Scripture Daily

Context No. 4196 of 4322 · Exodus

Context · Reflection

Exodus 6:1-8: in context

1The LORD said to Moses, “Now you shall see what I will do to Pharaoh, for by a strong hand he shall let them go, and by a strong hand he shall drive them out of his land.” 2God spoke to Moses, and said to him, “I am the LORD. 3I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, as God Almighty; but by my name the LORD I was not known to them. 4I have also established my covenant with them, to give them the land of Canaan, the land of their travels, in which they lived as aliens. 5Moreover I have heard the groaning of the children of Israel, whom the Egyptians keep in bondage, and I have remembered my covenant. 6Therefore tell the children of Israel, ‘I am the LORD, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will rid you out of their bondage, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm, and with great judgments. 7I will take you to myself for a people. I will be your God; and you shall know that I am the LORD your God, who brings you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians. 8I will bring you into the land which I swore to give to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob; and I will give it to you for a heritage: I am the LORD.’”

With Israel groaning under Egyptian bondage and Moses discouraged, God speaks a series of promises so emphatic they read like a drumbeat. I am the LORD, he declares, and then: I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians; I will deliver you from their slavery; I will redeem you with an outstretched arm; I will take you to be my people; I will be your God; I will bring you into the land I swore to give.

What stands out is that every promise begins with I will. The whole work of redemption rests not on Israel's strength or worthiness but on God's initiative and covenant faithfulness. He remembered his covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; he heard the groaning of his people; and now he acts, not because they had earned it, but because he is the LORD who keeps his word. Salvation is his doing from beginning to end.

Our redemption, too, rests on God's I will, not on our achievement. God takes the initiative to bring out, deliver, redeem, and claim his people as his own. When we are burdened and discouraged, unable to free ourselves, we can rest on the same covenant faithfulness that spoke these promises to Israel.

When I am burdened and discouraged, unable to free myself, do I rest on God's I will, his own initiative and covenant faithfulness to bring out, deliver, and redeem his people, rather than on my own strength or worthiness?

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