Exodus

Exodus 6: The LORD promises redemption

Begin in prayer

Before God's repeated promises answer Moses' complaint, let us ask for ears to hear Him through our own burdens. Please pray that His faithfulness will matter more to us than our strength.

He has remembered his covenant forever, the word which he commanded to a thousand generations,

Psalm 105:8

Father in heaven, please open our eyes as we read Your Word. Help us hear Your promises through our troubles. Show us Jesus, who accomplishes the rescue weak sinners need. Make us more like Jesus. And please bless our family as we worship You together. In Jesus' name, Amen.

See where we're going

The LORD answers Moses by promising that His strong hand will make Pharaoh release Israel. He remembers His covenant and promises freedom, a people belonging to Him and the land sworn to their fathers. Moses brings this message, but the people cannot listen because of anguish and cruel bondage. God commands Moses and Aaron to bring Israel out, even as Moses objects about his speech. A family record traces their descent from Levi and identifies the brothers who speak to Pharaoh. The story returns to God's command that Moses speak all His words to the king.

As you read Exodus 6, look for the answers:

Reflect together

Key truth

The LORD promises to redeem His people and make Himself known.

Moses has brought his complaint to God after Pharaoh increased Israel's burdens. God's answer begins with what He will do, rather than what Moses can manage. He binds the rescue to His name and to the covenant made with the fathers. God appeared to the fathers as God Almighty, and now Israel will know Him by His name, the LORD, as He keeps His covenant. God will free them, take them as His people and bring them into the promised land. Their anguish and cruel bondage keep them from listening, but do not silence God's command. The family record identifies the brothers He sends as men from Levi's line, among the people who need deliverance. God sends these same Moses and Aaron to speak again. Salvation rests on the faithful Lord, whose promise comes to its fulfilment in Christ.

How does Exodus 6 show us that the LORD promises to redeem His people and make Himself known?

God promises to break the bondage Himself.

The repeated promises put God at the center of the rescue. His outstretched arm means His power at work against Israel's oppressors. Christ's power likewise secures the salvation His people need.

God's purpose stands when suffering people cannot listen.

Anguish of spirit and cruel bondage keep Israel from hearing Moses. God still commands His messengers to go to Pharaoh. Weak hearers and a reluctant speaker cannot make His covenant fail.

God sends men whose names belong to Israel's family.

The genealogy begins with Reuben and Simeon, then follows Levi to Aaron and Moses. It identifies real people whom God commissioned. Moses and Aaron belong to the people God is preserving for His promised Christ.

Memorise

I will rid you out of their bondage, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm, and with great judgments

Exodus 6:6

Looking to Jesus in my life

Ask yourself in your heart, what burden am I treating as stronger than Jesus and His promise?

The LORD promises, “I will redeem you with an outstretched arm.” Israel cannot break its own bondage, and Moses cannot persuade the king by skillful speech. God puts His own power behind His promise.

Our sin holds us under a guilt no human strength can remove. Jesus paid His people's debt through His death on the cross. That payment covered the whole debt, and His completed sacrifice is enough. He rose from death, the living Redeemer whose saving purpose cannot fail.

Come to Him with the weakness you cannot overcome. Turn from your sin and put your trust in Jesus. Everyone resting on His sacrifice has forgiveness and lasting life. He holds His people with a power greater than every enemy and every burden.

Parent's note

Tell your children that God's promises rest on His power, and that Jesus died and rose to redeem His people. Please do not tell them they are saved just because they grew up in a Christian home. Call each child to turn from sin and trust Jesus, and pray that God would give them a new heart.

Pray together

Now please close your time together in prayer. Thank God for promising redemption by His own power, and bring the heart question to Him. Every child can pray, so let each one say a short prayer if they want to.

I give eternal life to them. They will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.

John 10:28

LORD, thank You that Your promise does not depend on our strength. Please hear the suffering we struggle to explain. Turn us from unbelief and lead us to trust Jesus. Help our family listen with patience when someone is too troubled to speak or hear well. Amen.