Online Resource Library
Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadPaul Kretzmann Commentary - Exodus 6:1 - 6:8
(Show All Books | Show All Chapters)
This Chapter Verse Commentaries:
The Lord Sends a Comforting Message
v. 1. Then the Lord said unto Moses, in answer to his cry of anxiety, Now shalt thou see what I will do to Pharaoh; for with a strong hand shall he let them go, and with a strong hand shall he drive them out of his land. That was God's answer as to the eventual method which would be adopted by Pharaoh in dealing with the children of Israel. He would not only dismiss Israel out of his country, but he would do so with impatience, he would expel them.
v. 2. And God spake unto Moses in a solemn declaration, and said unto him, I am the Lord;
v. 3. and I appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob by the name of God Almighty, but by My name Jehovah was I not known to them. To the patriarchs the Lord had not revealed Himself in His specific capacity as Jehovah, although the name was not unknown to them. Now He wanted to give actual evidence, definite proof, of Himself in fulfilling His promises, in carrying out the conditions of the Messianic covenant, at least in its typical form.
v. 4. And I have also established my covenant with them to give them the land of Canaan, the land of their pilgrimage, wherein they were strangers. This covenant had been made with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob, as their history abundantly shows, while they were still strangers in the Land of Promise. But the time of four generations, of which the Lord had spoken to Abraham, Gen_15:16, was now drawing to a close, and so His words must now be fulfilled.
v. 5. And I have also heard the groaning of the children of Israel, whom the Egyptians keep in bondage; and I have remembered my covenant. That was the second factor which decided the Lord, the lamenting, the wailing, of the children of Israel under the burden of their bondage in Egypt.
v. 6. Wherefore say unto the children of Israel, I am the Lord; He wanted to prove Himself as Jehovah. 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 a stretched-out arm and with great judgments. The expression "arm stretched out" is even stronger than "arm of strength" of verse 1, since it is the aim of the Lord to reassure the people beyond the shadow of a doubt.
v. 7. And I will take you to Me for a people, and I will be to you a God; and ye shall know that I am the Lord, your God, which bringeth you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians. This formal acceptance of the children of Israel as the people of the covenant took place at Mount Sinai, Exo_19:5-6. The Lord here repeats the definite statement that He would lead Israel out from under, entirely away from, the oppressive burdens of the Egyptians.
v. 8. And I will bring you in unto the land concerning the which I did swear to give it to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob; and I will give it you for an heritage, for a permanent possession; I am the Lord. This, then, was the Lord's threefold promise: to deliver His people from the bondage of Egypt; formally to adopt them as His people; to bring them into Canaan, their future possession. Thus the Lord comforts His children in the midst of their afflictions with the promise of the everlasting deliverance, whereby His covenant, His Word, remains alive in their hearts.