To be eloquent means to speak very well. We all don’t speak with the same level of skill and ease. Moses complained of now being a good public speaker, and God did not challenge that. Even though God said He could make Moses fit for the task of speaking, He also appointed Aaron as Moses’ spokesman. Concerning Aaron, the LORD said, “I know he speaks well.”
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. (Exodus 4:14)
God is not oblivious of our strengths, nor of our weaknesses. Whether it’s an ability to speak or write well, an eye for art or great cooking; God knows all we can do. That also stands to reason that God knows what we are unable to do easily. Beyond knowing our strengths and weaknesses, God tells Moses that He gives such abilities and make us strong where we are weak. Before appointing Aaron as Moses’ spokesperson, 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? Now go! I will be with you as you speak, and I will instruct you in what to say.” (Exodus 4:11-12, NLT) Our abilities indeed come from God, and He is able to use as despite our perceived weaknesses.
We however see that God used the already eloquent Aaron, harnessing the ability He has already given Moses’ brother. Many times, God is calling on us the way He called on Aaron. He seeks to harness our gifts and talents for His use. As He told Ezekiel, we often or sometimes do not require very unfamiliar skills.
“For you are not sent to a people of unfamiliar speech and of hard language, but to the house of Israel, not to many people of unfamiliar speech and of hard language, whose words you cannot understand. Surely, had I sent you to them, they would have listened to you.” (Ezekiel 3:5-6, NKJV)
Sometimes, God is calling us like Moses but many times, He wants an Aaron. Many times, we have not been sent to unfamiliar areas. We are not called to what’s hard or what we cannot understand. Sometimes, God’s work for us is as simple as the job of a spokesperson; and He harnesses our eloquence for His special use.
The eloquent person speaks with ease and is usually a good public speaker. He is blessed with linguistic intelligence, a charismatic persona, a pleasing voice and great poise. Another eloquent man God used in the Bible is Apollos. It is written of him,
“Meanwhile, a Jew named Apollos, an eloquent speaker who knew the Scriptures well, had just arrived in Ephesus from Alexandria in Egypt.” (Acts 18.24, NLT)
Apollos was an eloquent speaker. God harnessed his eloquence for the good of His Church. He became a great teacher of the believers and defender of the faith among the Jews. Apollos engaged in public debates and won them. Truth will remain truth whether it is stammered across, sang or rhymed. But proper presentation of truth is helpful. To do this, one must have the tongue of the learned (Isaiah 50:4). The tongue of learned knows what to speak, how to speak and sometimes speaks pretty well. The power of the Gospel does not come from the cunning and cleverness of unscrupulous men (Eph. 4:14, AMP) but the power of the Gospel is in the preaching of it. So it pleases God to use speakers, people who may not complain like Moses.
It is no crime against the Holy Spirit that a person is eloquent. The crime is in trusting the skill instead of the Spirit. Moses and Aaron are both faced with the temptation of self-confidence instead of trusting in God. Whether we trust in our inability or our ability, we have not trusted in God.
Oftentimes, we hail the supernatural gifts of speaking in tongues, prophesying, healing, word of knowledge etc without acknowledging that God gave the natural gifts too. The natural gifts we possess must be harnessed for God’s use. Like Aaron and Apollos, our eloquence must not speak nonsense. Our eloquence must speak God’s sense. Our tongues must be taught of God to speak to men on His behalf. This is how Peter puts in in his first letter;
Are you called to be a speaker? Then speak as though God himself were speaking through you. (1 Peter 4.11a, NLT)