VI. GOD’S RENEWAL AND ENLARGEMENT OF HIS PROMISES. (1) NOW SHALT THOU SEE. — Moses’ complaint was that God delayed, and “was slack as concerning His promise.” Hitherto He had not “delivered His people at all.” The answer,”_Now_ shalt thou see,” is an assurance that there will be no more delay; the... [ Continue Reading ]
I APPEARED... BY THE NAME OF GOD ALMIGHTY. — This name, “El Shaddai,” is first found in the revelation made of Himself by God to Abraham (Genesis 17:1). It is used by Isaac (Genesis 28:3), and repeated in the revelation made to Jacob (Genesis 35:11). Its primary idea is, no doubt, that of “overpower... [ Continue Reading ]
MY COVENANT. — See Genesis 15:18; Genesis 17:7; Genesis 26:3; Genesis 35:12. &c. THE LAND OF CANAAN. — Canaan proper was the tract between Sidon and Gaza (Genesis 10:19), which is now counted as “Palestine “; but the region promised to Abraham, and included in a larger sense of the word “Canaan,” wa... [ Continue Reading ]
I WILL REDEEM YOU. — The idea of God purchasing, or redeeming, Israel is here brought forward for the first time. Later on we learn that the redemption was accomplished in a twofold way — (1) by the long series of wonders, culminating in the tenth plague, whereby they were taken out of Pharaoh’s han... [ Continue Reading ]
I WILL TAKE YOU TO ME FOR A PEOPLE. — Comp. Exodus 19:5; Deuteronomy 7:6. The selection of Israel as a “peculiar people” did not involve the abandonment of all other nations, as we see by the instances of Balaam, Ruth, Job, Nebuchadnezzar, Darius the Mede, Cyrus, and others. God always continued to... [ Continue Reading ]
I WILL GIVE IT YOU FOR AN HERITAGE: I AM THE LORD. — Heb., I _will give it to you for an heritage, I Jehovah._ The whole is one sentence, and implies that, as being Immutable and Eternal, He would assuredly give it them.... [ Continue Reading ]
THEY HEARKENED NOT. — The second message was received in quite a different spirit from the first. Then “the people believed, and bowed their knees and worshipped” (Exodus 4:31). Now they could not even be induced to listen. But there is nothing strange in this. The reason is obvious. The first annou... [ Continue Reading ]
THE SECOND MESSAGE TO PHARAOH. (11) SPEAK UNTO PHARAOH. — The second message was an advance upon the first. The first asked only for permission to enter the wilderness, much of which was within the limits of Egypt; the second was a demand that the Israelites should be allowed “to go out of the land... [ Continue Reading ]
HOW THEN SHALL PHARAOH HEAR ME? — This time the objection comes from Moses. His double rejection, by Pharaoh (Exodus 5:1) and by Israel (Exodus 6:9), had thrown him back into utter despondency. All that diffidence and distrust of himself which he had shown in his earlier communications with Jehovah... [ Continue Reading ]
THE LORD... GAVE THEM A CHARGE. — The reluctance and opposition of Moses led to an express “charge” being laid upon himself and Aaron, the details of which are given in Exodus 7:1; Exodus 6:1 of Exodus 7 probably followed originally on Exodus 6:12 of this chapter. When the genealogy was inserted at... [ Continue Reading ]
THE FAMILY OF MOSES. (14) THESE BE THE HEADS OF THEIR FATHERS’ HOUSES. — Genealogies have always had a special interest for the Semitic races. They occupy quite as prominent a position in Arabian as in Jewish history. The descent of a man who aspired to be a leader would be a subject of curiosity,... [ Continue Reading ]
REUBEN... SIMEON. — It fixes the position of the family of Levi in the house of Jacob to commence the genealogy with a mention of the two elder brothers. As, however, the writer is really concerned only with the Levites, the families of Reuben and Simeon are dismissed with the briefest possible noti... [ Continue Reading ]
GERSHON, KOHATH, AND MERARI were all born before Levi went into Egypt (Genesis 46:8; Genesis 46:11; Genesis 46:27), which was when he was about forty or fifty years of age. It is not unlikely that they were at that time all grown up. If Levi lived to be “an hundred thirty and seven years” old, he wo... [ Continue Reading ]
AMRAM TOOK HIM JOCHEOED HIS FATHER’S SISTER TO WIFE. — Marriages with aunts and nieces were not unlawful before the giving of the Law. They were common throughout the East, and at Sparta (Herod. vi. 71, 7:239). THE YEARS OF THE LIFE OF AMRAM. — The long lives of Levi, Kohath, and Amram, the father... [ Continue Reading ]
ELISHEBA, DAUGHTER OF AMMINADAB, SISTER OF NAASHON. — Amminadab and Naashon were among the ancestors of David (Ruth 4:19; 1 Chronicles 2:10), and their names are consequently found in the genealogies of our Lord (Matthew 1:4; Luke 3:32). Naashon was “prince of Judah” at the time of the Exodus (Numbe... [ Continue Reading ]
THE SONS OF KORAH did not partake in his sin, and therefore “died not” (Numbers 26:11), but became the heads of important families.... [ Continue Reading ]
ACCORDING TO THEIR FAMILIES. — The genealogy proper here ends. But the author appends to it an emphatic statement that the Moses and Aaron mentioned in it (Exodus 6:20; Exodus 6:23) are the very Moses and Aaron appointed by God to lead the Israelites out of Egypt — the very Moses and Aaron who deliv... [ Continue Reading ]
THEIR ARMIES. — This expression is here used of the Israelites for the first time. It seems to refer to that organisation, of a quasi-military character, which was given to the people by the order of Moses during the long struggle with Pharaoh, and which enabled them at last to quit Egypt, not a dis... [ Continue Reading ]
THE SECOND MESSAGE TO PHARAOH (_RESUMED_). (28-30) These verses are most closely connected with Exodus 7. They are a recapitulation of main points in Exodus 6, rendered necessary by the long parenthesis (Exodus 6:14), and serve to unite Exodus 7 with the previous narrative. They contain no new info... [ Continue Reading ]