Exodus 4:16, commentary and pictures

The call came at the burning bush near Horeb, the mountain of God, where He who had revealed Himself to the fathers as the Angel of the covenant spoke as the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob and sent Moses to bring Israel out of Egypt. The time for deliverance had come because God heard their groaning and remembered His covenant, and He purposed to pour contempt on human pride by sending the deliverer as a humble shepherd with only a rod in his hand, which He would make the symbol of His power. All who come into God's presence there must come with humility and reverence, not with presumption as toward an equal. Moses pleaded that he was slow of speech and of a slow tongue from long absence from the Egyptians and lack of ready use of their language, and felt incapable of speaking for God and leading Israel. His continued shrinking back became distrust of God's ability to qualify him, so that God's anger was kindled at his reluctance, yet God convinced him that he was the chosen instrument to deliver Israel and he consented to go, and the unqualified command left him no ground for excuse.

God appointed Aaron to assist Moses in leading Israel from Egypt by speaking to the people for Moses, serving as his spokesman and as a mouth for him. Moses would speak to Aaron and put words in his mouth and would be to Aaron instead of God with divine authority over the message as God's representative. Aaron was the elder brother who knew and understood the Egyptian language perfectly from daily use and was eloquent, and he was already coming to meet Moses and would be glad in heart at seeing him. God promised to be with the mouth of both and teach them what to do, and Moses was to carry the rod in his hand to work miracles and do signs.

In this arrangement Moses excelled in wisdom for conducting affairs, while Aaron's amiable nature suited him to speak. Aaron's yielding disposition and lack of moral courage, by which he sometimes gave in to the people's demands and did wrong, made him unfit to lead. Being to another instead of God means laboring in co-partnership with the Lord as a representative man, a sanctified channel and willing instrument through whom God can work. It requires simplicity of character, loss of self-confidence and realization of utter helplessness without the Lord, implicit ever-abiding faith in His power and loving intentions, and obedience to all He commands whether it seems reasonable to human reason or not. Moses became such a channel by submitting to God's discipline, placing a very low estimate on his own qualifications and education, not arguing the unreasonableness or impossibility of God's commands, changing his own way for the Lord's way even in strange untried paths, acting as seeing the Invisible, and trusting the invisible Leader with whom all things are possible. There is no limit to the usefulness of those who put self aside, make room for the Holy Spirit, live wholly sanctified to God, and endure His discipline without complaining, for man becomes efficient only by becoming a partaker of the divine nature.

After accepting the work and trusting in the Lord, Moses, who had felt unable to speak, became eloquent, hopeful, and self-possessed. This illustrates that God strengthens those who obey Him wholeheartedly and that accepting responsibility while relying on divine strength develops ability and efficiency. God can provide a person to speak on His behalf and give that person His Spirit, so that a person may serve as God's mouthpiece speaking to people on God's behalf. The minister's role is described in this way, as standing between the living and the dead as a representative of God, as in the application to Haskell as a mouthpiece entrusted to teach the Bible.