Then the anger of the LORD burned against Moses, and He said, "Is not Aaron the Levite your brother? I know that he can speak well, and he is now on his way to meet you. When he sees you, he will be glad in his heart. Sermons
I. WHAT THEY WERE. Moses' difficulties resolved themselves into three. 1. The power of Pharaoh. "Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh?" (Exodus 3:10). We may be staggered by the thought of the powers that are arrayed against us. 2. The anticipated unbelief of the people (ver. 1). The preacher has to encounter hard and unbelieving hearts, and this may enfeeble and dishearten him. 3. His lack of gifts (ver. 10). Humble natures are easily discouraged by the sense of their own short-comings - by the consciousness of ignorance, defective education, lack of gifts of speech, etc. II. HOW THEY WERE MET. 1. God armed Moses with powers that made him more than a match for the mighty king of Egypt. 2. He gave him the means of overcoming the unbelief of the people. 3. He promised to endow him with power of speech; and, when that was rejected, supplied his defect by giving him a coadjutor. From which learn: - 1. That while it is right to state our difficulties to God - to pour out all our hearts before him - it is wrong to make them an excuse for shrinking from duty. 2. That God, if relied on, will give us all sufficiency. - J.O.
He shall be thy spokesman. I. THAT SOMETIMES GREAT MEN ARE CALLED TO UNDERTAKE A WORK AGAINST THE PERFORMANCE OF WHICH THEY IMAGINE THEMSELVES TO HAVE A NATURAL IMPEDIMENT.1. Men should be certain that their so-called impediment will be a real hindrance in the service to which they are sent. In these days, when people are called to work, they at once refer to their infirmity and unfitness for it; but their real infirmity is not so much their slowness of speech, as their unbelief, and unwillingness to follow the Divine command. They have not the rectal courage to encounter difficulty. 2. But we admit that sometimes men are called to religious work, against the performance of which they have a true natural impediment. And why this apparent anomaly?(1) It is because with the command He gives the moral energy necessary for its execution. He gives the timid man the stimulus of the vision. He gives him the inspiration of a miracle.(2) Its design is to educate man on the side of his weakness.(3) It is to render the mission all the more triumphant when accomplished. It is the distinguishing glory of Christianity that it makes provision for the victory of the weak, who have within their souls the grace of God. II. THAT AT SUCH TIMES GOOD MEN REQUIRE THE AID OF OTHERS WHOSE TALENTS COMPENSATE FOR THEIR INFIRMITIES. 1. This help was adapted to the infirmity of Moses. "Is not Aaron the Levite thy brother? I know that he can speak well." So there are a variety of gifts and talents in the Church. The one is the complement of the other. 2. This help was arranged by the Providence of God. "And also, behold, he cometh forth to meet thee." (1) (2) (3) 3. This help was founded upon, and rendered welcome by, family relationship. "Thy brother." III. THAT SUCH CO-OPERATION RENDERS RELIGIOUS WORK MUCH MORE JUBILANT AND SUCCESSFUL. 1. It is happy. It is adapted to our weak condition of faith. 2. It is sympathetic. 3. It is hopeful. (J. S. Exell, M. A.) 1. His hesitation. Caused by (1) (2) 2. His certificate. Power to work sundry miracles is given. 3. His unbelief. Moses seems, at this time, to rely too much on human qualities. His lack of eloquence, he thinks, will be great hindrance. II. THE GRACIOUS COMPENSATION. Moses and Aaron the complement of each other. The man of words and the man of action. Human qualities are mercifully distributed. No one man perfect. Each needs the help and talents of others. Providence designs that men should not be independent of one another. "Two heads better than one." Opposites often found in one family. Moses and Aaron — brothers. Different qualities and talents in a household to be used, and combined, for the service of God. Let none envy the gifts of others, but cultivate his own. III. THE BROTHERS' MEETING. 