10 But Moses said to the Lord, “Oh, my Lord, I am not eloquent, either in the past or since you have spoken to your servant, but I am slow of speech and of tongue.” 11 Then the Lord said to him, “Who has made man’s mouth? Who makes him mute, or deaf, or seeing, or blind? Is it not I, the Lord? 12 Now therefore go, and I will be with your mouth and teach you what you shall speak.” Exodus 4:10-12
5 And I said: “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!” 6 Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a burning coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar. 7 And he touched my mouth and said: “Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for.” 8 And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” Then I said, “Here I am! Send me.” Isaiah 6:5-8
Here in Exodus God has just appeared to Moses in the burning bush and Moses tries to make excuse’s as to why He cannot lead the Israelites out of slavery. God tells Moses that He should say the I AM sent me. God does signs through Moses that will let the people know that it is truly God that sent Him and Moses still make’s excuse’s that he isn’t able to speak well. The importance of God telling him to say the I AM sent me is huge if you understand Hebrew culture. This is what was translated as Yahweh, the actual name of God. This name was considered so sacred that it was not to be spoken. There was immense power in God telling Moses to tell the people that the I AM sent him. God answers Moses when he says he cannot speak with the question. Who made man’s mouth?….I will be with your mouth and teach you what you shall speak.
It is important that we understand that those God calls He also equips. That when we share the the Gospel with others, we have the Holy Spirit, the 3rd member of the trinity, God Himself, with us and He will guide our words and our actions. We must surrender just like Isaiah. Isaiah sees the holiness and the majesty of God and cries out in anguish that he is unworthy and must surely suffer the wrath of God for being in God’s presence. Yet, God sends an angel and in a picture of what Christ would do for us the angels actions result in Isaiah’s guilt and sin being taken away. Isaiah’s response when this happens is crucial; “Here I am! Send me.”
6 The point is this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully[c] will also reap bountifully. 7 Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. 8 And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency[d] in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work. 2 Corinthians 9:5-8
Paul writes to the Corinthians that we must cheerfully give of ourselves to the work of God. When we do this God will give us grace, He will make sure we are sufficient in what we are doing, so that we can give glory to Him.
We must stop making excuses and like the words of Isaiah say Here I am! Send me. We cheerfully answer the command of God to go into the world and share the Gospel, that God’s wrath must be satisfied for our sin but that He made a way for that wrath to be satisfied by giving Himself, through His son Jesus, to take our place. This realization gives us freedom, it gives us confidence, it gives us assurance that no matter what may come our way, God is in control, and He will use us for His glory.
