Series: Questions
Title: Who Hath Made Man’s
Mouth?
Text: Exodus 4: 11
Date: January 27, 2013
Place: SGBC, New Jersey
Last week we saw a question
from the Lord to Moses, now this week we will look at another.
Exodus 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. 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? 12 Now therefore go, and I will be with thy
mouth, and teach thee what thou shalt say.
Title: Who Hath Made Man’s Mouth?
Proposition: If we would believe the LORD then we
must look away from ourselves to the Lord alone.
I. IF WE LOOK TO OURSELVES WE WILL NOT BELIEVE THE WORD OF THE
LORD.
Exodus 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.
We Have the Word of the LORD
Moses had what we have. He had the word of the LORD. We have the same word of the LORD. The
promises the LORD made to Moses he makes to us he has called to believe him and
to go forth bearing witness of his name.
We have these same promises. Christ said,
1) He had seen the
affliction of his people, heard their cry and knew their sorrows. So the LORD
had “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;” (Ex 3: 8)
2) The Lord promised Moses,
“Certainly I will be with thee” and promised to bring Moses again to this
place. (Ex 3: 12)—the LORD promises to be with his people.
3) He told Moses who to
preach, “I AM THAT I AM”—the eternal God whose name and memorial is to make
good on all his promises. (Ex 3: 14-15)—the LORD has told us, “He that glorieth
let him glory in the LORD.”
4) He assured Moses his
people would hear his voice (Ex 3: 18).
We have that same word. The LORD shall make his word effectual. He will do it.
5) The LORD assured Moses he
would give his people favor in the sight of the Egyptians and provide for his
people in temporal things as well. (Ex 21-22)—we have that promise.
6) The Lord showed Moses 3
signs—we saw how they typified various aspects of Christ, our gospel and the
power God works in those who hear the gospel—either to regenerate or to judge
those who hear. The LORD has promised us
his word shall not return to him void—it shall prosper in the thing whereunto
he sends it.
See how Moses had all these
promises from the LORD? Just like each
believer here today has the word of the LORD.
No matter how things appear, rather than look to ourselves, always
believe the promise of the LORD. If we
look to ourselves we will not believe the word of the Lord.
Problems with Looking to Self
Listen to Moses objection, “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.”
We are not going to be tough
on Moses but we are going to learn from what he did and from what the Lord said
to him.
After hearing the sure
promises of the Lord, who was Moses really looking to? Moses is looking to himself. Moses said, “I’m
not eloquent.” He was being sent to a
king—to Pharaoh—surely such a one would only hear him if used eloquence. Worse than that, Moses describes himself as
having some sort of a speech impediment—“slow of speech, and of a slow tongue.”
Do
you see how Moses is looking to himself?
The chief cause of our not trusting God, to have done what he says he
has done and to do what God says he shall do—is because we look to ourselves.
Brethren, we do not have any
sufficiency in ourselves? The sufficiency is not of us. We are by nature depraved, in our flesh dwells
no good thing; we have no sufficiency to give ourselves life—we must be born
again of the Spirit of God; we have no sufficiency to believe or repent—faith
and repentance must be given to us of God; we have no sufficiency to continue
in the faith, to preach, to provide for ourselves or for others. This problem Moses was having was pride. Unbelief and pride are so closely related.
When will a sinner believe
the Lord? We will believe only when the Lord makes us see we have nothing good
in us but Christ is All. When will a
believer cast all his care into the hand of the Lord? We will cast our care into the hand of the Lord
only when the Lord makes him see that we can’t provide for ourselves but that
HE CARETH FOR YOU. When will I be truly
strong so that I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me? I will be strong only when the Lord makes me
to know that in myself I am utterly weak and can do nothing of myself and he
makes me to behold all my strength is Christ who shall not fail. This is so in things spiritual and
temporal. Our LORD provides all for us
spiritually and temporally. We have no sufficiency in ourselves.
II. THE LORD HAS MADE US LIKE WE ARE SO HE GETS THE GLORY RATHER
THAN US.
Exodus 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?
The LORD Made Us Like We Are
The LORD made Moses mouth—he
was not eloquent; he was slow of speech, slow of tongue because the LORD made
his mouth that way. If a man is
dumb—cannot speak at all, if deaf, if he has sight or is blind, the LORD made
him so.
The LORD could have given
Moses eloquence but he did not. Think of
what the Lord had given Moses since his birth. The Lord delivered him out of the river in
Egypt. He made it so that Moses was
raised in Pharaoh’s house. The Lord directed his steps to where he was
now. And the LORD gave Moses all these
promises. So see, the LORD could have
given Moses eloquence but he did not.
