Exodus Chapter 6
Moses was discouraged. He felt that God was not acting quickly enough to help his people become free from their slavery and now even more burdensome labor. It was not fair that life was even more difficult for the slaves ever since Moses spoke to the Pharaoh. But there is a phrase that Moses will learn as time goes on and one that we all need to learn. “He is God, and I am not.”
“When all human help has failed, and the soul, exhausted and despairing, has given up hope from man, God draws near, and says, I AM.” [Meyer]
Sometimes we find ourselves at what seems to be a dead end. There is no way out, we can’t turn to the left or to the right to get out of a situation. And often it is in these times when we finally realize that our hope is in God.
Let's Reflect
1. It was as if God said, “watch this, see what I can do.” What did God tell Moses that He would cause Pharoah to do? It wouldn’t be that the Pharoah would just let the Israelites go but he would do what?
2. God told Moses several things to encourage him and to let him know that He was still in control. What 3 things did God tell Moses in verses 2-5?
3. Moses was instructed to tell the people exactly what the Lord God said. The words were a beautiful promise filled with hope, a sure hope. But the people had been enslaved so long that they had given up on hope. What does verse 9 tell us about the Israelite people?
4. God’s response was to tell Moses to go and speak to the Pharaoh. But Moses felt like he had been a failure with the people, and he definitely did not feel qualified to speak to the Pharoah. Verse 13 tells us that God gave Moses and Aaron a charge or a command. He wanted them to obey and go and speak to the Pharaoh. This was not just a suggestion, but God was going to do what?
5. In verses 14-25 we have the genealogy of Moses and Aaron. These two brothers were hand picked by God to fulfill His mission. It is interesting to remember that It was Moses who later wrote the first five books of the Old Testament under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. It was as if Moses wrote, “it was THAT Moses and THAT Aaron that God used to lead the Israelites out of Egypt.” It was those two men who lacked courage to speak to the Pharoah of Egypt, but they obeyed God. Looking back to verse 20 what were their parents’ names?
6. And in verse 28-30 Moses recalls when he said to God that he did not feel qualified to speak to the Pharaoh of Egypt. But what did God tell him to say to the Pharaoh that was declaring to him who really had the authority?
Now think about this for a moment. I know that you are familiar with the 10 plagues. But think about the fact that God did not need to do that to rescue His people. He could have just rescued them. So why did He cause the plagues?
