Compare Exodus 5:1 with God's promises to Abraham. How are they connected? Setting the Stage: God Anticipated Israel’s Bondage Genesis 15:13-14—“Know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not their own, and they will be enslaved and mistreated four hundred years. But I will judge the nation they serve as slaves, and afterward they will depart with great possessions.” Exodus 5:1—A Covenant Claim “Afterward, Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and said, ‘This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: Let My people go, so that they may hold a feast to Me in the wilderness.’” Promises First Spoken to Abraham • Genesis 12:2-3 — great nation, divine protection, blessing to all nations • Genesis 12:7 — promise of land • Genesis 15:13-14 — foretelling slavery and certain deliverance • Genesis 17:7 — everlasting covenant between God and Abraham’s offspring • Genesis 22:17-18 — innumerable descendants and global blessing Four Direct Links Between Exodus 5:1 and the Abrahamic Promises • Covenant Identity: “the LORD, the God of Israel” ties Moses’ words to the God who covenanted with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (Exodus 3:15; Genesis 17:7). • Peoplehood Realized: “My people” fulfills “I will make you into a great nation” (Genesis 12:2). Israel is now a distinct, numerous people just as promised (Exodus 1:7). • Promised Deliverance: The command to “let … go” begins the very rescue God foretold in Genesis 15:14—judgment on the oppressing nation and release with blessing. • Purpose of Worship: “Hold a feast to Me” echoes Abraham’s altar-building (Genesis 12:8; 22:9). God frees them so they may serve and worship Him, a central motif of the covenant. Pharaoh’s Resistance and Genesis 12:3 • “Who is the LORD?” (Exodus 5:2) sets Pharaoh on a collision course with “I will curse him who curses you.” • The plagues that follow display God’s faithfulness to defend Abraham’s line and to make His name known (Exodus 9:16). From Promise to Nationhood • Exodus moves Abraham’s family from tribal clan to covenant nation under divine law (Exodus 19:5-6). • The journey heads toward Canaan, the land first guaranteed to Abraham (Genesis 15:18-21). Living Takeaway The same God who kept every detail of His word to Abraham in Exodus 5 is still reliable today (Numbers 23:19; Hebrews 10:23). |
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