That All Will Acknowledge Yahweh (Exodus 6:28-7:7) Series

Let's start this morning by rereading Exodus 6:1-13. This will help us get sucked back into the story, and I'll teach you a cool little thing about how biblical narratives work.

(1) and Yahweh said to Moses,

"Now you will see what I will do to Pharaoh,

because with a strong hand he will send them out,

and with a strong hand he will drive them out from his land.

(2) And God spoke to Moses,

and He said to him,

"I [am] Yahweh,

and I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob as El Shaddai ("God of Power"),

while my name Yahweh I didn't make known to them,

(4) and, what's more, I established my covenant with them to give to them the land of Canaan-- a land they lived in as foreign aliens,

where they stayed as foreigners in it,

(5) and, what's more, I have heard the groaning of the sons of Israel who are in Egypt, being made to serve the Egyptians,

and I remembered my covenant.

(6) Therefore, say to the sons of Israel,

"I [am] Yahweh,

and I shall bring you from under the forced labor of Egypt,

and I shall deliver you from your service,

and I shall redeem you with an outstretched arm, and with great acts of judgment,

and I shall take you for myself as a people,

and I shall be to you [a] God/Elohim,

and you shall know that I [am] Yahweh your God, The One Bringing You From Under the Forced Labor of Egypt,

(8) and I shall bring you to the land that I swore to give it to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob,

and I shall give it to you [as a] possession.

I [am] Yahweh,"

(9) and Moses spoke thus to the sons of Israel,

and they didn't listen to Moses because of a short spirit and their hard service,

(10) and Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,

"Go speak to Pharaoh king of Egypt,

and he will send out the sons of Israel from his land,"

(11) and Moses spoke before Yahweh, saying,

"LOOK! The sons of Israel haven't listened to me,

and how will Pharaoh listen,

while I [am] uncircumcised of lips?,

(13) and Yahweh spoke to Moses and to Aaron,

and He commanded them to the sons of Israel and to Pharaoh king of Egypt, to bring out the sons of Israel from the land of Egypt.

At this point in your Bibles, Exodus switches to giving a genealogy, which I don't really want to talk about. But Exodus knows that after this genealogy, you've maybe lost some of the feel of the story. So what it does, in Exodus 6:28-30, is remind you of where we are in the story. It repeats itself, in the same way a TV show might repeat a little bit of last week's episode to help you catch up. But before we read these verses, look at who doesn't listen to Moses. Verse 11. The Israelites didn't listen. And Pharaoh didn't listen.

So, verses 28-30:

(28) And then, when Yahweh spoke to Moses in the land of Egypt,

(29) Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,

"I [am] Yahweh.

Speak to Pharaoh King of Egypt all that I am speaking to you,"

(30) and Moses said before Yahweh,

"LOOK! I [am] uncircumcised of lips,

and how will Pharaoh listen to me?"

Nothing new, right? Just a little help to us, as readers. But what maybe surprises us, is that Moses is still bothered by his inability to speak. God has told Moses that He will be with him, and that He will give him the words to say. And, on top of that, God gave him Aaron to be his prophet. So how can Moses still be worried?

Well, if we are reading carefully, we shouldn't be surprised. God gave him all of those promises, and then sent him to Pharaoh. And what was the result?

Pharaoh didn't listen. And the Israelites didn't listen.

Now, Exodus tells us why the Israelites didn't listen. It had nothing to do with Moses. They didn't listen for two reasons: because they had a short spirit, and because of their hard service.

And Pharaoh didn't listen, I think, because Pharaoh hasn't seen God's power yet. Yahweh gave Pharaoh the chance to do the right thing, by simply asking nicely. And Pharaoh refused.

None of this is Moses' fault, right? None of this can be pinned on Moses' speech problems.

But if you're Moses, what do you tell yourself? How does it look?

God promised you He'd make your speech problem, not a problem. And then it was. No one listened to you.

So I can see why Moses is still anxious about this. What will God do? Let's read Exodus 7:1-2: