Exodus 4:10, commentary and pictures

Moses pleaded that he was slow of speech because after forty years away he had lost ready, fluent use of the Egyptian language in which he had once been eloquent, while he was also by nature hesitant, self-distrustful and stammering of tongue. His plea began in humble awareness of helplessness learned in the wilderness, yet in persisting as an excuse to avoid the hard task it showed distrust not only of himself but of God who had chosen him. God answered that He made the mouth and would be with Moses' mouth to teach him what to say, and though the hindrance did not prevent his call, his unbelief led God to appoint his eloquent brother Aaron to speak before Pharaoh. When Moses gave himself wholly to trust and obedience, God called his best powers into exercise and made the timid, irresolute shepherd eloquent, hopeful, self-possessed and fit for his great work. So the verse shows that feeling unfit does not disprove God's call but, through humble self-distrust and dependence on Him, prepares the weak to become strong, firm and truly eloquent in His service.

Moses' Excuse Explained

The claim to be slow of speech meant that after long absence from Egypt, after forty years away, Moses no longer had the clear knowledge and ready, fluent use of the Egyptians' language that he had once possessed when he lived among them and was eloquent. He pleaded this lack of ready speech in seeking to be excused from the work assigned him because he believed he could not speak effectively. The weight of the passages holds this loss of language to be the meaning, while those who dwell on his natural condition present the slowness also as a want of natural eloquence, a stammering tongue, and a natural diffidence, hesitancy, and self-distrust.

He spoke as one overwhelmed in distress and fear by the strange and wonderful work set before him, as a timid wilderness shepherd conscious of incapacity to be God's mouthpiece for the laborious and seemingly hopeless task of delivering Israel. He shrank from standing before Pharaoh to demand in God's name that Israel be let go, for he had not expected God to deliver in that manner but had thought deliverance would come by warfare. His sense of inadequacy stands in contrast to God's purpose to send him as a humble shepherd and to make his rod a sign of divine power.

At first the plea came from humility and modest diffidence. He placed a very low estimate upon his own qualifications, felt unfit for the calling and not conscious of fitness, and confessed utter helplessness and inefficiency without divine upholding. That lowliness had been learned while tending sheep among the rugged mountains, after the foolishness of human wisdom and the weakness of human strength had been revealed, so that he lost self-confidence and learned meekness, lowliness of heart, simplicity of character, and distrust of self.

Yet the plea was also an excuse to avoid the difficult task, arising from distrust of his own ability. Persisting in it after God promised to remove difficulties, to be with him, to teach him what to say, and to give success showed distrust of God, as though the God who chose him for the great work was unable to qualify him for it or had made a mistake in selecting the man.

God's Answer and Example

God answered that He made the human mouth and would be with Moses' mouth, indeed be his mouth, and teach him what to say, promising to remove all difficulties and give him success. The difficulty of speech did not prevent God's choice of him, but his persisting in unbelief after that promise led God to appoint his eloquent brother Aaron to speak before Pharaoh. At first the plea came from humility and diffidence, yet continuing to resist after God promised to be with him and teach him showed distrust of God's ability to qualify the man He had called, as if He were unable or had made a mistake in choosing him.

When Moses accepted the work wholeheartedly and put all his trust in the Lord, the greatness of his mission called the best powers of his mind into exercise. God blessed his ready obedience, so that the distrustful, timid, irresolute wilderness shepherd, overwhelmed with a sense of incapacity to be God's mouthpiece, became eloquent, hopeful, self-possessed, and well fitted for the work, even the greatest work ever given to man. The divine revelation and commission made him great, so that though naturally diffident, hesitating, self-distrustful and slow of speech, he became eloquent when pleading with God in behalf of the people under his leadership.

God's preparation had humbled him to depend on God rather than on his education or former abilities, though he had once been eloquent. By losing self-confidence and learning meekness and lowliness of heart, simplicity of character, and distrust of self, with a very low estimate of his own qualifications and confession of utter helplessness without divine upholding, his self-emptying made him a sanctified, unobstructed channel through which God could work. That enabled him to obey all that God commanded whether it seemed reasonable to human reason or not, and to advance on the seemingly hopeless commission in simple, implicit, unflinching faith in God's power and loving intentions. Recognizing weakness in this way leads to seeking God's strength, and accepting God-given responsibility and obeying faithfully develops character and ability.

His experience proves what God will do to strengthen the characters of those who trust Him implicitly and give themselves unreservedly to His service and commands. It shows how strong a weak man may become and how prolific of great results his efforts become through faith in God's power and devotion to His service, as the hesitating and irresolute become firm and decided through exercise of their abilities in His cause. The verse therefore encourages all who feel unable to speak for God to trust that He can help them.

The same holds for ministers and other workers: feeling unfit and having a poor estimate of fitness, with no consciousness of qualification, does not prove lack of call but marks those best qualified for the sacred calling to preach. Their fitness becomes known through the judgment of the church, the influence of life and experience, prayer, and proper recommendation to those who appoint workers. Lack of natural eloquence, even a stammering tongue, is overcome when God's ambassador humbles himself that God may be exalted and lives in true piety, close connection with God, and a daily, living experience in the knowledge of Christ. Such a minister receives genuine eloquence, presenting precious truth in simplicity with the power of the Spirit so that it reaches both the most elevated and the lowliest, instead of rendering truth powerless by wisdom of words.