Exodus · chapter 6 of 40
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Exodus 6 records God's answer to Moses' complaint: now he will see what God does to Pharaoh. The Lord identifies himself as the Lord, recalls his covenant with the patriarchs and promises to bring Israel out, deliver them, redeem them and take them as his people. Israel, crushed, does not listen, and the chapter adds the family line of Reuben, Simeon and Levi, from which Moses and Aaron come.
At the end of Exodus 5, Moses complains that his obedience has only brought more suffering to the people. Exodus 6 is God's reply, one of the richest declarations of his character in the whole book. The chapter reassures the people and Moses before the plagues, and places the two leaders within the family of Israel.
The Lord answered Moses that he would now see what God would do to Pharaoh: by a strong hand Pharaoh would let them go, and even drive them out of his land. God spoke again and said that he is the Lord. He had appeared to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob as God Almighty, but by his name the Lord he had not made himself known to them. He recalled that he had established his covenant with them to give them the land of Canaan, and that he had heard the groaning of the enslaved Israelites and remembered his covenant.
God told Moses to say to Israel a series of promises: he would bring them out from under the burdens of Egypt, deliver them from slavery, redeem them with an outstretched arm and great acts of judgment, take them as his people and be their God. They would know that he is the Lord their God, and he would bring them to the land he swore to give to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, as an inheritance. Moses spoke to the people, but they did not listen, because of their broken spirit and harsh slavery.
God again told Moses to speak to Pharaoh. Moses objected that if the people had not listened, much less would Pharaoh, since he was slow of lips. The Lord commanded Moses and Aaron to go to the Israelites and to Pharaoh to bring the people out of Egypt.
The text then gives the family line of the heads of the fathers' houses of Reuben, Simeon and Levi, stopping at Levi because Moses and Aaron descend from him. From Levi came Kohath, then Amram, and Amram married his father's sister Jochebed, who bore Aaron and Moses. The sons of Aaron and some descendants of Kohath and Aaron are also named. The chapter closes by identifying Moses and Aaron as the ones who spoke to Pharaoh to bring Israel out of Egypt, and by repeating Moses' objection about his lips.
References follow ESV book names and verse numbers. Read each verse in your Bible before the explanation.
God answers Moses' complaint by telling him he will now see what God will do to Pharaoh. By a strong hand Pharaoh would let them go. The answer puts the weight of the deliverance on God's action, not on Moses' strength.
God tells Moses to say to Israel that he will bring them out from the burdens of Egypt, deliver them from slavery and redeem them with an outstretched arm and great acts of judgment. The word redeem is key to understanding Israel's deliverance.
God promises to take Israel as his people and be their God, and that they will know him as the Lord. This is the covenant formula: a relationship, not only freedom from slavery.
Moses speaks to the people, but they do not listen because of their broken spirit and harsh slavery. The text does not blame the Israelites but recognizes that suffering can keep someone from receiving good news.
6 questions with answers and references, ready for Sunday school, small group or a Bible quiz night.
Answer: What he would do to Pharaoh: by a strong hand he would make him let the people go. — Exodus 6:1
Answer: As God Almighty, without making himself known to them by his name, the Lord. — Exodus 6:3
Answer: He will redeem them, with an outstretched arm and great acts of judgment. — Exodus 6:6
Answer: He will take Israel as his people and be their God. — Exodus 6:7
Answer: Because of their broken spirit and harsh slavery. — Exodus 6:9
Answer: Amram and Jochebed, of the tribe of Levi. — Exodus 6:20
Exodus 6 teaches that God's promises do not depend on the people being in a state to hear them. When suffering stops our ears, God keeps speaking and his word stands. This chapter helps us accompany those who are in seasons when believing is hard, without judging them.
The seven promises of redemption are a guide for prayer: we ask God to act as he himself has committed. In a class or small group you can read verses 6 and 7 slowly and think about what they say of God's character. The family line also reminds us that God calls real people from specific families to serve his people.
Exodus 6 ends with Moses and Aaron identified as the ones who will speak to Pharaoh, and with Moses' objection still unresolved. In Exodus 7 the confrontation begins: God will make Moses like God to Pharaoh, and the signs and plagues will start.
The passage contrasts the name God Almighty, by which the patriarchs knew him, with the name the Lord. The patriarchs already called on the Lord by that name in Genesis, so many readers understand that the text speaks of a fuller knowing: now God will show in the deliverance all that the name means.
The verbs in the passage are: bring out, deliver, redeem, take as a people, be their God, bring into the land and give the land as an inheritance. Many scholars see them as a summary of the salvation God accomplishes, and Jewish tradition links the first four of them (bring out, deliver, redeem, take) with the four cups of the Passover meal.
The family line places Moses and Aaron within the tribe of Levi and their family, so the reader knows where the leaders come from and that their calling is no accident. The text stops at Levi because the priests come from him.