Exodus 6

CHAPTER 6THEME: Jehovah’s answer to Moses’ prayer; a partial genealogy of Israel; renewal of Moses’ commissionChapter 6 is a continuation of the last part of chapter 5. The time for the plagues to descend upon Egypt is at hand. The battle of the gods is about to begin. What has led up to this moment? In retrospect we find that the first thing Moses, Aaron, and the elders of Israel did was ask Pharaoh for permission to go out into the wilderness and sacrifice unto the Lord for three days. Pharaoh’s answer was no because he “did not know the Lord.” He then increased the burden of the Israelites. The children of Israel complained to Moses who in turn complained to the Lord. God wanted to assure Moses of who He was and what He was going to do. The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob had heard the groanings of Israel and was going to deliver them. God wanted Moses to look at the past history of Israel and see how He had kept them. God had demonstrated time and time again His love for Israel and His desire to help them. God had intervened many times in their behalf. God also intervenes in our behalf today. I am certain He has for memaybe you are not sure of God’s working in your life. Php_1:6 says: “Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.” God knows our needs today. He knows our desperate condition. He can and wants to help us just as He helped Israel in Egypt.

Exodus 6:1

JEHOVAH’S ANSWER TO MOSES’ PRAYERJehovah, the self-existing One, speaks to Moses to give him encouragement, hope, and confidence. Jehovah is telling Moses that He is THE LORD. He does not have to make preparations for the future. He is self-existing and needs no reserve. God is not dependent upon anything in creation. He does not lean upon anything; rather, all of creation leans upon Him for support. God wanted Moses to lean upon Him too.

Exodus 6:2

God is telling Moses that He had appeared to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacobbut not as Jehovah. God, as Jehovah, was going to redeem His people, adopt them as His own, deliver them from bondage, and lead them to the Promised Land. By all of this they would know God as Jehovah, a part of His character that He had not revealed to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. In verses Exo_6:6 to Exo_6:8 God reveals the seven “I wills” of redemption. These verses paint a marvelous portrait picture for us today and were a great encouragement to Moses in that day. God announces who He is and what He is going to do. We have a Savior today who tells us who He is and what He is going to do. He is able to save to the uttermost all who come to Him.

Exodus 6:6

The seven “I wills” of redemption are:

1. I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians.
2. I will rid you out of their bondage.
3. I will redeem you with an outstretched arm.
4. I will take you to me for a people.
5. I will be to you a God.
6. I will bring you into the land.
7. I will give it to you for an heritage. I will bring you out from under your burdens: The corollary and parallel to our redemption in Christ is found in this statement. We carry a burden of sin today. The things of the world are an oppression to the heart. We are told not to love the world. God can deliver us from the burden of sin through faith in Jesus Christ. I will rid you out of bondage: God will deliver you from the slavery of sin. I received a remarkable letter from a man that bears out the fact that God is able to deliver from the bondage of sin. This man is brilliant but he lived in sin. He has had at least six illegitimate children as the result of affairs with that many women. And the work by which he made a living was not altogether honest. This fellow had as checkered a career as anyone I have ever heard about.

Then he began listening to our Thru The Bible radio broadcast day after day, and the Word of God reached into his life. As he drank in the truths of the Bible, the darkness began to roll away, and the light broke through into his heart and life. He realized he was not trusting the Lord Jesus Christ as his Savior. God redeemed this man. Redemption is His business. The Israelites were in the land of Egypt living a life of bondage. God said, “I am going to take you out of this place. I am going to rid you of your bondage.” I will redeem you with an outstretched arm: This is the mighty bared arm spoken of by Isaiah the prophet: “Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the LORD revealed?” (Isa_53:1) Well, I don’t know to whom it is being revealed. God is doing a work of redemption in the hearts and lives of men and women today. Each of us needs a Savior from sin because we are corrupt in His sight. He loved us enough to die for us in order that we might be saved. If He was willing to do that, we must be willing to come as sinners to the Lord. If we place our faith in the work of Jesus Christ for us, we will be saved. God has a great plan of salvation but man must come to Him for it. He will redeem you with an outstretched arm. I will take you to me for a people: Just thinkGod has lifted us out of the muck and mire of sin and made us His sons by faith in Christ Jesus! Now He tells us, “I will be to you a God.” God does not save us and then run off and leave us. He wants to be our God. If you are really saved, you will not go on living as if God does not exist. If you have trusted Jesus Christ as Savior, it will transform your life. He will become your God and you will bow down to Him and acknowledge who He is. God wants to redeem you. He wants you to know Christ as Savior and Lord. He wants you to know you are saved. He wants to be your God. He wants us for His people. I will be to you a God: God chose believers in Christ before the foundation of the world which places it before all timein eternity past. The reason for the choice was not found in the believers, but in the all-wise purpose of God. He does not struggle to love His own in spite of their failures. God loves His own because it is His nature to love. He wants to be our God. I will bring you into the land: The land is Canaan. It was promised by God to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Canaan is not a picture of heaven. It is a picture of the Christian life as believers should be living it. Canaan typifies the heavenlies where we are blessed with all spiritual blessingthe believer has to walk worthy of his high calling for perfect enjoyment of spiritual blessing. This is done through the filling of the Spirit (Eph. 4:1-5:18). There are also warfare and battles to win. Believers sometimes live as if they are bankrupt in the wilderness of the world and never enter into the riches of His grace and mercy. Are you living today in the life, light, and love of a living Savior? I will give you the land for an heritage: Paul, in the fifth chapter of Romans, makes it clear that we have been justified by faith and have peace with God through the Lord Jesus Christ. We have access to Him. We have joy in the midst of trouble. We have been given the Holy Spirit of God to indwell us, and the love of God has been made real to us. We have been delivered from the wrath to come and are saved from the Great Tribulation period. What kind of salvation do you have, friend, that you talk about but has not transformed your life or redeemed you from something? These verses tell of our heritage and picture our salvation.

