Exodus 4:1
And Moses answered and said, But, behold, they will not believe me, nor hearken unto my voice: for they will say, The LORD hath not appeared unto thee. And Moses answered and said, But, behold, they will not believe me, nor hearken unto my voice: for they will say, The LORD hath not appeared unto thee.
The verse belongs to the call at Horeb to lead Israel out of Egypt, spoken while Moses was in Midian. In it Moses pleads from fear and doubt that the people will not trust him or listen to his voice but will deny that the Lord has appeared to him. It is a demand for proof to convince Israel, asking what evidence can be given that God has indeed sent him. By this objection Moses wanted to be excused from the laborious work of delivering Israel. His backwardness at first came from humility and modest diffidence.
He added the excuse of lacking ready speech, because long absence from the Egyptians had cost him clear knowledge and ready use of their language. God answered the fear by giving evidence that appealed to Moses' own senses, in the miracles of the rod becoming a serpent and the hand turning leprous to confirm him. He was told to throw the rod on the ground so it became a serpent from which he fled, then to seize it so it became a rod in his hand, and to put his hand in his bosom so it came out leprous as snow and after a second putting in came out restored. By these signs God assured Moses that his own people as well as Pharaoh and the Egyptians and the king would be convinced that one greater and mightier than the king of Egypt was manifesting power among them. By these signs and wonderful works Pharaoh and the Egyptians would be made to fear that greater power so they would not dare to harm Moses. Even after many miracles done before Pharaoh in the sight of the people, Pharaoh would still not let Israel go.
After God promised to remove his difficulties and be with his mouth and teach him what to say and give success to his mission, continued reluctance was displeasing to God and reproved as unbelief and criminal despondency and distrust of God himself. That distrust was sinful because the deliverance of Israel in the proposed manner looked hopeless to Moses, though God had preserved his life to fill the mission and had chosen and qualified him for the great work. That distrust treated God as if unable to qualify the man he chose or mistaken in his choice. Moses' request for assurance is like Hezekiah's request for a sign confirming that his message and healing came from heaven.