Chapter Six
God Responds to Moses and Promises Deliverance
6:1 But the LORD said to Moses, “Now you shall see what I will do to Pharaoh; for with a strong hand he will send them out, and with a strong hand he will drive them out of his land.” 2 God spoke to Moses and said to him, “I am the LORD.
God answers Moses, He first tells him that he will indeed see Pharaoh release his people. Then God reminds him that He is God. Knowing that God is God may not sound like a lot of reassurance, but this is often the central problem with our walk with God. If we try to reduce God to something we can understand or require Him to adhere to all of the restrictions of this world, we miss who God really is. In simple terms, God is God; He is omniscient, omnipresent, and omnipotent. He is our creator, there is nothing impossible for Him. God is gentle to Moses, reminding him that He is in control, something that Moses will later teach others (see Exodus 14:13-14).
6:3 I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, as God Almighty, but by my name the LORD I did not make myself known to them.
Then God reveals to Moses something totally remarkable. Even though God appeared to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, He never revealed to them His name. The New Living Translation renders this verse, “And God said to Moses, “I am Yahweh—‘the LORD.’ I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob as El-Shaddai—‘God Almighty’—but I did not reveal my name, Yahweh, to them.” (Exodus 6:2-3, NLT) Some believe that in the last part of the verse where God says, “I did not make myself known to them,” is a different and separate clause, implying that Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob each believed in promises given to them, but Moses was to be the first to see the fulfillment of those promises.
6:4 I also established my covenant with them to give them the land of Canaan, the land in which they lived as sojourners. 5 Moreover, I have heard the groaning of the people of Israel whom the Egyptians hold as slaves, and I have remembered my covenant. 6 Say therefore to the people of Israel, ‘I am the LORD, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will deliver you from slavery to them, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great acts of judgment. 7 I will take you to be my people, and I will be your God, and you shall know that I am the LORD your God, who has brought you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians. 8 I will bring you into the land that I swore to give to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. I will give it to you for a possession. I am the LORD.’ ”
God continues to tell Moses that He established a covenant with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob to give them the land of Canaan, but they only lived there as sojourners. And now that He has heard the groanings of the people, He has remembered the covenant He made with them; again, He did not forget His promise, it was His way to announce that was now time for them to receive and take possession of the Promised Land.
God makes seven promises to the people of Israel, each one with a personal “I will…” preceding the promise. Beginning with verse six:
God concludes with the same words He opened with in verse two, “I am the LORD,” or “I am YHWH,” offering reassurance that it will be done as promised.
6:9 Moses spoke thus to the people of Israel, but they did not listen to Moses, because of their broken spirit and harsh slavery.
Encouraged by God’s words, Moses goes and tells the people of Israel what God said to him, but they would not listen to him. They would not accept the possibility that their condition could improve, as they could not see any way out of their harsh slavery. They no longer believed that Moses was chosen by God to free them, as life only became worse since he arrived.
6:10 So the LORD said to Moses, 11 “Go in, tell Pharaoh king of Egypt to let the people of Israel go out of his land.” 12 But Moses said to the LORD, “Behold, the people of Israel have not listened to me. How then shall Pharaoh listen to me, for I am of uncircumcised lips?” 13 But the LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron and gave them a charge about the people of Israel and about Pharaoh king of Egypt: to bring the people of Israel out of the land of Egypt.
God tells Moses to go back to Pharaoh and tell him to let the people of Israel go out of Egypt. Moses then complains that since his own people would not listen to him, why would Pharaoh listen? He then adds that he has “uncircumcised lips” The word translated here as ‘uncircumcised’, is ‘ǎrǎl’[1] which generally refers to a person being uncircumcised, however, since it is also seen referring to a heart (see Leviticus 26:41; Jeremiah 9:26; Ezekiel 44:7, 9) and ears (see Jeremiah 6:10), we see how it can also be used metaphorically to describe the corrupted nature of other parts of the body, in this case, Moses’ mouth or inability to speak. Apparently, Moses believed that he had failed due to his own inability to speak. God responds to both Moses and Aaron by giving them a charge (Hebrew ‘yeṣǎw·wē’,[2] an order or command) to bring the people of Israel out of the land of Egypt.
