8

• Furthermore the LORD said to him,
  Now put your hand in your bosom.
  And he put his hand in his bosom, and when he
  took it out, behold, his hand was leprous, like
  snow. 7 And He said, Put your hand in your bosom
  again. So he put his hand in his bosom again,
  and drew it out of his bosom, and behold, it was
  restored like his other flesh. 8 Then it will
  be, if they do not believe you, nor heed the
  message of the first sign, that they may believe
  the message of the latter sign.

18
Exodus 49

• And it shall be, if they do not
  believe even these two signs, or
  listen to your voice, that you shall take water
  from the river and pour it on the dry land. And
  the water which you take from the river will
  become blood on the dry land.

19
Suppose They Will Not Believe Me?

• Moses seems to be afraid of failing. This shows
  a lack of faith in Gods help.
• God gives him three strong signs The Rod
  (42-5) His Own Hand (46-8) and the Water
  (49).
• We too may allow a fear of failure to keep us
  from sharing the gospel. Remember, the power is
  in the Word! (Romans 1017)

20
Romans 1017

• So then faith comes by hearing, and
  hearing by the word of God.

21
Suppose They Will Not Believe Me?

• Moses seems to be afraid of failing. This shows
  a lack of faith in Gods help.
• God gives him three strong signs The Rod
  (42-5) His Own Hand (46-8) and the Water
  (49).
• We too may allow a fear of failure to keep us
  from sharing the gospel. Remember, the power is
  in the Word! (Romans 1017)
• We too have proofs (John 2030-31)

22
John 2030-31

• And truly Jesus did many other
  signs in the presence of His disciples, which
  are not written in this book 31 but these are
  written that you may believe that Jesus is the
  Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you
  may have life in His name.

23
I Am Slow of Speech

• Then Moses said to the LORD, O my Lord, I am not
  eloquent, neither before nor since You have
  spoken to Your servant but I am slow of speech
  and slow of tongue.
• Exodus 410

24
I Am Slow of Speech

• God was unmoved by this excuse.
• He knows the inadequacies of those He calls
  (412). He gave Aaron to be a spokesman
  (414-16).

25
Exodus 412

• Now therefore, go, and I will be with
  your mouth and teach you what you shall
  say.
• Moses did not need to worry about his speech or
  tongue. God knew of his impediment, but would
  through His power give Moses what was needed.

26
Exodus 414-16

• So the anger of the LORD was kindled
  against Moses, and He said Is not Aaron
  the Levite your brother? I know that he can
  speak well. And look, he is also coming out to
  meet you. When he sees you, he will be glad in
  his heart. 15 Now you shall speak to him and put
  the words in his mouth. And I will be with your
  mouth and with his mouth, and I will teach you
  what you shall do. 16 So he shall be your
  spokesman to the people. And he himself shall be
  as a mouth for you, and you shall be to him as
  God.

27
I Am Slow of Speech

• God was unmoved by this excuse.
• He knows the inadequacies of those He calls
  (412). He gave Aaron to be a spokesman
  (414-16).
• We sometimes make the same excuse. But, it did
  not stop Paul! (1 Corinthians 21, 3-4)

28
1 Corinthians 21, 3-4

• (21), And I, brethren, when I came
  to you, did not come with excellence of
  speech or of wisdom declaring to you the
  testimony of God.
• (23-4), I was with you in weakness, in fear, and
  in much trembling. 4 And my speech and my
  preaching were not with persuasive words of human
  wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of
  power.

29
I Am Slow of Speech

• God was unmoved by this excuse.
• He knows the inadequacies of those He calls
  (412). He gave Aaron to be a spokesman
  (414-16).
• We sometimes make the same excuse. But, it did
  not stop Paul! (1 Corinthians 21, 3-4)
• At the least, we can arrange studies for others
  (cf. Acts 1024,33)

30
Acts 1024, 33

• (1024), And the following day
  they entered Caesarea. Now Cornelius was
  waiting for them, and had called together his
  relatives and close friends.
• (1033), So I sent to you immediately, and you
  have done well to come. Now therefore, we are all
  present before God, to hear all the things
  commanded you by God.

31
Please Send Someone Else!

• But he said, O my Lord, please send by the hand
  of whomever else You may send.
• Exodus 413

32
Please Send Someone Else!

• Moses simply did not want to go. He was shirking
  his responsibility, and angered God (414)

33
Exodus 414

• So the anger of the LORD was kindled
  against Moses, and He said Is not
  Aaron the Levite your brother? I know that he can
  speak well. And look, he is also coming out to
  meet you. When he sees you, he will be glad in
  his heart.

34
Please Send Someone Else!

• Moses simply did not want to go. He was shirking
  his responsibility, and angered God (414)
• The previous excuses were simply a smokescreen.
  Here was the real problem!
• We can be guilty of the same. Our reasons are
  really only smokescreens. We do not want to do
  what the Lord requires of us! If so, we need to
  repent!

35
Romans 115-16

• So, as much as is in me, I am ready to preach the
  gospel to you who are in Rome also. 16 For I am
  not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is
  the power of God to salvation for everyone who
  believes, for the Jew first and also for the
  Greek.
• If we are unwilling to serve God by preaching the
  gospel, who will?

36
Conclusion

• The rest of the story. Moses answered Gods
  call, and led Israel out of Egypt, and to the
  borders of the land of promise.
• What will be the rest of our story? Will we
  continue with excuses? Or lead the lost to glory?