MAKING EXCUSES TO GOD - Exodus 3-4
This is an amazing and a convicting account.
You can read the account of Moses and the burning bush in the opening verses of Exodus chapter 3.
Immediately following that, God speaks to Moses (Ex. 3:7-10) "And the Lord said: “I have surely seen the oppression of My people who are in Egypt, and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters, for I know their sorrows. So I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up from that land to a good and large land, to a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanites and the Hittites and the Amorites and the Perizzites and the Hivites and the Jebusites. Now therefore, behold, the cry of the children of Israel has come to Me, and I have also seen the oppression with which the Egyptians oppress them. Come now, therefore, and I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring My people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt.”
God has seen, God has heard, God knows, God has come down. (That's enough material for a separate study.)
God will deliver the people, removing them form the land currently occupies unto and into a "new" land - and He will do so by sending Moses! Immediately, the excuses begin.
Excuse #1 - Ex. 3:11 "But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh, and that I should bring the children of Israel out of Egypt?”
Moses needed to understand what we also need to understand. God is able to, and He does, use nobodies, those who are weak, etc. and in so doing He shows His power. The prophet Amos was "merely" a shepherd. King David was "merely" a shepherd. The list could go on indefinitely of the "nobodies" that God used mightily.
(Note: A good book along these lines is "Not To The Strong", by Elwood McQuaid, published by Friends of Israel.)
1 Cor. 1:27-29 "But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty; and the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are, that no flesh should glory in His presence."
Excuse #2 - Ex. 3:13 "Then Moses said to God, “Indeed, when I come to the children of Israel and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they say to me, ‘What is His name?’ what shall I say to them?”
This may not sound exactly like an excuse, but... In 3:11 Moses says "Who am I...?" In this verse 13 it's almost as if Moses is saying "Who are YOU?" Sadly, this response does not sound terribly different from the response of the Pharaoh when Moses finally does go to him, as we read in Ex. 5:2 "And Pharaoh said, “Who is the Lord, that I should obey His voice to let Israel go? I do not know the Lord, nor will I let Israel go.”
How about you, friend? Do you know the Lord? For more help on that, please click HERE.
Excuse #3 - Ex. 4:1 "Then Moses answered and said, “But suppose they will not believe me or listen to my voice; suppose they say, ‘The Lord has not appeared to you.’”
There is no end to this line of excuses - suppose this, suppose that, what if this, what if that,... If we must answer every possible contingency before we go, we will never go.
In the "flesh", this is not an unusual response. But spiritually, it demonstrates a lack of trust in God.
Excuse #4 - Ex. 4:10 "Then Moses said to the Lord, “O my Lord, I am not eloquent, neither before nor since You have spoken to Your servant; but I am slow of speech and slow of tongue.”
Once again, it is when we are trusting in ourselves that we feel we need to be strong, eloquent, etc., etc.
In 4:11 God puts Moses in his place "So the Lord said to him, “Who has made man’s mouth? Or who makes the mute, the deaf, the seeing, or the blind? Have not I, the Lord?" and in 4:12 God graciously adds the assurance of His presence and power to overcome any deficiency on Moses' part: "Now therefore, go, and I will be with your mouth and teach you what you shall say.” And so, God responds to each of Moses' excuses and affirms His plan and desire that Moses go. But Moses still makes excuse.
Excuse #5 - Ex. 4:13 "But he said, “O my Lord, please send by the hand of whomever else You may send.”
The ultimate "excuse" encompasses any and all others and simply expresses the desire to not go - "please send someone else". That's just about like saying "I won't go".
God's response to this ultimate excuse is found in 4:14 "So the anger of the Lord was kindled against Moses,..."
I don't know about you, but I do not want God's anger kindled against me!
How about you, friend. Are you willingly doing as God asks and demands? Or are you full of excuses?
You can read the account of Moses and the burning bush in the opening verses of Exodus chapter 3.
Immediately following that, God speaks to Moses (Ex. 3:7-10) "And the Lord said: “I have surely seen the oppression of My people who are in Egypt, and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters, for I know their sorrows. So I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up from that land to a good and large land, to a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanites and the Hittites and the Amorites and the Perizzites and the Hivites and the Jebusites. Now therefore, behold, the cry of the children of Israel has come to Me, and I have also seen the oppression with which the Egyptians oppress them. Come now, therefore, and I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring My people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt.”
God has seen, God has heard, God knows, God has come down. (That's enough material for a separate study.)
God will deliver the people, removing them form the land currently occupies unto and into a "new" land - and He will do so by sending Moses! Immediately, the excuses begin.
Excuse #1 - Ex. 3:11 "But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh, and that I should bring the children of Israel out of Egypt?”
Moses needed to understand what we also need to understand. God is able to, and He does, use nobodies, those who are weak, etc. and in so doing He shows His power. The prophet Amos was "merely" a shepherd. King David was "merely" a shepherd. The list could go on indefinitely of the "nobodies" that God used mightily.
(Note: A good book along these lines is "Not To The Strong", by Elwood McQuaid, published by Friends of Israel.)
1 Cor. 1:27-29 "But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty; and the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are, that no flesh should glory in His presence."
Excuse #2 - Ex. 3:13 "Then Moses said to God, “Indeed, when I come to the children of Israel and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they say to me, ‘What is His name?’ what shall I say to them?”
This may not sound exactly like an excuse, but... In 3:11 Moses says "Who am I...?" In this verse 13 it's almost as if Moses is saying "Who are YOU?" Sadly, this response does not sound terribly different from the response of the Pharaoh when Moses finally does go to him, as we read in Ex. 5:2 "And Pharaoh said, “Who is the Lord, that I should obey His voice to let Israel go? I do not know the Lord, nor will I let Israel go.”
How about you, friend? Do you know the Lord? For more help on that, please click HERE.
Excuse #3 - Ex. 4:1 "Then Moses answered and said, “But suppose they will not believe me or listen to my voice; suppose they say, ‘The Lord has not appeared to you.’”
There is no end to this line of excuses - suppose this, suppose that, what if this, what if that,... If we must answer every possible contingency before we go, we will never go.
In the "flesh", this is not an unusual response. But spiritually, it demonstrates a lack of trust in God.
Excuse #4 - Ex. 4:10 "Then Moses said to the Lord, “O my Lord, I am not eloquent, neither before nor since You have spoken to Your servant; but I am slow of speech and slow of tongue.”
Once again, it is when we are trusting in ourselves that we feel we need to be strong, eloquent, etc., etc.
In 4:11 God puts Moses in his place "So the Lord said to him, “Who has made man’s mouth? Or who makes the mute, the deaf, the seeing, or the blind? Have not I, the Lord?" and in 4:12 God graciously adds the assurance of His presence and power to overcome any deficiency on Moses' part: "Now therefore, go, and I will be with your mouth and teach you what you shall say.” And so, God responds to each of Moses' excuses and affirms His plan and desire that Moses go. But Moses still makes excuse.
Excuse #5 - Ex. 4:13 "But he said, “O my Lord, please send by the hand of whomever else You may send.”
The ultimate "excuse" encompasses any and all others and simply expresses the desire to not go - "please send someone else". That's just about like saying "I won't go".
God's response to this ultimate excuse is found in 4:14 "So the anger of the Lord was kindled against Moses,..."
I don't know about you, but I do not want God's anger kindled against me!
How about you, friend. Are you willingly doing as God asks and demands? Or are you full of excuses?