Then Moses answered, "What if they do not believe me or listen to my voice? For they may say, 'The LORD has not appeared to you.'" Then Moses answered,Moses is responding to God after being called to lead the Israelites out of Egypt. This moment occurs at the burning bush, a significant theophany where God reveals Himself to Moses. Moses' response indicates his hesitation and doubt, a common human reaction when faced with a daunting task. This reflects the broader biblical theme of God choosing imperfect individuals to fulfill His purposes. Jer 1:6 “Ah, Lord GOD,” I said, “I surely do not know how to speak,…
Jdg 6:15 “Please, my Lord,” Gideon replied, “how can I save Israel?”…
“What if they do not believe me Moses anticipates skepticism from the Israelites, reflecting a lack of confidence in his own authority and the message he is to deliver. This concern is rooted in his past experiences, as he had previously fled Egypt after killing an Egyptian (Exodus 2:11-15). The question highlights the challenge of faith and belief, a recurring theme in Scripture, where God's messengers often face disbelief (e.g., the prophets, Jesus in His hometown in Mark 6:4). Num 14:11 And the LORD said to Moses, “How long will this people…
Jhn 12:37 Although Jesus had performed so many signs…
Luk 16:31 Then Abraham said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses…
or listen to my voice? Listening in biblical terms often implies obedience. Moses fears that the Israelites will neither heed his words nor follow his leadership. This concern is echoed throughout the Bible, where God's people frequently struggle to listen and obey His commands (e.g., Deuteronomy 28:1-2). The phrase underscores the importance of not just hearing God's word but acting upon it. Deu 18:19 And I will hold accountable anyone who does not listen…
Psa 95:7-8 For He is our God, and we are the people of His pasture…
Ezk 2:7 But speak My words to them, whether they listen…
For they may say, Moses anticipates the objections of the Israelites, showing his awareness of their potential doubts. This reflects a broader biblical narrative where God's people often question His messengers (e.g., the Israelites questioning Moses and Aaron in Numbers 16:3). It also foreshadows the Israelites' frequent complaints and lack of faith during their wilderness journey. Jer 28:15 Then the prophet Jeremiah said to the prophet Hananiah,…
Jer 43:2 Azariah son of Hoshaiah, Johanan son of Kareah,…
‘The LORD has not appeared to you.’” This statement reflects a challenge to Moses' divine commission. The Israelites' potential disbelief in God's appearance to Moses highlights the need for signs and wonders to authenticate his mission, which God subsequently provides (Exodus 4:2-9). This skepticism parallels the New Testament, where Jesus' authority is questioned, and He performs miracles as signs of His divine mission (John 10:25). Moses serves as a type of Christ, a mediator between God and His people, prefiguring Jesus' role as the ultimate mediator. Exo 3:2-6 There the angel of the LORD appeared to him……
Num 12:6 He said, “Hear now My words: If there is a prophet among you…
Deu 18:21-22 You may ask in your heart, “How can we recognize a message…
Persons / Places / Events 1. MosesA Hebrew prophet chosen by God to lead the Israelites out of Egyptian bondage. At this point, Moses is expressing doubt and insecurity about his mission. 2. The LORD (Yahweh)The covenant name of God, who appears to Moses and commissions him to deliver the Israelites from Egypt. 3. IsraelitesThe descendants of Jacob, who are enslaved in Egypt and whom Moses is called to lead to freedom. 4. EgyptThe land where the Israelites are enslaved and from which God plans to deliver them through Moses. 