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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadPaul Kretzmann Commentary - Exodus 6:9 - 6:13
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God's Charge to Moses and Aaron
v. 9. And Moses spake so unto the children of Israel; but they hearkened not unto Moses for anguish of spirit and for cruel bondage, literally, for shortness of breath and for hard slavery. It was not merely physical affliction with which they were suffering, but their spirit was almost broken with the unendurable harshness of the treatment which they received.
v. 10. And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,
v. 11. Go in, speak unto Pharaoh, king of Egypt, that he let the children of Israel go out of his land. It was a direct command to lay aside all faint-heartedness and to undertake the task of delivering the people with all energy.
v. 12. And Moses spake before the Lord, saying, Behold, the children of Israel have not hearkened unto me; how, then, shall Pharaoh hear me, who am of uncircumcised lips? He argues that if the less difficult was impossible for him, the harder task would certainly be far above his ability. He assigns the reason for his failure to his uncircumcised, his unregenerate lips, which made it impossible for him to transmit the words of the Lord to Aaron with the proper ease and fluency and in all their stainless purity.
v. 13. And the Lord spake unto Moses and unto Aaron, and gave them a charge unto the children of Israel, and unto Pharaoh, king of Egypt, to bring the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt. It was a comprehensive command intended to beat down the last feeling of hesitation which Moses still felt. It is no small matter to proclaim the will of the Lord to defiant, obstinate men, but when the Lord commands, His will must be done.