Genealogy of Moses and Aaron
6:14 These are the heads of their fathers’ houses: the sons of Reuben, the firstborn of Israel: Hanoch, Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi; these are the clans of Reuben. 15 The sons of Simeon: Jemuel, Jamin, Ohad, Jachin, Zohar, and Shaul, the son of a Canaanite woman; these are the clans of Simeon. 16 These are the names of the sons of Levi according to their generations: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari, the years of the life of Levi being 137 years. 17 The sons of Gershon: Libni and Shimei, by their clans. 18 The sons of Kohath: Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel, the years of the life of Kohath being 133 years. 19 The sons of Merari: Mahli and Mushi. These are the clans of the Levites according to their generations. 20 Amram took as his wife Jochebed his father’s sister, and she bore him Aaron and Moses, the years of the life of Amram being 137 years.
Now that Moses and Aaron have been commanded by God to lead the Israelites out of Egypt, the narrative is temporarily paused and a short genealogy given with emphasis on their tribe inserted.
6:21 The sons of Izhar: Korah, Nepheg, and Zichri. 22 The sons of Uzziel: Mishael, Elzaphan, and Sithri. 23 Aaron took as his wife Elisheba, the daughter of Amminadab and the sister of Nahshon, and she bore him Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar.
This genealogy will help readers understand the organization of the coming priesthood as the line of Aaron’s sons will later become the official bloodline of the priests. Sadly, two of his sons, Nadab and Abihu, did not take their role seriously and will later have a less-than-favorable encounter with God (see Leviticus 10:1-2).
6:24 The sons of Korah: Assir, Elkanah, and Abiasaph; these are the clans of the Korahites. 25 Eleazar, Aaron’s son, took as his wife one of the daughters of Putiel, and she bore him Phinehas. These are the heads of the fathers’ houses of the Levites by their clans.
Aaron’s third-oldest son, Eleazar, due to the deaths of his first two sons, Nadab and Abihu, will become the high-priest after Aaron’s death (see Numbers 20:23-28) and Phinehas will become the high-priest after Eleazar’s death (see Judges 20:28).
6:26 These are the Aaron and Moses to whom the LORD said: “Bring out the people of Israel from the land of Egypt by their hosts.” 27 It was they who spoke to Pharaoh king of Egypt about bringing out the people of Israel from Egypt, this Moses and this Aaron.
The genealogy is concluded by returning to a summary of the commission God gave Aaron and Moses, to “Bring out the people of Israel from the land of Egypt by their hosts.” The difference of this commission from God’s earlier request, is that it is now time to leave, not for a short-term feast, but for good.
We were first introduced to the word ‘hosts’ (Hebrew word ‘ṣiḇ·’ōṯ’ (root ‘ṣā·ḇā’),[3] in Genesis 2:1, which usually refers to some form of military service, but here it may be a reference to tribal affiliation and family groups. The NIV translates the word as ‘divisions’; the CSB translates it as “military divisions” and the NLT offers, “Lead the people of Israel out of the land of Egypt like an army.”
6:28 On the day when the LORD spoke to Moses in the land of Egypt, 29 the LORD said to Moses, “I am the LORD; tell Pharaoh king of Egypt all that I say to you.” 30 But Moses said to the LORD, “Behold, I am of uncircumcised lips. How will Pharaoh listen to me?”
This text returns us to the narrative; however, the similarity of the text to verses 11 and 12, raises a question. Is this another proclamation to Moses or is this the same one recorded earlier? Based on the wording, “On that day…” it appears that this is indeed a repeat, to reiterate the command, as God will now explain to Moses how this is going to happen in the next chapter.
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[1] Strong’s Hebrew 6189.
[2] Strong’s Hebrew 6680.
[3] Strong’s Hebrew 6635.