Exodus 6: God Renews the Covenant, Moses and Aaron's Lineage
I was steaming a piece of ash the other night for a rocker I am building. The back slats need a curve that you cannot get from dry wood, so you build a steam box from PVC pipe, pipe steam in from a wallpaper steamer for about an hour per inch of thickness, then clamp the hot wood into a form and let it cool. While the wood is in the box, it looks the same as before, but the heat has changed the fibers. You can bend it cold and it snaps. Hot, it holds.
Exodus 6 is the steam box of the Exodus story. Pharaoh has just made things worse, the Israelites are angry, and Moses is discouraged. But the heat is doing its work.
Why Did the Israelites Not Listen to Moses in Exodus 6
The chapter opens with God telling Moses that Pharaoh will not let the people go easily. The first verse is not encouraging on the surface.
And the Lord said unto Moses, Now shalt thou see what I will do to Pharaoh: for with a strong hand shall he let them go, and with a strong hand shall he drive them out of his land.
Then God speaks about the covenant. He reminds Moses that He appeared to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob by the name of God Almighty, and that He remembered His covenant with them. He uses the phrase "I am the Lord" four times in eight verses. It is not repetition for padding. It is the whole point.
When Moses relays this to the Israelites, they do not celebrate.
And Moses spake so unto the children of Israel: but they hearkened not unto Moses for anguish of spirit, and for cruel bondage.
That phrase stops me every time I read it this way. Anguish of spirit and cruel bondage. They were not rejecting Moses because they had lost faith. They were too exhausted to hear anything that sounded like a promise. Another piece of good news about the future just reminds you how far you still are from the thing you want. I have been there, and it makes you want to throw a chisel. There is a difference between trusting a promise and being able to hear it.
What Is the Covenant Promise in Exodus 6
Verses 6 through 8 contain one of the most concentrated bundles of covenant language in the Old Testament. God makes seven specific promises in sequence.
Wherefore say unto the children of Israel, I am the Lord, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will rid you out of their bondage, and I will redeem you with a stretched out arm, and with great judgments: And I will take you to me for a people, and I will be to you a God: and ye shall know that I am the Lord your God, which bringeth you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians. And I will bring you in unto the land, concerning the which I did swear to give it to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob; and I will give it you for an heritage: I am the Lord.
Seven promises in one breath: I will bring you out, rid you of bondage, redeem you, take you as a people, be your God, bring you into the land, and give it to you as an inheritance. God does not say "maybe." He says "I will" seven times, and that is the shape of a covenant. It is not conditional on Israel's strength at this moment. It is conditional on who God is.
This is where the previous chapter about Pharaoh increasing the burden starts to make sense in retrospect. The burden did not mean God had abandoned the covenant. The burden was part of the process that would make the deliverance unmistakable.
What Does It Mean That God Calls Himself Jehovah in Exodus 6
In verse 3, God tells Moses that He was known by the name God Almighty to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, but by His name Jehovah He was not known to them. This is a dense theological statement that has been debated for a long time, because Abraham clearly uses the name Jehovah elsewhere in Genesis.
The simplest reading is that the full meaning of that name was not yet understood. Abraham knew the word but did not yet know the nature behind it in the way Israel was about to learn. The name Jehovah is tied to the covenant and to deliverance. Now, at the point of the Exodus, the name is taking on its full weight. God is about to do what the name says He will do. A friend of mine once described it as the difference between knowing what someone is called and knowing what they are made of. Israel was about to find out.
Why Does Exodus 6 Include the Genealogy of Moses and Aaron
The genealogy in verses 14 through 27 is the part most people skip. I have skipped it many times. It is a list of names from the tribes of Reuben, Simeon, and Levi, ending with Aaron and Moses. On the surface it looks like filler between the narrative sections.
The genealogy is not just a list of boring names and dates. It serves the same function as a timber stamp on a structural beam. If you are building something that needs to hold weight, you need to know where the material came from. It establishes that Moses and Aaron are not random insurgents showing up at Pharaoh's court claiming authority. They are Levites. Their lineage is documented so the priesthood authority and the leadership of the Exodus run through this family line.
The chapter puts the genealogy right after Moses objects to his own calling. He just told God that even the Israelites would not listen, so why would Pharaoh. God responds not by arguing with Moses about his qualifications but by grounding him in his lineage. Moses did not choose this calling. The covenant chose him before he was born, and the genealogy proves it.
There is a connection here to the way the Lord reaffirmed priesthood authority in D&C 54. When people are discouraged or feel like the work is falling apart, the Lord often goes back to the foundation. He reminds them who they are and who called them.
How to Trust God When Things Get Worse Before They Get Better
This is the question I keep coming back to from Exodus 6. The Israelites did what God asked. Moses went to Pharaoh. The result was not freedom but harder labor, which is a bitter thing to swallow. If you follow God and the situation gets worse, what do you do?
The chapter does not answer that question by changing the circumstances. It answers by changing the focus. God does not explain why the burden increased. He says His name, says He remembers the covenant, and says He will do what He promised.
When I look at that piece of ash clamped to the form in my shop, I know that if I take it out too early it will spring back. The bend holds because the heat and the pressure had time to change the fibers. Exodus 6 is that time in the clamps. Nothing looks like it is moving, but the fibers are changing.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why did the Israelites refuse to listen to Moses in Exodus 6:9
The text says they did not listen because of anguish of spirit and cruel bondage. They were spiritually and emotionally exhausted. Their current suffering was so overwhelming that the promise of future deliverance felt unreal. It was not a rejection of God. It was the sound of people who had been broken by their circumstances and could not afford to hope.
What is the significance of God revealing His name as Jehovah in this chapter
The name Jehovah emphasizes the eternal, covenant-keeping nature of God, and while the patriarchs knew this name, the full meaning of it became clear during the Exodus. God was revealing Himself not just as a God of promises but as a God who delivers on them. The name carries the weight of everything He is about to do.
Why does Exodus 6 include the genealogy of Moses and Aaron
The genealogy establishes the legal and spiritual authority of Moses and Aaron. It connects them to the house of Levi and to the covenant promises made to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. This is not a random list. It is a document proving that the leadership of the Exodus was divinely intended and rooted in the covenant lineage.
What are the seven promises God makes in Exodus 6
God makes seven specific promises in verses 6 through 8: bring out from bondage, rid from bondage, redeem with a strong arm, take Israel as His people, be their God, bring them into the promised land, and give them the land as an inheritance. Each one begins with "I will."
How can Exodus 6 help someone who is struggling right now
The chapter teaches that a worsening situation is not necessarily a sign of God's absence. The Israelites were exactly where God wanted them to be in the process, even though it did not feel that way. Instead of changing the circumstances immediately, God changed the perspective. He reminded them who He is and what He promised. Sometimes that is the only thing that gets you through.
The ash stayed in the clamps for three days, and when I took it out, it held the curve. There was some spring-back and adjustment needed, but the basic shape was there, and it was not the same wood it had been before the steam. The heat is not random. The pressure has a purpose, and the wood is being bent into something it could not become on its own.
-- D.