---
title: Exodus 4:16
url: https://jw-apologetics.app/verses/exodus-4-16/
markdown: https://jw-apologetics.app/verses/exodus-4-16.md
type: verse
perspective: Protestant (historic Nicene) response to Jehovah's Witness teaching
reference: Exodus 4:16
testament: OT
section: Law
index: https://jw-apologetics.app/llms.txt
---

# Exodus 4:16

## Text (Berean Standard Bible)

> He will speak to the people for you. He will be your spokesman, and it will be as if you were God to him.

## JW Usage

Exodus 4:16, where Jehovah tells Moses "he will serve as a mouth to you, and you will serve as God to him," is cited by JWs (together with Exodus 7:1) to show that the word "god" applies to beings other than Jehovah in a non-divine sense. On that reading, Jesus being "a god" (NWT John 1:1) is just one more example of the flexible use.

## Protestant Usage

Read Exodus 4:16 carefully. Jehovah explains the *function* of the Moses-Aaron relationship: Aaron speaks for Moses as Moses speaks for God. The "as God to him" language describes a prophetic communication chain — Moses delivers divine words, Aaron relays them to the people — not a statement about Moses's nature. Exodus 7:1 supplies the qualifier explicitly: "like God to Pharaoh" (NWT) — the word *like* makes it a simile, and "to Pharaoh" limits the scope to one audience. Moses never received worship, never created anything, never forgave sins on his own authority. Jesus does all three: created all things (John 1:3, Colossians 1:16), receives the worship of angels by divine command (Hebrews 1:6), and forgives sins (Mark 2:5-10). The Moses-god parallel is precisely the category that *cannot* accommodate Jesus — he exceeds it in every direction.

## Arguments Using This Verse

- [Gods Who Die and God to Pharaoh Don't Parallel Jesus](https://jw-apologetics.app/arguments/psalm82-exodus71-gods-parallel.md) — Psalm 82:6-7 / Exodus 7:1 / John 10:34-36 [Deity of Christ]