Passage: Exodus 6

The Big Idea

Moses obeyed, and things got worse. He felt like a failure. But God doesn’t cut down His struggling trees; He loves them. God doesn’t answer all Moses’ questions. Instead He points him to His name and seven “I will” promises, promises that mirror the New Covenant we have in Jesus. The people are too crushed to listen, and Moses still frets about his speech. This first section of Exodus ends where it began: a desperate need for a Redeemer, and a God who has promised to be one.

My Struggling Tree

I have a tree in my front yard that’s been a pain. It doesn’t grow right. Weird branches sprout from the trunk, and I’m always cutting them off. Sometimes half its branches just die for no reason. Nearly every year, in anger and impatience, I threaten to cut it down. And then every spring the leaves come back and it looks beautiful. “Fine. I’ll let you live today.”

I’m not like God in the way I treat that tree. I only care how it benefits me: how it shades the house, how it looks.

God actually loves His trees. He cares for them and won’t let them die.

Moses Feels Like a Failure

Moses committed his way to the Lord. He walked up to Pharaoh and delivered God’s message. And what happened? Pharaoh mocked him and his God and piled more work on the people. Then the people turned on Moses and cursed him.

Moses felt like a failure, like my weird tree that won’t produce the right fruit. He may have wondered whether God was done with him, ready to cut him down.

But the Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in love. He doesn’t deal with us according to our sins. As high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is His love for those who fear Him. As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions. As a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on us, for He knows our frame; He remembers that we are dust (Psalm 103:8-14).

Moses had two options:

Keep staring at his apparent failure and his circumstances, or
Look to God, come back to Him, and ask for grace, help in time of need (Hebrews 4:16).

One option doesn’t believe God loves you and is for you. The other does.

One looks at failures and circumstances and sees shame and regret. The other turns its eyes from the seen to the unseen (2 Corinthians 4:18) and believes God’s love and promises that won’t fail.

The flesh either quits, or tries harder with all its heart.
The Spirit surrenders to God’s will and way, what we call grace, coming to God in humility and believing His promises in faith, with all the heart.

Moses took his apparent failure straight to God. What will God do when a person chooses to believe His Word and trust His promises? The eyes of the Lord search the whole earth to show Himself strong for those whose hearts are fully His (2 Chronicles 16:9).

“Now You Will See What I Will Do” (Exodus 6:1)

The Lord said to Moses, “Now you’ll see what I will do to Pharaoh. Because of My mighty hand he’ll let them go; because of My mighty hand he’ll drive them out of his land.”

God didn’t answer every question Moses asked. Why not? They weren’t the right questions.
Instead, God reminded Moses of His own will and purpose, and called him again to trust Him.

Why doesn’t God answer all my questions?

They don’t all need answers.
And faith answers them all well enough: “My God loves me, and He’ll take care of it.”

You’ve probably seen this in the car. The husband is driving, the wife gasps at something, and the husband gets upset. Why? Because he wants to be trusted. God is far more faithful than any husband, and He wants to be trusted too.

When that truth reaches your heart, you don’t have to worry anymore. You don’t have to fear. You can actually be at peace. Jesus came to give us abundant life (John 10:10), not to restrict us. Our hearts become free when we submit to God’s way of grace: He is Lord and we are saved; He is Father and we are children.

We defeat ourselves when we fixate on every difficulty along the way. Keep your heart fixed on the complete victory won at the cross.

“I Am the LORD” (Exodus 6:2-5)

God said to Moses, “I am the LORD. I appeared to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob as God Almighty, but by My name the LORD I didn’t make Myself known to them. I also established My covenant with them to give them the land of Canaan, where they lived as foreigners. And I have heard the groaning of the Israelites whom the Egyptians enslave, and I have remembered My covenant.”

“The LORD” is God’s covenant name, YHWH.
But the patriarchs did use that name (Genesis 15:7; 28:13). So what does God mean?
They knew His promises, but they didn’t see them all fulfilled. They all died in faith, not having received what was promised, but seeing it from a distance and welcoming it (Hebrews 11:13).
Now Moses and Israel would know Him as the God who keeps His promises, the covenant-fulfilling God. That’s the difference.

Who will stand against God’s promises? Pharaoh? Satan? My own fear and doubt? No.

Why study this?

We’re not ancient Israelites. We’re not slaves in Egypt. What does it matter to us?

Isaiah invites us: “Come to Me and listen, so your soul may live. I will make an everlasting covenant with you, My faithful love promised to David” (Isaiah 55:3).