The LORD even made him slow of speech.
Why?
The Glory Belongs to Christ
The glory and the power in
saving, calling and delivering his people is of the Lord, not of us.
Zechariah
4: 6:…This is the word of the LORD…Not by might, nor by power, but by my
spirit, saith the LORD of hosts.
Illustration: The Lord exalted Paul to the third
heaven. Paul said he was “caught up into paradise, and heard unspeakable words,
which it is not lawful for a man to utter.” (2 Cor 12: 4) But when the LORD gave him that increase in
the new man, the LORD gave him decrease in his flesh—on purpose for a reason.
2 Corinthians
12: 7 And lest I should be exalted above
measure through the abundance of the revelations, there was given to me a thorn
in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted
above measure. 8 For this thing I
besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me. 9 And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient
for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore
will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon
me. 10 Therefore I take pleasure in
infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for
Christ’s sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong.
What if Moses HAD been
eloquent in speech? What if you could
justify yourself? What if you could give
yourself spiritual life by your will? What
if you could sanctify yourself? What if
you could provide for yourself? What if
you could resurrect yourself from the dead? What if you could do one work to
add to your salvation? Then we would
have reason to glory and we would have no need of God and his salvation.
The Lord chose foolish,
weak, nothing sinners to preach his gospel so that no flesh shall glory in his
presence. It is the Lord who made them
that way. He makes us nothing—slow of
speech, uneducated fishermen—or he calls a Paul and gives him a thorn in the
flesh, brings him down. When he brings
such a one down, to see what we are, to see we have no faith of ourselves, that
the LORD made us weak on purpose, that’s the kind of man who speaks God’s word
instead of his own. He sees that true
eloquence is taking these scriptures and just preaching what they teach rather
than using wisdom to take the edge off
In 1 Corinthians 1, the
Spirit of God says the reason he chooses nobodies to preach his gospel is “that
no flesh should glory IN HIS PRESCENCE.”
The glory goes to Christ the Prophet.
When he sends his preacher, his presence goes with the word preached. Peter, said, “Repent and be converted with
the times of refreshing shall come “from the presence of the LORD.” (Acts 3: 19) Preaching that Christ has sent, which only
glorifies him, is the only preaching by which he makes his presence known.
Exodus 4: 12: Now therefore go, and I will be with thy mouth, and
teach thee what thou shalt say.
What a gracious, patient,
longsuffering Savior we have! Back in
chapter 3 Moses said, “Who am I,
that I should go unto Pharaoh,” And the Lord said, “Certainly, I
will be with THEE.” Here Moses complains
about his mouth and the Lord says, “I will be with thy mouth, and teach thee
what thou shalt say.”
True eloquence is not in
man’s wisdom of words. True eloquence is
speaking the word of God as it is. There
is nothing more profound than the gospel contained in the two and three
syllable words of these scriptures.
Review: 1) So first, look away from ourselves to the Lord or we will not
believe. 2) Remember the Lord made you weak so that Christ our Prophet gets all
the glory.
III. WE ANGER THE LORD BY NOT SUBMITTING TO HIM.
The LORD Calls Us to Bear His Cross
Exodus 4: 13: And he said, O my Lord, send, I pray thee, by the
hand of him whom thou wilt send.
That is exactly what the
Lord was doing. He was sending the hand
he would have to go. And it was Moses. Moses sounds so humble in this petition. We can sound very God-honoring when the truth
is we are being rebellious. But Moses
saw the suffering, the sacrifice, the cross he would bear from opposition—he
wanted the Lord to use someone else. It
would be a lot more pleasant tending his father-in-laws sheep than the Lord’s
sheep.
Exodus 4: 14: And the anger of the LORD was kindled against Moses,
The Lord calls us to bear
his cross. Remember what we saw Christ
did when the LORD opened his ear and sent him.
Isaiah
50: 5: The Lord GOD hath opened mine ear, and I was not rebellious, neither
turned away back.
From eternity Christ looked
to that day he would come to this earth but he was not rebellious, neither
turned away back. In the fullness of
time, he came forth.
Isaiah
50: 6: I gave my back to the smiters, and my cheeks to them that plucked off
the hair: I hid not my face from shame and spitting.
Christ was called and came
and bore the cross, bore the sin of his people, bore the justice of God in
place of his people. Christ suffered for
us and put away our sin by sacrificing himself.
He did so as the servant, as the Man, in place of his people, depending
entirely upon the Father.
Isaiah
50: 7: For the Lord GOD will help me; therefore shall I not be confounded:
therefore have I set my face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be
ashamed.
