Read with Me
Exodus 6:1-8 (HCSB)
But the LORD replied to Moses, “Now you are going to see what I will do to Pharaoh: he will let them go because of My strong hand; he will drive them out of his land because of My strong hand.”
Then God spoke to Moses, telling him, “I am Yahweh. I appeared to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob as God Almighty, but I did not reveal My name Yahweh to them. I also established My covenant with them to give them the land of Canaan, the land they lived in as foreigners. Furthermore, I have heard the groaning of the Israelites, whom the Egyptians are forcing to work as slaves, and I have remembered My covenant.
“Therefore tell the Israelites: I am Yahweh, and I will deliver you from the forced labor of the Egyptians and free you from slavery to them. I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and great acts of judgment. I will take you as My people, and I will be your God. You will know that I am Yahweh your God, who delivered you from the forced labor of the Egyptians. I will bring you to the land that I swore to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and I will give it to you as a possession. I am Yahweh.”
Listen with Me
Moses had come to God out of frustration and anger at the position He had put him in and at what He had done to the people by intensifying their laborers and suffering. God’s response wasn’t defensive, but explanatory.
In reality, nothing was happening that God hadn’t already predicted, both to Abraham (Genesis 15:13-14) and to Moses himself (Exodus 3:19-20). Pharaoh absolutely believed that he was all-wise and all-powerful, and that he knew how things worked in the world much better than anyone else, especially someone like Aaron, a slave, and Moses, a Bedouin shepherd. His will would need to be crushed before he would comply with God’s commandment.
All that had happened so far is that the two sides in the battle had been clearly defined. It was Pharaoh on one side, and God, not Moses, on the other. And with that clear definition in place, the battle itself was about to begin.
The outcome of the battle was not in question. God was going to win. He would absolutely fulfill the promises he had made Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, honoring the covenant He had made with Abraham and that he had renewed in each succeeding generation.
Some object to God saying that the patriarchs did not know him by the name “Yahweh”, but only as “El Shaddai, “the Almighty God”, since the name Yahweh does appear in Genesis, sometimes on the lips of the these very patriarchs. God was not saying that the title was unknown. He was confirming that those early followers did not truly understand who God is as the eternal, unchangeable God of the universe. They did see His mighty acts on their behalf and knew him as the God who acted and who could do amazing miracles, and that was enough at the time.
But Moses would know God as He truly is, the living eternal God who created all things, who controls all things, and who keeps every covenant promise. Moses, and every Israelite who wanted to, could know God as He truly is, the character implied by the name. They could live actively in His presence day by day, and they could continue to deepen that knowledge through a living relationship with Him. That was far more than anyone since Adam and Eve before the Fall had experienced.
Pray with Me
Father, I have wondered about that statement, but now I see it more clearly. Thank You. And thank You also that through Jesus, and through the power and presence of the Holy Spirit living in our hearts, we can know You even better today, can experience Your presence even more fully than Moses or any of the prophets did. Thank You, Lord! Amen.