<Ex 6> 1 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Now you will see what I will do to Pharaoh: Because of my mighty hand he will let them go; because of my mighty hand he will drive them out of his country.”
2 God also said to Moses, “I am the Lord. 3 I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob as God Almighty, but by my name the Lord I did not make myself fully known to them.
4 I also established my covenant with them to give them the land of Canaan, where they resided as foreigners. 5 Moreover, I have heard the groaning of the Israelites, whom the Egyptians are enslaving, and I have remembered my covenant.
6 “Therefore, say to the Israelites: ‘I am the Lord, and I will bring you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians. I will free you from being slaves to them, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with mighty acts of judgment.
7 I will take you as my own 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 yoke of the Egyptians. 8 And I will bring you to the land I swore with uplifted hand to give to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob. I will give it to you as a possession. I am the Lord.’”
9 Moses reported this to the Israelites, but they did not listen to him because of their discouragement and harsh labor.
10 Then the Lord said to Moses, 11 “Go, tell Pharaoh king of Egypt to let the Israelites go out of his country.”
12 But Moses said to the Lord, “If the Israelites will not listen to me, why would Pharaoh listen to me, since I speak with faltering lips?”
13 Now the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron about the Israelites and Pharaoh king of Egypt, and he commanded them to bring the Israelites out of Egypt.
God’s mighty hand will fulfil His promises.
1) Reiteration of God’s promises.
- What God promised:
- Redemption from bondage.
- Personal relationship.
- Possession of the promised land.
2) Reassurance amidst failures.
- In our failures, we need to know God all over again, deeper.
3) Humble ourselves under God’s mighty hand.
- <1 Pe 5:6> Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time.
God’s “I will” met with man’s “I won’t” <v9>.
1) God gives wonderful promises, but we often find it hard to believe Him.
2) The most understandable discouragement must also be resisted.
- Faith is most easily crushed by hardships.
- Discouragement is an effective tool of the devil.
- Spurgeon: It is a poor reason for refusing light because the night is so dark!
- Regardless of how painful and miserable one’s life is, his best hope lies in the Lord!
3) God demonstrated His most gracious love when He did not give up on His discouraged and disbelieving people.
- God will graciously and faithfully turn His “I will” into “I did”.
Speak God’s word whether men take heed or not.
