This story is an interesting story to be looked at from a parent/child relationship standpoint. We see the Lord introducing himself to Moses and stating his plan, then Moses tries to come up with every excuse he can think of to avoid doing what the Lord wanted him to do, and in the end the Lord chose someone else to do part of the job.
Exo 3:1-7 Now Moses kept the flock of Jethro his father in law, the priest of Midian: and he led the flock to the backside of the desert, and came to the mountain of God, even to Horeb. And the angel of the LORD appeared unto him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush: and he looked, and, behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed. And Moses said, I will now turn aside, and see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt. And when the LORD saw that he turned aside to see, God called unto him out of the midst of the bush, and said, Moses, Moses. And he said, Here am I. And he said, Draw not nigh hither: put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground. Moreover he said, I am the God of thy father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. And Moses hid his face; for he was afraid to look upon God. And the LORD said, I have surely seen the affliction of my people which are in Egypt, and have heard their cry by reason of their taskmasters; for I know their sorrows;
In this passage we see the Lord telling Moses who He is. When Moses heard what the Lord had to say he was fearful. The Lord tells Moses who He was and what His plan was (vs 8-10).
And I am come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land unto a good land and a large, unto a land flowing with milk and honey; unto the place of the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites. Now therefore, behold, the cry of the children of Israel is come unto me: and I have also seen the oppression wherewith the Egyptians oppress them. Come now therefore, and I will send thee unto Pharaoh, that thou mayest bring forth my people the children of Israel out of Egypt.
Moses, when he heard that he was to lead the children of Israel out of Egypt started to think of every excuse possible to avoid the task that he was given. For every excuse, God has an answer.
Exo 3:11 And Moses said unto God, Who am I, that I should go unto Pharaoh, and that I should bring forth the children of Israel out of Egypt?
Exo 3:12 And he said, Certainly I will be with thee; and this shall be a token unto thee, that I have sent thee: When thou hast brought forth the people out of Egypt, ye shall serve God upon this mountain.
Moses asks, "who am I?" While the Lord replies that He will be with Moses, and tells what the proof will be.
Exo 3:13-15 And Moses said unto God, Behold, when I come unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto them, The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you; and they shall say to me, What is his name? what shall I say unto them?
And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you. And God said moreover unto Moses, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, The LORD God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath sent me unto you: this is my name for ever, and this is my memorial unto all generations.
Moses' next question was, "Whose name am I going in?" The Lord responds with His name, then continues on in the next several verses to tell Moses exactly how to speak to the leaders of the children of Israel.
Exo 4:1-5 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 the LORD said unto him, What is that in thine hand? And he said, A rod. And he said, Cast it on the ground. And he cast it on the ground, and it became a serpent; and Moses fled from before it. And the LORD said unto Moses, Put forth thine hand, and take it by the tail. And he put forth his hand, and caught it, and it became a rod in his hand: That they may believe that the LORD God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath appeared unto thee.
Now Moses is not even asking a question, but instead is stating that that the people will not believe him. The Lord replies with a question, "What is in thine hand?" Then the Lord uses what Moses has to show His power. The Lord then gives Moses two more signs to show the people if they don't believe.
Exo 4:10 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.
Exo 4:11 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?
Exo 4:12 Now therefore go, and I will be with thy mouth, and teach thee what thou shalt say.
Moses now states that he can't do it because he was not a good speaker. The Lord answers that He made man, and that He would teach Moses what to say.
Exo 4:13-17 And he said, O my Lord, send, I pray thee, by the hand of him whom thou wilt send. And the anger of the LORD was kindled against Moses, and he said, Is not Aaron the Levite thy brother? I know that he can speak well. And also, behold, he cometh forth to meet thee: and when he seeth thee, he will be glad in his heart. And thou shalt speak unto him, and put words in his mouth: and I will be with thy mouth, and with his mouth, and will teach you what ye shall do. And he shall be thy spokesman unto the people: and he shall be, even he shall be to thee instead of a mouth, and thou shalt be to him instead of God. And thou shalt take this rod in thine hand, wherewith thou shalt do signs.
Moses tries one last time to get out of his job, by asking the Lord to send someone else. At this point the Lord became angry with Moses, and gave the job of speaking to Moses's brother Aaron.
Exo 4:18-19 And Moses went and returned to Jethro his father in law, and said unto him, Let me go, I pray thee, and return unto my brethren which are in Egypt, and see whether they be yet alive. And Jethro said to Moses, Go in peace. And the LORD said unto Moses in Midian, Go, return into Egypt: for all the men are dead which sought thy life.
In this story we see the Lord giving a command to Moses, then Moses responding with questions to the command. The Lord patiently answers every one of Moses's questions explaining even further what Moses is to do. Finally after answering all of Moses's questions Lord becomes angry at Moses because he is trying to avoid the job. The Lord provided Aaron to speak for Moses, but Moses still had to do the job the Lord had for him.
So what can we learn? Do we patiently answer all the questions that our children have about instructions we given them? Are we sure they clearly understand what they should be doing? It is interesting that after all the legitimate questions have been asked the Lord becomes angry after multiple excuses. Do we get angry when our children are giving excuses as to why they can't do something or at the point when they are asking questions for clarity purpose? As a perfect Father, we see the Lord angry at Moses because of the excuses; He did not sin, but He was rightfully angry. If we do become angry with our child, is it because they have gotten on our nerves, we have lost our patience, or is it because we are angry about the sin that has occurred?
We want to often avoid the subject of anger, mostly because the majority of us have no control over our anger, but the Lord was angry. Eph 4:26 Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath: It is okay to be angry, it is not okay to sin in that anger.
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