Exodus 6:9

Your heart must go out to the children of Israel at a time like this. They found it impossible to believe Moses because he had not helped their cause but had only been responsible for their increased burden.

Exodus 6:10

Moses was not accepted by the children of Israel; he was not accepted by Pharaoh. God told him to speak to Pharaoh again and Moses is reluctant to go. His eyes are on the circumstances rather than on God.

Exodus 6:14

A PARTIAL GENEALOGY OF ISRAELIn the midst of all these difficulties and circumstances we come to a very strange occurrence. God is careful to list the families of Israel againan important item as far as the Old Testament is concerned. Frankly, reading all these names is boring to me and puts me to sleep, but they are important and thrilling to God. He is insistent that the genealogies be recorded. God wants us to know who we are reading about and who His children are. God feels the same way about you and me. He wants us to be the sons of God through faith in Christ. Gershon, Kohath, and Merari are the three sons of Levi. They are the men who will take the tabernacle through the wilderness.

Exodus 6:18

Moses had not mentioned his parents by name. They were ordinary people, and they were in slavery. They were members of the tribe of Levi. That is all Moses told us.

Exodus 6:20

In this passage the parents of Aaron and Moses are namedAmram and his wife Jochebed. The question has been asked, “Why wasn’t the life of Aaron in as much jeopardy as the life of Moses when the command to kill the Hebrew babies was given by Pharaoh?” The answer is simply that Aaron was older than Moses, and the decree had not been made yet. It was not until Pharaoh saw how quickly the Israelites were increasing in number that he issued his orders. The next few verses continue to deal with the genealogy and I want to pick up my train of thought with verse Exo_6:26.

Exodus 6:26

We saw in verse Exo_6:12 that Moses was discouraged. Neither the circumcised nor the uncircumcised will accept him. At this juncture God steps in and gives the background of who Moses is. He has to live up to his claims before he can deliver the children of Israel. There are those today who say that it is not essential to believe the virgin birth of Christ. I say that it is absolutely essential to believe it. It is part of the credentials of Christ. You do not have to trust in His virgin birth to be savedwhen I came to Christ I had never heard of the virgin birth. You must trust in His death and resurrection to be saved. But when you are saved, you will come to know Him. And when you know Him, you’ll find out He’s virgin born. If He was not virgin born, then you have made a mistake in trusting Him because He is not who He claims to be. No one who is truly saved will deny the virgin birth of Jesus Christ. It is also essential that Moses and Aaron are who they claim to be. It has been forty years since Moses left Egypt. In the meantime he has married the daughter of the priest of Midian. Now here he is back in Egypt. Who is he anyway? This genealogy tells who he is. He belongs to the tribe of Levi, and his father and mother are Amram and Jochebed. The genealogy provides the necessary credentials for Moses to accomplish the work he is sent to do in the land of Egypt.

Exodus 6:28

RENEWAL OF MOSES’ COMMISSIONOn the basis of the credentials, God renews His call to Moses and Aaron. Moses is making excuses again. It is not a ery pleasant task he has to perform. He has been rejected all along the way. Even after he shows his credentials of being in the tribe of Levi, he is rejected. Now Levi was the son of Jacob, and Jacob was the son of Isaac, and Isaac was the son of Abraham. God made the promises concerning the children of Israel to Abraham. “I am on the right line,” says Moses, “but I hesitate to go.” Moses does not have much faith.