Then Moses answered, “What if they do not believe me or listen to my voice? For they may say, ‘The LORD has not appeared to you.’”Moses answered, “But, behold, they will not believe me, nor listen to my voice; for they will say, ‘Yahweh has not appeared to you.’”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, Jehovah hath not appeared unto thee.
4 sermons cite this verse
… what he's saying. Who am I? God, Exodus chapter three, verse 11. Well, that was really the wrong question. You should have thought, man, God, who are you? Exodus 4.1. What if they don't believe me or listen to me? This is scenario sickness, isn't it? Exodus chapter four, verse 10. I've never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since you've spoken to your servant. I'm slow of speech and tongue. Oh Lord. And God just let him talk. He let him, you know, sometimes you have to let those over talkers go. Exodus chapter four, verse 13. Oh Lord, please send someone else to do it. I love God's answer. Verse 12. I'll be with you. that's the sermon God is calling you yeah but God I'll be with you you're called by God and I'm called by God I remember being called to pastor fellowship church called and I've never shared this story I'm going to share it but just listen to me just for a second I was working on a church staff where my father pastored. …
That's where God likes to work the most. Exodus chapter 4, verse 1. Moses answered, What if they do not believe me or listen to me and say, the Lord did not appear to you. Then the Lord said to him, What is that in your hand? A staff, he replied. The Lord said, Throw it on the ground. I feel like he probably hollered at him because it's a pretty weird thing he's asking him to do here. The Lord said it with confidence. Throw it on the ground. Moses threw it on the ground, and it became a snake. Uh-oh, this is getting worse, not better. When your staff becomes a snake, it doesn't look like you're going backwards when you need God to comfort you. A staff, he replied, and the Lord said, throw it on the ground. And Moses threw it on the ground and it became a snake and he ran from it. Well, that makes sense. I would do that too. But then the Lord said, reach out your hand and take it by the tail. So Moses reached out and took hold of the snake, and it turned back into a staff in his hand. This, said the Lord, is so that they may believe that the Lord, the God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, this is so that they may believe that that God has appeared to you. Now drop down, please, to verse number 17 because God gives …
Still Moses held back. But behold, they will not believe me or listen to my voice, for they will say, The Lord did not appear to you. Thereupon God gave Moses the miraculous rod which turned into a serpent and back again into a rod, along with the miraculous sign of the leprous hand which became perfectly well when it was thrust into his bosom. If these signs were not good enough, Moses should take water from the Nile and sprinkle it upon the dry ground, and it would turn to blood. The stubborn man of destiny offered one more serious objection. I am not eloquent either heretofore or since thou hast spoken to thy servant. I am slow of speech and of tongue. With some exasperation, the Lord God replied, Who has made man's mouth? Who makes him dumb or deaf or seeing or blind? Is it not I, the Lord? Therefore go, and I will be with your mouth and teach you what you shall speak. God does not always call the most gifted to serve him. …
… but your know will keep you on the shore. This is what Moses says in Exodus chapter four, verse one. Moses answered, what if they do not believe me or listen to me and say the Lord did not appear to you? To know, Exodus 4, 10. But Moses pleaded with the Lord, oh Lord, I'm not very good with my words. I never have been and I'm not now. Even though you have spoken to me, I get tongue tied and my words get tangled. Exodus chapter four, verse 13. But Moses said, pardon your servant, Lord. Very polite of Moses. Pardon your servant, Lord. Please send someone else. Every time Moses gave a no to God, an excuse to God, a reason to God, God gave him a reason to say yes. And I want to encourage you, God's not afraid of your no. But we got to be open to him changing it to a yes, don't we? One of my first dates, I went on with my wife. …