Excuses, Excuses

Excuses, Excuses God gives us abilities

Exodus 4:1-9 (NET Bible) 1 Moses answered again, “And if they do not believe me or pay attention to me, but say, ‘The LORD has not appeared to you’?” 2 The LORD said to him, “What is that in your hand?” He said, “A staff.” 3 The LORD said, “Throw it to the ground.” So he threw it to the ground, and it became a snake, and Moses ran from it. 4 But the LORD said to Moses, “Put out your hand and grab it by the tail” – so he put out his hand and caught it, and it became a staff in his hand – 5 “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.”

Exodus 4:1-9 (NET Bible) 6 The LORD also said to him, “Put your hand into your robe.” So he put his hand into his robe, and when he brought it out – there was his hand, leprous like snow! 7 He said, “Put your hand back into your robe.” So he put his hand back into his robe, and when he brought it out from his robe – there it was, restored like the rest of his skin! 8 “If they do not believe you or pay attention to the former sign, then they may believe the latter sign. 9 And if they do not believe even these two signs or listen to you, then take some water from the Nile and pour it out on the dry ground. The water you take out of the Nile will become blood on the dry ground.”

Excuses, Excuses God provides Moses with some tools, some minor miracles he can perform to convince people that his words are true.

Excuses, Excuses Sign #1: Staff – snake – staff Sign #2: Healthy – diseased – healthy

Excuses, Excuses “A major function in ancient religion, as in modern, was that of offering sacrifices in worship to various gods and goddesses to appeal to their ability to withdraw disease from a supplicant. For Moses to say, in effect, ‘Look what Yahweh can do with disease!’ was virtually to ask, ‘Can any god you’ve been worshiping heal like this?’” –NAC

Excuses, Excuses Sign #1: Staff – snake – staff Sign #2: Healthy – diseased – healthy Sign #3: Nile water – blood

Excuses, Excuses “The third sign, in other words, was not so much about Moses as it was about Egypt, and specifically the Nile. For God’s servant Moses to demonstrate through this simple act God’s power over the Nile would be to demonstrate God’s power generally over Egypt and the Egyptians.” –NAC

Excuses, Excuses The God who endowed you with abilities is inviting you to accomplish things for His name’s sake.

Excuses, Excuses God gives us abilities

God knows our limitations Excuses, Excuses God gives us abilities God knows our limitations

Exodus 4:10-12 (NET Bible) 10 Then Moses said to the LORD, “O my Lord, I am not an eloquent man, neither in the past nor since you have spoken to your servant, for I am slow of speech and slow of tongue.” 11 The LORD said to him, “Who gave a mouth to man, or who makes a person mute or deaf or seeing or blind? Is it not I, the LORD? 12 So now go, and I will be with your mouth and will teach you what you must say.”

Excuses, Excuses “There is no evidence anywhere in the Bible that he had any lack of skill in speech, public or private— and overwhelming evidence to the contrary.” –NAC

Excuses, Excuses “Thus Moses’ complaint was not in a defective articulation but in his inability to take command of Hebrew and Egyptian with a ready and copious supply of words and thoughts to beat back all objections from his brothers and Pharaoh—though he does quite well with God!” –Frank E. Gaebelein

Exodus 4:11 (NET Bible) 11 The LORD said to him, “Who gave a mouth to man, or who makes a person mute or deaf or seeing or blind? Is it not I, the LORD?

Excuses, Excuses YHWH

Excuses, Excuses YHWH Yahweh

Excuses, Excuses YHWH Yahweh Jehovah

YHWH Yahweh Jehovah LORD Excuses, Excuses YHWH Yahweh Jehovah LORD

“I will be whoever I will be.” Excuses, Excuses Maybe “I am that I am” is better translated “I will be whoever I will be.”

Excuses, Excuses “He seems to do nothing of Himself which He can possibly delegate to His creatures. He commands us to do slowly and blunderingly what He could do perfectly and in the twinkling of an eye.” -C.S. Lewis

Excuses, Excuses What excuses are you giving God?

God knows our limitations Excuses, Excuses God gives us abilities God knows our limitations

Excuses, Excuses God gives us abilities God knows our limitations God expects us to serve Him with our abilities despite our limitations

Exodus 4:13-17 (NET Bible) 13 But Moses said, “O my Lord, please send anyone else whom you wish to send!” 14 Then the LORD became angry with Moses, and he said, “What about your brother Aaron the Levite? I know that he can speak very well. Moreover, he is coming to meet you, and when he sees you he will be glad in his heart. 15 “So you are to speak to him and put the words in his mouth. And as for me, I will be with your mouth and with his mouth, and I will teach you both what you must do. 16 He will speak for you to the people, and it will be as if he were your mouth and as if you were his God. 17 You will also take in your hand this staff, with which you will do the signs.”

Excuses, Excuses “I don’t wanna.”

Excuses, Excuses “Aaron was provided as a cospeaker for Moses, not because Moses could not speak well but because of the encouragement Aaron would bring to Moses in the daunting task of facing the hostility of the pharaoh of Egypt.” –NAC

Excuses, Excuses Better if Moses had accepted God’s initial calling without trying to negotiate its terms.

Excuses, Excuses Are you in the process of negotiating the terms of your calling?

Excuses, Excuses God gives us abilities God knows our limitations God expects us to serve Him with our abilities despite our limitations