May 25, 2025 - Moses' Refusal and God's Answer (Exodus 4:10-17)

Moses' Refusal and God's Answer (Exodus 4:10-17)

Rev. Myung-Sin Choi

10 Then Moses said to the Lord, “O my Lord, I am not eloquent, neither before nor since You have spoken to Your servant; but I am slow of speech and slow of tongue.” 11 So the Lord said to him, “Who has made man’s mouth? Or who makes the mute, the deaf, the seeing, or the blind? Have not I, the Lord? 12 Now therefore, go, and I will be with your mouth and teach you what you shall say.” 13 But he said, “O my Lord, please send by the hand of whomever else You may send.” 14 So the anger of the Lord was kindled against Moses, and He said: “Is not Aaron the Levite your brother? I know that he can speak well. And look, he is also coming out to meet you. When he sees you, he will be glad in his heart. 15 Now you shall speak to him and put the words in his mouth. And I will be with your mouth and with his mouth, and I will teach you what you shall do. 16 So he shall be your spokesman to the people. And he himself shall be as a mouth for you, and you shall be to him as God. 17 And you shall take this rod in your hand, with which you shall do the signs.”

Introduction

In England, we have an important figure who heard this from their father. The father told this person to be careful of what you say because what you say will be your reality and your actions. Be careful of your actions because they will become your habits. Be careful of your habits because they will be your personality. Be careful because your personality will become your fate. This is what Margaret Thatcher said. What you say and do, those will lead to your future. Colossians 3:17 “And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.” - What we must always think about is the word of God. God has given us the prayer topics of 7-7-7 and 24 hours. When we meditate on this, then all we can bear great fruits for our future. In other words, we can enjoy the power of the heavenly throne and the Triune God. 

1. Moses' Refusal

(1) Moses' misunderstanding

Verses 10-12 - This is talking about people who stutter when they speak. Moses would not be able to speak what he wants to say and would stutter when he speaks. But the Bible says that Moses was not like this at all.  

Acts 7:22 “And Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and was mighty in words and deeds.” - What is the reason why Moses said this to God? Moses was filled with worries and anxiety in his heart. In other words, Moses had to go before Pharaoh but if he met Pharaoh, he had no confidence but to go before Pharaoh. God knew this very well.

Verses 11-12 - The person who made Moses that way is God, this was what God was saying. God was giving an important message to Moses. God was telling Moses that he didn’t send him to Pharaoh so that he could persuade him. The reason why Moses had to go before Pharaoh, God will be the one who will be speaking for Moses. He will be putting words in Moses’ mouth. All Moses had to think about is that God will put words in his mouth. Moses was just a messenger, God was going to put words in Moses’ mouth. When we do God’s words, we try to use our words and knowledge. Many pastors do this, they will look into commentaries but God is telling us to just relay His words. God is telling us to evangelize but people say that they don't have confidence because they don’t know what to say. God is saying that He will speak for us and do His work. When we go into the field, hold onto that God is with us and teach us what to say. 

(2) God's wrath

Verses 13-15 - When God heard what Moses had to say, God was furious. God said that He would teach him what to say but Moses kept making excuses and said that he didn’t want to go. 

Then, God said in verse 14 - When you look at this, God already knew that Moses was lacking in confidence so God already prepared something. God prepared Aaron, his brother. This is amazing. God already prepared this meeting of Moses with his brother. Moses didn't know this, he was just sitting there and refusing God. This is the reason why people fail in their walk of faith. People don’t know that God has prepared everything for us but we are sitting here with all of our worries and anxiety. We are just sitting in our worries and anxiety, and lose all hope. But God has prepared all of the solutions for us. When Aaron appeared, it said that he will appear with gladness in his heart. God already prepared something in Aaron’s heart, it says gladness. This is talking about spiritual joy. This is talking about the joy of God’s covenant. 

