God Promises Deliverance

INTRO

God used Moses as the deliverer to point His people to Yahweh, the true Deliverer. Remember God had given the signs—the staff turning to a snake, the leprous hand, and turning water to blood—and the Israelites had believed Aaron and Moses. But when they went to Pharaoh, he refused to let them go. Moses ended chapter 5 saying, “God, why did you ever send me?”

You should, in your calling, always expect opposition and misunderstanding from other people. As servant leaders, you have to spend time with the Lord. Moses did this in chapter 5, expressing his frustration with God.

TEACHING

Exodus 6:1–2: answered Moses: “Now you are going to see what I will do to Pharaoh: he will let them go because of My strong hand; he will drive them out of his land because of My strong hand.” In His answer to Moses, twice God said, “because of My strong hand.” Seven times in His answer to Moses, God said, “I will” (vv. 1, 6, 7, 8). Then God spoke to Moses. Most likely, Moses heard God’s voice audibly. In His response to Moses, multiple times God said, “I am Yahweh” (vv. 2, 6, 7, 8). (Exodus 33:11; Deuteronomy 34:10.)

Exodus 6:3–8: God continued to talk with Moses and explained that while He had appeared to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, He had never revealed His name Yahweh to them (as He had to Moses). God stated that He remembered His covenant with them and that He had heard Israel’s groanings from Egypt. God promised to free Israel from slavery in Egypt and deliver them to the land He swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob—the Promised Land. Within this passage, we’re basically transitioning from Abraham to Moses.

Sailhamer said Exodus 6 provided an outline of the Pentateuch (the first five books of the Bible).¹

1. God established His covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (Exodus 6:4).
2. In Genesis 12:1–3, God made a covenant with Abram that was confirmed in Genesis 15; Genesis 17; and Genesis 22.
3. In Genesis 15, God told Abram his descendants would live as foreigners in another land (Paul said this too).
4. God remembered His covenant (Exodus 6:5).

God promised to deliver His people (Exodus 6:6).

God promised to adopt Israel as His nation (Exodus 6:7).

This pattern would be repeated in the New Covenant.

In Luke 4:18–19, Jesus quoted Isaiah 61:1 when He said, “The Spirit of the Lord is on Me . . . to proclaim freedom to the captives.” Jesus, the Deliverer, came to set people free.

We have been adopted into Christ (Ephesians 1:5).

God promised to bring Israel into the Promised Land (Exodus 6:8).

The land in Israel is really important because, when you give up land, it goes against the covenant God established in the Pentateuch.

This is why, as believers, we want to support that Israel gets and keeps the land.

Exodus 6:9–12: When Moses told the Israelites what God had said to him, they didn’t listen. Remember the context: the Israelites had not been set free yet. When God commanded Moses to go to Pharaoh and tell him to let the Israelites leave his land, Moses wanted to know why Pharaoh would listen to him if his own people didn’t. Moses pulled the classic victim card: Pharaoh wouldn’t listen “since I am such a poor speaker.”

Exodus 6:13: Rather than continue to debate Moses’ claims of inadequacy, God reaffirmed His commands. Scripture pauses here to give the genealogy of Moses and Aaron. Francis Schaeffer said, “There are no little people in the Bible.”²They’re all important.

Exodus 6:14–16: These verses provided the lineage of three of Jacob’s sons by Leah: Reuben, Simeon, and Levi. Verse 16 named Gershon, Kohath, and Merari as Levi’s three sons. (By continuing to follow the lineage, we will see that Moses and Aaron are Levites.)

Exodus 6:17: This verse named Gershon’s sons, who were Levi’s grandsons.

Exodus 6:18: This verse named Kohath’s sons, who were also Levi’s grandsons. Amram was named as Aaron and Moses’ father in verse 20.

Exodus 6:19: This verse named Merari’s sons, who were also Levi’s grandsons.

Exodus 6:20: Amram married his father’s sister, Jochebed (which meant he married his aunt). She bore him two sons: Aaron (older) and Moses (younger). They also had Miriam (Moses’ sister), who was also a major part of the deliverance (Micah 6:4).

Exodus 6:21–22: These verses named the sons of Izhar and the sons of Uzziel, who were Moses’ cousins.

Exodus 6:23: Aaron married Elisheba (the daughter of Amminadab, a well-known family in the tribe of Judah). Aaron was in the lineage of the Levites, who became the priests of Israel. Elisheba was from the tribe of Judah (Numbers 1:7, 2:3). Judah eventually led to David and eventually to the Messiah. In Aaron’s family, the lineage of the Levites and Judahites came together.

Exodus 6:24: Korah (the son of Izhar, see verse 21) was a cousin to Moses. Korah led a rebellion against Moses (Numbers 16). Numbers 26:11 revealed that when Korah and all the men who rebelled against Moses died, the sons of Korah survived. These sons of Korah wrote Psalms 84, 85, and 87. The sons of Korah give us hope that we don’t have to continue in our father’s bad decisions. Some of you don’t have a positive lineage, and that’s OK.

Exodus 6:25: Aaron’s son Eleazar was the father of Phinehas, who was a hero in Numbers 25. These are the heroes and the heads of the Levite family.

Exodus 6:26–27: God instructed “this Aaron and Moses” to bring the Israelites out of Egypt, so Moses and Aaron were the ones who spoke to Pharaoh. Wiersbe said, “God’s calling always means God’s enabling.”³

Hamilton connected the fulfillment of the prophecy in Genesis 15:13–16 to this listing of genealogy in Exodus 6:14–25.⁴Exodus 6:16 described the first generation. Gershon, Kohath, and Merari were Levi’s sons who lived in bondage. Exodus 6:18 named the second generation. Amram was the son of Kohath and the father of Aaron and Moses. Exodus 6:20 named the third generation. Aaron and Moses were the sons of Amram and Jochebed. Exodus 6:23 named the fourth generation. Aaron’s sons Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar would be among those delivered to the Promised Land.

CLOSING

Everything pointed to the Deliverer. Can you believe it? The lineage of the Levites pointed to the Messiah! One little name, Elisheba (Aaron’s wife), was the daughter of Amminadab and the sister of Nahshon, who were both in the lineage of Christ (Luke 3:32–33).