Moses is often considered one of the great heroes of the Bible. He was there when God conquered Pharaoh and Egypt. He was there when the Israelites received God’s Law from Mount Sinai. He led them throughout the wilderness for forty years. He is forever immortalized as one of the heroes of the faith. But did you know that when he was initially called by God, he wanted nothing to do with this mission? Moses thought of every excuse under the sun to tell God why He could never use somebody like him. Today I want us to consider these excuses Moses presented before the Lord, and what they revealed about his heart.
God called Moses to do a particular job: Moses was called to deliver the Israelites from Egyptians slavery in order for them to worship God. The LORD made this call most clear to Moses in Exodus 3 and the story of the burning bush. In this historical account, God summoned Moses to this holy place and revealed His identity saying, “I am the God of your father.” (Exodus 3:6 ESV) He then revealed His plan to the eighty-year-old shepherd, who once fled for his life because of cold-blooded murder (cf. Exodus 2:11-15). God said, “Come, I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring my people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt.” (Exodus 3:10 ESV)
The Moses in Exodus 3 is very different than the Moses of Deuteronomy 34. We can often forget that the people of the Bible were genuine flesh and blood individuals who learned lessons, grew and matured in their walk with the Lord. Moses is such a character. The younger Moses’s response to the call of God was simple: doubt. He was certain that God had chosen the wrong man. There are five places where Moses questioned God’s plan and wisdom (Exodus 3:11, 13; 4:1, 10, 13). Each of these five occasions have the same formula: 1) Moses doubts God’s plan; 2) God silences Moses’ doubts with a reminder of His own character and presence.
The very first lesson we learn from the call of Moses is that God answers our fears with the reminder of His presence. When Moses pointed to the inadequacy of himself as a man, God, in turn, pointed to Himself (cf. Exodus 3:11-12). Moses was not chosen because of his competencies, but in spite of his doubt concerning himself and God. Moses was terrified about this plan God was sending him on. He was afraid of the people, he was afraid of looking foolish, and was afraid that his speech issues were going to get in the way.
With each protest Moses was revealing a little bit more about his heart. What do you think his actions revealed about his heart? Is it really true that Moses was unsure if God picked the right man? Was Moses really concerned about the people’s reception? Or was there something more to the story? Although on a first read it appears as if Moses is humble and doubting himself, he is instead doubting God and was himself a coward. Moses’ own self-doubt was a mask for his doubt in God. God knew this, and yet He graciously silenced Moses’ doubts; even when His holy anger was “kindled against Moses”. (Exodus 4:14 ESV)
One of the great dangers for Christians is to believe that God could never use somebody like them. Some of the arrows that Satan regularly shoots at Christians are lies like this, “God uses extra special people. God uses people with a clean history and the right family. God couldn’t use someone like you.” Nothing could be further from the truth. All we need to do is take the time to consider the genealogy of Jesus in Matthew 1, or the hall of faith in Hebrews 11. There’s nothing squeaky clean about the figures God used.
The story of Moses’ call is so precious to us because it reminds us that Moses, the great man of God, the great servant of God, did not start out all that great. Instead, the call of Moses reminds us that Moses started out as a fearful, self-doubting believer. Perhaps that best describes you today. Perhaps you likewise doubt every good thing God’s Word says about you. Satan’s lies emerge again, “God’s mercy forgives other people’s sins but maybe not yours. God transforms lives, but He can’t seem to change yours.”
The story of Moses is so important for us because it reminds us again and again that the usefulness of any man or woman in God’s hands has nothing to do with their natural abilities, or anything else about them. Instead, it has everything to do with God’s abilities and presence. In God’s hands, abusers are made redeemers, cowards are made bold, and the sexually promiscuous are made pure again. All of this stems from the cleansing blood of Christ poured out on us by His Holy Spirit. What would happen in your world if you really took God at His word and didn’t limit Him to your abilities, but established your limits by His character? Today, the crooked world needs men and women like that whose strength is truly found on the Lord and not themselves.