Exodus 3:11, commentary and pictures

At Horeb, after God appeared in the burning bush as the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and commanded Moses to go to Pharaoh to bring Israel out of Egypt to a good land, Moses answered by asking who he was for such a work. The question was a shrinking back in fear and self-distrust, feeling unfit, unworthy, slow of speech, and helpless for so great a commission. That humility had been learned through forty years of shepherding, where self was purged and he was trained to be patient, tender, and faithful. His sense of weakness was itself evidence of fitness, for it would make God his counselor and strength rather than trusting his own wisdom and haste as when he slew the Egyptian. God answered by promising His presence with Moses, with the token that Israel would worship upon that mountain, and by turning his shepherd's staff into the rod of God to deliver them without human warfare.

Setting and Command

The question was asked at Horeb, the mountain of God, while Moses was keeping the flocks of Jethro in retirement, after he had learned self-control and humility and had been trained as a faithful shepherd to prepare him to shepherd Israel. Before it, God appeared in a flame of fire in a bush that burned without being consumed, called Moses by name, and declared the ground holy. He revealed Himself as the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and as the I AM, declared that He had seen Israel's affliction and heard their cry, and promised to deliver them from Egypt to a land flowing with milk and honey.

God then commanded Moses to go to Pharaoh to bring Israel out, to stand before Pharaoh and in God's name demand that Israel go, and first to assemble the elders of Israel and tell them of the deliverance. The Pharaoh whom Moses was to face was not the king who had decreed his death, for that king was dead and another had taken the government, Pharaoh being the name borne by nearly all Egyptian kings.

Moses did not expect deliverance in this manner, for he thought it would be by warfare, and he would have preferred to stand at the head of Israel as general and make war with the Egyptians. But God's plan was not warfare; He would magnify Himself before His people and before the Egyptians and teach them that there is a living God with power to save and to destroy. The sending came only after forty years of special preparation, because Moses had first tried in his own haste to do the work by force and might. He slew an Egyptian who fought with an Israelite and hid him in the sand, expecting Israel to know he was their deliverer.

Moses' Humble Reluctance

“Who am I” was Moses shrinking and drawing back in fear before the charge to go to Pharaoh and bring Israel out of Egypt, questioning his own fitness, worthiness and capability for that work. It was the answer of one who felt his unworthiness to confront Pharaoh and lead Israel out, reluctant to stand before Pharaoh and in God’s name demand that Israel go. He drew back from the task as a humble shepherd carrying only a rod, through which God would make His power known so as to overturn human pride.

The question expresses self-distrust, timidity and hesitation, an overwhelming sense of incapacity and helplessness to be God’s mouthpiece. Moses felt slow of speech and poorly qualified, inefficient and hesitating, while the commission seemed hopeless and overwhelming by human standards. He recognized how little his own qualifications could accomplish, and met God’s command with the conviction that his weakness and helplessness must drive him to depend on God rather than on human wisdom or strength. His plea of lack of ready speech was an excuse, for as former general of the armies of Egypt he certainly knew how to speak, and his real concern was fear that he would bring self into the work.

This humility and distrust of self had been learned through years keeping Jethro’s flocks, hunting with patience for stray sheep among the rocks and rugged mountains of the desert. There he learned self-control and humility, to be a tender, patient, loving and faithful shepherd, came to understand himself, had defects purged, and learned to do God’s will. His faith, rooted in his earliest instruction and strengthened by studying God’s government while connected with Egypt’s royal affairs, had been proved and tested and tried through long suffering and care. He humbled his soul before God with another spirit than in his younger years, refined and purified as from furnace fire, and his strength came from relying wholly on God.

Feeling his own weakness was evidence he realized the magnitude of the work appointed him and would make God his counselor and strength, moving no farther nor faster than God led him. Had he trusted his own strength and wisdom and eagerly accepted the charge, he would have proved his entire unfitness for it. Such devotion and humility mark the men God trusts with important responsibilities, and his sense of inadequacy illustrates that those best suited to sacred work may not recognize their own qualifications. Humility did not mean becoming incapable, for God called him to the highest kind of thinking, praying, hoping and believing, and trained him to lead Israel. He recognized his inability and earnestly asked not to bear the responsibility, and consented only after God convinced him that he was chosen to deliver Israel, so that the verse presents humility rather than self-exaltation as its important lesson.

Divine Assurance and Application

God answered the question with the promise that He Himself would certainly be with Moses, and gave as token that after bringing the people out of Egypt they would serve and worship God upon that mountain. The time had fully come for Moses to exchange the shepherd's staff for the rod of God. He was to go as a humble shepherd carrying only a rod, which God would make powerful in signs and wonders to deliver Israel from oppression and to preserve them when pursued by enemies, so that the deliverance would overturn human pride.

In the fear of God Moses accepted the trust, putting all his trust in the Lord. The burden of God's work and the greatness of his mission called the best powers of his mind into exercise. He did not bring the work down to his deficiency but in the strength of God put forth the most earnest efforts to elevate and sanctify himself for his sacred mission. God blessed his ready obedience and made him eloquent, hopeful, self-possessed, and well fitted as a willing, polished instrument to accomplish the greatest work ever given or committed to man and mortals.

The same is true of all whom God calls: accepting the responsibilities God places upon him with the whole soul to bear them aright gives power and efficiency, so the weak becomes strong, the timid brave, and the irresolute firm and decided to battle against wrong, strengthen the right, and elevate, comfort, and bless fellow men. The verse teaches guarding most carefully against self-exaltation by standing where God is known to be speaking, sanctified and purified and wholly consecrated to His service as the only safe position for offering acceptable service, with a fuller realization of the preciousness of human souls. It shows what God does to strengthen the character of those who trust Him implicitly and give themselves unreservedly to His commands, depending on God rather than on human wisdom or strength. Light from heaven comes to those who feel need of it and seek it as hidden treasure, and preparation requires much prayer, vigorous exercise of the mind, exerting to the utmost the powers God has given, and severe mental and moral discipline, with God then combining divine power with human effort, rather than sinking into inactivity and waiting for God to do what He gave power to do.