Exodus 4:27-6:8

October 8, 2014

God commanded Moses to demand the Israelites release from Pharaoh, but Moses feels
inadequate, so God grants that Aaron will speak for him:

And the LORD said to Aaron, Go into the wilderness to meet Moses. And he went, and
met him in the mount of God, and kissed him.
28
And Moses told Aaron all the words of
the LORD who had sent him, and all the signs which he had commanded him.
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And
Moses and Aaron went and gathered together all the elders of the children of Israel:
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And Aaron spake all the words which the LORD had spoken unto Moses, and did the
signs in the sight of the people.
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And the people believed: and when they heard that the
LORD had visited the children of Israel, and that he had looked upon their affliction,
then they bowed their heads and worshipped.

The story of the Exodus begins. Gods people believe the signs and worship God for their
upcoming deliverance. I imagine Moses and Aaron are feeling pretty good after this. But
if theyre thinking that its going to be a breeze theyre about to get a different reaction
from Pharaoh:

5:1
And afterward Moses and Aaron went in, and told Pharaoh, Thus saith the LORD God
of Israel, Let my people go, that they may hold a feast unto me in the wilderness.
2
And
Pharaoh said, Who is the LORD, that I should obey his voice to let Israel go? I know not
the LORD, neither will I let Israel go.

The people worshipped because they knew Moses God, but Pharaoh didnt care at all. He
had his own Egyptian gods, and he wasnt afraid of the God of the Hebrews.

But even more than that, the Pharaohs were thought to be the physical manifestation of
Horus. Pharaoh and all his people thought he was a god! This, of course, is his downfall,
and the reason for his destruction.

3
And they said, The God of the Hebrews hath met with us: let us go, we pray thee, three
days journey into the desert, and sacrifice unto the LORD our God; lest he fall upon us
with pestilence, or with the sword.

Its interesting to me that the people feared the very things that would happen to the
Egyptians. They believed that disobedience would end in punishment, so they begged
Pharaoh to set them free.

4
And the king of Egypt said unto them, Wherefore do ye, Moses and Aaron, let the
people from their works? get you unto your burdens.
5
And Pharaoh said, Behold, the
people of the land now are many, and ye make them rest from their burdens.
6
And
Pharaoh commanded the same day the taskmasters of the people, and their officers,
saying,
7
Ye shall no more give the people straw to make brick, as heretofore: let them
go and gather straw for themselves.
8
And the tale of the bricks, which they did make
heretofore, ye shall lay upon them; ye shall not diminish ought thereof: for they be idle;
therefore they cry, saying, Let us go and sacrifice to our God.
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Let there more work be
laid upon the men, that they may labour therein; and let them not regard vain words.
10
And the taskmasters of the people went out, and their officers, and they spake to the
people, saying, Thus saith Pharaoh, I will not give you straw.
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Go ye, get you straw
where ye can find it: yet not ought of your work shall be diminished.
12
So the people
were scattered abroad throughout all the land of Egypt to gather stubble instead of
straw.
13
And the taskmasters hasted them, saying, Fulfil your works, your daily tasks,
as when there was straw.
14
And the officers of the children of Israel, which Pharaohs
taskmasters had set over them, were beaten, and demanded, Wherefore have ye not
fulfilled your task in making brick both yesterday and to day, as heretofore?

Pharaoh's solution is to call them lazy and increase their tasks. If they didnt have so
much time to sit around then they wouldnt be talking about going out into the
wilderness. His demand is simple: theyll make the same number of bricks as before, but
now they have to produce their own materials as well.

15
Then the officers of the children of Israel came and cried unto Pharaoh, saying,
Wherefore dealest thou thus with thy servants?
16
There is no straw given unto thy
servants, and they say to us, Make brick: and, behold, thy servants are beaten; but the
fault is in thine own people.
17
But he said, Ye are idle, ye are idle: therefore ye say, Let
us go and do sacrifice to the LORD.
18
Go therefore now, and work; for there shall no
straw be given you, yet shall ye deliver the tale of bricks.

The people cry out to Pharaoh from under their heavy burden, but he wont listen. He
tells them the only reason they cant get the job done is because theyre lazy, and he
rudely dismisses their case.

Lets stop here for a moment and take note that God let them reach this point of
desperation before setting them free. With God a day is like a thousand years, and a
thousand years is like a day. He often waits for a measure to reach its fullness before
acting, and this is the case with the Israelites. He wants to set them free, but he has a
specific agenda in mind in doing so.

First of all, its for their own good. Moses received the Ten Commandments in Exodus 20,
but just before that (in Exodus 19:3) God said, You have seen what I did unto the
Egyptians, and how I bare you on eagles wings. This brief trial with the bricks precedes
Gods fierce wrath on the Egyptians. If Pharaoh had simply let them go, they never would
have seen his mighty works. God wants them to know just how powerful he really is,
which makes his grace that much more amazing.

