Fine, Fine, Fine!

Exodus 4:1-17, New Living Translation (NLT)

Signs of the Lord’s Power
4 But Moses protested again, “What if they won’t believe me or listen to me? What if they say, ‘The Lord never appeared to you’?”

2 Then the Lord asked him, “What is that in your hand?”

“A shepherd’s staff,” Moses replied.

3 “Throw it down on the ground,” the Lord told him. So Moses threw down the staff, and it turned into a snake! Moses jumped back.

4 Then the Lord told him, “Reach out and grab its tail.” So Moses reached out and grabbed it, and it turned back into a shepherd’s staff in his hand.

5 “Perform this sign,” the Lord told him. “Then they will believe that the Lord, the God of their ancestors—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob—really has appeared to you.”

6 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Now put your hand inside your cloak.” So Moses put his hand inside his cloak, and when he took it out again, his hand was white as snow with a severe skin disease.[a] 7 “Now put your hand back into your cloak,” the Lord said. So Moses put his hand back in, and when he took it out again, it was as healthy as the rest of his body.

8 The Lord said to Moses, “If they do not believe you and are not convinced by the first miraculous sign, they will be convinced by the second sign. 9 And if they don’t believe you or listen to you even after these two signs, then take some water from the Nile River and pour it out on the dry ground. When you do, the water from the Nile will turn to blood on the ground.”

10 But Moses pleaded with the Lord, “O Lord, I’m not very good with 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.”

11 Then the Lord asked Moses, “Who makes a person’s mouth? Who decides whether people speak or do not speak, hear or do not hear, see or do not see? Is it not I, the Lord? 12 Now go! I will be with you as you speak, and I will instruct you in what to say.”

13 But Moses again pleaded, “Lord, please! Send anyone else.”

14 Then the Lord became angry with Moses. “All right,” he said. “What about your brother, Aaron the Levite? I know he speaks well. And look! He is on his way to meet you now. He will be delighted to see you. 15 Talk to him, and put the words in his mouth. I will be with both of you as you speak, and I will instruct you both in what to do. 16 Aaron will be your spokesman to the people. He will be your mouthpiece, and you will stand in the place of God for him, telling him what to say. 17 And take your shepherd’s staff with you, and use it to perform the miraculous signs I have shown you.”

Footnotes:
4:6 Or with leprosy. The Hebrew word used here can describe various skin diseases.

This is one of those stories that I love to act out with kids. It has all the ingredients of a magician trying to prove his point, only it's God making the point.  First the walking stick is made into a snake.  Then the hand in the cloak... and out of the cloak... and in the cloak... and out of the cloak... Then pouring water from the Nile onto the ground, turning it to blood.  Man, sure sounds like a hit show on the Vegas strip, to me.  

Yet what is Moses' response? "Oh God, really? I'm not a good speaker... really, I'm not good at this stuff at all..."  I'm amazed there is no amazement.  Moses doesn't seem to even flinch from the miraculous acts. I guess it is no surprise that later, Pharaoh doesn't flinch much either.  God assures Moses that he will not be alone. But still, Moses complains and whines until God gives in.

"Fine! Fine! Fine! I'll send your brother. He speaks well..."

[sigh]

I wonder how often God changes plans and goes with the bench because of our whining?
I wonder how many miraculous things God presents to us and we are just too busy complaining to notice?