Be careful what you wish for…….

The crutch that trips you up

As I mentioned in a previous post, I love the way Moses related to God.. mainly because I find it easy to identify with. One of the moments I find most easy to relate to is God’s initial calling of Moses. I also think it is one of the funniest sequences in the Bible: To start with, God speaks to Moses from a burning bush, which is in itself fairly dramatic. He finishes his initial monologue with the challenge in Exodus chapter 3 verse 10:

So now, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt.”

Moses’s response is (in verse 11)

But Moses said to God, “Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?”

God basically responds to Moses by saying “mate, its not about you”:

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.”

Moses still doesn’t get it, basically responding with “Um, who should I say is calling”. God very patiently lays out who he is and what the plan is over the rest of chapter three, and does Moses get it? This is how he responds in verse 1 of chapter 4:

¹ Moses answered, “What if they do not believe me or listen to me and say, ‘The LORD did not appear to you’?”

God asks him to throw his walking stick on the ground and it becomes a snake, he picks it up and it becomes a stick again. He then is told to put his hand up his shirt and pull it out. When he looks at it he sees it covered with leprosy. When he sticks it back up his shirt and pulls it back out again it is healed. Pretty impressive huh? God says to Moses in verse 8 and 9:

Then the LORD said, “If they do not believe you or pay attention to the first miraculous sign, they may believe the second. But if they do not believe these two signs or listen to you, take some water from the Nile and pour it on the dry ground. The water you take from the river will become blood on the ground.”

Of course with such dramatic evidence, Moses immediately believes and follows? Nup. Basically in verse 10 he pleads a lack of public speaking experience:

Moses said to the LORD, “O 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.”

God points out who actually made his mouth in verse 11 and 12 and even starts to sound a little bit impatient:

The LORD said to him, “Who gave man his mouth? Who makes him deaf or mute? Who gives him sight or makes him blind? Is it not I, the LORD ?  Now go; I will help you speak and will teach you what to say.”

And then Moses makes the statement I identify with so much in verse 13:

But Moses said, “O Lord, please send someone else to do it.”

Do you ever feel like God is asking a bit too much of you? I find it interesting that two things happens next, 1) God is angry with Moses 2) He gives him what he wants.

In the long run it turns out that Aaron isnt actually that much help after all, while Moses is up the hill getting his tablets, Aaron leads the people in making the golden calf.

It also turns out that Moses isn’t actually that bad a public speaker. Some commentators believe that the book of Deuteronomy is actually the worlds longest recorded sermon…. of Moses.

The moral of the story.. watch out when you think you need a crutch.. God might actually give it to you.