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.
Slavery has worn Israel down, and Moses' first approach to Pharaoh only made the work harder. God's answer does not start with the people's condition but with His own name. From that name comes a chain of promises: He will bring them out, free them, and redeem them.
The Name Behind the Promise
God gives His name before He gives His promises. One writer explains what that name says about the God who takes it.
C. H. Mackintosh"JEHOVAH" is the title He takes as the Deliverer of His people. He takes it on the ground of His covenant of pure and sovereign grace. He shows Himself as the great self-existing Source of redeeming love. He sets up His purposes, keeps His promises, and rescues His chosen people from every enemy and every evil. Israel's privilege was to stay always under the safe cover of that meaningful title. It is a title that shows God acting for His own glory, taking up His oppressed people to display that glory in them.
Seven "I Wills"
The promise does not stop with this verse. It runs to the end of verse 8, and one writer counts what God pledges there.
W. T. P. WolstonNote the seven "I wills." Seven in Scripture is always the number of spiritual completeness... It begins with, "I am the LORD," and it closes with, "I am the LORD." His "I will" never fails, and faith always rests on God's Word. I recommend you take God's seven "I wills" to your heart. I can hear you saying, "I have had a good many doubts." You will never have any more if you hold on to those "I wills." God will not fail His word. He always carries out His purpose. Your redemption and mine does not depend upon what we are, it depends upon God.
Nothing Asked of the Slaves
Every promise here is something God will do. The verse asks nothing of Israel in return.
C. H. MackintoshGod knew all about us — He knew the very worst of us, when He showed His love to us in the gift of His Son. He knew what we needed, and He provided it. He knew what was due, and He paid it. He knew what had to be done, and He did it. His own requirements had to be met, and He met them. It is all His own work. So He says to Israel: "I will bring you out." "I will bring you in." "I will take you to me." "I will give you the land." "I am Jehovah." It was all what He could do, and it rested on what He was.
What "Redeem" Means Here
The word "redeem" in this verse is not limited to pardon. It describes God breaking a power that held His people.
J. N. DarbyBy redemption I do not mean here the forgiveness of sins by blood. I mean the word as used for God's power at work in freeing Israel from Egypt. That involves the blood-shedding and the forgiveness, but went much further. It was the carrying out of the statement to Moses (Ex. 6:6-7), when God's judgment destroyed Pharaoh's power and title, as it destroyed Satan's for us.
The Ground of "Great Judgments"
God's outstretched arm works for Israel and against Egypt. But Israel had sinned too. One writer explains what made it right for a holy God to take their side.
Edward DennettGod is holy, so He had to be against His people while they were sinners in Egypt. Now, because of the blood of the lamb, He could be for them without going against anything He is. And the blood of the lamb, under which they sheltered, was the only ground of all His later acting for them.
The Promise Kept
Nine chapters later, Israel sings at the Red Sea. One writer traces that song straight back to this promise.
C E StuartJehovah, in the character of Redeemer, had now displayed Himself. What He promised Israel in Exodus 6:6 had come about. On the first morning of their deliverance His redeemed people announced it: "You have led in your steadfast love the people whom you have redeemed" (15:13). What redemption was — redemption by power — they now understood, and began to enjoy it. God had worked in Egypt for them. He had sheltered them there from His judgment. He had redeemed them with an outstretched arm at the Red Sea.
Summary
- Name first. "I am the LORD" opens and closes the promise. That is the title God takes as Deliverer, so the guarantee rests on who He is, not on who Israel was.
- Seven pledges. Verses 6 to 8 hold seven "I wills" — a complete chain. Out of the burdens, out of the slavery, redeemed, taken as His people, given a God, brought in, given the land.
- All His work. The verse asks nothing of the slaves. What was due, He paid; what needed doing, He did.
- Redemption is power. "Redeem" here means more than forgiveness. It means God breaking the power that held His people captive.
- Sung, not just said. God promised in Egypt; Israel sang at the Red Sea. There the rescued people understood redemption and began to enjoy it.