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wilh a flock of sheep in lhe
desert .. .
"They won' l believe me!" Moses
compla ined lo God. "They won' l do
whal
1
lell lhem lo. They' ll say,
•
YH VH
never appeared 10
you!'"
Three Good Miracles
Now, God was again pa1ien1 wilh
Moses, lislened to his arguments.
sympa lhized with !lis dilemma. " I
understand your problem, Moses,"
God replied. "What's thal in your
ha nd?"
" lt 's jusl my shepherd's rod,"
Moses answered sheepishly.
"Well , 1'11 tell you whal we're go–
ing to do. Moses. 1 undersland lhal
people have a great difficu lty in be–
lieving what my servants say
1
say –
so 1'11 lel you have three good tricks
you can perform,
real
lricks. mira–
eles. tha t' ll make their eyes bug out
in disbelief - if they want 10
see
something. we' ll give lhem some–
thing lo
see!
First, throw tha t rod
yo u have down on the ground and
1'11 make il into a snake - you grab
it by lhe tail and it'll become a rod
again. Second, st ick your arm into
your robes and when you pull it out
it' ll be leprous, but when you put it
back inlo your robe and pull it out a
second time, it' ll be normal again .
Third . if these two tricks d o n' t
achieve the goal, you take sorne
wa te r from the river Nile and when
you pour it out it' ll become
blood
right be fore their eyes! Now, bol–
stered with those miracles, do you
think you could do the job?"
Well. Moses threw down his rod ,
and sure enough, it became a snake.
and when he picked it up by the tail
it re turned to its original stick shape.
He put his arm in his robe and when
he drew it out , sure enough it was
leprous! Hopefully, he thrust it into
his ga rments again, and thankfully
when he brought it out again it was
okay! He didn' t have any Nile River
water handy, so he had to take thal
one on faith . And Moses
did
believe.
More Excuses
But somehow, Moses just couldn' t
seem to picture himself performing
this job God wanted him to do. He
cast about in his mind for ye t an–
o ther excuse that would convince
God that He'd picked the wrong
man - he was getting despe rate!
The
PLAIN TRUTH March 1977
"Moses
pleaded,
'O
Lord. l'm just
not a good speaker.
1
never have
been, and l'm not now, even after
you have spoken tome - my speech
is slow and halting. 1just don ' t think
l'm the one you really want to ..."
Now. God became a little upset.
Why was He even lislening to the
arguments of a mere human being?
Who did Moses think he was talking
to his Maker that way? Couldn't he
see that God was not just
asking
him to do this Job. but TELLING
him?
"Who is it that makes mouths,
anyway, Moses?"
1
Will Be said.
" lsn't it 1? Am 1 no t the one who
makes a man so that he can speak
or not speak, see or not see, hear or
not hear? Now you do what
1
tell
you, or else!
1
will tell you what to
speak, and then help you to speak it,
and
y ou wi/1 do what
1
say!"
lncredible, isn' t it? You'd almost
think that Moses had already read
and was convinced of the words of a
man called Paul - yet to be born,
thousands of years into the future:
"This High Priest· of ours under–
stands our weaknesses .... So Jet us
come
boldly
to the very throne of
God and stay there to receive his
merey and to tind grace to help us
in
our times of need" (Heb. 4:15, 16).
Yes, Moses believed in and prac–
ticed that principie long before Paul
wrote it - fact is. Moses' own ex–
ample as well as Paul's own experi–
e nce and knowle dge probably
inspired Paul's words.
Patience Worn Thln
You can read the Bible from start
to finish and you will not find a
more
bold
approach to God by any–
one else. Here was a
man.
literally
arguing with God! And surviving!
And God, in His turn, was reason–
ing with Moses. It was a give-and–
take situation between the Creator
and the created! The Ever-living
God was so far patiently putting up
with mumbling Moses as he tried in
every way to squirm out of the Job
God had for him to perform.
But, believe it or not, even God's
patience wears thin. He had allowed
Moses to refuse His o tfe r and criti–
cize His choice
four times.
Though
Moses may no t have known it, he
was pushing his luck a little too far,
being a little too
bold
when he re-
Jected God's o tfer the
fifth
time!
With no real or imagined excuses
left to present to God, Moses simply
said : " Lord,
please!
Send someone
else!"
THEN THE LORD BECAME ANGRY!
"AII right, " He said, " l' ve had
enough of your excuses! Your
brother Aaron is a good speaker; if
you don't trust meto make you elo–
quent before Pharaoh, then you tell
Aaron wha t
J
told you and let
him
tell Pharaoh - this is almost ridicu–
lous! But
1
will let Aaron be your
spokesman to the people - you will
be as God to him, and he will be
your prophet to the people and to
Pharaoh . And don' t forget that rod
of yours - be sure to take italong so
you can perform the miracles
1
showed you. Now GO DO YOUR
JOB!!!"
With that . Moses finaUy got the
hint!
God had made up His mind on
who He was going to use to free the
Israelites from Egypt, and no matter
how stu bborn Moses was, God was
yet
more
stubbom! The going was
getting tough - and it was time for
the tough to get going!
Besides. Moses didn't really be–
lieve God was going to swallow that
excuse about his not being a good
speaker - Moses was too eloquent
in presenting the argument! Gene r–
als and princes don' t tend to be
"slow of speech." And you and
1
know what Stephen. the first martyr
of the New Testament Church . said
about Moses : " ... Pharaoh's daugh–
ter found him and adopted him as
her own son, and taught him all the
wisdom of lhe Egyptians, and he
became a mighty prince and
ora–
tor'' !
(Acts 7:21 ,22.)
So, like it or not. Moses was stuck
with the Job. Moses stopped arguing
at this point - though he was to
repeat that ha bit many times later –
and left the presence of God to be–
gin his next, last and greatest forty
years. He had been prince for forty
years, pauper for forty - now he
was to be prophet for yet another
forty !
Reluctant Prophet
The reason a ll this is brought up is
to show Moses in a ditfe rent light
than mos t see him. Moses was not
eager to become the chief executive
(Continued on page 45)
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