Moses is heartbroken and discouraged. The plight of the Israelites is worse now than before he ever came to Egypt to speak to Pharaoh. In our passage today he goes before the Lord in prayer to ask Him why things seem to be going so wrong.
The Israelite overseers have just blamed Moses and Aaron for Pharaoh's decision to cause the people to have to find their own straw to make the bricks. These men pointed their fingers at Moses and Aaron and said, "May the Lord judge you!" We can easily understand why the overseers feel like they do. And we can understand how devastated Moses feels. He goes someplace to be alone with the Lord and cries out to Him. "Moses returned to the Lord and said, 'Why, Lord, have You brought trouble on this people? Is this why You sent me? Ever since I went to Pharaoh to speak in Your name, he has brought trouble on this people, and You have not rescued Your people at all.'" (Exodus 5:22-23)
There's nothing wrong with asking God "why" if we do it with reverence and respect for His sovereignty and wisdom. Sometimes our problems are a result of sin in our lives that we haven't recognized and repented of, so it's imperative to ask God if we've done anything to cause our hardships. At other times, as in the case of Moses, we've done exactly what the Lord told us to do and still our circumstances look grim. Moses obeyed the Lord and went to Egypt and spoke to the Israelites and to Pharaoh just as the Lord commanded him to do. Moses had been warned Pharaoh wouldn't listen at first, but he certainly didn't expect Pharaoh to treat the Israelites even more cruelly than before. Naturally he wants to know what the hold up is on leading his people out of Egypt. Has he messed up somehow without knowing it? Has he misunderstood the Lord? Did the Lord have an ulterior motive in sending him to Egypt? I think that's what Moses is asking when he says, "Is this why You sent me?", as in, "Was Your intention to use me as an instrument to bring judgment upon the people? Were You displeased with them and did You decide to cause them more hardship than before as discipline for their shortcomings?" Moses is so distraught that perhaps for a moment he doubts the honesty and goodness of God. This is when the Lord speaks up to rescue Moses from his downward spiral of emotions.
"Then the Lord said to Moses, 'Now you will see what I will do to Pharaoh: Because of My mighty hand he will let them go; because of My mighty hand he will drive them out of his country.'" (Exodus 6:1) There's a secondary thing going on here besides the rescue of the Israelites from Egypt. A lesson needs to be taught to the wicked king. But first the Lord is honor-bound to provide him with opportunities to repent. Pharaoh already refused his first opportunity when he was asked to allow the people to take three days off to worship the Lord. He had no compassion on them and no respect for their religion or for God. Because Pharaoh has no pity, the Lord is going to send plagues on the land and Pharaoh is going to lose all semblance of any control over anything that goes on in his country. But he'll never ask the Lord "why". He'll never search his own heart and find the sin there and repent of it. During and after each plague he only grows more evil and hard-hearted, but he'll never be able to stand before the judgment seat of God and claim the Lord didn't try to show him the error of his ways.
When the sinfulness of Pharaoh reaches the tipping point, the Lord will bring the people out by His own power---not by Moses' power. And that's something Moses needs to be reminded of right now. Moses is throwing a pity party for himself, and I can't really blame him because I'd probably be doing the same thing, but Moses needs to be reminded that the success of this mission doesn't depend on him. He needs to stop beating himself up wondering whether he misunderstood the Lord or wondering whether he handled the meeting with Pharaoh in the wrong way. God is going to perform the work at the right time and in the right way. Moses' only job is to follow instructions even when it looks like he's getting nowhere.
To back up His promise to do what He's already said He's going to do for the Israelites, the Lord reminds Moses of who He is. "God also said to Moses, 'I am the Lord. I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob as God Almighty, but by My name the Lord I did not make Myself fully known to them. I also established My covenant with them to give them the land of Canaan, where they resided as foreigners. Moreover, I have heard the groaning of the Israelites, whom the Egyptians are enslaving, and I have remembered My covenant.'" (Exodus 6:2-5) The Lord says, "I spoke with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and they trusted Me. They knew me by My name 'God Almighty' (El-Shaddai, meaning "mighty, all-sufficient, able to supply") but I've revealed a name to you that none of them ever knew. You know me as 'I Am Who I Am', which is a greater and more secret name for Myself which I never revealed to the patriarchs. If the patriarchs trusted Me based on what they knew of Me, you have even more reason to trust Me. I've revealed more of My character to you than I did to them." (For references regarding the meaning of the name "I Am Who I Am", see Day 11 of our study of Exodus.)
The Lord tells Moses to go back to the Israelites and remind them who He is. He is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He is the God in whom the patriarchs trusted. He is the God who helped their ancestors. He is the God who will help them too. "Therefore, say to the Israelites: 'I am the Lord, and I will bring you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians. I will free you from being slaves to them, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with mighty acts of judgment. I will take you as My own people, and I will be your God. Then you will know that I am the Lord your God, who brought you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians. And I will bring you to the land I swore with uplifted hand to give to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob. I will give it to you as a possession. I am the Lord." (Exodus 6:6-8)
The Lord is saying to the Israelites, "Your fathers trusted in Me. I promised them I would give their descendants the land of Canaan and I have not changed My mind. I do not change my mind or break promises. I made a solemn oath and I intend to keep it. And how can I keep it unless I bring you out of Egypt? Your deliverance from Egypt must take place because otherwise I can't fulfill My promise to give you the land. So take courage! Trust Me! Trust me just like Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob did."
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