6:1.
“Then the Lord said unto Moses, Now shalt thou see what I will do to
Pharaoh: for with a strong hand shall he let them go, and with a strong hand
shall he drive them out of his land.”
Other
translations eliminate the ambiguity of the KJ version relative to the
“strong hand,” which is God’s, not Pharaoh’s, e.g., The New American
Bible, “Forced by my mighty hand, he will send them away”; The Bible:
An American Translation, “compelled by a mighty power he will ... let
them go.”
The darkest
hour precedes the dawn. Just when it seemed that the Hebrews’ case was
hopeless, the omnipotent Jehovah was about to deal with Pharaoh, so that he
would not just permit the people to go: he would be anxious to have them
leave, see Ephesians 3:20, God “is able to do exceeding abundantly above all
that we ask or think....”
6:2.
“And God spake unto Moses, and said unto him, I am the LORD:”
That
declaration alone should have banished Moses’ fears, for it is synonymous
with omnipotence. Nothing can resist the power of God, see e.g., Romans
8:31, “If God be for us, who can be against us?” and again, Matthew 19:26,
“... with God all things are possible.”
6:3.
“And I appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, by the name of God
Almighty, but by my name JEHOVAH was I not known to them.”
Jehovah,
meaning the self-Existent or Eternal, was a name by which He
had not revealed Himself to the Patriarchs, but the deliverance of their
descendants, now become a nation, required the assuring disclosure that He
Who promised was able also to fulfill His word.
6:4.
“And I have also established my covenant with them, to give them the land of
Canaan, the land of their pilgrimage, wherein they were strangers.”
This covenant
is recorded in Genesis 15:18, “In the same day the Lord made a covenant with
Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt
unto the great river, the river Euphrates.”
Abram’s being
given the land in which he and his descendants had had to dwell as pilgrims
and strangers, foreshadows what will yet be our experience, for this world
in which we also sojourn as pilgrims and strangers, see 1 Peter 2:11,
“Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from
fleshly lusts, which war against the soul,” is the world over which we will
yet reign with Christ, see 2 Timothy 2:12, “If we suffer, we shall also
reign with Him,” and Revelation 5:10, “... we shall reign on the earth.”
“... the river
of Egypt,” incidentally, is not the Nile, but the small stream that marks
the boundary between Canaan and Egypt. In a day now imminent Israel will
occupy and rule over all that vast expanse of land lying between the River
of Egypt and the Euphrates.
6:5.
“And I have also heard the groaning of the children of Israel, whom the
Egyptians keep in bondage; and I have remembered my covenant.”
In the midst
of their suffering at the hand of the Egyptians, the Israelites may have
felt that God neither knew nor cared, but He did, and He was about to
deliver them. There is much in the world today to discourage believers, and
to prompt the thought that God is indifferent; but as He took note of the
plight of His ancient people Israel languishing under Egyptian tyranny, so
is He aware of every adverse circumstance in our lives, and He would have us
remember that He either orders or permits them for the strengthening of our
faith, and for our eternal blessing, His assurance being that, “all things
work together for good to those who love God,” Romans 8:28.
The covenant
was the one He had made with Abraham as recorded in Genesis 12:1-3.
6:6.
“Wherefore say unto the children of Israel, I am the Lord, and I will bring
you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will rid you out of
their bondage, and I will redeem you with a stretched out arm, and with
great judgments:”
That Egypt in
which the Israelites toiled and suffered under the tyrannous rule of
Pharaoh, is a type of the world in which believers toil and suffer today, a
world, which by God’s permission, is ruled by Satan, of whom the Egyptian
Pharaoh is but a type. And as the oppressed Hebrews were delivered from
that bondage so will we, most being emancipated by way of physical death,
but the last generation - and we could well be that generation -
experiencing deliverance by rapture to heaven just before the beginning of
the seven year Tribulation era.
Many competent
Bible scholars point out that the judgments which devastated Egypt, and
compelled Pharaoh to liberate the Hebrews, are but types of the Tribulation
judgments that will ravage this present world, leaving it a virtual ruin,
just prior to Christ’s return to inaugurate His glorious millennial kingdom.
6:7.
“And I will take you to me for a people, and I will be to you a God: and ye
shall know that I am the Lord your God, which bringeth you out from under
the burdens of the Egyptians.”
This was
fulfilled exactly as God had declared, and only spiritually blind eyes will
fail to see in it the foreshadowing of what will follow the Great
Tribulation: the inauguration of Christ’s millennial kingdom, in which
Israel will be promoted to supremacy over all the nations of the world. We
however, will be occupying an even higher and more glorious position: we
will be reigning with Christ over the whole millennial earth.
6:8.
“And I will bring you into the land, concerning the which I did swear to
give it to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob; and I will give it you for an
heritage: I am the Lord.”
This has been
only partially fulfilled in the past due to the disobedience of the
generations that followed the conquest of Canaan under Joshua. Complete
fulfillment awaits the Millennium.
