Excuses
Exodus 3:1-11 NIV, “Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the far side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. There the angel of the Lord appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush. Moses saw that though the bush was on fire it did not burn up. So Moses thought, ‘I will go over and see this strange sight—why the bush does not burn up.’ When the Lord saw that he had gone over to look, God called to him from within the bush, ‘Moses! Moses!’ And Moses said, ‘Here I am.’ ‘Do not come any closer,’ God said. ‘Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.’ Then he said, ‘I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.’ At this, Moses hid his face, because he was afraid to look at God. The Lord said, ‘I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering. So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey—the home of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites. And now the cry of the Israelites has reached me, and I have seen the way the Egyptians are oppressing them. So now, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt.’ But Moses said to God, ‘Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?’”
Moses' Excuses
Lack of Ability
Verse 11, “But Moses said to God, ‘Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?’”
Verse 12, “And God said, ‘I will be with you. And this will be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you will worship God on this mountain.’”
Lack of Knowledge
Verse 13, “Moses said to God, ‘Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, the God of your fathers has sent me to you, and they ask me, What is his name? Then what shall I tell them?’”
Verses 14,15, “God said to Moses, ‘I am who I am. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: I am has sent me to you.’ God also said to Moses, ‘Say to the Israelites,
The Lord, the God of your fathers—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob—has sent me to you.’ This is my name forever, the name you shall call me from generation to generation.”
Lack of Credibility
Exodus 4:1, “Moses answered, ‘What if they do not believe me or listen to me and say, The Lord did not appear to you?’”
Lack of Communication Skills
Exodus 4:10-12, “Moses said to the Lord, ‘Pardon your servant, Lord. I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since you have spoken to your servant. I am slow of speech and tongue.’ The Lord said to him, ‘Who gave human beings their mouths? Who makes them deaf or mute? Who gives them sight or makes them blind? Is it not I, the Lord? Now go; I will help you speak and will teach you what to say.’”
Lack of Obedience
Exodus 4:13, “But Moses said, ‘Pardon your servant, Lord. Please send someone else.’”
My Response to God's Call:
- Use the Ability God gives me
- Use the Knowledge God gives me
- Use God's Credibility
- Use God's Words
- Do What God Says
