Therefore, tell the Israelites, ‘I am the LORD. I will bring you out from your enslavement to the Egyptians, I will rescue you from the hard labor they impose, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great judgments. I will take you to myself for a people, and I will be your God. Then you will know that I am the LORD your God, who brought you out from your enslavement to the Egyptians. I will bring you to the land I swore to give to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob—and I will give it to you as a possession. I am the LORD.’”
Exodus 6:6-8 NET
God gave this message to Moses to pass on to the Israelites about what he was going to do for them. Three times in these three verses, God affirmed that he is the LORD, the great I AM. He was going to act on their behalf.
And seven times in these three verses, God said, “I will.” While that literal expression is not in the Hebrew text, it is implied. God will . . .
•⠀Bring them out of slavery.
•⠀Rescue them from their hard labor.
•⠀Redeem them with an outstretched arm and great judgment.
•⠀Make them his people.
•⠀Be their God.
•⠀Bring them to the land of promise.
•⠀Give them the land.
What Do We Do?
And what did the people have to do? Nothing. God would do it all. And then they would know that the LORD was their God.
Israel experienced God’s salvation from slavery and deliverance into a covenant relationship with God and a land to call their own, solely because of what God did. They did nothing to achieve this great salvation.
In the same way, God did it all for our salvation. He redeemed us from our slavery to sin, made us his people, and has prepared a forever home for us. He did it all. And, because of what he did, we can truly know him as our God, the great I AM. Praise be to God!
