EXPLORE THE TEXT
God’s actions reveal His character.
6 “Therefore tell the Israelites:
I am the Lord, and I will bring you out from the forced labor of the Egyptians
and rescue you from slavery to them.
I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and great acts of judgment.
7 I will take you as my people, and I will be your God.
You will know that I am the Lord your God,
who brought you out from the forced labor of the Egyptians.
8 I will bring you to the land that I swore to give to
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob,
and I will give it to you as a possession. I am the Lord.”
9 Moses told this to the Israelites, but they did not listen to him
because of their broken spirit and hard labor.
I will
While Exodus 6:2-5 focuses on God’s promises in the past,
verses 6-8 focus on what God will do to fulfill promises in the future.
Because He remembered His covenant (v. 5)
and because He had sworn an oath to His people,
God would act and would fulfill all the promises He had made. Israel could count on it.
identify all the “I will” statements God made in the verses. Suggest they use information from verses 6-8 (PSG, p. 25) as a guide. Spend a moment walking through each word or phrase and discussing its significance. Use content from “Key Phrase” to supplement the discussion.
As New Testament believers, we have the advantage of knowing the outcome of this story.
It’s kind of like knowing the score of a game you recorded and watched after the fact.
But Moses, Aaron, and the Hebrews were experiencing this for the first time.
To them, the outcome was still in doubt.
They needed the message, even though they struggled to receive it.
Review these points from Apply the Text on page 27 of the Personal Study Guide:
Identify one of the statements above with which you struggle.
Phrase that struggle as a prayer request.
Encourage members to share their responses to the first set of questions on page 27 of the PSG.
Talk about why it can be hard to trust God and how to encourage others when their faith wavers.
Refer back to Pack Item 11 (Handout: The Plagues of Egypt).
Encourage adults to read and reflect on the different plagues during the week and to prepare to discuss the final plague in the next session.
Close this session in prayer,
asking God to help adults trust Him to provide freedom,
even when things are difficult to understand and believe.
Spend some focused time praying for the adults in your Bible study group this week. Reflect on what they shared about their struggles and use that to prompt your prayers. Reach out to each individual through an email, a phone call, or a text this week. Let them know what you are praying for them and share ways they could pray for you as well. Encourage them to share any answers to prayer they have received from God this week.
God
There is one and only one living and true God. He is an intelligent, spiritual, and personal Being, the Creator, Redeemer, Preserver, and Ruler of the universe. (See Genesis 1:1; Psalm 103:19.)
Notice repeated words or phrases in a Bible passage.
Identify the phrase repeated four times in Exodus 6:2-9. (Hint: See vv. 2,6,7,8.) Think about what this phrase’s repetition helps communicate in the overall passage. Look for similar or related words and phrases in the passage. (Hint: See vv. 3,7.) What meaning does the repeated phrase have for Bible readers today?