Exodus 4

  • What serious mistake(s) did Moses did in responding to God’s callings? What were the consequences of those mistake(s)? Do you also make similar mistake(s)?

Despite all great & convincing assurances / promises / etc from God (Exodus 3:4 - Exodus 4:12), Moses tries to decline God's great and ultra-privileged call (Exodus 4:13)! You would think, this is so foolish ... why on earth?!

Moses gave in to his dis-beliefs, inadequacies & fears (Exodus 4:10-13). He was probably fixated on his own extremely limited abilities rather than God's. As a result he lost a significant portion of his great privilege to Aaron (Exodus 4:14-16). Even more there was a lost opportunity of God being glorified - People would have known and praised God if they saw Moses, who was thought to be a terrible public speaker (Exodus 3:10), delivering a spectacular speech laced with God's power.

Also DO NOT fail to notice that a seemingly naive disbelief from Moses caused God's anger to burn against Moses (Exodus 4:14). I am not surprised at God's anger as it makes no sense as to why Moses should reject God's calling, despite all the assurances from the One Mighty God and also given the GREAT needs of God's people at that time. Well, we all do that too in our lives as well, right? Remember, latter Jonah tries to run away from his calling too, and God was not happy with that at all.


How often do you do give in to your dis-beliefs, inadequacies, & fears and try to run away from God's callings? How have you suffered because of that?


Also God already knew that Moses would hesitate and hence He was already working with Aaron, as indicated by verse Exodus 4:14.


MISC

  • Why would God harden Pharaoh's heart?

Let us come back to this question latter in Exodus, as we see how this actually folds and associated consequences of it. For now, I believe God does this so that some necessary events unfold, as a consequence, which glorify God and also partly redeem the all the exploitation that has been in place for many decades by Egyptians on God's people.


  • Why did God want to kill Moses in Exodus 4:24?

Apparently Moses had not circumcised his son. This was not acceptable to God, especially because now Moses was going to lead God's people. What kind of leader would he be if He cannot keep God's laws in his own home? (Also it seems, from Exodus 4:25, Moses and his wife were not on same page about circumcision. How often do we see that in families of God's people, even today?)