How can Muhammad be illiterate when the very first order he got was "read"?

This is related to [this](https://islam.stackexchange.com/questions/30425/did-prophet-muhammad-know-learn-how-to-write) question, as well as to [this one](https://islam.stackexchange.com/questions/28370/prophet-muhammad-saw-was-illiterate-who-wrote-the-quran-then/28371) and [this one](https://islam.stackexchange.com/questions/2195/was-the-prophet-illiterate) , which all seem to lean towards "The prophet of Islam was illiterate", which I find troubling. Indeed, the very **first** [commandment he got in the cave](http://www.quranicstudies.com/quran/the-first-verse-of-the-quran/) was "**read!**", and he had *23 years* to obey that commandment (from the first revelation to his death). Is anyone aware of any source or debate tackling this apparent incoherence? Precision: This question is **not** about whether or not he was illiterate -- I am aware that this is not, in itself, a consensus, and that some people believe he actually was literate. This questions could be asked differently as : "How can those who **do** believe that he was illiterate until his death *justify* that he disobeyed the very first order he was given?".