Exodus 4:10  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.

Modern psychologists would likely suggest that Moses lacked “self-esteem”. Self-esteem is just a fancy term for pride. Pride is sin. Moses did not lack pride. He had too much of it. He was talking to the LORD. He had the arrogance to think he could argue with the true God. He thought he knew better than God did.
He claimed he was not an eloquent man. He had no problem expressing his opinions to the LORD. He had no problem coming up with excuses. His problem was that he did not want to do what God wanted of him.
In verse 11 God rebuked him. Moses needed to keep in mind who made man’s mouth. Moses needed to remember that his abilities came from God.
The question God asked Moses in verse 11 is a good one for us to consider as well. James talks about the contradiction of using our mouths for blessing and also for cursing. That is not the nature of a child of God. God made our mouths to glorify Him. He wants us to use our mouths to speak truth and be a help to others.
As we have already noted, when God calls a saint for a specific task, He equips that person for the task. That does not mean there will be no need for learning. It means that God gives the person the ability to learn what is needed. God also gives the person the desire to serve Him faithfully. Moses was very much in the flesh on this matter.
For the past number of years he spent his time with sheep and had much time to think. He learned the nature of sheep. He saw those that were always trying to break away from the flock. He saw how there were those who would try to lead the flock the wrong way. He also saw those that liked to stay close to the shepherd. Now God was speaking to him about a much more important task. Moses needed godly guidance to prepare him for what God had in mind. Rather than fight against God, Moses needed to listen to God. Moses needed to listen to God and humbly submit to Him.
In verse 12 the LORD reminded Moses that He would give him the words to speak. The LORD would teach him what he needed to say. Moses needed to humble himself and submit to God’s will. Even when a saint does not know what is happening, if he walks with the Lord obediently, he can trust God to guide him the right way. Moses was obviously being called by God. His problem was not that he was going his own way. His problem was that he did not want to obey God.
In verse 13 Moses made a very interesting request. If he would have been thinking properly, he would have known that the LORD was sending the one whom He wanted to send. It is interesting that Moses addressed the LORD as Lord. He chose a different name for God. The name translated as “Lord” here is used in reverence of God. It is used in the place of LORD, which is “Yahweh” — the self existent God Who does not need our permission or our counsel. Moses showed respect for the LORD with his mouth, but his heart was certainly not submitted to the LORD.
In verse 14 we see that the LORD had enough of Moses’ stubbornness. The LORD was angry with Moses. Moses would now lose out on some of the blessing that God had in store for him. God is never caught off guard. He knows what to do. It was certainly not His will that Moses fight against Him. God knew that Aaron was on his way to meet him and he would be the mouthpiece for Moses. Aaron was not afraid to speak. The LORD knew he could speak. Aaron would be happy to see his brother.
The LORD also knew that He could give Moses all the skills needed to speak His Word with conviction and in truth. The problem at hand was not with the LORD, but with Moses’ unwillingness to submit to the LORD.
In verse 15 God told Moses that he would give Aaron the words to speak and Aaron would speak to the elders. Obviously God knew the heart of Aaron as well. He knew that Moses and Aaron would get along. We know that later on there would be a time when Aaron would join his sister in attacking Moses. For the most part these two brothers would work together and Aaron would be submissive to Moses’ leadership.
In verse 16 God continued to explain what Aaron’s task would be. God was not going to skip over Moses. He was still God’s choice for the leadership of the nation of Israel. It would just take Moses longer to finally submit to God’s will and serve Him as he should.
It is important for those who are saved to learn from these passages of Scripture. God knows His children better than we know ourselves. If God calls us for a task, we can know that He is well able to equip us for the task. We need to submit to Him and put our honest effort into preparing for the work God has for us. There is no room for pride in the work of the LORD. We need to be humble servants who are willing to trust Him and serve Him faithfully.
The local church is the primary training ground for the true child of God. Those who are saved, but do not attend a true local church are robbing themselves. You cannot be equipped for God’s work if you do not follow God’s way. Today is the Lord’s day. It is the day for true saints to attend a true local church. Lost people need to attend a true local church where they can hear the Gospel and be reminded further of the importance of God’s salvation. I trust each one reading this will attend a true local church today where they can be blessed by the hearing of God’s Word.
Pastor Bartel