But this isnt just for the Israelites. In Romans 9:17 we read: For the scripture saith unto
Pharaoh, Even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might shew my power in
thee, and that my name might be declared throughout all the earth. Hes not going to just
set them free: hes going to display his full power to the Egyptians, and that testimony
will make it all around the earth.

But this isnt yet known to the people, so they panic:

19
And the officers of the children of Israel did see that they were in evil case, after it
was said, Ye shall not minish ought from your bricks of your daily task.
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And they met
Moses and Aaron, who stood in the way, as they came forth from Pharaoh:
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And they
said unto them, The LORD look upon you, and judge; because ye have made our savour
to be abhorred in the eyes of Pharaoh, and in the eyes of his servants, to put a sword in
their hand to slay us.

We know the end of the story so its hard for us to appreciate the details as we go along.
Picture the scene as Moses and Aaron sat just outside the palace chatting and dreaming
about what God was doing, and then they see the leaders walking down the steps. Oh,
look. Here they come! says one to the other. They both stand up, dust off the front of
their shirts, and stand waiting in anticipation.

So, howd it go? Did God set us free?

They all stand there for a second with bitter looks on their faces before one of them
finally spits out, This is all your fault.

Moses hadnt thought of it going this way; yeah, God had said Pharaoh wouldnt accept it
(4:21), but he didnt say anything about the whole plan backfiring and Moses having to
bear the blame.

Whats worse, the people dont just blame him for the trouble; they say, The Lord judge
you. They dont even think God actually wanted him to do this! Remember that Moses
killed the Egyptian taskmaster because he thought Israel would understand (Acts 7:25),
and perhaps he thought this was finally vindication. Maybe now theyll finally see that
hes supposed to save them, but instead they think hes only made things worse.

22
And Moses returned unto the LORD, and said, LORD, wherefore hast thou so evil
entreated this people? why is it that thou hast sent me?
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For since I came to Pharaoh
to speak in thy name, he hath done evil to this people; neither hast thou delivered thy
people at all.

I cant help but feel sorry for Moses, and I dont think Id be a whole lot different. God
gave him this burning bush experience, but with it comes a whole lot of trouble. He
didnt want this job, but God insisted, so he goes in Gods name, but nothing but bad
things happen. This isnt deliverance, is it?

God, why have you done this to me. Not only is it not working, its just getting really
bad.

6:1
Then the LORD said unto Moses, Now shalt thou see what I will do to Pharaoh: for
with a strong hand shall he let them go, and with a strong hand shall he drive them
out of his land.

Look at Gods patience with Moses when he complains about what God isnt doing. God
had predicted this, but Moses wasnt thinking about that now, and thats the reason for
his doubt and fear. God reveals to him that this is the way he reveals the strength of his
own hand to his people. Pharaoh wont move with a please. He wont flinch when Moses
walks into his court and threatens the lives of the firstborn. He wont budge when the
leaders come and beg. The only thing that can get Pharaoh's attention is a mighty hand,
and that hand belongs to God. When God finishes, Pharaoh wont just let them out; hell
drive them out!

But Moses wont know this firsthand unless he sees it with his own eyes, so God plans it
all to take place in what we call time and history. When Moses joins the throng singing
Salvation and glory and power belong to our God (Rev. 19:1) hell be singing from
personal experience!

2
And God spake unto Moses, and said unto him, I am the LORD:
3
And I appeared unto
Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, by the name of God Almighty, but by my name
JEHOVAH was I not known to them.

Theres a lot in this little text here that we need to take time to study. First of all, the
Hebrew word for where we read Lord (v. 2) and JEHOVAH (v. 3) is the same, and we
1 2
pronounce it Yahweh ( ). So, God said to Moses, I am Yahweh (v. 2), but by my name
Yahweh (v. 3) was I not known to your fathers. Understanding that this is same word is
important because we see that God gives him the new name and then points out that its
new.

The importance is put into even sharper contrast when verse two starts out with and
God said. The Hebrew word here is Elohim ( ( ) which is just a generic word for
God or god. The next name is the name the fathers knew: bal shdi or El Sheddai (
3
), which means the God who suffices.

The point is that the Hebrews worshiped and trusted God, but in reality they knew very
little about him. It reminds me of something Jesus says in the New Testament: many
prophets and righteous men have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them;
and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them (Mt. 13:17).

