We run our website the way we wished the whole internet worked: we provide high quality original content with no ads. We are funded solely by your direct support. Please consider supporting this project.
What is the significance of Exodus 4:10–16?
Immediately after convincing Moses of his ability to [somehow!] convince the elders of Israel to listen to him, Moses says, “O my Lord, I have never been eloquent…I am slow of speech and slow of tongue” (vs. 10). The Lord reminds him that he is the Creator and is therefore bigger than any speech impediment. He assures Moses that he “will be with [his] mouth and teach [him] what [he is] to speak” (vs. 11–12). Remarkably, Moses persists in his unbelief and asks the Lord to “please send someone else” (vs. 13), at which point the Lord gets angry (vs. 14). In frustration he asks Moses (!) if he’d feel better if his brother went along as his spokesman. He then once again reassures Moses, “I will be with your mouth and with his mouth” (vs. 15).
If it was foreknown from all eternity that Aaron would be Moses’ partner, the Lord’s attempt to convince Moses otherwise and the Lord’s subsequent frustration with Moses becomes inexplicable. How can one sincerely try to accomplish something they are eternally certain won’t be accomplished? And how can one truly get frustrated over something they were eternally certain would happen?
Category: Q&A
Tags: Open Theism, Q&A
Topics: Open Theism
Verse: Exodus 4
Related Reading
The Future of Theology
Chris Moore via Compfight Roger Olson recently published a blog arguing that there really are no new ideas out there in the realm of theology. Everything has pretty much been thought of or proposed. That idea or book that’s causing such a stir? Rewarmed material that someone else already thought of. So what is there…
How Calvinism Misses the Point About Salvation
Calvinists sometimes argue that various passages in John teach that the Father chooses and then “draws” certain people to Christ. Those who are “drawn” certainly come to Christ (John 6:37) while all who are not drawn remain in their sin. For example, John portrays Jesus as repeatedly teaching that “no one can come to me…
The Incarnation: More Than a Rescue Mission
A mistake people often make concerning the Incarnation is that they fail to distinguish the eternal plan of God to unite himself with humanity in Christ, on the one hand, from the atoning significance this plan acquired after the fall, on the other. Some therefore think of the Incarnation as a sort of “Plan B”…
What about the Gospel of John and Calvinism?
Question: The Gospel of John seems to teach that people believe because God draws them, rather than that God draws people because they believe. If this is true, how can you deny the Calvinistic teaching that salvation is based on God’s choice, not ours? Answer: As you note, many people find support for the view…
Problems with the Simple Foreknowledge View
Some have proposed a model of divine foreknowledge which allows them to avoid the dilemma of affirming either that God creates people for the purpose of sending them to hell (Calvinism) or that he creates them without certain knowledge of their fate (open theism). In this alternative view God knows that certain individuals will be…
Hearing and Responding to God: Part 2
In this video, Greg continues his thoughts about the difficulties we can encounter when we try to hear God speaking to us. You can view the first part here.