Exodus 6 Moses is a contrary, stubborn person, I can relate
to him. If anyone has ever had a stuck thought, or a thought of
defeatism, Moses should be their example. Look at this great dialog
by God, establishing that "I am the Lord" and all that He will do for Israel.
With all this insight, and the message delivered to Israel, Moses still
claims to be slow of speech. God is Lord, but Moses needed Aaron to
speak for him. Perhaps Moses really did have a real speech problem,
and God wanted to make sure that everyone knew for sure that it was God that
did the delivering of the Jews. So He used the least likely candidate
for the job. Just speculation. Moses could not get his eyes off
the rejection he had already received from Israel.
Joe Turner
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Exodus 6:
In Hebrews, the bible says that "without faith it is impossible to
please God" (11:6) and it seemed at the end of Chapter 5, Moses’ faith
was in need of a booster shot. As we continue, we now see God addressing
Moses frustrations, doubts and fears. God reiterates to Moses the promises
made to the Patriarchs (Abraham, Issac and Jacob), and reveals to Moses
that while the Patriarchs knew the Lord as God Almighty, but not as Him
as Jehovah, the one who would deliver Israel from bondage. Moreover, in
this Chapter, we see God not only reaffirming his covenant with the Patriarchs
to the Israelites, but is re-establishing His promises to the Patriarchs
as a covenant with the entire Nation of Israel. What a mighty God! However,
because of the cruelty of the Egyptians, it was very difficult for the
Israelites to receive such promises (v. 9). Yet God commands Moses not
to allow the present distress to dissuade him from what God had called
him to. Isn’t it wonderful and encouraging to know that even when things
don’t seem to be working right, God is yet with you, moving on your behalf
to bring you to victory?!! Praise Him!!
Reggie
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Exodus 6 The Stage is Set
I was reminded in these verses that so often we have to be reminded
of all God has done for us. In verse 3 God refers to himself as
El Shaddai the Almighty, the one who had established his covenant with
Abram in Genesis 13.4 as Ryrie notes.
In verse 9, we find these people did not hearken because they were
anguished of spirit (NAS uses despondency and NIV uses discouragement)
- the term for anguish seeming to be a funny little word meaning "shortness"
coming from a word that means curtail. In reading this I realized
it is very easy to "bag" on these Israelites the chosen of God who just
don't seem to get with the program. These people who have been living
under bondage which has just now been intensified were now "of so little
faith" because their spirits were in short supply. I've been there.
You can keep believing, praising, hoping - but the source from which you
do this seems so depleted. Thank God he reminds himself in to our
lives and replenishes our spirits.
I think my tie-in is limiting God - Peter and the Jews that were with
him were amazed at how God revealed himself in the Gentiles - their minds
were limited to Christ as God's promise to the Israelites. The Israelites
on the other hand were limited by their spirits to see the promise of God.
We need to take heed not to let our circumstances determine how we know
God. And when it gets to that, be reminded of of all that He has
done for us time and time again and be replenished. He is ever available
to us and will reveal Himself El Shaddai in all situations.
How does that song go with regard to why we sing His praises? :-)
Shelley |
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Exodus 6
November 14, 2004
Reading through
the Bible in one Year: Psalm 131-133
Weekly Memory
Verse: Galatians 2:20
Good Evening
Brothers and Sisters,
Exodus 6 (NASB95)
1 Then the Lord said
to Moses, “Now you shall see what I will do to Pharaoh; for under compulsion
he will let them go, and under compulsion he will drive them out of his
land.” 2 God spoke further to Moses and said to him, “I am the
Lord; 3 and I
appeared to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, as God Almighty, but by My
name, Lord, I did not make
Myself known to them. 4 “I also established My covenant with
them, to give them the land of Canaan, the land in which they sojourned.
5 “Furthermore I have heard the groaning of the sons of Israel,
because the Egyptians are holding them in bondage, and I have remembered My
covenant. 6 “Say, therefore, to the sons of Israel, ‘I am the
Lord, and I will bring you out
from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will deliver you from their
bondage. I will also redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great
judgments. 7 ‘Then I will take you for My people, and I will be
your God; and you shall know that I am the
Lord your God, who brought you
out from under the burdens of the Egyptians. 8 ‘I will bring you
to the land which I swore to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and I will
give it to you for a possession; I am the
Lord.’ ” 9 So Moses
spoke thus to the sons of Israel, but they did not listen to Moses on
account of their despondency and cruel bondage. 10 Now the
Lord spoke to Moses, saying,
11 “Go, tell Pharaoh king of Egypt to let the sons of Israel go
out of his land.” 12 But Moses spoke before the
Lord, saying, “Behold, the sons of Israel have not listened
to me; how then will Pharaoh listen to me, for I am unskilled in speech?”