We enter that covenant when we believe in Jesus and receive Him as Lord.
The everlasting covenant was sealed with blood, the blood of Jesus (Hebrews 13:20).
So Israel’s deliverance from Egypt and our salvation are one story. Same God, same sin problem, same promises, same Deliverer.
Read these chapters like your own story, because they are.

Seven “I Will” Promises (Exodus 6:6-8)

“Therefore tell the Israelites: ‘I am the LORD.

I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians.
I will rescue you from their slavery.
I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with mighty acts of judgment.
I will take you as My people, and I will be your God.
Then you will know that I am the LORD your God, who brought you out from under the burdens of Egypt.
I will bring you into the land I swore to give to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
I will give it to you as a possession. I am the LORD.'”

These promises flow out of God’s covenant with Abraham. Now set them beside the New Covenant God promised through Jeremiah: “I will put My law within them and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be My people. No longer will they teach one another, ‘Know the LORD,’ for they will all know Me, from the least to the greatest. For I will forgive their iniquity and remember their sin no more” (Jeremiah 31:33-34).

Israel’s deliverance is a picture of ours in Jesus:

“I will bring you out.” Egypt pictures the world under the rule of the rebel. We were born into it, burdened by its demands. Jesus frees us from the burden of sin that blocked our fellowship with God, so we can come out and serve Him.
“I will rescue you.” Even if we change how we think, our hearts can stay hard. But Jesus gives us new hearts (Ezekiel 36:26). He replaces our love for rebellion with love for His righteousness. One sure sign you’ve been born again is a new hatred of sin.
“I will redeem you.” We’ve been redeemed by the blood of the Lamb (1 Peter 1:18-19). “This cup is the new covenant in My blood” (Luke 22:20).
“I will take you as My people, and I will be your God.” We are His treasure, His bride, His beloved. And He will be our portion. Everything we need or desire is found in Him.
“Then you will know.” A personal relationship with God: not through a go-between, not by tradition, not because “I was born a Christian.” All will know Him.
“I will bring you into the land.” Not only freedom from sin, but entrance into a new life of fruitfulness, service and joy the world knows nothing about. That’s the life God promises. If you don’t have that joy and freedom, something’s wrong. Ask Him about it.
“I will give it to you as a possession.” Give means gift, not earned. Our inheritance is as sure as the rest of the covenant. “Don’t be afraid, little flock, for your Father is pleased to give you the kingdom” (Luke 12:32).

Too Crushed to Listen (Exodus 6:9-12)

Moses told this to the Israelites, but they didn’t listen to him, because of their broken spirit and cruel bondage.

Those who aren’t yet born again can’t really grasp or treasure God’s promises. To them it’s just words, just religion.
Not until the blood of the Passover was applied would this generation be “born” as a free people. It’s the same today.

The Lord told Moses, “Go tell Pharaoh to let the Israelites leave his land.” But Moses said, “If the Israelites won’t listen to me, why would Pharaoh? I speak with faltering lips.”

Moses was still worried about his speech. Still doubting. Growing, but not there yet.
God didn’t answer that objection again. He already had. Instead He gave Moses and Aaron a charge for both the people and Pharaoh, turning Moses’ attention away from himself.

The Family Record (Exodus 6:13-30)

Then comes a genealogy of the heads of Reuben, Simeon and Levi, focusing on Levi’s line: Kohath, Amram and Jochebed, and their sons Aaron and Moses. “These are the same Aaron and Moses the LORD told to bring the Israelites out of Egypt.”

The genealogy roots Moses and Aaron in real history. They were ordinary men from an ordinary slave family.
Then the chapter circles back: God said, “Tell Pharaoh everything I tell you,” and Moses again said, “I speak with faltering lips. Why would Pharaoh listen to me?”

Again, Moses? Many count this as roughly the seventh time he’s raised his weakness in these chapters. It underlines his complete weakness, and God’s complete supply.

Many people picture Moses as a strong, mighty hero. As we study his life, I want us to think differently. Moses was a weak man held up by a faithful God.

Grace Takeaway

When I look at Moses, I think of that tree in my yard: weak, odd and slow to bear fruit. But it’s mine. I bought it, and I love it. I think I’ll name it Moses. That’s how God sees you on the days you feel like a failure. He doesn’t cut you down. He reminds you of His name and His promises: I will bring you out, I will rescue you, I will redeem you, I will be your God. He’s the God who keeps His word.

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The Tree Named Moses