Exodus 6

Exodus 6 begins with God speaking to Moses. It was a tough time for the Israelites. Pharaoh determined to break the spirit of the Israelites by increasing the work load by making them gather their own straw to make bricks. The people are discouraged and obviously Moses is discouraged. God speaks to Moses and tells him that The Lord “Yahweh” is going to “deliver them,” “free them,” and “redeem them.” When Moses tells the Israelites this they do not listen. The reason is not that they are stubborn or rebellious, but because they are “discouraged” by the cruel treatment of the slave masters. Discouragement is one of Satan’s most used tools for keeping the will of God from being done on earth. When people lose hope it is difficult to walk in faith and love.

God makes it plain that He is going to deliver the people, but He desires to use a human agent to bring it about. In this passage He is having trouble getting His human agent (Moses) to leap into action. Moses goes back to his old excuse of not being able to talk so well as an excuse not to go back to Pharaoh. It is important to remember that the activity of God happens in the midst of difficult times. After Pharaoh increased the work load and had the slave masters increase their cruelty it was hard for the children of Israel to see themselves as anything but slaves. We need to learn the lesson of not giving up in hard times. The lessons we learn during those times may very well be the needed lesson to free us and keep us free later.

“Lord, I pray for those who read this blog today that are going through hard times. Give them hope in the midst of their hopelessness. When their faith is weak strengthen it. And let them experience the warmth of Your love. I pray this in the name of Jesus. Amen.”