Monday, October 23, 2006

Exodus 6

I am Yahweh — the Lord



1 Then the Lord told Moses, “Now you will see what I will do to Pharaoh. When he feels the force of my strong hand*, he will let the people go. In fact, he will force them to leave his land!”



*strong hand:

Exodus 13:9: This annual festival will be a visible sign to you, like a mark branded on your hand or your forehead. Let it remind you always to recite this teaching of the Lord: ‘With a strong hand, the Lord rescued you from Egypt.

Exodus 32:11: But Moses tried to pacify the Lord his God. “O Lord!” he said. “Why are you so angry with your own people whom you brought from the land of Egypt with such great power and such a strong hand?

Deuteronomy 5:15: Remember that you were once slaves in Egypt, but the Lord your God brought you out with his strong hand and powerful arm. That is why the Lord your God has commanded you to rest on the Sabbath day.

See also Deuteronomy 5:15, Deuteronomy 6:21, Deuteronomy 7:8, Deuteronomy 7:19, Deuteronomy 26:8, Job 30:18, Psalm 44:3, Psalm 48:10, Psalm 89:21, Psalm 136:12, Jeremiah 21:5, Jeremiah 32:21, Ezekiel 20:34. As you can see, this concept of the "strong arm of God" is prominent in the Old Testament.



2 And God* said to Moses, “I am Yahweh**—‘the Lord.’



*God - Elohim



**Yahweh is a transliteration of the proper name YHWH. The key word in this chapter! The announcement “I am the Lord” (Heb “Yahweh”) draws in the preceding revelation in Exodus 3:15. In that place God called Moses to this task and explained the significance of the name “Yahweh” by the enigmatic expression “I am that I am.” “I am” (’ehyeh) is not a name; “Yahweh” is. But the explanation of the name with this sentence indicates that Yahweh is the one who is always there, and that guarantees the future, for everything he does is consistent with his nature. He is eternal, never changing; he remains. Now, in Exodus 6, the meaning of the name “Yahweh” will be more fully unfolded.



Exodus 3:15: God also said to Moses, “Say this to the people of Israel: Yahweh, the God of your ancestors—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob—has sent me to you. This is my eternal name, my name to remember for all generations.



3 I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob as El-Shaddai*—‘God Almighty’—but I did not reveal my name, Yahweh**, to them.



*El-Shaddai, meaning “God Almighty,” is the name for God used in Genesis 17:1; 28:3; 35:11; 43:14; 48:3.



**Yahweh: He had not revealed Himself by that name in acts and great miracles.



   God tells Moses that He had appeared to their fathers as El Shaddai, the Almighty God, the God of the nations, the rather remote covenant maker. They had thus been made aware of His universality and greatness, and it was on that basis that He had been able to make the wide promises of blessing for all Abraham’s descendants, including those descended from Ishmael. This had been their life experience of God. But they had not experienced His individual, direct, activity on behalf of His chosen line establishing them as rulers over the land. They had not experienced the dynamic of His might and power as their covenant God bringing about the final fulfillment of His promises of possessing the land and being saved from all who hated them. That awaited the future.



   So while they had worshipped Yahweh, they had not ‘known His name’, that is, experienced Him in powerful action bringing about His promises as their covenant God. This was not to deny that Yahweh had been a name passed down from their ancestors under which they had worshipped Him, but it was to point out that they had not in their own time realized or experienced the full significance of that name as ‘the One Who acts’. El Shaddai had been the title that throbbed with significance, the God of the nations, the God Who held the future in His hands. Now all that was to be changed. Yahweh was about to make the very depths of His name known, the name that spoke of a powerful presence and activity, Who would be what He wanted to be as He had defined it in chapter 3.



   So the promise was that Moses and the people were not like the patriarchs to be given future hopes, they were now to be made aware in the fullest sense of the power contained within the name of Yahweh. They would ‘know by experience’ that He was Yahweh, ‘the One Who is there’, for He will reveal His power in the actual deliverance of His people ‘with a strong arm’. They were to see Him in action. They would not now just ‘know (be aware of) His name’ as something that was passed down, they would know it in the depths of their experience because of His powerful activity. It will be made known by what He does.



   If you asked many today, ‘do you know of Jesus Christ?’ they would reply, ‘Yes, of course’. But if they were asked, ‘do you know Him? Have you experienced His saving power?,’ they would not know what you were talking about. They do not know Him. He has not made Himself known to them. They simply know about Him.



   The patriarchs knew the name Yahweh (it is used some 160 times in Genesis); but the great application of the name referred to God who kept and fulfilled the covenant. The patriarchs were privileged to know the God who made the covenant, but for them the covenant was barely fulfilled. The patriarchs knew God as the Maker of the covenant. Moses and the generation of the Exodus would know God as the One who fulfilled the covenant. - www.enduringword.com/commentaries/0206.htm



4 And I reaffirmed my covenant with them. Under its terms, I promised to give them the land of Canaan, where they were living as foreigners.



5 You can be sure that I have heard the groans of the people of Israel*, who are now slaves to the Egyptians. And I am well aware of my covenant with them.



*people of Israel - sons of Israel.



6 “Therefore, say to the people of Israel: ‘I am the Lord*. I will** free you from your oppression and will rescue you from your slavery in Egypt. I will redeem you with a powerful arm and great acts of judgment.



