◄ Exodus 4:10 ►
"Please, Lord," Moses replied, "I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since You have spoken to Your servant, for I am slow of speech and tongue."
Study Bible
Please, Lord
The phrase "Please, Lord" reflects Moses' humility and reverence as he addresses God. The Hebrew word for "Lord" here is "Adonai," which signifies a master or sovereign. This title acknowledges God's authority and Moses' submission to His will. In the context of Moses' life, this plea is a moment of vulnerability, showing his reluctance and fear in accepting the divine mission. It is a reminder of the importance of approaching God with humility and recognizing His sovereignty in our lives.

I have never been eloquent
Moses' admission of not being eloquent is significant. The Hebrew word for "eloquent" can be understood as "a man of words." Moses is expressing his perceived inadequacy in speech, which is crucial for the task of leading and communicating with the Israelites and Pharaoh. Historically, this reflects the common human tendency to focus on personal limitations rather than God's power. It serves as an encouragement that God often chooses the seemingly unqualified to fulfill His purposes, emphasizing reliance on divine strength rather than human ability.

neither in the past nor since You have spoken to Your servant
This phrase highlights Moses' consistent struggle with speech, both before and after his encounter with God at the burning bush. The continuity of his speech difficulty underscores the authenticity of his concern. The term "Your servant" is a humble acknowledgment of Moses' role in God's plan. It is a reminder that God's call does not always align with our self-assessment, and He equips those He calls, often transforming weaknesses into strengths for His glory.

for I am slow of speech and tongue
The description "slow of speech and tongue" suggests a physical or psychological impediment in Moses' ability to speak. The Hebrew words used here can imply heaviness or difficulty in articulation. This self-assessment is crucial in understanding Moses' reluctance and fear. Historically, this has been interpreted as a speech impediment or lack of fluency, which Moses believed disqualified him from leadership. However, it also illustrates a profound truth: God often uses our weaknesses to demonstrate His power, ensuring that the glory is His alone. Moses' journey is a testament to the transformative power of God's call, encouraging believers to trust in His provision and strength despite personal limitations.

Persons / Places / Events
1. Moses
A central figure in the Old Testament, chosen by God to lead the Israelites out of Egypt. At this point, Moses is expressing his reluctance and self-doubt about his speaking abilities.

2. The LORD (Yahweh)
The God of Israel, who appears to Moses in the burning bush and commissions him to lead His people out of slavery in Egypt.

3. The Burning Bush
The miraculous event where God speaks to Moses, calling him to deliver the Israelites. This is a pivotal moment in Moses' life and in the history of Israel.
Teaching Points
God's Strength in Our Weakness
God often chooses those who feel inadequate to accomplish His purposes, demonstrating that His strength is made perfect in our weakness.

The Importance of Obedience
Despite personal insecurities, obedience to God's call is crucial. Moses' eventual acceptance of his role led to the liberation of Israel.

Trust in God's Provision
God equips those He calls. Moses' concern about his speech was met with God's provision of Aaron as a spokesperson.

The Role of Humility
Moses' humility and recognition of his limitations opened the door for God to work mightily through him.

God's Patience and Reassurance
God is patient with our doubts and fears, providing reassurance and support as we step into His calling.
Bible Study Questions
1. How does Moses' reluctance in Exodus 4:10 reflect our own hesitations when faced with daunting tasks? Can you think of a time when you felt similarly inadequate?

2. In what ways does God's response to Moses' self-doubt encourage us to trust in His provision and strength? How can this be applied in your current life situation?

3. Compare Moses' feelings of inadequacy with those of other biblical figures like Jeremiah or Gideon. What common themes do you see, and how does God address them?

4. How does the concept of God using the weak to accomplish His purposes challenge our cultural views of strength and success?

5. Reflect on a time when you felt God calling you to something beyond your abilities. How did you respond, and what was the outcome? How might Moses' account inspire a different response in the future?
Connections to Other Scriptures
Exodus 3:11-12
Moses' initial hesitation and God's assurance of His presence. This highlights Moses' consistent self-doubt and God's promise to be with him.

Jeremiah 1:6-8
Jeremiah's similar reluctance due to his youth and God's reassurance, paralleling Moses' feelings of inadequacy.

1 Corinthians 1:26-29
Paul speaks about God choosing the weak and foolish things of the world to shame the strong, which aligns with God's choice of Moses despite his perceived weaknesses.
Sermons
A Trilogy of SignsJ. Orr Exodus 4:1-10
Divine Supplements for Human InfirmityH.T. Robjohns Exodus 4:1-17
The Fourth Difficulty: Moses Alleges Defect of UtteranceD. Young Exodus 4:10-12
EloquenceJ. S. Exell, M. A.Exodus 4:10-13
Fluency in SpeechW. M. Taylor, D. D.Exodus 4:10-13
Gifts Other than Eloquence an Element in LeadershipProf. Gaussen.Exodus 4:10-13
God Can Make Use of Poor MaterialExodus 4:10-13
God's Biddings are EnablingsExodus 4:10-13
Inspiration Better than EducationH. O. Mackey.Exodus 4:10-13
LessonsW. M. Taylor, D. D.Exodus 4:10-13
Natural Infirmities in Relation to Moral ServiceJ. S. Exell, M. A.Exodus 4:10-13
Self-ConsciousnessJ. Parker, D. D.Exodus 4:10-13
Slowness of SpeechJ. S. Exell, M. A.Exodus 4:10-13
Speech, or Dumbness, from GodH. Melvill, B. D.Exodus 4:10-13
Strength not Always AppropriateExodus 4:10-13
The Art of the Orator Undesirable in a PreacherSpurgeon, Charles HaddonExodus 4:10-13
The Divine CreatorshipW. M. Taylor, D. D.Exodus 4:10-13
The Objections Made to Religious ServiceJ. S. Exell, M. A.Exodus 4:10-13
Uselessness of Mere WordsRobert Hall.Exodus 4:10-13
Why was Moses not Gifted with Eloquence?M. M. Kalisch, Ph. D.Exodus 4:10-13
God's Wrath Will Fall Where His Service is DeclinedJ. Urquhart Exodus 4:10-17
Slow of SpeechJ. Orr Exodus 4:10-17
People
Aaron, Isaac, Israelites, Jacob, Jethro, Moses, Pharaoh, Zipporah
Places
Egypt, Horeb, Midian, Nile River
Topics
Ah, Either, Eloquent, Hast, Heretofore, Mouth, O, Oh, Past, Please, Recently, Servant, Slow, Speaking, Speech, Spoke, Spoken, Talking, Tongue, Yesterday
Dictionary of Bible Themes
Exodus 4:10

     1230   God, the Lord
     5103   Moses, significance
     5851   excuse
     5877   hesitation

Exodus 4:1-13

     7758   preachers, call

Exodus 4:10-11

     5193   tongue
     5842   eloquence

Exodus 4:10-12

     5168   muteness
     8422   equipping, spiritual

Exodus 4:10-13

     5102   Moses, life of
     8726   doubters

Exodus 4:10-14

     6218   provoking God
     8282   intolerance

Exodus 4:10-15

     5949   shyness
     5968   timidity

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

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