The Great I Am

Say therefore to the people of Israel, ‘I am the LORD, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will deliver you from slavery to them, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great acts of judgment. I will take you to be my people, and I will be your God, and you shall know that I am the LORD your God, who has brought you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians.’

Exodus 6:6–7

Earlier in Exodus, God told Moses, “I will be with your mouth and teach you what you shall speak.” Here in Exodus 6, that promise to provide the words is being fulfilled. God is super specific in what He has for Moses to say to the people. Why? Because the message is critical to their spiritual and emotional well-being. The people, Israel, have been slaves in Egypt for 400 years. Therefore, God’s message to them is, “While you may think I don’t care because your lives have been so difficult for so long, I care deeply. I’ve heard your cries from the brick pits every day. The crack of the whips on your backs pierced my ears. You are mine, and I will redeem and deliver you.”

God’s revelation of Himself in these two verses in Exodus is striking. “I am the LORD . . .” “I will deliver you . . .” “I will redeem you . . .” “I will take you to be my people . . .” “I will be your God . . .” “you will know that I am the LORD your God . . .”

Effectively, the Egyptians enslaved Israel with an outstretched arm, and God says, “I’m gonna redeem My people with My outstretched arm, and BTW—My arm is bigger and ‘badder’ than Pharoah’s.”  The plagues that the LORD hurls at Egypt with His outstretched arm are not random.

They operate within a framework of, and display, God’s incredible power and perfect righteousness. These are the “great acts of judgment” in Verse 6. God is just and sin will not ever go unpunished.

Peter wrote 1 Peter 2:9,

But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.

I can imagine Peter sitting on his grandpa’s knee and the words of Moses in Exodus 6 being spoken to him: “Kepha (Peter), the LORD promised our fathers to be their God, and He promises to be yours. Rest in that truth, young man. And Kepha, my grandson, His love for us demands that we tell our friends about Him.”

What will you do with the deliverance and redemption promised by God as He pledges to take you as His very own? Will you proclaim His excellencies as Peter did?

Lord, I rest in Your promise to be my God. I know You are the LORD, and I’m blown away that You love me. Father God, you are a deliverer . . . my deliverer from the bondage of sin and heartache, and I thank You and trust You. In the rescuing name of Jesus, Amen.