Exodus 6 Devotional

Promises for a Broken Spirit

“I will take you as My own people, and I will be your God. Then you will know that I am the LORD your God, who brought you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians.”Exodus 6:7 (BSB)

God answers Moses' complaint by telling him again who he is. Five times in this chapter he says that he is the LORD (6:2, 6, 7, 8, 29). He has heard Israel groaning and has remembered his covenant, and he lays out what he will do: bring them out, free them, redeem them, take them as his own people, be their God, and bring them into the land (6:5-8). To redeem is to set someone free at a cost, and God says he will do it with an outstretched arm.

Moses delivers the message, but the people cannot listen, because their spirits are broken by cruel slavery (6:9). God does not take back a single promise. He sends Moses again, and the chapter pauses to trace the family line of Moses and Aaron (6:14-25). The promises never depended on Israel's ability to feel hopeful. Paul says every promise of God finds its yes in Christ (2 Corinthians 1:20). On the days you cannot take them in, they still stand.

To think about: Which of God's promises is hardest for you to believe today, and what would it mean to rest on it anyway?