Tyndale Open Study NotesExodus 6

God renewed his promises. The offer of rescue emphasized the main question. Pharaoh asked: "Who is the LORD?" (5:2). While the Israelites needed rescue from slavery, their greater need was to know the Lord. The main purpose of God’s renewed promises was “you will know that I am the LORD your God” (6:7).

Now you will see: This means that God was about to act. He was not discouraged by the questions about his faithfulness, his power, or his character.

Instead, God looked ahead to the coming conflict. Different worldviews (ways of understanding life and reality) would confront each other.

Pharaoh believed that he was divine. However, he would become only an instrument in the hand of the one true God.

• I am the LORD … God Almighty: Here, the Hebrew El-Shaddai is translated “God Almighty.”

  God was emphasizing that he was revealing himself in a new way. The patriarchs (Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob) knew him especially as God Almighty. Now he was making his name Yahweh (LORD) known more fully to Moses and the Israelites.

  The point is not that the name Yahweh was completely unknown before. Rather, God was now showing more clearly what that name means through his powerful acts of rescue.

• by My name the LORD I did not make Myself known to them: The name LORD (Yahweh) appears often in Genesis. There are two possible explanations:

  1. The patriarchs did not know the name Yahweh, but God inspired Moses, who wrote Genesis, to use it. This was wherever God's grace and covenant-keeping nature were evident.

  2. While the patriarchs might have known the name Yahweh, they might not have seen God's nature as clearly as during the exodus and the Sinai covenant.

     In Hebrew, a person's name has more importance than in English. Names showed character and nature, and were not only labels (see, for example, Psalms 8:1, 9; 148:13).

     Here, make known implies intimate knowledge and experience. In this case, the patriarchs knew God’s name, but they did not know and experience his nature fully as he revealed himself in the exodus.

Once again, God clearly connected his present action with the promises he made to the patriarchs (Abraham and his family). God works in history in ways that show his faithfulness. He makes promises, and he keeps them.

God also planned to reveal more about himself than he had revealed to the patriarchs. This new generation would understand more about who he is and what he intends to do. They would especially learn more about the meaning and demands of the covenant (6:4–5).

Why does God redeem his people (6:6)? Why did he first reveal himself to Abraham? Why did he first reveal himself to Abraham?

God wanted the Israelites to belong to him as his own people. He also wanted to be their God (6:7). This mutual relationship was always his goal.

God’s purpose is for humankind to live in a loving and willing covenant relationship with him. In that relationship, people can become what he created them to be.

Then you will know that I am the LORD: The Hebrew word translated know is always about experience and relationship. This word also describes human sexual relations. To know God as the LORD means more than just knowing facts about him. It means being in a relationship with him where we continually learn who he is and what he wants us to do.

This is the only true rescue from the human problem of sin described in Genesis 3–11. The idea of knowing the Lord is very important in the book of Exodus. The phrase appears many times, especially in Exodus 5–18 (5:2; 7:5, 17; 8:10, 22; 9:29; 10:2; 11:7; 14:4, 18; 16:6, 12; 18:11).

The crisis became worse because the people ignored the repeated promises. They had not anticipated that their initial faith would produce greater problems for them.

The crisis reached its lowest point. Even Moses returned to the same struggle he had faced at Mount Sinai. There, when God first called him, Moses had protested and said he was not able to do the task (3:1–4:13).

Now Moses once again felt unsure and overwhelmed. However, God did not change his plan. He renewed his command and sent Moses forward again.

The list of ancestors moves step by step through Jacob’s sons. It begins with the first son, then the second, and then the third, Levi. Levi was the ancestor of Moses and Aaron.

After reaching Levi, the list of ancestors does not continue with the other nine sons. Instead, it focuses on Levi’s family line. This focus prepares the reader to understand the role of Moses and Aaron in God’s plan.

This section referring to family lineage places Moses and Aaron within the families of Israel. It is obviously background information because 6:30 repeats 6:12. Exodus often emphasizes the Lord as the God of the ancestors, both directly (from 3:6 onward) and indirectly (from 1:1 onward). The upcoming events were not actions by a new god dismissing older gods (a common theme in ancient pagan stories).

Unlike pagan gods, who only want personal power and often fight among themselves, the true God has one main goal. God wants his creation to find fulfillment in a proper relationship with him. Although God shows this purpose through creative acts, these actions always align with what he has already revealed about himself.

Moses and Aaron did not suddenly appear out of the unknown, but were an essential part of that same people to whom God first revealed himself and through whom he was about to give an even grander revelation. The family lineage of Jesus has a similar purpose (Matthew 1:1–16; Luke 3:23–38).

This list of Levi's descendants focuses on Aaron and Moses. It shows four generations from Levi to Aaron and Moses (compare Genesis 15:16). The Israelites lived in Egypt for 430 years (see Exodus 12:40–41; Genesis 15:13). So, this list of ancestors does not include many generations.

Genesis 46:11 lists Gershon, Kohath, and Merari. They are Levi's sons who moved to Egypt with their father and Jacob's family. Amram's wife, Jochebed, gave birth to his sons (Exodus 6:20).

The language is clear, so it is likely there are generations not listed between Amram and Aaron and Moses. This suggests the missing generations were between Kohath (Levi's son) and Amram (father of Aaron and Moses).

The sons of Kohath were Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel. The Hebrew word for "sons" can also mean "descendants." This meaning allows for the possibility that some generations are not listed by name.

The list of ancestors now focuses on the descendants of Kohath. It gives more detail about two family lines:

• Aaron, the son of Amram, and

• Korah, the son of Izhar (6:23–24).

It then names one of Aaron’s sons, Eleazar (6:25). The main focus is Aaron’s line through Eleazar, who later received the high priesthood.

Aaron and Korah were cousins. This family connection helps explain why Aaron’s appointment as high priest caused strong resentment in Korah (see Numbers 16:1–3). Conflict within families is not new.

Korah and his sons may be mentioned in detail here because of Korah’s later rebellion. That event made his family line important in Israel’s history.