Exodus 6:2 And Elohim spoke to Moses and said to him, I am יהוה: 3 And I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob, by the name of El Shaddai, but by My name יהוה I was not known to them. C-MATS
Question: What was יהוה saying to Moses? יהוה rebuked Moses harshly: Many times I revealed Myself to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and they did not question My ways, nor did they say to me, “What is Your name?” You questioned My ways and asked from the start, “What is Your name?” and now you are saying to Me, “You have not saved Your people!” unlike Abraham, to whom I said, “Isaac will be considered your seed” and then I said to him, “Raise him up to Me as an offering” — still, he did not question Me.” The Patriarchs only knew Me by El Shaddai (sufficient), you know Me by יהוה and yet you question Me. The Patriarchs never saw miracles and yet they had faith in Me. Moses would soon witness miracles of a magnitude that dwarfed anything the Patriarchs had ever seen. Chumash
Question: Why was Moses’ arrival in Egypt followed by an immediate intensification of the slavery of the Israelites? The Egyptians could not be punished until their “measure of sin” was full. יהוה is patient even with the wicked. By Pharaoh’s cruel decree to deny straw to the slaves, Pharaoh had reached his lowest point and so the process of the exodus and the punishment of Egypt could now begin. Chumash
Exodus 6:4 And I have also established אֶת־ My covenant אִתָּם with them, to give them אֶת־ the land of Canaan, אֵת the land of their pilgrimage, in which they were strangers. 5 And I have also heard אֶת־ the groaning of the Children of Israel, אֹתָם whom the Egyptians keep in bondage; and I have remembered אֶת־ My covenant. C-MATS
Question: How do you think that being challenged to overcome our limitations can improve our relationship with יהוה? When life is a breeze, it is very easy to write יהוה out of the picture. But when we are forced to face a situation, or part of ourselves in which we feel limited, we are better able to abandon the illusion of self-reliance, and realize that we need to turn to יהוה if we hope to succeed. This serves to open us to the spiritual reality that even the things that seem to come easy are also only gifts given to us from יהוה. At this point, our relationship with Him jumps to an entirely new, higher plane.
Spiritual Exercise: Can you think of an obstacle you had to overcome? How did you do it? Did you ask the Almighty for help?