When God speaks to will or command, it is amazing how the excuses flow so freely and so fast.

1 – The commission that is given to Moses

For forty years Moses was a shepherd in Midian. He is now eighty years old. He is herding his father-in-law’s sheep on the backside of Mount Horeb, a little mountain that is part of the range that is called Sinai, when a unique phenomenon catches his eye. He sees a little shrub which is ablaze, but is not being burnt up. This is more than a vision or a bush that has burst into blossom and appears to be on fire or the rising sun falling upon the shrub. It is a little thorn bush that is aburst with flames.

Moses sees in a simple little object what has been happening to the nation of Israel. The bush shows the lowly origin of the Hebrews. (They are not a large tree in the forest). Rather than fruit, the people had produced thorns and fallen under the chastening hand of God for over two centuries. See Deuteronomy 4 – “iron furnace of Egypt”. The nation has not been consumed because they have been preserved by God.

The Angel of the Lord (Jesus Christ) speaks from the midst of the bush. Moses bows before the person in the midst of the bush with his shoes off and his face to the ground because he is conscious that he is in the presence of God. God has seen the afflictions of the people. He has heard their wailing cries from their taskmasters. He has come to deliver them from their bondage. God could have sent a plague to wipe out Pharaoh or a legion of angels to do the task. God chooses to use a man and the man he has chosen is Moses! Moses will represent God.

2 – Moses objects to his commission

• This task calls for a great man to oppose the might of Pharaoh (vs. 11). Moses sees himself as a nobody. God’s presence will be with Moses. Moses will return to this mountain with the people of Israel because of the presence of God. Moses finds this promise not sufficient.
• What authority does Moses have to present himself before Pharaoh and the people of Israel? God is the “I AM”. The word used for God is “Yahweh” which is derived from the word “to be”. He is the self-existent and sovereign God. The authority of Moses rests on the fact that Yahweh sent him. Moses should not be frightened into silence but to be bold in the authority that God has given him. His authority is God.
• What if they do not believe in Moses? How is Moses to know that the people will not believe? We are to share the message and leave the rest to the power of God. God gives to Moses three signs:

1. The staff turns into a serpent.
2. His hand becomes leprous.
3. Water from the Nile will become blood.

Despite these miraculous signs Moses still objects!

• Moses is not fluent in his speech (Exodus 4:10). God does not disagree! This is the kind of man that God likes to use. It is the Spirit of God who will enable Moses to speak. Moses refuses this promise.
• Moses wants God to send someone else. Moses’ real problem is his disobedience to God. In unbelief he gives one objection after another. Unbelief prevented the nation for forty years from entering the land of Canaan, until the whole generation was wiped out. The anger of the Lord burned against Moses. God offers to Moses his brother Aaron. Often time Aaron was more of a hindrance than a help. Moses will regret his unbelief. With great hesitation Moses moves on the Egypt. With this step of disobedience the blessing of God was now going to fall upon Moses. You become a friend of Jesus by faith. The evidence that you are a friend of Jesus is that you do whatsoever He commands you to do.

Categories: Exodus