Here in Exodus six, God reveals the next phase of the plan. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob only
knew his name vaguely as God or the God who suffices. They didnt know this other
1
http://biblehub.com/text/exodus/62.htm
2
http://biblehub.com/text/exodus/63.htm
3
http://biblehub.com/hebrew/430.htm
name, Yahweh. This is the proper name of the God of Israel; read what the Jewish
4
Encyclopedia says about it:

In appearance, Yhwh ( ) is the third person singular imperfect "al" of the verb
("to be"), meaning, therefore, "He is," or "He will be," or, perhaps, "He lives,"
the root idea of the word being,probably, "to blow," "to breathe," and hence, "to
live." With this explanation agrees the meaning of the name given in Ex. iii. 14,
where God is represented as speaking, and hence as using the first person"I am"
( , from , the later equivalent of the archaic stem ). The meaning would,
therefore, be "He who is self-existing, self-sufficient," or, more concretely, "He
who lives," the abstract conception of pure existence being foreign to Hebrew
thought. There is no doubt that the idea of life was intimately connected with the
name Yhwh from early times. He is the living God, as contrasted with the lifeless
gods of the heathen, and He is the source and author of life (comp. I Kings xviii.;
Isa. xli. 26-29, xliv. 6-20; Jer. x. 10, 14; Gen. ii. 7; etc.). So familiar is this conception
of God to the Hebrew mind that it appears in the common formula of an oath, "ai
Yhwh" (= "as Yhwh lives"; Ruth iii. 13; I Sam. xiv. 45; etc.).
5

But theres even more:

4
And I have also established my covenant with them, to give them the land of Canaan,
the land of their pilgrimage, wherein they were strangers.
5
And I have also heard the
groaning of the children of Israel, whom the Egyptians keep in bondage; and I have
remembered my covenant.

This ties whats happening back to the promise made to the fathers. The next phase of the
plan includes knowing a new name, but it also includes the fulfillment of a promise! They
wont receive the land for a good while longer, but this is the beginning of it. This is
when theyre freed as promised.

6
Wherefore say unto the children of Israel, I am the LORD,

Again, the English makes it confusing by changing the words; Say unto the children of
Israel, I am Yahweh. He gives them this new name, promises to deliver them by it, and
6
commands them to know him by it. The Exodus is for his glory.

and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will rid you
out of their bondage, and I will redeem you with a stretched out arm, and with great
judgments:
7
And I will take you to me for a people, and I will be to you a God: and ye
shall know that I am the LORD your God, which bringeth you out from under the
burdens of the Egyptians.

4
http://biblehub.com/hebrew/3068.htm
5
http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/11305namesofgod
6
http://biblehub.com/text/exodus/66.htm
Weve talked a lot about the responsibilities of the firstborn and of the Jewish concept of
redemption, and now here we see God fulfilling it toward his people. Later the Law will
require that the nearest kinsman redeem his fellow-Israelite when he finds him in
bondage. This people is Gods firstborn, his special people, his special treasure, and he
will pay the price to set them free. The price, of course, is the blood of the firstborn,
which is paid for Israel through the blood of a lamb. Egypt, the captors and tormentors of
Gods people will lose its firstborn (its strength), and much will be spoiled by the great
judgments to come.

8
And I will bring you in unto the land, concerning the which I did swear to give it to
Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob; and I will give it you for an heritage: I am the LORD.

Again, I am Yahweh. I wondered about this name as I studied this passage, so I did a
word study to see where else its used. I half-expected to find that it never showed up
until this chapter, but I was very wrong. Moses uses it as early as Genesis 2:4, and he
uses it quite often afterwards. At first, I thought, But the fathers hadnt known him by
that name. This is supposed to be something new. But then it occurred to me: Moses
wrote all this down after it happened, and when he did he used the new name. I was
blessed as Ive never been before to see how its used:

Yahweh made the earth and the heavens.
Yahweh had not caused it to rain.
Yahweh formed man.
Yahweh planted a garden.
Yahweh put the man in the garden.
Yahweh created the serpent.
Yahweh sought Adam in the garden after the fall.
Yahweh punished Cain.
Yahweh flooded the earth.
Yahweh confused the languages at Babel.
Yahweh called Abram.
Yahweh protected Abram in Egypt, changed his name to Abraham, made the promises of
land and seed, delivered Isaac to him, destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, and on and on it
goes!

Yahweh is the King and the Redeemer and the Creator and the Protector and the Savior of
his special people. There is nothing that isnt made by him and that doesnt belong to
him. When Abraham went to Egypt he found Yahweh there and he saw his power. When
Joseph went to Egypt he found Yahweh there and he saw his power. When Abrahams
descendants were in bondage they found Yahweh there and they saw his power.

The Bible is the story of Yahweh and his power in saving his people!

This story unfolds like a flower and more is revealed each time. El Shaddai became known
as Yahweh, and Yahweh eventually became known as Jesus so that at his name every knee
will bow and confess that he is the maker of all things, and that by him all things consist.
In him we live and move and have our being. He has put us into the world, but he has
sought us after the fall. He has preserved us through the divine judgment, he will punish
the Great Murderer, will overthrow the nations, delivers us from bondage, and will safely
bring us into the Promised Land!

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