Now You Will See

God's Victory in Human Failure

Exodus 6:1 - Now You Shall See

God’s Victory in Human Failure

 1  But the LORD said to Moses, “Now you shall see what I will do to Pharaoh; for with a strong hand he will send them out, and with a strong hand he will drive them out of his land.”  - Exodus 6:1 ESV

Exodus 6:1 begins with the words of the Lord: “Now you shall see what I will do to Pharaoh.” The important word here is “now”. It implies that a series of events has taken place leading up to this moment. The word “now” tells us that these events have not been by chance, but orchestrated by the hand of a sovereign God to accomplish a specific purpose. That purpose is to show the people of God what God would do to Pharaoh. This forces us to look back in time to see what it was that brought us to this point, and how those events gave God’s people a deeper appreciation of what He was about to do.

We begin in chapter one with a new king in Egypt who did not know Joseph or his contribution to the nation (Exodus 1:8). Seeing the Israelites in Goshen, and observing their number and strength, this new king became fearful that they would join their enemies and fight against them if war broke out.  To remedy this, he set taskmasters over them and set them to work on building the store cities of Ramses and Pithom (Exodus 1:11). The more he oppressed Israel, however, the more they multiplied and spread throughout his land (Exodus 1:12). 

Pharaoh intensified his efforts to control Israel and weaken them. He subjected them to slavery and “made their lives bitter with hard service” (Exodus 1:14). He also told the midwives that when they assisted in a childbirth, they were to kill every male child born to an Israelite woman. Fearing God, however, these midwives refused to obey Pharaoh’s command, and the result was that the Israelites “multiplied and grew very strong” (Exodus 1:20).

Pharaoh again increased his oppression of the people and commanded his citizens to cast every male child, born to a Hebrew woman, into the Nile River (Exodus 1:21). It is uncertain how many male infants died in those days, but one in particular was spared –a young infant named Moses. At the age of forty, Moses visited the people of Israel and was so enraged by the cruelty of an Egyptian beating an Israelite that he lashed out and killed the oppressor (see Acts 7:23). Pharaoh issued a death sentence for Moses as a result, and he was forced to flee Egypt to save his life. This Israelite oppression began before Moses was born. He was forty when he escaped Egypt. At the age of eighty, in exile, God appeared to him in a burning bush to call him back (see Acts 7:30). Eighty years have passed between the time Moses was spared from being drowned in the Nile until he was called back to rescue his people from bondage. All this time, God’s people suffered at the hands of their Egyptian masters. 

Sometime during Moses’ exile from Egypt, the king “who did not know Joseph” died. It appears that God began to work in the lives of His people in those days. Because of the cruel oppression they suffered under this king, Israel began to cry out to God for deliverance. 

 23   During those many days the king of Egypt died, and the people of Israel groaned because of their slavery and cried out for help. Their cry for rescue from slavery came up to God.  - Exodus 2:23 ESV

We know very little about Israel’s faith when Pharaoh began to oppress them. Things were going well prior to this point, and they were certainly living under the blessing of the Lord. It is uncertain, however, how much they knew about the Lord God of their ancestors. Those years of Egyptian oppression seem to culminate, however, in this cry to the God of Joseph for help. God brought His people to rock bottom before they cried out to Him. When they did, He heard their cry for help. 

The Lord reached out to Moses in exile, in response to his people’s cry. When Moses fled Egypt, he was a wanted man with a death sentence over his head. After forty years of absence, however, every person seeking his life had died:

 19  And the LORD said to Moses in Midian, “Go back to Egypt, for all the men who were seeking your life are dead.” - Exodus 4:19 ESV

Moses was free to return without risking his life. God protected him from his enemies in his exile. As reluctant as he was, Moses returned with the promise of God’s power and victory. 

Arriving in Egypt, Moses and his brother Aaron went to the people of Israel and told them what God had spoken to them. They also performed the miraculous signs God gave them as confirmation of their calling. Notice the response of the people in Exodus 4:31:

 31  And the people believed; and when they heard that the LORD had visited the people of Israel and that he had seen their affliction, they bowed their heads and worshiped. - Exodus 4:31 ESV

The children of Israel saw Moses and Aaron as God’s answer to their cry for help. They praised Him for hearing their cry and anticipated great things through His servants. 

In Exodus 5, Moses and Aaron approach Pharaoh to request permission to take the Israelites into the wilderness to hold a feast to the Lord their God. The negotiations did not go as they had anticipated. Pharaoh had no intention of giving relief to the Israelites and no interest in the Israelite God or His feasts. In fact, the request caused Pharaoh to increase the people’s workload, commanding that no straw be supplied to make bricks. They were to gather their own straw but still maintain the same quota of bricks per day. The whole incident caused the people to turn against Moses and Aaron, saying:

 … “The LORD look on you and judge, because you have made us stink in the sight of Pharaoh and his servants, and have put a sword in their hand to kill us.” - Exodus 5:20-21 ESV

The question we are left with here is this: What went wrong? Why did Moses and Aaron appear to have failed in their negotiations with Pharaoh? Let’s consider this question more carefully. 

First, understand that God specifically called Moses to deliver His people from the oppression of Pharaoh. Listen to what God told him in Exodus 3:10:

 10   Come, I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring my people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt.”  - Exodus 3:10 ESV

Moses had been called to do exactly what he attempted to do that day, but Pharaoh did not let the people go.

Second, in Exodus 4:1-9 God gave Moses the ability to perform three powerful signs. When Moses went to Pharaoh, he was equipped by God and anointed for that very purpose. He left Pharaoh’s presence, however, feeling defeated.

Third, Moses had the support of the people of Israel and their prayers behind him as he approached the king:

 31  And the people believed; and when they heard that the LORD had visited the people of Israel and that he had seen their affliction, they bowed their heads and worshiped. - Exodus 4:31 ESV

The people praised the Lord God of Israel for them. 

Fourth, the message Moses spoke was the very message God had given him to speak:

 1  Afterward Moses and Aaron went and said to Pharaoh, “Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, ‘Let my people go, that they may hold a feast to me in the wilderness.’” - Exodus 5:1 ESV

Pharaoh heard the words of God and rejected them. He had no interest in what the God of Israel had to say to him.

Fifth, the timing was right. God told Moses to go to Pharaoh at that time. Despite his initial reluctance, Moses obeyed and went when God told him to go.

Everything appeared to be in place: the calling, the gifting, the support, the message and the timing. Yet Moses and Aaron failed to convince Pharaoh, and the result was devastating for the people of God. They no longer trusted Moses and Aaron, and questioned the God of their fathers. Moses was crushed by these events and cried out to God:

 22  … “O Lord, why have you done evil to this people? Why did you ever send me?   23  For since I came to Pharaoh to speak in your name, he has done evil to this people, and you have not delivered your people at all.” - Exodus 5:22-23 ESV

It would be easy to feel that Moses and Aaron had failed. The reality of the matter, however, is that what happened that day was exactly what the Lord intended. Consider what the Lord told  Moses when He called him in Exodus 3:

 19  But I know that the king of Egypt will not let you go unless compelled by a mighty hand.   20  So I will stretch out my hand and strike Egypt with all the wonders that I will do in it; after that, he will let you go.  - Exodus 3:19-20 ESV

God repeated this in Exodus 4:21 when He told Moses:

 21  And the LORD said to Moses, “When you go back to Egypt, see that you do before Pharaoh all the miracles that I have put in your power. But I will harden his heart, so that he will not let the people go.  - Exodus 4:21 ESV

God told Moses that Pharaoh would not listen. He informed him that He would harden Pharaoh’s heart so that he would not let the people go until He had demonstrated His power to Israel as His people and Egypt as His enemy.

What looked like failure to Moses was exactly what God intended. Moses perfectly accomplished the purpose of God in that first interview with Pharaoh. God wanted to demonstrate His power and decided to do this through Pharaoh’s resistance. The whole world would see the power of Israel’s God.

It is in this context that we read the words of God to Moses in Exodus 6:1:

 1  “Now you shall see what I will do to Pharaoh; for with a strong hand he will send them out, and with a strong hand he will drive them out of his land.” - Exodus 6:1 ESV

Pharaoh, hearing the word of God through Moses, chose to resist. In doing so he defied the Lord God of Israel. He challenged God to take the people from him. God accepted that challenge and told Moses, “Now you will see what I will do.” There are three important truths we need to learn from this story.

First, the victory was not in Moses and Aaron. Moses and Aaron very likely went to Pharaoh with a certain confidence in what they could do with the signs of God, and His calling on their lives. When they appeared to fail in their negotiations, Moses in particular appeared to be devastated (see Exodus 5:22-23).

The words, “Now you will see what I will do to Pharaoh,” would have struck Moses powerfully. While Moses could not change Pharaoh’s mind, God would. Moses’ confidence in his calling, and gifts was admirable, but they were no substitute for God. That day, God declared that what Moses’ calling could not do, He would do through Him. What the miracles and wonders Moses performed could not achieve, God would accomplish. How easy it is to allow our calling to replace God, and our gifts to push Him aside.

Second, what looked like defeat, was actually the path to great victory. Pharaoh threw the first punch by increasing the burden for God’s people. God would very quickly respond with one plague after another, devastating the land of Egypt. Yes, the enemy may have dealt the first blow, but the battle is not over. Watch what God does in response.

Finally, understand that God will sometimes allow things to get worse so we can see the glory of His victory and His gracious compassion toward us. Israel needed to see the power of God acting for their good. Had Pharaoh willingly let the people go, they would never have understood the nature of their God and His work on their behalf. 

The trials you face today may be overwhelming. Understand, however, that when God chooses to act for us, nothing on this earth can stand in His way. The battle may be hard, but victory is assured. Watch and see what God will do.