Ensnared - Exodus 6

Speaking is the most effective tool a man has in his arsenal.

This is one of the most talked about truths, commands, promises, and powers in the Bible, and I’ve only just started to really see it.

It is no surprise then, that as God shows me this truth in my own life, I find it in our study of Exodus.

We are in the 6th chapter of the book, and so far we have already found some fantastic, nerdy, profound, and encouraging nuggets which I recommend you go back to read yourself in the first 5 chapters of Exodus.

Here in this chapter, however, I would like to emphasize two things that are important, not only to the story of Moses, but of the people of Israel as a whole, and for the Christian life as well.

The first is this:

KNOWING JESUS FIXES EVERYTHING.

Verses 6-8 are the words that God commands Moses to tell the people of Israel to encourage them. It’s quite the promise, but the gist of it is…

“Say therefore to the people of Israel, ‘I am the LORD, and I will… and I will… and I will… I will… and I will… and you shall know that I am the LORD… I will… I will… I am the LORD.’”

Notice that the only thing the Israelites were meant to do was to “know”. God was about to do a ton of amazing things for the people of Israel. All He asked of them was to “know” that the one doing everything for them was Him.

[Little flash forward: They started worshiping a golden calf in the desert, saying that that was what brought them out of Egypt.]

Isn’t it such an encouragement to know that no matter what the people of Israel did during this time, God was going to fulfill His promises to them. Even though they didn’t acknowledge Him much until the tenth plague, God still showed His power and faithfulness despite their ignorance.

A wee bit of Biblical numerology for the nerds…

In verse 6-8, God says “I am the LORD” once, then gives 5 (number of unmerited favor) “I will” promises. Only then do the people “know that I am the LORD”. This is then followed by two more “I will” promises and then one more “I am the LORD” statement, making for a total of 3 “I am” declarations, and 7 “I will” promises.

You’ll recall Romans 2:4

“...God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance”

At this point in the Exodus, God made no demands of Israel, only a promise that they will one day look to Him as the LORD their God.

You’ll remember that knowing Jesus fixes everything. That is why God is so good to Israel, because He knows that His goodness will eventually lead to their knowing Jesus. And knowing Jesus (that’s an intimate knowledge in the Hebrew) will solve all of their problems.

“But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”

Matthew 6:33

The second thing I want to emphasize is this:

YOUR WORDS ARE STRONGER THAN YOUR THOUGHTS

After Moses gave the promise of verses 6-8 to the Israelites, they didn’t listen to him, and Verse 9 tells us why:

“...because of their broken spirit and harsh slavery.”

The phrase “broken spirit” can also be translated “shortness of breath”

Something I’ve learned in my personal life is that there are many things in this world that will try to distract me from opening my mouth. Every spare moment in our lives is no longer filled with silence or prayer, but instead, our culture seeks to fill all gaps of silence with "productivity". Checking emails, texting friends, watching tutorials, reading the news; these are good things, but they are definitely not the most productive things.

I think I’ll cite this story a lot, but the truths of it are profound.

Martha filled her time with serving Jesus. Mary filled her time by sitting in Jesus’ presence. The Bible says “Martha was busy with much serving.” It was a good thing, but it was not the One thing.

The Israelites were working hard, but they were out of breath. They didn’t have the strength to speak the promises of God with their own mouths. The power of Words has largely been forgotten in our world.

You will recall that God created the world with spoken Words. Jesus is described as “The Word”. God appointed a boat load of prophets rather than miracle workers and warriors. If fighters and wonder workers would be more effective at changing people’s hearts, don’t you think God would have sent a bunch of those, rather than judges, kings, prophets, and poets whose full time jobs are to sit and talk.

“Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruits.”

Proverbs 18:21

I think Mark 11:23 is even clearer:

“Truly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says will come to pass, it will be done for him.”

I find it interesting that Jesus puts more emphasis on saying than believing. He also doesn’t specify whether or not that person is saying something positive or negative. The law applies to both. If you believe something bad, and speak it, you will have it, If you believe something positive, and speak it, you will have that.

Do you remember in chapter 4 of Exodus when Moses was making all the excuses? Up till verse 10, God would encourage Moses and empower Him with signs and knowledge. But when Moses tries to tell God that he cannot speak, God doesn’t give him something new, He simply says “Who made man’s mouths?”

When it comes to many of the challenges we face, God gives us the tools we need, but when it comes to matters that we can speak to, God has already given us a tool. In fact, when Moses tries to persist with the excuses, God’s anger burns against him. He does send Aaron, but he still commands Moses to speak to Aaron.

But you, gentle reader, might say, “But what if I don’t know what to say?”

Moses, in verse 30 says, “Behold, I am of uncircumcised lips.”

You are not alone. Moses, the great leader, prophet, and author was afraid of what might come out of his mouth.

But Moses’ words remind me of another prophet.

“Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a burning coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar. And he touched my mouth and said: ‘Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for.’”

Isaiah 6:6-7

Even in our speaking, God is the one who provides the means and the power to say what is most beneficial to us and pleasing to Him.

So to put all these words into a nutshell…

God did it, does it, and will do it.

“Fear not, stand firm, and see the salvation of the LORD, which He will work for you today.”

Exodus 14:13