Summary
It is important to keep your promises. Keeping your promises shows you are trustworthy, and you can be relied upon. We teach our children to keep the promises they make, aim to do so ourselves, and expect it of our politicians.
In Exodus 6, we are reminded of how God is trustworthy. God keeps his promises. Responding to the cries of Moses and the Israelites as their burdens were made heavier for daring to dream of freedom, God reminds Moses and the people of his divine commitment to his promises. Exodus 6 shows God announcing his commitment, records God’s faithfulness through a genealogical account, and demonstrates that it is God’s strength that would deliver, not Moses’ abilities.
Our passage explained
v1-8
At the end of Exodus 5, Moses expressed to God his distress at the worse situation the Israelites were in, as they had to find straw to make their bricks. God calms Moses by announcing his commitment to redeem his people. God will cause Pharaoh to drive Israel out of Egypt, not simply let them go (v.1).
In the next few verses, God repeats his solemn promises, anchoring them in his name (“I am the LORD”, vv.2, 6-8). He is the same God who appeared to the Patriarchs as God Almighty, but will now fully reveal the meaning of his divine name to their descendants (v.3). He promised them and their descendants the land of Canaan, which he would now bring Israel to as he hears and act on his covenant promises (vv.4-5).
Because God is the same one who entered into a relationship with the Patriarchs, Moses is given a command to speak to God’s people. He is to tell them “I am the Lord, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will deliver you from slavery to them, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great acts of judgment” (v.6). Moses speaks as God’s agent, telling them he will free them from slavery, so they will be “my people, and I will be your God” (v.7). He will take them to Canaan, as promised to the Patriarchs (v.8).
v9-19
Sadly the Israelites do not listen to Moses’ words, because they are so downtrodden (v.9), but God is not deterred. He commands Moses to go to Pharaoh, and “to let the people of Israel go out of his land” (vv.10-11).
While Moses appears to have accepted God’s promises earlier, the unbelief of Israel renews his doubts. He questions whether Pharaoh will listen (as the Israelites have not), because of his “uncircumcised lips” (v.12). He believes his inability to convince the Israelites demonstrates his inadequacy for service, but God still insists he has a duty to lead his people out of Egypt (v.13).
At this point the story pauses, as God’s faithfulness is recorded through a genealogical account. God’s promises were not made to individuals in a void, but to their descendants as well. Moses lists a partial genealogy of Israel’s descendants, starting with Reuben, then Simeon and Levi (vv.15-19).
v20-30
As God’s instruments of deliverance (v.13), Moses and Aaron’s lineage are described (vv.20-22). Since Aaron and his sons will later have an important place as God’s priests, their line is mentioned (vv.23-25). This genealogical listing situates Aaron and Moses as part of God’s covenantal plan (vv.26-7), evidence of God’s faithfulness to generations.
After placing Aaron and Moses in historical context, the story resumes in a way which makes clear that God is the deliverer, not Moses. It returns to God’s command to Moses in verse eleven to command that Pharaoh let God’s people go, and Moses self-doubt in his calling from God due to his “uncircumcised lips” (vv.28-30).
Our passage applied
Moses does not believe Pharaoh will listen. Why would he? He did not before, and even the Israelites do not listen. What follows must not be the result of Moses’ power, but God’s.
That Moses and the Israelites must realise God’s power will force Pharaoh to set them free reminds us that our own strength cannot release us from bondage and service to sin. Only God has the power to change our hearts, initially when we are saved and progressively as the Holy Spirit makes us more like Jesus in our desire to love and obey God.
In the same way, people are not persuaded into the Kingdom of God by charismatic communication. Good public speaking skills may win you an election, but it is God’s power that converts. Our feeble words from “uncircumcised lips” are as effective in communicating the Gospel as any skilled speaker because of God’s power accompanying them, not because we use the perfect phrases or the right oratory skills.
That freedom from bondage promised by God and delivered to us by God’s son frees us for divine service. Like Israel, God rescues us so that we will be his people, he our God. The long line of believers rescued throughout history shows God keeps his promises, and we can trust in him.
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