13 Then the Lord
spoke to Moses and to Aaron, and gave them a charge to the sons of Israel
and to Pharaoh king of Egypt, to bring the sons of Israel out of the land of
Egypt. 14 These are the heads of their fathers’ households. The
sons of Reuben, Israel’s firstborn: Hanoch and Pallu, Hezron and Carmi;
these are the families of Reuben. 15 The sons of Simeon: Jemuel
and Jamin and Ohad and Jachin and Zohar and Shaul the son of a Canaanite
woman; these are the families of Simeon. 16 These are the names
of the sons of Levi according to their generations: Gershon and Kohath and
Merari; and the length of Levi’s life was one hundred and thirty-seven
years. 17 The sons of Gershon: Libni and Shimei, according to
their families. 18 The sons of Kohath: Amram and Izhar and Hebron
and Uzziel; and the length of Kohath’s life was one hundred and thirty-three
years. 19 The sons of Merari: Mahli and Mushi. These are the
families of the Levites according to their generations. 20 Amram
married his father’s sister Jochebed, and she bore him Aaron and Moses; and
the length of Amram’s life was one hundred and thirty-seven years. 21
The sons of Izhar: Korah and Nepheg and Zichri. 22 The sons
of Uzziel: Mishael and Elzaphan and Sithri. 23 Aaron married
Elisheba, the daughter of Amminadab, the sister of Nahshon, and she bore him
Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar. 24 The sons of Korah: Assir
and Elkanah and Abiasaph; these are the families of the Korahites. 25
Aaron’s son Eleazar married one of the daughters of Putiel, and she
bore him Phinehas. These are the heads of the fathers’ households of
the Levites according to their families. 26 It was the same
Aaron and Moses to whom the Lord
said, “Bring out the sons of Israel from the land of Egypt according
to their hosts.” 27 They were the ones who spoke to Pharaoh king
of Egypt about bringing out the sons of Israel from Egypt; it was the
same Moses and Aaron. 28 Now it came about on the day when
the Lord spoke to Moses in the
land of Egypt, 29 that the
Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “I am the
Lord; speak to Pharaoh king of
Egypt all that I speak to you.” 30 But Moses said before the
Lord, “Behold, I am unskilled
in speech; how then will Pharaoh listen to me?”[1]
The one thing
that stood out to me in today's study is that God established who He was.
He made it clear that it wasn't through the strength of Moses that He was
going to deliver the Hebrews. Neither was it because the Hebrews had such
tremendous faith as to cause God to notice them. On the contrary, the
Hebrews wished that Moses would just go away since their labors and
harassment had increased after his coming. God wanted to make it clear who
was going to defeat Pharaoh, it wasn't going to be Moses, or the Hebrews, it
was only by the direct hand of God.
God revealed
His name, which we lamely translate as "LORD", all in caps since it refers
to the actual name of God. This name was so sacred to the Hebrew people
that they purposefully left off the vowel markings. It was considered to be
so holy that it could not be verbally spoken. Some translate the Name as
Jehovah, others translate it as Yahweh, the Hebrew letters spell YHWH. God
had revealed Himself earlier as "El Shaddai", demonstrating that He was God
almighty, sustainer and provider. Now God reveals a different side of his
character. God is keeping the promise that was given long ages before, He
has not forgotten His word. (The Bible Knowledge Commentary)
God promised
that He would cause Pharaoh to "say uncle", in other words, Pharaoh
would give in to the direction of God willingly. God had the ability to zap
Pharaoh, and to cause him to give Israel freedom immediately, but He did not
choose to do it that way. He does not create robots, and God works in His
own way. Imagine the number of Egyptians that knew that God was much
greater than their false gods.
One other thing
that we can all draw comfort from in these verses is that God noticed the
trouble that the Hebrews were going through. As we consider the plights of
our daily lives, don't ever forget that lesson. We serve a personal God who
is concerned about us personally on an individual basis.
This is the
Sunday Study, so I am going to shorten it, I am skipping over the majority
of the chapter and welcome any comments. Shelley is still in the Hospital,
she is starting to feel a lot better. Brain surgery affects everyone
differently, we are hoping to bring her home Monday or Tuesday. Please keep
her in prayer.
Father, as You
revealed to Moses, You are in control of every area of life. I ask that You
will reveal that truth to each of our hearts. Give us the courage to build
our lives upon that truth.
In Him,
Joe Turner.
[1]
New American Standard Bible : 1995 update. 1995. LaHabra, CA: The
Lockman Foundation.
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