The Speech Giver
Exodus 4:1-17
"The Lord said to him, 'Who gave man his mouth? Who makes him deaf or mute? ... Is it not I, the Lord? Now go; I will help you speak and will teach you what to say.'"
(Exodus 4:11-12)
Poor Moses. Though he was born a Hebrew, he was uniquely adopted into the Pharaoh's family. Every privilege of Egypt was known to him, but here he was an exiled prince, wanted for murder, living on the backside of the desert herding his father-in-law's sheep. Then, one ordinary day, Yahweh, the great and mighty unseen God, speaks to him (Exodus 3). He instructs him to return to Egypt and demand that Pharaoh let God's people - this growing Hebrew nation of slaves - go free. God tells Moses he will lead this nation. No wonder he responds, "But, but, but - I stutter. I can't possibly do this!"
God's response was, "Who gave you your mouth? Your ears? Your speech? I will help you speak and will teach you what to say." To fulfill His purposes, God met Moses' needs and fears head-on. That's the greatness of God. He knows our needs. He knows our fears. Nothing can prevent Him from setting us free. God gave Moses exactly what he needed: speech. Jesus gives us exactly what we need: forgiveness.
INSIGHT
Moses led God's people to freedom from slavery in Egypt. Jesus, the great Life Giver, leads all who believe to freedom from sin and death.
READ THROUGH THE BIBLE IN A YEAR
Numbers 8-9
Psalm 65
John 6
Exodus 4:1-17
Signs for Moses
1 Moses answered, "What if they do not believe me or listen to me and say, ‘The LORD did not appear to you’?"
2 Then the LORD said to him, "What is that in your hand?"
"A staff," he replied.
3 The LORD said, "Throw it on the ground."
Moses threw it on the ground and it became a snake, and he ran from it. 4 Then the LORD said to him, "Reach out your hand and take it by the tail." So Moses reached out and took hold of the snake and it turned back into a staff in his hand. 5 "This," said the LORD, "is so that they may believe that the LORD, the God of their fathers—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob—has appeared to you."
6 Then the LORD said, "Put your hand inside your cloak." So Moses put his hand into his cloak, and when he took it out, it was leprous,[a] like snow.
7 "Now put it back into your cloak," he said. So Moses put his hand back into his cloak, and when he took it out, it was restored, like the rest of his flesh.
8 Then the LORD said, "If they do not believe you or pay attention to the first miraculous sign, they may believe the second. 9 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."
10 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."
11 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? 12 Now go; I will help you speak and will teach you what to say."
13 But Moses said, "O Lord, please send someone else to do it."
14 Then the LORD’s anger burned against Moses and he said, "What about your brother, Aaron the Levite? I know he can speak well. He is already on his way to meet you, and his heart will be glad when he sees you. 15 You shall speak to him and put words in his mouth; I will help both of you speak and will teach you what to do. 16 He will speak to the people for you, and it will be as if he were your mouth and as if you were God to him. 17 But take this staff in your hand so you can perform miraculous signs with it."
Footnotes:
a. Exodus 4:6 The Hebrew word was used for various diseases affecting the skin—not necessarily leprosy.
ONE LAMB AT A TIME [PART 3]
Jesus tells us that he is the Good Shepherd and seeks after lost sheep. Recording from Israel, Charles interviews two Israelis who were once "lost sheep," but now know Jesus as Savior and Lord.
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