To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth.
And Moses said unto the Lord, O my Lord, I am not eloquent, neither heretofore, nor since thou hast spoken unto thy servant: but I am slow of speech, and of a slow tongue.
And the Lord said unto him, Who hath made man’s mouth? or who maketh the dumb, or deaf, or the seeing, or the blind? have not I the Lord?
Now therefore go, and I will be with thy mouth, and teach thee what thou shalt say.
COMMENTARY
To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world
And Moses said unto the Lord, I am not eloquent, I am slow of speech, and of a slow tongue
I think there is a very interesting contrast here between Jesus affirming his divine calling and Moses questioning his. Jesus’s words seem so imbued with confidence, Moses’s with doubt.
I think many of us can relate better to Moses. The entire premise of this study is that each of us has a divine purpose to discover, but frankly I know many people who doubt that they do have one. “Certainly Jesus had one, and sure Paul did, too. But little old me?…”
But wouldn’t we also say that Moses unquestionably had a divine role to play? And he doubted it just as firmly as the rest of us.
Now therefore go, and I will be with thy mouth, and teach thee what thou shalt say
I find it very meaningful that God does not coddle Moses here. He does not say to him “Now, now, Moses. You speak just fine, stop worrying about it.” Because I don’t think Moses is being falsely modest here. Moses really does have a limitation and it really does make him unfit for this calling. Or at least it would if he were fulfilling the calling alone.
And that’s the point God makes to him. Moses isn’t being asked to go and come up with speeches and miracles on his own. He could not do that. Instead he is supposed to be a mouthpiece. God will be doing the talking through Moses. “I will be with thy mouth, and teach thee what thou shalt say.”
Many times we think we have to possess a certain level of talent before God can make use of us, but all we have to do is be a vessel for His infinite capabilities. That much Moses was able to handle and so can we.