Aaron was actually 3 years older than Moses. When Moses was taught of the word of God by his brother, Aaron also heard everything. We can see the spiritual background that Aaron was growing up in. Aaron knew what happened when Moses was put in the basket and put into the hands of the Egyptian princess. Aaron saw all of this and saw all of the history of Moses. Aaron knew that Moses was someone that God was going to use. When Moses was 80 years old, God commanded Aaron to meet Moses and Aaron was so happy because he knew that God’s covenant would be fulfilled. 

But God gave Moses an important message in verse 15 - This is God’s command to Moses. God was telling Moses to tell Aaron what God told Moses. This is how God does the gospel movement. We can see this method throughout the entire Bible. God gave the word to Moses and Moses will now relay this to Aaron. When Moses would go before Pharaoh and the Israelites, God will use Aaron to speak before them. When Aaron was relaying the gospel, God promised that He will be with Aaron and Aaron’s mouth. God said that He will teach them what to do. This is talking about them being fellow workers. Fellow workers go into the field and do God’s will. God will work among the fellow workers through His power. When Moses was relaying God’s word to Aaron, and Aaron spoke to Pharaoh; Pharaoh started trembling. This is how God works. We take the pulpit message and relay it to the field. When we relay God’s word in the field, God will be with us. Through this, the life movement takes place and God’s power is revealed. We must hold onto this. 

2. God's Answer

(1) Five answers

Moses refused God five times but every time Moses refused God, God gave Moses an answer. Each answer that God gave Moses, those are important covenants that we must hold onto. 

Exodus 3:11-12, 13-14 “But Moses said to God, ‘Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh, and that I should bring the children of Israel out of Egypt?’ 12 So He said, ‘I will certainly be with you. And this shall be a sign to you that I have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall serve God on this mountain.’ 13 Then Moses said to God, ‘Indeed, when I come to the children of Israel and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they say to me, ‘What is His name?’ what shall I say to them?’ 14 And God said to Moses, ‘I AM WHO I AM.’ And He said, ‘Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you.’ ” - God who heard this and responded to Moses in Exodus 3:12 that God will be with Moses. God is always with His servants. God will always be with us. 

Exodus 3:13 - God an astounding answer in Exodus 3:14 - God is saying that He is the source of all existence and He is the Creator. 

Exodus 4:1-9 “Then Moses answered and said, ‘But suppose they will not believe me or listen to my voice; suppose they say, ‘The Lord has not appeared to you.’ ’2 So the Lord said to him, “What is that in your hand?” He said, ‘A rod.’ 3 And He said, ‘Cast it on the ground.’ So he cast it on the ground, and it became a serpent; and Moses fled from it. 4 Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Reach out your hand and take it by the tail’ (and he reached out his hand and caught it, and it became a rod in his hand), 5 ‘that they may believe that the Lord God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has appeared to you.’ 6 Furthermore the Lord said to him, ‘Now put your hand in your bosom.’ And he put his hand in his bosom, and when he took it out, behold, his hand was leprous, like snow. 7 And He said, ‘Put your hand in your bosom again.’ So he put his hand in his bosom again, and drew it out of his bosom, and behold, it was restored like his other flesh. 8 ‘Then it will be, if they do not believe you, nor heed the message of the first sign, that they may believe the message of the latter sign. 9 And it shall be, if they do not believe even these two signs, or listen to your voice, that you shall take water from the river and pour it on the dry land. The water which you take from the river will become blood on the dry land.’ - You may say that God spoke to us and people may question how we know that God spoke to us. But God showed Moses a sign of the rod turning into a serpent. God also showed the miracle of a leprous hand being healed and the Nile River turning into blood. This shows that God will show works that He is alive. Do you believe in this? Since we believe in the living God, God will always show us that He is alive.  

Verses 10-12, 13-14 - God is telling Moses to just relay His words. When we relay the gospel, we shouldn’t say anything else but only the word of God. We are not talking about a fairy tale or anything else but only the word of God. 