6:9.
“And Moses spake so unto the children of Israel: but they hearkened not unto
Moses for anguish of spirit, and for cruel bondge.”
Such was their
misery under the even more intolerable conditions imposed by their
taskmasters following Moses’ interview with Pharaoh, that they refused to
listen to him any longer. Honest introspection must surely impel the
confession of a similar rebellious spirit when we too, chaffing under divine
chastening, have refused to listen to God’s word.
6:10.
“And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,”
6:11.
“Go in, speak unto Pharaoh king of Egypt, that he let the children of Israel
go out of his land.”
6:12.
“And Moses spake before the Lord, saying, Behold, the children of Israel
have not hearkened unto me; how then shall Pharaoh hear me, who am of
uncircumcised lips?”
The Lord’s
repeated command that Moses speak again to Pharaoh concerning the release of
the Hebrews evoked the further protest that since Israel had refused to
listen to him, what likelihood was there that Pharaoh would heed his renewed
request? The fact that the sequel reveals the soundness of his reasoning
prompts the obvious question that since God foreknew Pharaoh’s negative
response, why did He insist on having Moses make the second request?
The answer is
that it was in complete accord with God’s nature. He “is longsuffering ...
not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance,”
2 Peter 3:9. God gave Pharaoh every opportunity to repent and save himself,
but the wicked king’s self-hardened heart was impervious to every divine
appeal, so that he plunged on to his own eternal ruin.
“...
uncircumcised lips” was Moses’ description of his own ineloquence.
6:13.
“And the Lord spoke unto Moses and unto Aaron, and gave them a charge unto
the children of Israel, and unto Pharaoh king of Egypt, to bring the
children of Israel out of the land of Egypt.”
This
reiteration of God’s command to Moses and Aaron, and through them to Israel
and to Pharaoh, declares the immutability of the dictum. God would permit
nothing to frustrate His purpose to liberate and bless Israel; nor is there
any power that will prevent his bringing us safely to heaven and the
enjoyment of eternal blessing.
6:14.
These be the heads of their fathers’ houses: The sons of Reuben, the
firstborn of Israel; Hanoch, and Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi: these be the
families of Reuben.”
6:15.
“And the sons of Simeon; Jemuel, and Jamin, and Ohad, and Jachin, and Zohar,
and Shaul the son of a Canaanitish woman: these are the families of Simeon.”
6:16.
“And these are the names of the sons of Levi according to their generations;
Gerhson, and Kohath, and Merari: and the years of the life of Levi were an
hundred and thirty seven years.”
6:17.
“The sons of Gershon; Libni, and Shimi, according to their families.”
6:18.
“And the sons of Kohath; Amram, and Izhar, and Hebron, and Uzziel: and the
years of the life of Kohath were an hundred thirty and three years.”
6:19.
“And the sons of Merari; Mahali and Mushi: these are the families of Levi
according to their generations.”
6:20.
“And Amram took him Jochebed his father’s sister to wife; and she bare him
Aaron and Moses: and the years of the life of Amram wee an hundred and
thirty and seven years.”
6:21.
“And the sons of Izhar; Korah, and Nepheg, and Zichri.”
6:22.
“And the sons of Uzziel; Mishael, and Elzaphan, and Zithri.”
6:23.
“And Aaron took him Elisheba, daughter of Amminadab, sister of Nahshon, to
wife; and she bare him Nadab, and Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar.”
6:24.
“And the sons of
Korah; Assir, and Elkanah, and Abiasaph: these are the families of the
Korhites.”
6:25.
“And Eleazar Aaron’ss son took him one of the daughters of Putiel to wife;
and she bare him Phinehas: these are the heads of the fathers of the Levites
according to their families.”
6:26.
“These are that Aaron and Moses, to whom the Lord said, Bring out the
children of Israel from the land of Egypt according to their armies.”
Relative to
the significance of these names see the
comments on 1:1-4.
6:27.
“These are they which spake to Pharaoh king of Egypt, to bring out the
children of Israel from Egypt: these are that Moses and Aaron.”
6:28.
“And it came to pass on that day when the Lord spake unto Moses in the land
of Egypt,”
6:29.
“That the Lord spake
unto Moses, saying, I am the Lord: speak thou unto Pharaoh king of Egypt all
that I say unto thee.”
“I am the
Lord” was the all-sufficient Authority on whose behalf Moses was to address
the Egyptian king; and it is as the agents of that same Lord that we are to
present the Gospel to men and women today.
6:30.
“And Moses said before the Lord, Behold, I am of uncircumcised lips, and how
shall Pharaoh hearken unto me?”
“...
uncircumcised lips” is more accurately translated of impeded speech:
stammerer: stutterer: slow, halting of speech. Moses was forgetting
that the power of the message he was to deliver wasn’t dependent on his
oratorical ability, but on the omnipotence of the One he was privileged to
represent. We too should keep that fact in mind when presenting the Gospel
to others.