God answered Moses, “Then the LORD said to Moses, “Now you shall see what I will do to Pharaoh. For with a strong hand, he will let them go, and with a strong hand he will drive them out of his land.”” (v1)
Moses needed to trust in God, it was God and God alone, who was going to deal with Pharaoh. Not only will he let you go, but he will also drive you out.
God confirmed His promise – “I am the LORD. I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, as God Almighty, but by My name LORD I was not known to them. I have also established My covenant with them, to give them the land of Canaan, the land of their pilgrimage, in which they were strangers. And I have also heard the groaning of the children of Israel whom the Egyptians keep in bondage, and I have remembered My covenant.” (v2-5)
Once again God reminded Moses that this was a firm promise to his forefathers, and there was no doubt that He would keep it.
Moses knew all that, God had often reminded him of it, but he kept on forgetting. Problems seemed to have put it out of his mind.
Moses was privileged over his forefathers; he knew God far more intimately than them.
We have an even greater privilege, Hebrews 1:1-3 tells us, “God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds; who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high. “
God spoke in times past through prophets and they were wonderful messages pointing to Jesus, but we have an even greater privilege – The Lord Jesus Himself who has come to earth, lived and died and rose again. God has revealed Himself through His Son who came to earth to pay for our salvation.
In verses 6-8 The LORD told Moses “Therefore say to the children of Israel: ‘I am the LORD; I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, I will rescue you from their bondage, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great judgments. I will take you as My people, and I will be your God. Then you shall know that I am the LORD your God who brings you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians. And I will bring you into the land which I swore to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; and I will give it to you as a heritage: I am the LORD.’”
Notice that God was going to do all this. What a comfort that would be to Moses when he must have thought that he had messed it up. Not only did He promise to Moses in verses 2-5 but this was now to the people in verses 6-8. He begins and ends with the statement, “I am The LORD”. That was most important. If He is not The LORD then the rest of it is mere talk. If He is not, then He would be unable to do what He said – “I will bring you out…., I will rescue you…., I will redeem you…., I will take you as my people…., I will be your God…., I will bring you to the land….,I will give it you….”
Would you believe it – the people did not believe Moses! (v9) Their circumstances were overwhelming, and they were consumed by them, so much so that they thought that God wasn’t able to do what He had said through Moses. Their captors seemed to be all powerful and they had given up hope of ever being free.
Our God is able, as the Apostle Paul says, “….to do exceeding abundantly above all we can ask or think” (Ephesians 3:20). We are in a much more wonderful situation in that God has brought us out of the slavery of sin, rescued us from the penalty of sin, redeemed us by paying the price, taken us as His people, become our God, will bring us to heaven and given us an inheritance which cannot pass away and is eternal, all through His Son our Lord Jesus Christ.
There is no reason for us to doubt The Lord’s ability to save us but sadly, we often think we are too bad for Him. The Bible says that He is able to save to the uttermost those who come to God by Him.
Despite the people’s reluctance, The LORD told Moses go ahead and tell Pharaoh to let the people go. It was His plan and nothing was going to thwart it (v10-13). Moses told The LORD that he was concerned that the people had not heeded him, so how was Pharaoh going to take any notice of him. He was obviously feeling despondent. God was still in control, and He told Moses and Aaron to go ahead, Pharaoh was nothing compared to God despite Moses feelings of inadequacy. God was dealing with Moses as well as the people and Pharaoh. He was building Moses’ character and trust in Him.
Romans 5 tells us v3-5, that “…. we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance, character; and character, hope. Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.”
Of course, Moses wasn’t aware of Paul’s letter to the Romans, but God was the same God and He does not change. Moses was being made aware that this was God’s plan and it would not fail.
In verses 14-27 we are taken back to the families and their generations. It is like an interlude and a reminder of some of the members of this people. Here are listed the heads of the fathers’ houses of Reuben, Simeon and Levi. Their sons are listed and the main list for our consideration is the sons of Levi because they tell us about Moses and Aaron’s family tree. Levi lived 137 years and among his sons was Kohath who lived 133 years and was the father of Amram.
Amram married Jochebed, his aunt, and she bore Aaron, Moses and Miriam. Amram lived to 137 years. Aaron married Elisheba, the daughter of Amminadab and they had four sons – Nadab, Abiquiu, Eleazar and Ithamar. Eleazar married one of the daughters of Putiel and she bore Phinehas. Just so that we are in no doubt, we are told that Aaron and Moses are the same two who spoke to Pharaoh and brought the children of Israel out of Egypt. The mention of Aaron’s descendants is important as the priesthood came through his descendants and we shall meet some of them later. The sons of Korah will also be mentioned particularly in Numbers 16.
Moses is still reluctant to go to Pharaoh, he still felt that he was not the right man for the job (v28-30). Isaiah said the same thing (in Isaiah 6) but God dealt with his unworthiness just as he dealt with Moses. The same is true for us, we might think that we are not worthy to speak and work for The Lord, but surrendered to Him, He will make us worthy.
