Exodus Chapter 4 Verses 10-17

:10 “And Moses said unto 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. 11 And the LORD said unto him, Who hath made man's mouth? or who maketh the dumb, or deaf, or the seeing, or the blind? have not I the LORD? 12 Now therefore go, and I will be with thy mouth, and teach thee what thou shalt say. 13 And he said, O my Lord, send, I pray thee, by the hand of him whom thou wilt send. 14 And the anger of the LORD was kindled against Moses, and he said, Is not Aaron the Levite thy brother? I know that he can speak well. And also, behold, he cometh forth to meet thee: and when he seeth thee, he will be glad in his heart. 15 And thou shalt speak unto him, and put words in his mouth: and I will be with thy mouth, and with his mouth, and will teach you what ye shall do. 16 And he shall be thy spokesman unto the people: and he shall be, even he shall be to thee instead of a mouth, and thou shalt be to him instead of God. 17 And thou shalt take this rod in thine hand, wherewith thou shalt do signs.”

“And Moses said unto 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.”  This is the next in the list of things that Moses uses as an excuse why that he is unable to do what the Lord has told him to do.  However, while Moses was in Egypt, he was described as being “mighty in word.”  Humility is generally an admirable quality, but using our weaknesses as an excuse to refrain from doing the service that God gives us is not a valid excuse.  The truth is that none of us are able to do the Lord’s service that he appoints to us in our own strength and abilities.  We are totally dependent upon the Lord as Jesus said, “without me you can do nothing.”  The Lord answers Moses with: “And the LORD said unto him, Who hath made man's mouth? or who maketh the dumb, or deaf, or the seeing, or the blind? have not I the LORD? 12 Now therefore go, and I will be with thy mouth, and teach thee what thou shalt say.”  The Lord has promised us that he will provide us with the ability to do what he tells us that we are to do.  Paul stated by the leadership of the Holy Spirit: “I can do all things thru Christ which strengtheneth me.  The Lord, who is the creator of all things and has all power in heaven and earth, can loose man’s tongue and make those slow of speech to speak fluently.  God promised Moses that he would teach him what he should say.  Moses had not yet learned the lesson that it is not by his ability but by the ability that God gives him that he can perform the service of God.  We learn this lesson through the experiences of life and seeing the Lord’s deliverances in our lives.  This is a very important lesson in our growth in faith.   

“And he said, O my Lord, send, I pray thee, by the hand of him whom thou wilt send. 14 And the anger of the LORD was kindled against Moses, and he said, Is not Aaron the Levite thy brother? I know that he can speak well. And also, behold, he cometh forth to meet thee: and when he seeth thee, he will be glad in his heart. 15 And thou shalt speak unto him, and put words in his mouth: and I will be with thy mouth, and with his mouth, and will teach you what ye shall do. 16 And he shall be thy spokesman unto the people: and he shall be, even he shall be to thee instead of a mouth, and thou shalt be to him instead of God.”  Now Moses ignores the words and assurances of the Lord and ask that God send someone to speak to the children of Israel.  Here, we see that what Moses said displeased the Lord as his anger was kindled against Moses.  God is definitely not pleased when we continually make excuses as to why we cannot do his service.   

Even though God’s anger was kindled against Moses, yet as is so often the case, God is still gracious unto his children.  In this case, God promised Moses that he would send Aaron, the brother of Moses to be his mouthpiece.  God would speak to Moses; Moses would speak to Aaron and Aaron would relay the message to the people as Moses spokesman.   

“And thou shalt take this rod in thine hand, wherewith thou shalt do signs.” Even though Moses gave so many excuses, God still required Moses to do his bidding and concluded this section by telling him to take the rod and do the signs God would show and tell him.  Thus, after all the excuses we may raise, we still have to do the service God requires of us.