Even when it did not look
like the LORD God would help him, he still trusted the word of his Father
Isaiah
50: 8: He is near that justifieth me; who will contend with me? let us stand together:
who is mine adversary? let him come near to me. 9 Behold, the Lord GOD will help me; who is he
that shall condemn me? lo, they all shall wax old as a garment; the moth shall
eat them up.
Christ trusted the Father’s
word to justify him after he was made sin for his people. He trusted the Father to bring him again to
heaven’s mountain just like Christ told Moses he would bring him again to that
mountain. So you see why he was angry
with Moses, we see why he is angry with us when we rebel against bearing the
cross for his name’s sake. Just look at
what he did for us. So Christ says…
Isaiah
50: 10: Who is among you that feareth the LORD, that obeyeth the voice of his
servant, that walketh in darkness, and hath no light? let him trust in the name
of the LORD, and stay upon his God. 11
Behold, all ye that kindle a fire, that compass yourselves about with
sparks: walk in the light of your fire, and in the sparks that ye have kindled.
This shall ye have of mine hand; ye shall lie down in sorrow.
The Lord provided Aaron to
go with Moses but Moses suffered much because of it: Aaron mocked him for
marrying an Ethiopian and Aaron led the children to worship a golden calf. It is always better to submit to the Lord
rather than provoke him to anger.
IV. IT SHOULD GIVE US EVEN MORE REASON TO TRUST THE LORD THE FIRST
TIME, WHEN WE SEE THAT HE EVEN OVERRULES OUR REBELLION TO ACCOMPLISH HIS
ETERNAL PURPOSE.
Exodus 4: 14: 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.
Christ Typified in Aaron
Right then Aaron came forth
to meet Moses. This was not by
accident. Even Moses rebellion was known
beforehand—no excuse—but it was known.
But the Lord ordered everything so Aaron would go with Moses because
Christ was providing someone who would picture his office and his work.
Is not
Aaron the Levite thy brother?—Christ is our Near Kinsmen,
our Elder Brother, our High Priest, the one who made atonement for us.
I know that he can speak well—Isaiah 50, Christ
said, God the Father hath given me the tongue of the learned that I might know
how to speak a word in season to the weary.
He cometh forth to meet thee:…a picture of the
willingness with which Christ our High Priest came forth when the fullness of
time was come
And when he seeth thee, he will be glad in his heart…Christ saw his
brethren and was glad in his heart to serve for them. Moses was not glad, Christ was glad.
Exodus 4: 15: And thou shalt speak unto him, and put words in his
mouth: Like as the LORD promised to put words in Moses mouth. Remember Moses also pictures the law. The Law and the Prophets put words in
Christ’s mouth—and he fulfilled all.
Exodus 4: 15…and I will be with thy mouth, and with his mouth, and
will teach you what ye shall do. 16: 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. Like the Lord called
Moses to be his spokesman unto the people now Aaron would be that mouthpiece. Now Moses would be a mediator between
Christ and Aaron, like as Christ is the Mediator between God and his people. 17: And thou shalt take this rod in thine hand,
wherewith thou shalt do signs.
So though Moses was without
excuse, though we are without excuse in our rebellion, still the Lord overrules
it to bring glory to his name. That
should make us more eager to submit to his word in the beginning.
Let Us See Ourselves in Moses
Now let’s put ourselves in
Moses shoes. We so often use the sovereignty of God to cover the deceit of our
hearts. Moses had God’s word clearly
revealed and the promise directly from God that God would provide so that there
was absolutely no excuse for not obeying the Lord.
We give our reasons for not
going forth and doing the various things which God has clearly taught us in
scriptures we are to do, things revealed, things which we cannot plead
ignorance on. I am talking about things clearly revealed in the word of God.
And we act humble and say,
“I am not sure if it is the Lord’s will for me to go forth at this time.” That was not what was keeping Moses from
going forth—it was pride, not humility; it was unbelief, not faith; it was
looking to self, rather than God. And that is what is really holding us back a
great deal of the time. The problem was
simply this—Moses did not want to go because he did not want to suffer.
So remember these points we
saw: 1) If we look to ourselves we will not believe—Moses said, “I am not
eloquent.” The power is of God not of
us. 2) The Lord made our mouth, he gives
and withholds, so that he gets all the glory.
If he wanted us to have more he could give it. This way he brings more glory to his name. 3) We anger the Lord and suffer much by not
simply believing him and going forth. And we suffer in the long run as Moses
did. 4) But the Lord even overrules our
rebellion and brings glory to his name.
What a patient, gracious, good God and Savior we have. Believe him. Serve him. He makes good on his promise.
Amen!