03/22/21 PITIFUL EXCUSES and GOD’s PATIENCE and PROVISION #8

Exodus 6:6-9 (ESV) 6 Say therefore to the people of Israel, ‘I AM THE LORD, AND I WILL BRING YOU OUT from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I WILL DELIVER YOU FROM SLAVERY to them, and I WILL REDEEM YOU with an outstretched arm and with great acts of judgment. 7 I WILL TAKE YOU TO BE MY PEOPLE, and I WILL BE YOUR GOD, and YOU SHALL KNOW THAT I AM THE LORD YOUR GOD, who has brought you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians. 8 I WILL BRING YOU INTO THE LAND THAT I SWORE TO GIVE TO ABRAHAM, TO ISAAC, AND TO JACOB. I WILL GIVE IT TO YOU FOR A POSSESSION. I AM THE LORD.’” 9 Moses spoke thus to the people of Israel, BUT THEY DID NOT LISTEN TO MOSES, because of their BROKEN SPIRIT AND HARSH SLAVERY.

God instructed Moses to remind Israel of what they had previously been told: of God's remembering the covenant with Abraham, of His seeing their misery, of His delivering them from it, of His granting to them the land of Canaan, and thus taking them there. The repetitive "I WILL" (7 TIMES!) marked GOD'S PERSONAL, DIRECT INVOLVEMENT in Israel's affairs. Bracketed, as they were, by the declaration, "I AM YAHWEH," denoted CERTAINTY OF FULFILLMENT.

“BROKEN SPIRIT AND HARSH SLAVERY”: The bondage was so great that it blocked out even the stirring words Moses had just delivered to them (vv. 6-8). (adapted from The MacArthur Study Bible)