Exodus 4:1, 10-13, 20-23 Somebody Else
Moses is one of the three or four greatest heroes of the Bible- no, he is the greatest hero of the Hebrew Bible, and so, for Christians, he could very well place second. But what do we think we know about him? Do we simply think of him as a white-bearded, humorless man? We don’t know much- in all the historical records, outside of our Bible and biblical literature, he is never mentioned. So we have only these various accounts of him in Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy, written by the believing community about what God had done through the character and wisdom and determination of Moses. But he wasn’t always strong or wise or forceful. Sometimes he was confused and afraid. Like perhaps in this passage.
Until the end of this scripture, it seems that Moses just wants the bush to stop burning, wants God to go away and find somebody else. “I’m just not the right man,” he tells God in chapter 3, “I don’t even know which God you are,” he adds a few verses later. And he complains in this reading, “I don’t know these people, and they don’t know me; they will never believe me.” “And besides, when I get nervous I stutter and my mind sort of shuts down, so that I can’t speak coherently (s-s-see, it’s happening to m-m-me right now)!” Here is the great man, timid or unwilling or unconvinced; doesn’t know yet that he is great.
Maybe he thought the great times were behind him, left them in Egypt when he fled for his life, didn’t realize that his greatness was not those early days as the son of the princess, but in that occasion in chapter 2 when he stood against suffering and injustice. Maybe he thought this would be his life now and always, a simple shepherd and family man; when truly his greatness was displayed that first day in Midian, at the watering hole, when he rose up to fight for the shepherdesses bullied by the gang of shepherd toughs. Somewhere Moses had found great courage that must have come from a powerful sense of right and wrong. And God must have seen it, too, and so, for every excuse Moses offers, God answers. “I will be with you,” God says in chapter 3; “I made you, I made your mouth; I will give you the words.” There isn’t anybody else for this job; Moses is the right man.
Maybe he wasn’t exceptional yet, but God saw what he could be. God asked him a simple question, where perhaps the conversation begins to turn. In verse 1, Moses says to God, “They won’t believe me.” And God replies in verse 2, “What is that in your hand?” referring to the shepherd’s staff Moses carried. This is the stick that God tells Moses to throw down on the ground, where it becomes a snake- not part of our text, but you might remember the story. This is a sign of power Moses is to use to prove he has come at God’s command- it is a sign for others about Moses, but I think it is a sign for him, as well: not to prove God to him, but to prove himself, that he already has everything he needs for this task. Maybe it is a lesson for us, too, that we already possess what we need, and if we will use it, it will become an implement for doing God’s work: it can be anything- our personality traits, our bank accounts, spirituality sensitivity, biblical knowledge, an affinity for words or languages- everything we have that we may use to God’s glory. This staff, Moses continues to carry, all the way to Egypt, and the forty years of wilderness wanderings. Verse 20 calls it the “rod of God,” not because it has become a holy thing or a powerful relic, a weapon- that is the way of religious bullies, fanatics and terrorists, who use everything as a tool for hating and killing, as though bullets and bombs are how we do God’s will. No, God wants only hearts and minds given over to him. It is the “rod of God” because Moses has answered God’s call; it’s still just a shepherd’s staff, but now everything that Moses has, he uses to do God’s work.
When I read the words of Moses, asking God to send someone else to Egypt, I couldn’t help but think of Bill Cosby’s retelling of the story of Noah and the flood. The famous comedian had Noah- like Moses- coming up with excuses, until God cuts it short with this devastating line, “Noah, how long can you tread water?” These stories tell me that God isn’t looking for volunteers, but rather, for men and women who will last; they may take some convincing before they respond to the call; but when they go, they’re in it for the long haul, and we know they can be trusted with the truth. If you’ve been in churches for very long, you’ve seen many eager volunteers, gung-ho pastors or energetic new members, the “super-converted” we might call them, who arrive full of life and vigor, but after a while if things don’t go their way, they may get sidetracked or grow discouraged. I say this not to denigrate volunteerism or eagerness- thank God for volunteers- rather, I say it to help us see what happens with Moses; that he has already fought the battle of faith and faithfulness in these verses, and God has answered his every complaint. Think of it like your personal prayers: be honest, your prayers aren’t always sweet; they don’t always come easily; they are conversations with God, and sometimes they are arguments. What kind of answers do you get? Haven’t you fought battles with God in your prayers, when you perceive God wants something of you that you do not want to give? Prayer is hard; and God’s call is often hard. Relationship with our Lord is not always about excitement: the beauty of worship and godly joy and fellowship stirring up the emotions and endorphins into a spiritual high. It must also develop into a feeling and a faith that lasts.
Now, there comes a point in chapter 4 where God has heard enough, and grows angry at excuses. But by now, Moses has yielded to God, and so, he is an example to us, that if we give God a humble, truthful heart, God will provide strength to that humble and truthful heart: because that one will last; it will hear the word of God’s love and know it as a word for sending us out to love the oppressed and the lonely, a word to be shared so that God’s children in every place may hear the good news of hopefulness and acceptance and mercy.
God’s choice. What should we make of verses 21-23, God’s willingness to harden Pharaoh’s heart- is that really God’s way? Or this, God’s willingness to kill the innocent- that’s not what God does, is it? Here, we should recognize that Moses is not commissioned to slaughter, but was sent to Egypt to perform miracles in order to convince Pharaoh. That is quite a distinction, which some religious people- of every religion- do not make, who see themselves as the arbiters of truth, as God’s avenging hands ready to destroy whatever doesn’t agree with their philosophy.
This is a difficult passage. And maybe we should be content with this understanding of it: that the Lord has made his choice of Israel as God’s first born son, and nothing can prevent God from bringing this child to freedom. In the sermon two weeks ago, when God appeared to Moses in the burning bush, and said, “I have seen the affliction of “my people,” we examined who were God’s people; and the context pointed us to a class of people, the enslaved and the oppressed and the hungry- a class, rather than a race of people; and God had come down to save them.
Verse 23 is a powerful and sobering comment, God’s word of mercy and judgment, that God will not rest, will not balk at anything to deliver and to give life to these, “my people”; that God will not permit forever the oppressors to rule over the poor and the sick and the broken. It is certainly the message of Jesus our Lord, it is the good news of the gospel, and it is the message of the exodus. These are the people Moses is sent to, to bring them out of slavery in Egypt. Perhaps even now, God is sending us to find and heal and bring out his people in every land. And maybe, as well, the people who live across the street.