Read with Me
Exodus 4:13-17 (HCSB)
Moses said, “Please, Lord, send someone else.”
Then the LORD’s anger burned against Moses, and He said, “Isn’t Aaron the Levite your brother? I know that he can speak well. And also, he is on his way now to meet you. He will rejoice when he sees you. You will speak with him and tell him what to say. I will help both you and him to speak and will teach you both what to do. He will speak to the people for you. He will be your spokesman, and you will serve as God to him. And take this staff in your hand that you will perform the signs with.”
Listen with Me
Moses was out of logical excuses. He could not claim that he would wouldn’t be able to do what God had commanded him to do. He had heard His voice, He had seen His glorious light burning in the bush, and he had even witnessed signs of His amazing power. Now, all he could do was to fall back on the only reason for not obeying that remained to him: he simply didn’t want to do it.
Even though God was genuinely angry at Moses’ refusal to obey, He knew the ultimate plans he had for him, and that he would in fact become the person He planned for him to be. God just needed to get him moving in the right direction, and when things started to move forward, Moses’ better instincts would kick in and impel him forward.
Knowing this is how things would play out in the short-run, weeks before this encounter, God had moved the heart of Moses’ brother, Aaron, to seek out Moses in Midian. At that moment, he was only a few days away. So, as a stopgap measure, God set in place a hierarchy. Aaron was not as hesitant about speaking as Moses was. He was fluent in both Israelite Hebrew and Egyptian and had a bold personality. So, God designated Aaron as the spokesperson. God would give Moses the words to say, Moses would give those words to Aaron, and Aaron would speak them, first to the Israelite leaders, then to Pharaoh. Moses would be the one to perform the miraculous signs, but Aaron would speak the words.
At that point, Moses had no possible excuses left, and he could sense enough of God’s anger in the tone of his voice that he dared not refuse again. Even the little that he knew of God from his father-in-law made him realize that this was not a God who accepted rebellion from those He called. So, Moses finally accepted God’s call.
Pray with Me
Father, all through the Bible it is evident that when Your call comes, it does not come as a suggestion or a mere possibility, but as a commandment. And it is also evident that things do not turn out well for those who hear Your call and then refuse to obey. Of course, obedience does not always turn out happily. There have been many martyrs that can attest to that fact. But those of us who do obey understand that whether our obedience leads to a long and blessed life here in the world, or whether we end up with You in heaven sooner than we thought, we will know that we have played a part in advancing Your plan of salvation and world transformation. Help me, Lord, to always answer “yes” to Your call, and then leave the results of my instant obedience in Your hands. Amen.