God Binds the Brokenhearted

God Binds the Brokenhearted Exodus 6 Review • Moses accepts God’s commission, encourages the people (who believe), and asks Pharaoh for a three-day festival. • Pharaoh explodes in anger, makes false accusations, and lays an extraordinary burden on Israel. The Israelites plead with Pharoah, but to no avail. • We end Chapter 5 with Pharaoh angry at Israel, Israel angry at Moses, and Moses angry at God. • Now it’s God’s turn to speak … God Replies to Moses (6:1-5) • God promises present action (v. 1): “Now you will see.” Chapter 6 is a strong turning point in our story, it’s the final paragraph of the Prelude. • God Promises the Power of a Strong Hand (v. 1-2), which becomes a theme in future chapters (13:3-16; 14:21) • God Reminds of His Covenant Faithfulness (v. 3-5) 1. “By my name, I did not make myself known to them” could be a rhetorical question (Stuart, 170) or a deepened, experiential knowledge (Enns, 175) 2. God reminds Moses that Israel’s Egyptian slavery was part of a grand narrative – see Genesis 15:13-16 God Reassures Israel (6:6-9) • God delivers 8 promises, all in past tense form to “express facts which are undoubtably imminent, and therefore, … already accomplished” (GK, 312) • 3 Categories of Promise (see Kaiser, 392) 1. I will free you: (bring out, deliver, redeem) 2. I will adopt you: (take you, be your God, be my people, you will know) 3. I will give you an inheritance (bring you into the land; give you the land) God Recommissions Moses (6:9-30) • God reaffirms His command three times (v. 10, 13, 29) • Moses’s Genealogy reaffirms God’s Central Role • Moses Paints a Picture of God’s Sole Determination to Work: 1. Pharaoh’s program seems marvelously vindicated 2. The people refuse to hear because of their chaff-like spirit 3. Moses can’t get over his own deficiencies 4. But none of that matters, because God had decided to move. Applications 1. We’re rarely privy to God’s central concerns (see the story of Job) 2. Sometimes, faith enough for bare obedience is sufficient to please God. 3. God’s first two lines of defense against discouragement are Reminder and Promise.