Read Exodus 6:28–7:7
Questions from the Scripture text: When does this come to pass (Exodus 6:28)? What did Yahweh say about Himself (Exodus 6:29a)? What did He tell Moses to say to whom (verse 29b)? And how had Moses answered (Exodus 6:30, cf. Exodus 6:12)? But what had Yahweh said to Moses (Exodus 7:1, cf. Exodus 4:16)? What is Moses to speak to whom and by means of him to whom (Exodus 7:2)? But what will Yahweh do to Pharaoh (Exodus 7:3a, cf. Exodus 4:21)? Why—to multiply what (Exodus 7:3b)? So, what will happen (Exodus 7:4a)? Why (verse 4b)? What will this accomplish (Exodus 7:5)? What were the immediate results of the Lord’s speech to Moses (Exodus 7:6)? How does Exodus 7:7 tie this passage back to the genealogy in chapter 6?
By way of the genealogy in Exodus 6:14–27, the Holy Spirit has already answered Moses’s objection from Exodus 6:12 for us. Now, He repeats the objection in Exodus 6:30, as the Lord answers Moses as well. Moses may be Moses, and that’s a problem; but Yahweh is Yahweh, and that’s the solution:
“I am Yahweh,” Exodus 6:29.
“I will […] multiply My signs,” Exodus 7:3.
“I will […] multiply […] My wonders,” verse 3.
“I will lay My hand on Egypt,” Exodus 7:4.
“I will […] bring My hosts […] out of the land of Egypt,” verse 4.
“I will […] bring […] My people, the children of Israel, out of the land of Egypt by great judgments,” verse 4.
“the Egyptians shall know that I am Yahweh,” Exodus 7:5.
“when I stretch out My hand on Egypt,” verse 5.
“when I […] bring out the children of Israel,” verse 5.
It’s all about Yahweh. It’s not about whether Moses’s lips will be up to the task (cf. Exodus 6:30). It’s about Yahweh making Himself known, His glory known, His covenant faithfulness known, His justice known. We make a great mistake, when we think about our circumstances and situations as if they are about us.
In His works, just as in His Word, the Lord is always making Himself known. We make a mistake when we are slow to obey out of fear that our weakness will keep the obedience from bearing fruit. And we make a mistake if our aim in obedience is more personal success than the display of God’s glory.
But God displays His glory and covenant faithfulness known not only in what He does through us, but also in what He does in us. And that’s the point of Exodus 7:6–7. We go from Moses saying, “Behold, I am of uncircumcised lips, and how shall Pharaoh heed me” (Exodus 6:30) , to “Moses and Aaron did so; just as Yahweh commanded them, so they did” (Exodus 7:6).
What produces this change from halting, doubting disobedience to complete, exact obedience? Eighty year-old Moses and Eighty-three year-old Aaron were from a nation of families that Yahweh had set apart for Himself. And He displays His faithfulness not only by delivering them from Egyptians, but also by giving them increasing deliverance from their own sins.
And He still does that today! You can trust Him, dear Christian, to do that work in you so that you more and more serve and obey with the confidence that He will display His own glory through you.
What situation are you in, where you feel that you’re not up to it? What is God aiming at in that situation? Where can you get the faith to serve and obey in it?
Sample prayer: O Lord, You showed Your glory in the way that You chose to deliver Your people from Egypt. And infinitely more so in the way that You have delivered all Your elect by Christ. Forgive us for forgetting that You are showing that same glory, even through the most difficult circumstances and service to which You call us. But even for increased faith, You are the One to Whom we may look. Glorify Yourself in us by growing us in Christ, which we ask in His Name, AMEN!
Suggested songs: ARP32AB “What Blessedness” or TPH435 “Not What My Hands Have Done”
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