5. The Burning BushThe location where God appears to Moses and commissions him, although not directly mentioned in this verse, it is the context of the conversation. Teaching Points Faith in God's CallingMoses' doubt is a common human response, yet God equips those He calls. We should trust in God's provision and guidance. Overcoming InsecurityLike Moses, we may feel inadequate for tasks God assigns us. However, God often uses our weaknesses to demonstrate His strength. The Importance of ObedienceDespite his doubts, Moses eventually obeys God's command. Our obedience can lead to significant outcomes in God's plan. God's AssuranceGod provides signs and assurances to Moses. In our lives, God often provides confirmation and encouragement through His Word and Spirit. The Role of Faith in LeadershipMoses' journey shows that faith is crucial for effective leadership, especially when facing opposition or doubt. Bible Study Questions 1. How does Moses' initial doubt in Exodus 4:1 reflect common human insecurities when faced with a daunting task? 2. In what ways can we seek and recognize God's assurances in our own lives when we feel inadequate for His calling? 3. How does Moses' account encourage us to trust in God's plan, even when we cannot see the outcome? 4. What are some practical steps we can take to overcome doubt and insecurity in our spiritual journey? 5. How can we apply the lessons from Moses' leadership and faith to our roles in our families, workplaces, and communities? Connections to Other Scriptures Exodus 3Provides the context of God's call to Moses and the initial conversation at the burning bush. Numbers 12Discusses Moses' unique relationship with God, highlighting his role as a prophet. Acts 7Stephen's speech references Moses' life and mission, providing a New Testament perspective on his calling. Hebrews 11Lists Moses in the "Hall of Faith," emphasizing his faith despite initial doubts. People Aaron, Isaac, Israelites, Jacob, Jethro, Moses, Pharaoh, ZipporahPlaces Egypt, Horeb, Midian, Nile RiverTopics Answereth, Answering, Appear, Appeared, Behold, Believe, Credence, Ear, Faith, Hearken, Listen, VoiceDictionary of Bible Themes Exodus 4:1 5102 Moses, life of
5831 depression
5877 hesitation
8726 doubters
8836 unbelief, response Exodus 4:1-3 5968 timidity Exodus 4:1-9 1449 signs, purposes Exodus 4:1-13 7758 preachers, call Library January 13. "Thou Shalt be to Him Instead of God" (Ex. Iv. 16).
"Thou shalt be to him instead of God" (Ex. iv. 16). Such was God's promise to Moses, and such the high character that Moses was to assume toward Aaron, his brother. May it not suggest a high and glorious place that each of us may occupy toward all whom we meet, instead of God? What a dignity and glory it would give our lives, could we uniformly realize this high calling! How it would lead us to act toward our fellow-men! God can always be depended upon. God is without variableness or shadow of turning. …
Rev. A. B. Simpson—Days of Heaven Upon Earth May the Eleventh but -- --!
"And Moses answered and said, But----" --EXODUS iv. 1-9. We know that "but." God has heard it from our lips a thousand times. It is the response of unbelief to the divine call. It is the reply of fear to the divine command. It is the suggestion that the resources are inadequate. It is a hint that God may not have looked all round. He has overlooked something which our own eyes have seen. The human "buts" in the Scriptural stories make an appalling record. "Lord, I will follow Thee, but----" There …
John Henry Jowett—My Daily Meditation for the Circling Year May the Twelfth Mouth and Matter
"Now therefore go, and I will be with thy mouth." --EXODUS iv. 10-17. And what a promise that is for anyone who is commissioned to proclaim the King's decrees. Here can teachers and preachers find their strength. God will be with their mouths. He will control their speech, and order their words like troops. He does not promise to make us eloquent, but to endow our words with the "demonstration of power." "And I will teach thee what thou shall say." The Lord will not only be with our mouths, …
John Henry Jowett—My Daily Meditation for the Circling Year A Bundle of Myrrh is My Well-Beloved unto Me; He Shall Abide Between My Breasts.
When the Bride, or rather the lover (for she is not yet a bride), has found her Bridegroom, she is so transported with joy, that she is eager to be instantly united to Him. But the union of perpetual enjoyment is not yet arrived. He is mine, she says, I cannot doubt that He gives Himself to me this moment, since I feel it, but He is to me, as it were, a bundle of myrrh. He is not yet a Bridegroom whom I may embrace in the nuptial bed, but a bundle of crosses, pains and mortifications; a bloody husband …
Madame Guyon—Song of Songs of Solomon Preaching (I. ).