Verses 13-14 - Moses told God to send Moses instead. But when God heard this, God attached a fellow worker to Moses, Aaron. God will always attach to us a fellow worker. Moses kept refusing God but in order to raise up Moses, God gave His word. We can see that God continued to guide Moses throughout this whole process. This means that the prepared worker that God raises up, God will end up using them. There is something God wants to fulfill through His servants. Each one of us has a talent and mission that God has given to us. God will not take us up to heaven until God’s mission for us is fulfilled. Whether you make a mistake, it is irrelevant. We know that Moses and Abraham made a lot of mistakes but it took 25 years for God to use Abraham. David made a grave mistake but God used him eventually to build His temple. Even though Moses refused God, God continued to use him in the end. There is something more than important than the person, what is more important to God is to fulfill His covenant. In order to fulfill His covenant of Genesis 3:15, God will do anything to fulfill it. We may be lacking but despite all of that, God continues to hold onto us so that we can fulfill His covenant. 

(2) God's wrath

Verses 16-17 - God uses fellow workers to glorify God. We saw the refusal of Moses and the answers that he received. In all of this, we can see the conclusion of all of this as the importance of fellow workers. God sees all of our weakness and lacking but God uses fellow workers. Who is a fellow worker? Someone who will work diligently and be a protector. Apostle Paul had many fellow workers in his fields. 

Verse 17 - This is what God told Moses. Through the rod that God gave Moses, perform miracles. What was this rod? This rod was used for shepherding for 40 years and it was used in the end to lead the Israelites out into the wilderness. This rod was actually nothing. But this worthless rod was used by God to reveal His power. The supernatural power will be revealed through this rod. God is saying that He will show that He is alive through this rod. This is the work and system of establishing the servant and fellow workers. When the fellow workers and servants become one, together, they will reveal God’s sign. 

3. The Unprecedented Answer

(1) What you must confirm

Joshua 14:6 “Then the children of Judah came to Joshua in Gilgal. And Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite said to him: ‘You know the word which the Lord said to Moses the man of God concerning you and me in Kadesh Barnea.’ ” - Caleb was holding onto Moses’ words. These were the words that God gave to Moses. We need to confirm God’s word that He gave to His servants. This is the mystery of unprecedented answers.  

(2) What you should not to be deceived about

Joshua 14:10 “And now, behold, the Lord has kept me alive, as He said, these forty-five years, ever since the Lord spoke this word to Moses while Israel wandered in the wilderness; and now, here I am this day, eighty-five years old.” - This was when Moses was before the hill country of the Anakites. This was a situation where the Anakites were so powerful so they were about to give up. This was when Caleb said that Joshua 14:6 - He was referring to God’s words that He spoke to Moses. Caleb held onto God’s word for 45 years. When a problem comes to us, hold onto God’s words. Don’t be deceived by your situation or background. Hold onto the word and spiritual facts. Hold onto God’s absolute plan and you will be victorious. 

(3) What you must be sure about

Joshua 14:12 “Now therefore, give me this mountain of which the Lord spoke in that day; for you heard in that day how the Anakim were there, and that the cities were great and fortified. It may be that the Lord will be with me, and I shall be able to drive them out as the Lord said.” - When God speaks then it is all done. If we hold onto God’s covenant, there is nothing else. There is no need to worry or be concerned. Just as God spoke, God will drive out the Anakites and God will be with them. If we hold onto God’s word spoken today, then we will have God’s power revealed in our lives. If we hold onto the Creator God then we can receive God’s power. If you believe in God’s word and hold onto God’s covenant, God will show evidence that He is alive. Experience this every single day. 

Conclusion

Joshua 14:14 “Hebron therefore became the inheritance of Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite to this day, because he wholly followed the Lord God of Israel.” - May you be people who wholeheartedly follow the Lord. This means that we are holding onto God’s word as God’s word just like Caleb. Caleb held onto God’s word that was given to Moses wholeheartedly. Then unprecedented answers will come upon us.