When God calls Moses to go and lead His people out of
Exodus 4:1-9
1 Then Moses said,
"What if they will not believe me or listen to what I say? For they may
say, "The LORD has not appeared to you.'"
“Wait a minute! What if they don’t believe me? I’m just a man coming out of the desert saying that a burning bush spoke to me! They might just think I’m crazy! I have no visible authority, and no credentials!”
It’s really easy to identify with this objection of Moses. It sounds legitimate! They really might think he’s crazy! So what does God have to do AGAIN for Moses? He has to show Moses that HE IS GOD. Here are the credentials.
2 The LORD said to
him, "What is that in your hand?" And he said, "A staff."
3 Then He said,
"Throw it on the ground." So he threw it on the ground, and it became
a serpent; and Moses fled from it. (Notice
the symbolism here – you can look at the serpent as
4 But
the LORD said to Moses, "Stretch out your hand and grasp it by its
tail" -- so he stretched out his hand and caught it, and it became a staff
in his hand --
5 "that they may
believe that the LORD, the God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of
Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has appeared to you."
At least Moses follows instructions. God is telling Moses that he has nothing to
fear in
6 The LORD
furthermore said to him, "Now put your hand into your bosom." So he
put his hand into his bosom, and when he took it out, behold, his hand was
leprous like snow.
7 Then He said,
"Put your hand into your bosom again." So he put his hand into his
bosom again, and when he took it out of his bosom, behold, it was restored like
the rest of his flesh.
8
"If they will not believe you or heed the witness of the first sign, they
may believe the witness of the last sign.
One thing to know about leprosy – when you contracted it, it was a certain death sentence. There was no cure, and it was always fatal. It was an absolutely hopeless situation! But God is telling Moses that He will take him through every hopeless situation in life.
9 "But if they
will not believe even these two signs or heed what you say, then you shall take
some water from the Nile and pour it on the dry ground; and the water which you
take from the Nile will become blood on the dry ground."
Moses also assumed that the Egyptians would not believe
him. The Egyptians worshipped the
What do you do when God calls you to do something? Do you react like Moses, and think of all the reasons why you can’t do it? As we’ve seen, some of the reasons you come up with may sound legitimate! But the answer should always be to trust in the character and nature of God.
God has answered Moses’ objections patiently and completely. He has shown Moses that He would do everything necessary to accomplish His purpose of freeing His people from slavery.
But instead of trusting God to accomplish His will, Moses is still trying to wiggle out of it! Next time, we’ll see God lose His patience, and Moses will suffer some consequences for failing to trust God in His call to Moses.