Good morning everyone! Welcome back to another Biblit! Hope your week is going well so far. Last week we left off on a bit of a cliffhanger. We saw Moses pleading with God as to why he did not free the Israelites as he said he would. Today, we get to see the Lord’s mighty response. Let’s jump into this commentary on Exodus chapter 6.
Context
The Lord’s response here in Exodus 6 is really powerful, but kind of hard to follow. At least it was for me. He starts off assuring Moses that His power will be revealed (through the plagues) and that Pharaoh will not only let them leave for a sacrifice, but Pharaoh will drive the Israelites out of Egypt for good! Way beyond what has been requested.
Then God adds in this interesting verse:
“I am the Lord. I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, as God Almighty, but by my name the Lord I did not make myself known to them.” (Exodus 6:2-3 ESV).
I mentioned this a couple of weeks ago when God reveals himself to Moses as a burning bush, but the name “the Lord” means Yahweh in Hebrew. The other name God uses in this verse, “God Almighty”, in Hebrew is El Shaddai. That’s your Hebrew lesson for the day, haha! At first glance at this verse, it sounds like God is essentially saying that to the patriarchs He was known as El Shaddai (God Almighty), but now He will be known as Yahweh (the Lord).
Some commentaries suggest the literal translation of this verse is more of a question. Like, “by my name, did I not make myself known to them?”
However, we also cannot look over these crucial facts. God used His name El Shaddai when he talked to Jacob right after their wrestling match where God changed Jacob’s name to Israel.
“God said to him, “Your name is Jacob; you will no longer be named Jacob, but your name will be Israel.” So he named him Israel. God also said to him, “I am God Almighty. Be fruitful and multiply. A nation, indeed an assembly of nations, will come from you, and kings will descend from you.” (Genesis 35:10-11 CSB).
This marked a crucial transition in Jacob’s life as he went from a trickster to one who strives with God.
Well, here in Exodus, God could be making it clear that He too is marking a transition. Not that God, Himself, is changing, but that the way He communicates and relates to His people is changing. And He is using His name to do it. From this point on in scripture, the name El Shaddai (God Almighty) is not used anywhere near as often as Yahweh (the Lord). In fact, it’s mainly just used in poetic stuff like in the Psalms. It could be a stretch, but I think this is a cool little detail of God marking a transition.
Until this point, God only talked and interacted with one of the patriarchs. He is now preparing the way so that He can talk and relate to an entire nation, further paving the way for Jesus who will allow each and every person in the world to talk to God on a personal level!
So, God lays that down. He also reiterates several times that He is the same God who made the covenant with Abraham and He will uphold it and free them from the burdens of the Egyptians.
The only other really neat point I found in the midst of God’s response is that He says He will free them with an outstretched arm. Apparently, this phrase, “outstretched arm,” was a popular one in Egypt during the 18th dynasty. It meant the conquering arm or conqueror. This was God’s way of saying He will demonstrate how superior He truly is above Pharaoh.
Alright, so that’s God’s response, and it really hypes Moses up! He runs off to tell the Israelites, but they are still not on board because of the new harsh labor laws. So the Lord tells Moses that he will have to go talk to the Pharaoh himself.
After this, we jump into a brief genealogy tracing the children of Jacob to Moses and Aaron. It doesn’t go through every child; it briefly mentions Reuben and Simeon, and then digs in when it lands on Levi. From there, it follows the line of Levi down to Moses and Aaron.
Here are some of the noteworthy/fun facts within the genealogy:
Levi was the great-grandfather of Moses and Aaron.
Aaron and Moses’s mom was Jochabed, whose name means “The Lord is glory.” Fun fact, she is the first person in the Bible to have a name that carries part of the divine name. I’m not sure what that means per se, but it’s a fun fact nonetheless.
Aaron married a woman named, Elisheba, who is from the line of Judah. This is cool because this connects the line of the priests and the line of royalty together. This isn’t the line that leads to Jesus, but it’s definitely a foreshadowing of Jesus, who is both our king and divine high priest.
Interpretation
Ok, here are a couple of cool points I really enjoyed from this passage.
Gradual redemption. I don’t know for sure if God’s comment on His name was there to imply a transition or not. However, what I do know is that we are in a period of transition. I will probably talk about this a lot in the coming weeks, especially when we hit the tabernacle, but I’ll mention it here too. When Adam and Eve first walked the earth, they walked physically with God, fully dwelling with the Lord. Then sin created this total separation. Humanity was as separate as they could get apart from eternal separation after death. Then, through God’s grace, He begins the story of humanity’s gradual redemption. We saw Him talk to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Now, we see this transition from the time of patriarchs to God dwelling in the midst of Israel. He’s still not fully available to everyone in Israel; they still need a priest to intercede on their behalf.
But it’s all about this amazing gradual redemption. Jesus comes and once again people can walk, dwell, and talk with God. They can touch Him and look at Him without perishing from His glory. But He’s still not accessible to everyone; just those in His vicinity. Then the Lord blesses us with the Holy Spirit through the work of Christ who is now our high priest interceding for us.
Everyone on earth has access to talk and build a relationship with the Almighty God. Now, we wait and hope for the final stage of redemption where we are truly dwelling fully face to face with the Lord.Foreshadowing and little details. I just love seeing all the little details God puts into His story. Little things like using the term “outstretched arm” which He doesn’t use that often afterward. He mainly uses it because the context here would have really foreshadowed God displaying His superiority over Pharaoh. Then the detail of Aaron marrying a descendent of Judah, combining the line of the priests and royalty. More foreshadowing of Jesus, and we don’t even have the priests yet. It’s just so cool how many little details God puts in to show His full sovereignty and ultimate storytelling ability.
Application
Alright, so what are my main takeaways this week?
I never want to take for granted the Holy Spirit. We will be making tons of these connections in the coming weeks, but I want to take time to praise the Lord I can approach Him. That the Holy Spirit guides and directs our paths, as Jesus said:
“If you love me, you will keep my commands. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever. He is the Spirit of truth. The world is unable to receive him because it doesn’t see him or know him. But you do know him, because he remains with you and will be in you.” (John 14:15-17 CSB).
I also want to pray for a heart that listens and follows the Spirit’s guidance just as the Israelites will later follow the pillar of smoke and fire.Trust in God’s sovereign plan and enjoy His creative plan. I haven’t thought of this much before. However, I do want to reflect on God’s creativity in my own life and the lives around me. He is the master storyteller, and recognizing those little details in my own life might be a fun way to praise and recognize God working in my own life. All to bring Him more glory.