Moses is easily included in the top 5 most influential persons in the Bible. With little argument, the top 5 most influential men would be Jesus, Moses, Paul, Abraham, and David, in no particular order other than Jesus obviously being the most influential person. Though Moses ranked high among his fellows in the Bible, Moses still had a great many shortcomings.
His first shortcoming was a big one: Murder! Stephen, in summarizing the events, said, “Now when he [Moses-CF] was forty years old, it came into his heart to visit his brethren, the children of Israel. And seeing one of them suffer wrong, he defended and avenged him who was oppressed, and struck down the Egyptian” (Acts 7:23-24). When Moses was found out, he fled from Egypt and dwelt 40 years in the land of Midian (Acts 7:29-30). What disgrace would you feel, if your good name was tainted in such a malicious way? No wonder Moses exiled himself from Egypt for so long. What shame he must have suffered!
The second shortcoming of Moses was very small, compared to the others, but for some reason Moses used it as an excuse to get out of doing God’s will. His second shortcoming, in his own words, was his slow tongue. As Moses was before the burning bush, “Moses said to the LORD, "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" (Exodus 4:10). The Lord, knowing all things, saw this excuse and dismissed it quickly. Sorry Moses, that shortcoming won’t excuse you either.
The third shortcoming of Moses nearly got him killed. Being a male Jew, he should have been circumcised. However, at 80 years old, Moses still had not obeyed the Lord’s command. Thus, God sought to kill Moses! The Bible reads, “And it came to pass on the way, at the encampment, that the LORD met him and sought to kill him. Then Zipporah took a sharp stone and cut off the foreskin of her son and cast it at Moses' feet, and said, 'Surely you are a husband of blood to me!' So He let him go. Then she said, 'You are a husband of blood!'—because of the circumcision" (Exodus 4:24-26). This is a rather peculiar passage in the Bible, nothing else is said concerning this episode. One thing is known, though: God is serious about his commandments, and Moses tried to ignore God again.
The fourth shortcoming of Moses was his short temper. After receiving from God, the 10 commandments on 2 tablets of stone, Moses came down from the mountain. As he was descending, he saw his people worshipping an idol, and in his righteous indignation, he smashed the 10 commandments to pieces. After dealing with the situation, Moses was required to hand-carve the second tablet for God to again write the 10 commandments (Exodus 32:15-19; 34:1). Later on, when the Israelites complained for lack of water, God instructed Moses how to miraculously provide them water. He was to speak to a rock, which would spring water in response. Instead, Moses took his rod and smote the rock twice (Numbers 20:11). As punishment for disobedience, God prohibited Moses from entering the Promised Land.
Moses, with all his shortcomings, still served God. God does not expect immediate perfection, but He does expect growth. Throughout Moses’ 120 years, he certainly grew more and more. What was Moses’ saving grace? His humility (Numbers 12:3). Let’s not pop our buttons as servants of God. We all have shortcomings. Let’s stay humble and serve God, working on our shortcomings in the process.
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