*Lord: Yahweh



**I will: Verse 6 - I will free you, Verse 6 - I will redeem you, Verse 7 - I will claim you, Verse 8 - I will bring you, Verse 8 - I will give it to you..



7 I will claim you as my own people, and I will be your God*. Then you will know that I am the Lord** your God* who has freed you from your oppression in Egypt.



*God: Elohim



**Lord: Yahweh



8 I will bring you into the land I swore to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. I will give it to you as your very own possession. I am the Lord*!’”



*Lord: Yahweh



9 So Moses told the people of Israel what the Lord* had said, but they refused to listen anymore. They had become too discouraged by the brutality of their slavery.



*Lord: Elohim



10 Then the Lord* said to Moses,



*Lord: Yahweh



11 “Go back to Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, and tell him to let the people of Israel leave his country.”



12 “But Lord*!” Moses objected. “My own people won’t listen to me anymore. How can I expect Pharaoh to listen? I’m such a clumsy speaker**!



*Lord: Yahweh



**clumsy speaker: Hebrew - I have uncircumcised lips; also in 6:30. Uncircumcised lips: or, "sealed/overhanging language"--i.e., he stumbled over his own mouth as he spoke. Isaiah also said he had "unclean lips" and needed to have them purified before he could speak for Yahweh. - www.1bread.org/scripture/Exodus/VaEra.html



13 But the Lord* spoke to Moses and Aaron and gave them orders for the Israelites and for Pharaoh, the king of Egypt. The Lord commanded Moses and Aaron to lead the people of Israel out of Egypt.



*Lord: Yahweh



14 These are the ancestors of some of the clans of Israel: The sons of Reuben, Israel’s oldest son, were Hanoch, Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi. Their descendants became the clans of Reuben.



15 The sons of Simeon were Jemuel, Jamin, Ohad, Jakin, Zohar, and Shaul. (Shaul’s mother was a Canaanite woman.) Their descendants became the clans of Simeon.



16 These are the descendants of Levi*, as listed in their family records: The sons of Levi were Gershon, Kohath, and Merari. (Levi lived to be 137 years old.)



*The genealogy from Levi to Moses through Kohath and Amram is abbreviated to just 4 generations although the stay in Egypt is said to be 430 years (Exodus 12:40-41). Therefore, the listing is only of the "major" ancestors of Moses.



17 The descendants of Gershon included Libni and Shimei, each of whom became the ancestor of a clan.



18 The descendants of Kohath included Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel. (Kohath lived to be 133 years old.)



19 The descendants of Merari included Mahli and Mushi These are the clans of the Levites, as listed in their family records.



20 Amram married his father’s sister Jochebed, and she gave birth to his sons, Aaron and Moses. (Amram lived to be 137 years old.)



21 The sons of Izhar were Korah, Nepheg, and Zicri.



22 The sons of Uzziel were Mishael, Elzaphan, and Sithri.



23 Aaron married Elisheba, the daughter of Amminadab and sister of Nahshon, and she gave birth to his sons, Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar.



24 The sons of Korah were Assir, Elkanah, and Abiasaph. Their descendants became the clans of Korah.



25 Eleazar son of Aaron married one of the daughters of Putiel, and she gave birth to his son, Phinehas*. These are the ancestors of the Levite families, listed according to their clans.



*Phinehas: Numbers 25:7-8, 11; 31:6; Joshua 22:13, 22:30-33; Judges 20:28



26 The Aaron and Moses* named in this list are the same ones to whom the Lord** said, “Lead the people of Israel out of the land of Egypt like an army.”



*Aaron and Moses: The purpose of the listing of the descendants is to show the legitimacy of Moses and Aaron and also the legitimacy of Phinehas.



**Lord: Elohim



27 It was Moses and Aaron who spoke to Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, about leading the people of Israel out of Egypt.



28 When the Lord* spoke to Moses in the land of Egypt,



*Lord: Yahweh



29 he said to him, “I am the Lord*! Tell Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, everything I am telling you.”



*Lord: Yahweh



30 But Moses argued with the Lord*, saying, “I can’t do it! I’m such a clumsy speaker**! Why should Pharaoh listen to me?”



*Lord: Yahweh



*clumsy speaker: See verse 12





On-Line Sources:



Off-Line Sources:



  • "Cruden's Complete Concordance" - Zondervan Publishing House

  • "Breath of the Holies: Secrets of Moses' Tabernacle" - DVD by Perry Stone

  • "In Search of the Mountain of God" by Robert Cornuke and David Halbrook - Broadman & Holman Publishers

  • "Symbols of Judaism" by Marc-Alai Ouaknin - Barnes & Noble Books, publisher

  • "The Exodus Revealed: Searching for the Red Sea Crossing" - (2001), DVD, Studio: Questar, ASIN: B00005AUE2, available from Amazon.com

  • "The Defender's Study Bible" -World Bible Publishers

  • "The Miracle of Passover" - DVD by Zola Levitt

  • "The NIV Application Commentary - Exodus" – Peter Enns – Zondervan™

  • "The Ten Commandments" (1956 film) from Paramount Pictures, directed by Cecil B. DeMille, starring Charlton Heston as Moses

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