The LORD, our Redeemer (Exod 5:22-23; 6:1-9)

After such a bumpy start, the focus returns back to Moses and his reaction. Once again, he loses courage and bombards God with questions of why (Exod 5:22-23). I am grateful that Scripture recounts these setbacks and the discouragements of even God’s great servants because it gives me hope that God will not give up on me when I lose heart either. There are two noteworthy aspects of Moses’ complaint. First, he really has a heart for his people. Notice, how his response is not vindictive (Lord, I tried to help them, but they attacked me as if I were the enemy!). Rather, he is concerned about the harm done to them. Secondly, his insecurity arises out of an insufficient knowledge of the Lord. Like Pharaoh, who doesn’t know the power of the living God, like the people, who likewise don’t, so Moses too is at the beginning of the relationship and lacks experience. He puts God effectively at the same level as Pharaoh when he says that God brought harm and so did Pharaoh. Isn’t this so recognisable in our experience? Sometimes, our circumstances seem like insurmountable obstacles and God no bigger than them.

So, once again, God patiently takes Moses through what will happen and what he should know. First, Pharaoh will only let Israel go under compulsion (lit. by a strong hand – Exod 6:1), which implies that it will not be straightforward, but it will happen. God has already explained this (Exod 3:19-20), but Moses clearly needs to hear it again. Secondly, He reintroduces Himself (Exod 6:2-3) as both the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and as YHWH (rendered in most Bibles as LORD in capitals). Although v.3 seems to suggest that this latter name was not known to the patriarchs (note though Gen 15:7; Gen 22:14), what is possibly meant is that the significance of this name as connected to Israel’s redemption from slavery was not formerly revealed. Thirdly, God explains to Moses His commitment to His people through the covenant made with them (Exod 6:4-8). This involved the promise of the Land, God’s awareness that His people were suffering and His resolve to bring them out of slavery and into the land.

A key term that forever after is associated with the exodus is to ‘redeem’ (v.6) them. This word is used in the context of a family member getting into debt who had to sell either his land or himself into slavery. A close relative could pay the debt and redeem the property or the person of the debtor (Lev 25:25, 47-48). God is saying that He is a relative who will redeem Israel, His son, out of trouble. It is only recently that we celebrated Easter, our great redemption from the debt of sin. If God could save us from such deep bondage, how much more so will He look after us, His own, when we are struggling?

When circumstances seem to overwhelm us and we feel discouraged, may we remember what Moses had to recall: that difficulties are inevitable, but God can bring us through by a strong hand, that He is the God we know as the Redeemer from the bondage of sin, and that He, as a close family member, has committed Himself, so that He hears our cries and will achieve His purposes in our lives, if we listen to Him.