Earthen vessels, frail and slight, Yet the golden Lamp we bear; Master, break us, that the light So may fire the murky air; Skill and wisdom none we claim, Only seek to lift Thy Name. I have on purpose reserved the subject of Preaching for our closing pages. Preaching is, from many points of view, the goal and summing up of all other parts and works of the Ministry. What we have said already about the Clergyman's life and labour, in secret, in society, in the parish; what we have said about his …
Handley C. G. Moule—To My Younger Brethren To the Saddest of the Sad
I often wonder what those preachers do who feel called to make up their message as they go on; for if they fail, their failure must be attributed in great measure to their want of ability to make up a moving tale. They have to spread their sails to the breeze of the age, and to pick up a gospel that comes floating down to them on the stream of time, altering every week in the year; and they must have an endless task to catch this new idea, or, as they put it, to keep abreast of the age. Unless, indeed, …
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 34: 1888 The Sweet Uses of Adversity
Now, I propose to address myself to the two classes of persons who are making use of this question. First, I shall speak to the tried saint; and then I shall speak to the seeking sinner, who has been seeking peace and pardon through Christ, but who has not as yet found it, but, on the contrary, has been buffeted by the law, and driven away from the mercy-seat in despair. I. First, then, to THE CHILD OF GOD. I have--I know I have--in this great assembly, some who have come to Job's position. They …
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 5: 1859 "For if Ye Live after the Flesh, Ye Shall Die; but if Ye through the Spirit do Mortify the Deeds of the Body, Ye Shall Live.
Rom. viii. s 13, 14.--"For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die; but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God." The life and being of many things consists in union,--separate them, and they remain not the same, or they lose their virtue. It is much more thus in Christianity, the power and life of it consists in the union of these things that God hath conjoined, so that if any man pretend to …
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning The Hardening in the Sacred Scripture.
"He hath hardened their heart."-- John xii. 40. The Scripture teaches positively that the hardening and "darkening of their foolish heart" is a divine, intentional act. This is plainly evident from God's charge to Moses concerning the king of Egypt: "Thou shalt speak all that I command thee; and I will harden Pharaoh's heart, and multiply My signs and wonders in the land of Egypt. But Pharaoh shall not harken unto you, and I will lay My hand upon Egypt, and the Egyptians shall know that I am the …
Abraham Kuyper—The Work of the Holy Spirit The Quotation in Matt. Ii. 6.
Several interpreters, Paulus especially, have asserted that the interpretation of Micah which is here given, was that of the Sanhedrim only, and not of the Evangelist, who merely recorded what happened and was said. But this assertion is at once refuted when we consider the object which Matthew has in view in his entire representation of the early life of Jesus. His object in recording the early life of Jesus is not like that of Luke, viz., to communicate historical information to his readers. …
Ernst Wilhelm Hengstenberg—Christology of the Old Testament Flight into Egypt and Slaughter of the Bethlehem Children.
(Bethlehem and Road Thence to Egypt, b.c. 4.) ^A Matt. II. 13-18. ^a 13 Now when they were departed [The text favors the idea that the arrival and departure of the magi and the departure of Joseph for Egypt, all occurred in one night. If so, the people of Bethlehem knew nothing of these matters], behold, the angel of the Lord appeareth to Joseph in a dream, saying, Arise [this command calls for immediate departure] and take the young child and his mother, and flee into Egypt [This land was ever the …
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel Appendix xii. The Baptism of Proselytes
ONLY those who have made study of it can have any idea how large, and sometimes bewildering, is the literature on the subject of Jewish Proselytes and their Baptism. Our present remarks will be confined to the Baptism of Proselytes. 1. Generally, as regards proselytes (Gerim) we have to distinguish between the Ger ha-Shaar (proselyte of the gate) and Ger Toshabh (sojourner,' settled among Israel), and again the Ger hatstsedeq (proselyte of righteousness) and Ger habberith (proselyte of the covenant). …
Alfred Edersheim—The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah A Canticle of Love
It is not only when He is about to send me some trial that Our Lord gives me warning and awakens my desire for it. For years I had cherished a longing which seemed impossible of realisation--to have a brother a Priest. I often used to think that if my little brothers had not gone to Heaven, I should have had the happiness of seeing them at the Altar. I greatly regretted being deprived of this joy. Yet God went beyond my dream; I only asked for one brother who would remember me each day at the Holy …
Therese Martin (of Lisieux)—The Story of a Soul Exodus
The book of Exodus--so named in the Greek version from the march of Israel out of Egypt--opens upon a scene of oppression very different from the prosperity and triumph in which Genesis had closed. Israel is being cruelly crushed by the new dynasty which has arisen in Egypt (i.) and the story of the book is the story of her redemption. Ultimately it is Israel's God that is her redeemer, but He operates largely by human means; and the first step is the preparation of a deliverer, Moses, whose parentage, …
John Edgar McFadyen—Introduction to the Old Testament Links Exodus 4:1 NIVExodus 4:1 NLTExodus 4:1 ESVExodus 4:1 NASBExodus 4:1 KJV
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