Exodus 6 - I AM and I Will

LINK: Exodus 6

BACKGROUND

God told Moses, right up front, what He WILL do to Pharaoh and who HE IS. God reminded Moses of His character by declaring "I am the LORD" four times in six verses! 

By using the name Yahweh, He was saying that He was "with them" and He would be consistent with His character and lead them out of Egypt back to Canaan. Yahweh was the way He would make Himself known to His people and not just as God Almighty (El Shaddai). He revealed Himself as the God of promise who was personally related to His people (see Background from Exodus 3 about this special name of Yahweh).

In 6:6-8, He says "I will" seven times:

I will bring you out 

I will deliver you 

I will also redeem you 

I will take you for my people 

I will be your God 

I will bring you to the land 

I will give it to you

Those "I wills" are bookended with: I am the LORD!

Again, it was all about "I AM" and not about Moses' unskilled speech (6:12)! Moses was literally saying "I am circumcised of lips" meaning morally unclean and incapable. Moses still did not have the confidence to believe it was all about God and not about his abilities.

The chapter concludes with another genealogy, and we know from Genesis that they are there for a reason! This was a continuation of the genealogy beyond the sons of Israel establishing Moses and Aaron as fitting into the "pedigree" with the authority to lead. We learn from this that they were from the tribe of Levi and the Amramite branch of the Kohath clan.

REFLECTION

As I reflected upon this chapter today, II Corinthians 1:20 kept on popping into my head:

"For as many as are the promises of God, 
in Him they are yes; 

therefore also through Him is our Amen 
to the glory of God through us."

God made many "I will" statements in this chapter. These were promises that Moses could take all the way to the Promised Land.

It made me think of all the precious and magnificent promises (2 Peter 1:3) that have carried me over every pot hole, speed bump, and road block in my own journey with the LORD that started in 1969! 

I have written them on cards and stored them in my heart (Psalm 119:9, 11), and I can stand on them to this day proclaiming to the world that "HE IS! He is the Promise-Keeping God. He is the God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and me and you!" I am so grateful that God has granted them to us through His Word!

APPLICATION


What are you standing on right now? I encourage you to see God as the Promise-Keeper and the "I will" God. 

Today, I studied Romans 8 with my Bible Study, and I told them about claiming the promises in this chapter following my breakdown in 1983. I have such precious memories of crying and claiming these verses out loud as I walked along the shore of Lake Washington with Mount Rainier beaming in the distance. God made Himself so real to me in that time!

For more details of my story revolving around Romans 8, you can download it here. 

PRAYER

Let's close in prayer with this hymn:

"Standing on the Promises of God"
 (Maybe you could belt it out to Him right now!)

Standing on the promises of Christ my King,
Through eternal ages let his praises ring;
Glory in the highest, I will shout and sing,
Standing on the promises of God.

Refrain:
Standing, standing,
Standing on the promises of Christ my Savior;
Standing, standing,
I'm standing on the promises of God.

Standing on the promises that cannot fail,
When the howling storms of doubt and fear assail,
By the living Word of God I shall prevail,
Standing on the promises of God.

(Refrain)

Standing on the promises of Christ the Lord,
Bound to him eternally by love's strong cord,
Overcoming daily with the Spirit's sword,
Standing on the promises of God.

(Refrain)

Standing on the promises I cannot fall,
Listening every moment to the Spirit's call,
Resting in my Savior as my all in all,
Standing on the promises of God.

(Refrain)