Title: God's Promise to the Children of Israel
Exodus 6:1-3
God's Promise to the Children of Israel
“Now the LORD said to Moses, “Now you will see what I will do to Pharaoh, and Pharaoh will let them go by adding a strong hand, and Pharaoh will drive them out of the land by adding a strong hand. I appeared to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob as God Almighty, but I did not make my name known to them as the LORD” (6:1-3).
Of course, they did call God Jehovah, but they did not fully understand the true meaning of that name. They knew of El shaddai, the Almighty God, but not Jehovah, the One who satisfies every need, the becoming one.
“I made a covenant with them to give them the land of Canaan, the land in which they dwell, and now I have heard the groaning of the children of Israel, whom the Egyptians had enslaved, and I remember my covenant” (6:4-5).
It does not mean that God has forgotten that covenant and has now remembered it, but it is saying that He will fulfill that covenant now that the time has come.
“Therefore I say to the children of Israel, The LORD, I will bring you out from under the burden of the Egyptians and deliver you from their torment, and redeem you with an outstretched arm and a great plague” (6:6)
Interestingly, the Israelites were already quite introverted to slavery and were adjusting to life there. So God had to give them more toil in order to convince them to leave. Because otherwise they will try to settle there.
In fact, after the Exodus, some people, weary of the difficulties of life in the wilderness, longed for the pleasant and comfortable days in Egypt. So God gave me a lot of hard work and said, ‘I can’t live in Egypt anymore… Before they thought, ‘I have to leave this place,’ they would have wanted to settle there. After all, God gave them pain to prepare them to leave.
“You will surround my people, and I will be your God, and you shall know that I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the burden of the Egyptians” (6:7).
God promised the Israelites that He would be their God and that they would be His people.
“I will bring you into the land I swore to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and I will give it to you as an inheritance. I am the Lord.” They did not listen to Moses” (6:8-9).
Perhaps Moses felt even more afraid. The people couldn't have felt good towards Moses because they thought they were suffering more because of Moses.
“Then the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, Go in, and speak to Pharaoh king of Egypt, that the children of Israel may go out of the land. The bondman spoke before the LORD, saying, “If the children of Israel have not listened to them, how can Pharaoh hear? I am a dull-mouthed man. ” (6:10-12).
Moses seems to have decided to give up his mission here and return to the wilderness of Midian. “And the LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron, and they gave the command to the children of Israel and to Pharaoh king of Egypt, and brought the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt to me” (6:13).
But God gives the command again. From verse 14, the genealogy of Moses and Aaron is introduced, and at the end of chapter 6, it is connected again with verse 13. First, introduce Jacob's firstborn Reuben and his children, then his second son Simeon and his sons, and then the descendants of his ancestor Levi. are doing Of course, these two brothers had an elder sister, Miriam. After that, Aaron's family is introduced and the descendants of Korah who later tried to rebel against Moses are introduced.
“Bring the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt by their armies.” These were Aaron and Moses who were commanded by the LORD. It was Moses and Aaron who told Pharaoh king of Egypt to send the children of Israel out of Egypt.” (6:26-27) .
So far, the family background of Moses and Aaron is revealed.
“On the day the LORD spoke to Moses in the land of Egypt, the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, I am the LORD, and all that I tell you, tell Pharaoh king of Egypt. (6:28-30).
Moses makes the same excuses as in verse 13.
In the next chapter, we will look at who Jehovah is and the various plagues he has caused. Pharaoh questioned Moses, who is Jehovah, that he should submit to him, but now he will soon see that he is the eternal Creator and deserves obedience.
We are to be obedient to God. God has ordained many laws and principles for our good. Violation of his principles and laws will do us great harm. But if we obey him and follow his word, he will be our shield and our everything. Sometimes our problem is to harden our hearts, as Pharaoh asked: ‘Who the hell is Jehovah and should we be submissive?
Pharaoh faces many difficulties that he would not have had to go through if he had obeyed God. It is because he feared and disobeyed the Lord from the beginning. Likewise, if we do not obey God, we will face many tribulations. The most severe pain among them is separation from God. Let us all obey his words.
His covenants are all based on our obedience. He promises to help us, protect us, fill us, save us, and be our everything else if we follow him. The prerequisite is our obedience.
May the Lord speak to our hearts so that we can make the decision to obey Him and thereby be under our covenant with Him.