When Moses requested permission to worship God, Pharaoh
refused, saying the only reason they even thought about it was because they had
too much free time. He increased the
amount of labor they were required to do and the people blamed Moses. Moses himself felt like he had failed because
things got worse instead of better. He
asked God why he let it get worse if he was supposed to make it better.
God explained that he intended to do more than give them a
few days off in Exodus 6:1-8. “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. And God spake unto Moses, and said unto him, I
am the LORD: 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. 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. And I have also
heard the groaning of the children of Israel, whom the Egyptians keep in
bondage; and I have remembered my covenant.
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: 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. And I will bring you in unto
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.”
God wanted to show them his power, causing Pharaoh to
literally drive them out of the land.
Had Pharaoh let them go when Moses asked, they would have still been
slaves, and never have seen His power.
God then reminded Moses of the promises to Abraham, Isaac, and
Jacob. He pointed out that he is
Jehovah, the ‘self-existent one’ who created all things who has unlimited
power. Six hundred years before, he had
promise Abraham that one day his descendants would possess the land of Canaan,
and now he was ready to fulfill that promise.
He had not forgotten it. Moses
needed to remind the people of those promises and tell them it was God’s
intention to fulfill them.
Both Moses and the people had assumed things would happen
immediately. God sent Moses back to tell
the people That they had more to look forward to and that they should not be
discouraged. When their expectations
were not met immediately the people gave up hope, according to Exodus 6:9. “And
Moses spake so unto the children of Israel: but they hearkened not unto Moses
for anguish of spirit, and for cruel bondage.”
Even though it had resulted in things getting worse, god
sent Moses to Pharaoh again, in Exodus 6:10-11.
“And the LORD spake unto Moses,
saying, Go in, speak unto Pharaoh king of Egypt, that he let the children of
Israel go out of his land.” Moses
asked why bother, since even the Israelites did not believe him, in Exodus
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?” After all,
Israel had every reason for hoping he was telling the truth, while Pharaoh had
no reason to believe him.
God gave Moses and Aaron a charge to do what he commanded and
bring Israel out of Egypt whether they believed or not, in Exodus 6:13. “And
the LORD spake 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.” God’s
promises will be kept whether people believe him or not, as II Timothy 2:13
tells us. “If we believe not, yet he abideth faithful: he cannot deny himself.” Moses was to follow God’s instructions
without worrying about whether anyone followed him or not. The results are up to God, not to us.
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