1. In the wilderness. Place of brotherly meeting a garden in the desert of life. How great the joy of meeting each other where all around is paradise, and no separation or toll in prospect. 2. Marked by affection. They "kissed" each other. Mutual respect and love. 3. Their intercourse. Chief matter in hand was Moses's commission. Aaron, the elder, Cheerfully takes the second place. Is indebted for even that to the humility of Moses. They journey on together, and at once address themselves to their work.Learn — 1. God's witnesses are witnessed to. Seals to their ministry. 2. Humbly to regard ourselves, but do any work to which Providence calls us. 3. Rejoice in others' powers, and cheerfully unite for common ends. 4. Thank God for our meeting on earth, and prepare for the better one. 5. Christ, our elder Brother, meets us in the wilderness, salutes us with the kiss of love, and goes with us to all our holy labours. (J. C. Gray.) (W. L. Watkinson.) In the great honey industries of South California the bees play a most important and valuable part. But they cannot pierce the skins of the apricots until the lady-bug has made a hole for them. It must have been an accidental thing at the outset, the first bee joining a lady-bug at her feast of apricot, but they have now become necessary to the honey-crop of the district. All life and service is interdependent — Timothy is necessary to Paul; the least essential to the great.(H. O. Mackey.) 1. Often righteously provoked.2. Often gentle in its reproof. 3. Truly benevolent in its disposition. (J. S. Exell, M. A.) I. THEN GOD TAKES KNOWLEDGE OF THE VARIED TALENTS OF MEN.II. THEN GOD WILL HOLD MEN RESPONSIBLE FOR THEIR TALENTS. III. THEN THE TALENTS OF MEN CANNOT BE BETTER EMPLOYED THAN IN THE SERVICE OF THE CHURCH. (J. S. Exell, M. A.) We have noted the timidity and hesitation of Moses, notwithstanding the varied promises and assurances with which Divine grace had furnished him. And now, although there was nothing gained in the way of real power, although there was no more virtue or efficacy in one mouth than in another, although it was Moses, after all, who was to speak unto Aaron, yet Moses was quite ready to go when assured of the presence and co-operation of a poor feeble mortal like himself, whereas he could not go when assured again and again that Jehovah would be with him. How his case, like a mirror, reflects our own hearts! We are more ready to trust anything than the living God. How deeply should it humble us before the Lord that, though we move along with bold decision when we possess the countenance and support of a poor frail mortal like ourselves, yet we falter, hesitate, and demur when we have the light of the Master's countenance and the strength of His omnipotent arm to support us.(A. Nevin, D. D.) People Aaron, Isaac, Israelites, Jacob, Jethro, Moses, Pharaoh, ZipporahPlaces Egypt, Horeb, Midian, Nile RiverTopics Aaron, Already, Anger, Angry, Behold, Brother, Burned, Burneth, Fluently, Forth, Glad, Heart, Kindled, Levite, Meet, Moreover, Rejoiced, Sees, Speak, Speaketh, Speaks, TalkingOutline 1. Moses's rod is turned into a serpent.6. His hand is leprous. 10. He loathes his calling. 13. Aaron is appointed to assist him. 18. Moses departs from Jethro. 21. God's message to Pharaoh. 24. Zipporah circumcises her son. 27. Aaron is sent to meet Moses. 29. The people believe them. Dictionary of Bible Themes Exodus 4:14Library 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 -- --! May the Twelfth Mouth and Matter A Bundle of Myrrh is My Well-Beloved unto Me; He Shall Abide Between My Breasts. Preaching (I. ). To the Saddest of the Sad The Sweet Uses of Adversity "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. The Hardening in the Sacred Scripture. The Quotation in Matt. Ii. 6. Flight into Egypt and Slaughter of the Bethlehem Children. Appendix xii. The Baptism of Proselytes A Canticle of Love Exodus Links Exodus 4:14 NIVExodus 4:14 NLT Exodus 4:14 ESV Exodus 4:14 NASB Exodus 4:14 KJV Exodus 4:14 Bible Apps Exodus 4:14 Parallel Exodus 4:14 Biblia Paralela Exodus 4:14 Chinese Bible Exodus 4:14 French Bible Exodus 4:14 German Bible Exodus 4:14 Commentaries Bible Hub |