Exodus 6:2-30 Study Guide: The Same Yesterday, Today and Forever

Community Group Study Guide — The Same Yesterday, Today and Forever
Exodus 6:2-30

Study Information:
One unchanging thing about being human is change. Seasons change, we have ups and downs at work, kids get older, we get older, our emotions fluctuate, health problems come and go and when you think things are normal things change. Moses left Midian for Egypt with some confidence that God would do what he promised, and he had some immediate success when the elders of Israel listened to him and worshipped (Exodus 4:31). However, we learned last week that their time with Pharaoh did not go as Moses hoped and Moses was left with a lot of discouragement. Moses went to God with that discouragement but he still struggled to trust and belief that God would follow through in that moment, even though everything was going according to God’s plan (Exodus 5:22-23). God’s response to Moses’s discouragement was to remind Moses that he hasn’t changed and that he would remain faithful to his covenant. 

God is not like us, he does not have emotional highs and lows and he does not give up on what he promised to do.

God Does Not Change
Exodus 6:2-8
This section of scripture began and ended with “I am the LORD (Exodus 6:2, 8).” This was a reminder to Moses of God’s divine name Yahweh (LORD) meaning, “I am who I am.” It is in God’s nature and character to be steadfast and unchanging, which is why God reminded Moses of the past, the present and the future and how God had been faithful to do what he said he would do. 

In the past, God appeared to Abraham, Issac and Jacob and revealed himself to them as El Shadday, “God Almighty (Exodus 6:3). Moses was special in that God revealed his name YHWH. It is not like God had some kind of legal name change, rather God gave and received various names in scripture from his followers, each of which highlighted an aspect of his character. For example, El Shadday likely meant “God of/is the Mountain/Rock” highlighting his faithful and immovable nature. God then reminded Moses of the plan he had been working through his people and how he had established his covenant and how they’d be exiles in Egypt and that they’d be brought into the land of Canaan. All of these activities were promises from God that he had been faithful to. Why would God be any different now?

In Moses’s present, God responded to the groaning of the people in slavery and called Moses to be part of his work of redemption (Exodus 5:8). Moses was back in Egypt, precisely because God care for his people and desired to free them from slavery in a way that would boost their confidence in his power. 

And in the future God promised to continue to bless them and work in them. God gave 8 statements of I will/you shall in Exodus 6:6-8. These statements are all unconditional covenant statements where God promised to act regardless of how Israel responded. They include promises of redemption, inclusion in God’s people, blessings of the land and a knowledge that God is the LORD. 

When we experience discouragement or despair we can feel like God has changed, but passages like this one remind us that God is the same yesterday, today and forever and that he is faithful to his covenant.

Our Hearts Are Slow to Trust
Exodus 6:9-13
What’s next for Moses? Well, one conversation with Pharaoh led Moses to despair and unfortunately one conversation with God did not immediately lead Moses to hope. Moses and the people of God were slow to trust God in this. Moses faithfully told the people what God had said, but they did not listen to Moses because of their harsh slavery and broken Spirit (Exodus 6:9). Likewise, Moses once again told God that Pharaoh wouldn’t listen to Moses and essentially God would be better off with someone who could speak better and convince Pharaoh. 

Our spiritual depression can act as a barrier to hearing God’s truth. There can often be a conflict with what is true and our experience of that truth. God responded by once again calling Moses to “Go to Pharaoh” which serves as a reminder that God is in control and has not given up his plan. 

Rooted in a Story
Exodus 6:14-30
Finally, we’re given the genealogy for Moses and Aaron. As a reader we should be wondering why here and now and not when Moses was first introduced or when God spoke to him in the burning bush? There are some interesting features of this genealogy like how it is incomplete having mentioned only the first three sons of Jacob, or how it goes past Aaron and ends with his grandson Phinehas or how it focuses on Aaron more than Moses. From the context we know that the people of Israel had been questioning Moses and Aaron and this seems to be God’s response with “I’ve called them!” Likewise this genealogy goes beyond Moses and Aaron and into the future as a reminder that God’s plan continues past this current generation. 

Genealogies were more than just a family tree, they were reminders of history, story and God’s work in a community of real people. Moses, Aaron and the people of Israel were given a real reminder of God’s faithfulness through their family line and that it would continue on past their generation. They were part of a larger story of God’s activity in and through his people. An antidote to our discouragement and pessimism may be to remember that the story we’re called as we live out our faith in Christ is not a tragedy, it is a story filled with hope and God is working his plan even past our lifetime. 

We all need reminders of hope. Imagine the disciples of Jesus being filled with despair and discouragement when Jesus had died and they had not yet experienced the resurrection. They experienced the tension of “what’s next?” without really knowing how the resurrection would change everything. As Christians we are confronted with situations where what we feel and what is true are at odds and we have to choose hope and remember God’s faithfulness to do what he promised. Our story is one of suffering and triumph, of death and resurrection and of feeling weak and remembering God is strong. Remember the story you’re in and who the author of that story is!

At your community group:
Take 15-20 minutes to share about how God has been at work in your life, prayer concerns and pray for one another.

How did God speak to you through the scripture and the sermon this week? 

Discussion Questions:
Read Exodus 6:2-30

How did God emphasize his unchanging nature to Moses (Exodus 6:2-8)? Why would this be the response of God to Moses’s discouragement and questioning from Exodus 5:22-23?

We learned that Moses and the people of God were slow to trust. How do circumstances in our lives create a barrier to hearing God’s truth?

What are some key features of the genealogy and why do you think it was put here in the book of Exodus rather than somewhere else?

What it would be like if God changed? How does God’s unchanging nature give you confidence in your faith in Christ?