![]() ![]() Could it not be said that Moses stated fairly eloquently his case for being “ineloquent”? What’s more, when he wrote all of these events (and others) down by inspiration years later (in the Pentateuch-Joshua 8:32 John 5:46), he was equally as “eloquent.” What was God’s response to Moses? According to Exodus 4:14, “he anger of the Lord was kindled against Moses.” In addition to Moses being “very humble, more than all men who were on the face of the earth” (Numbers 12:3), Moses appears to have been so alarmed by the thought of going back to Egypt and making demands of Pharaoh that he highly exaggerated his ineloquence. Moses was so troubled over the entire matter that he finally pleaded with God saying, “O my Lord, please send someone else” (4:13, ESV, emp. Even after seeing two amazing miracles (4:3-8), Moses still offered excuses (4:10). ![]() He said: “Suppose they will not believe me or listen to my voice suppose they say, ‘The Lord has not appeared to you’” (4:1). ![]() “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh…?” Moses asked (Exodus 3:11). Moses was obviously afraid and doubted if he could do what God commanded. What’s more, Moses made the statements about himself after God had instructed him (1) to go back to the land where he had fled 40 years earlier for fear of his life (Exodus 2:15), (2) to present himself before the most powerful king on Earth (3:10), and (3) to tell the king of Egypt to let hundreds of thousands of Israelite slaves go free (Exodus 3:10 cf. Moses made these statements about himself. God did not say that Moses was incapable of speaking effectively- Moses did. The Bible student must keep in mind who made the statements about Moses’ speech in the book of Exodus. How could Moses be “mighty in words,” yet also be ineloquent?įirst, it is possible that Moses was not as ineloquent and “slow of speech” as one might initially think. Allegedly, Acts 7:22 is incompatible with what we learn about Moses in Exodus 3-6. Paul Buchman likewise lists these verses on his Web site “1001 Contradictions and Discrepancies in the Christian Bibles” (2011). According to Bible critic Steve Wells, author of the The Skeptic’s Annotated Bible, Acts 7:22 contradicts Exodus 4:10-16 and 6:12-30 (2013). ![]() Some wonder how Moses could be ineloquent, if Stephen, in his speech to an angry mob prior to his death, described Moses as one “ mighty in words and deeds” (Acts 7:22, emp. “Behold, I am of uncircumcised lips, and how shall Pharaoh heed me?” (6:30). “O my Lord, I am not eloquent, neither before nor since You have spoken to Your servant but I am slow of speech and slow of tongue” (4:10). “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh…?” Moses asked the Lord (Exodus 3:11). Moses, however, was not convinced that he was the one to go to Pharaoh and make such demands. It was time for Moses to lead God’s people out of Egypt (Exodus 3:10). It was time to give the descendants of Abraham the land of Canaan, which He had promised to his descendants more than 400 years earlier (cf. He revealed to Moses that it was time to deliver the Israelites out of Egyptian bondage. In one of the more well-known scenes of Scripture, the Lord, in the midst of an unconsumed burning bush, appeared to Moses on Mount Horeb. ![]()
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