God’s Call To Moses

by Micky Galloway

Moses was the man that God chose to lead the children of Israel out of Egypt. By the time Moses began to lead this “great nation” (Exodus 19:5-6) out of Egypt the scriptures tell us that the men who were fighting age, those who were twenty years old and older, numbered 603,550. Scholars tell us when we factor in those who were older, those who were younger and the women, they numbered two to three million people. The passage that best describes Moses’ great faith, describes his qualities for leading this great people out of the bondage of Egypt.

The Hebrew writer commends many qualities of leadership that Moses possessed. In Hebrews 11:24-29 we read many “by faith” statements made about Moses. “By faith Moses, when he was grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter; choosing rather to share ill treatment with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season; accounting the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt: for he looked unto the recompense of reward. By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king: for he endured, as seeing him who is invisible. By faith he kept the passover, and the sprinkling of the blood, that the destroyer of the firstborn should not touch them. By faith they passed through the Red sea as by dry land: which the Egyptians assaying to do were swallowed up.”

Moses’ accomplishments were both positive and negative. On a positive note, he refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter and forsook Egypt with all its riches. He also chose association with the people of God and he kept the Passover. These decisions were costly. It cost Moses his social position, pleasure, wealth and it cost him the disappointment of those who loved him. His adoptive mother, Pharaoh’s daughter, must have been disappointed in him. Though Moses accomplished great things and became the leader of God’s people, it was not always so. When God called Moses, he did not respond with faith, but with excuses.

His first excuse was, “Who am I, that I should go unto Pharaoh, and that I should bring forth the children of Israel out of Egypt?” (Exodus 3:11). He appears less confident now than he did forty years earlier when he killed the Egyptian slave master (Exodus 2:11-12). Moses now considers himself personally insignificant, perhaps unworthy for the task of leading the children of Israel out of the bondage of Egypt. Moses is assured that the important thing is not who Moses is, but who God is. God answers his objection. “And he said, Certainly I will be with thee; and this shall be the token unto thee, that I have sent thee: when thou hast brought forth the people out of Egypt” (Exodus 3:12). We should never believe that we cannot do what God has given us to do. Paul declared from a Roman prison, “I can do all things in him that strengtheneth me” (Philippians 4:13).

His second excuse was the unbelief of the people of Israel. “And Moses said unto God, Behold, when I come unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto them, The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you; and they shall say to me, What is his name? What shall I say unto them?” (Exodus 3:13). “… And Moses answered and said, But, behold, they will not believe me, nor hearken unto my voice; for they will say, Jehovah hath not appeared unto thee” (Exodus 4:1). After all it was his own people who had caused him to flee from Egypt forty years before (Exodus 2:13-15). God promptly answered Moses, “I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you” (Exodus 3:14). God showed to Moses what that meant. God caused Moses’ rod to become a serpent. The same rod was used by God to cause the waters of Egypt to become blood (Exodus 7:14-17), to cause hail to smite the land of Egypt (Exodus 9:23-24), to cause a plague of locust to eat every herb of the land (Exodus 10:12-13). The same rod was used to part the waters of the Red Sea (Exodus 14:13-16). God is able to transform the simplest things into the most convincing evidence to change the hearts of the Israelites in Egypt.

The third excuse Moses proposed was his own personal inability for the task. “And Moses said unto Jehovah, Oh, Lord, I am not eloquent, neither heretofore, nor since thou hast spoken unto thy servant; for I am slow of speech, and of a slow tongue” (Exodus 4:10). Moses’ first excuse indicates that he was unworthy, now he proposes he is unable. Perhaps Moses knew that, in Egypt, eloquence would be necessary to speak before Pharaoh. Again, God promptly answers, “Who hath made man's mouth? Or who maketh (a man) dumb, or deaf, or seeing, or blind? Is it not I, Jehovah? Now therefore go, and I will be with thy mouth, and teach thee what thou shalt speak” (Exodus 4:11-12). We often make the excuse, “I don’t know enough,” or “I just don’t know what to say.” Perhaps we wish someone else was here to take advantage of the opportunity. However, the call of God to teach is personal and compelling.

Finally, Moses expresses the real reason. He simply does not want to go. “And he said, Oh, Lord, send, I pray thee, by the hand of him whom thou wilt send” (Exodus 4:13). In other words, “Lord, I don’t care who you send, just don’t send me!” This is in stark contrast to the words of Isaiah, “Here am I, send me” (Isaiah 6:8). God was angry with Moses and told him to take Aaron and go.

After all the excuses were over, Exodus 4: 20 says, “And Jehovah said unto Moses in Midian, Go, return into Egypt; for all the men are dead that sought thy life. And Moses took his wife and his sons, and set them upon an ass, and he returned to the land of Egypt: and Moses took the rod of God in his hand.” When all our excuses are past, ultimately, we too must take the rod of God in hand and busy ourselves with the work God has appointed for us to do.