Commentary - Exodus 6:28-30

Bird's-eye view

This short section at the end of Exodus 6 serves as a hinge. It recaps the divine commission given to Moses and, at the same time, reiterates Moses' profound sense of inadequacy for the task. After a genealogical interlude, the Spirit brings us back to the central conflict: Yahweh versus Pharaoh, with Moses as the designated mouthpiece. The narrative deliberately slows down here to emphasize a crucial point that will govern everything that follows, namely, that the power for this great deliverance resides entirely in God, not in the instrument He chooses to use. The weakness of the vessel is put on full display so that the excellency of the power may be of God and not of man. This is a foundational principle for all ministry, and we see it starkly illustrated here before the plagues are unleashed.

The exchange is a summary of what has already occurred, reminding the reader of the stalemate. God commands, and Moses objects. This repetition is not sloppy editing; it is divine pedagogy. We are meant to feel the weight of Moses' reluctance and the gravity of the task. God is about to bring a world empire to its knees, and His chosen ambassador is a man who protests that he cannot even speak properly. This is the glorious foolishness of God, which is wiser than men, and the weakness of God, which is stronger than men. The stage is being set for a confrontation where no one will be able to mistake who the true Deliverer is.

Outline

Context In Exodus

These verses function as a summary and re-engagement of the narrative following the genealogy of Moses and Aaron (Exod 6:14-27). Before that genealogy, in verses 10-12, we have an almost identical exchange. God tells Moses to go to Pharaoh, and Moses objects because of his "uncircumcised lips" and the fact that the Israelites themselves had not listened to him. The insertion of the family tree serves to formally establish the credentials of Moses and Aaron as the leaders of the Levitical priesthood, the tribe God has set apart. Now, with their lineage confirmed, the story resumes. The repetition of the commission and the objection underscores the fact that knowing your ancestry doesn't solve the problem of personal inadequacy. The problem is not a lack of pedigree but a perceived lack of rhetorical power. This sets up God's definitive answer in chapter 7, where He appoints Aaron as Moses' prophet and declares that He, Yahweh, will harden Pharaoh's heart. The problem of Moses' speech and Pharaoh's hearing will be solved by divine, sovereign intervention.

Clause-by-Clause Commentary

v. 28 Now it happened on the day when Yahweh spoke to Moses in the land of Egypt,

The narrative lens zooms back in. After the wide-angle shot of the genealogy, we are returned to a specific time and place. "On the day" brings a sense of immediacy and historical reality to the account. This is not a mythic tale from some forgotten age; this happened. And it happened "in the land of Egypt," the heart of the enemy's territory. God does not speak to His servants only in the holy quiet of the wilderness. He speaks in the midst of the conflict, in the very place of bondage. His word is not a retreat from the world's problems but an invasion into them. Yahweh is on the offensive, and His beachhead is the word He speaks to His chosen servant.

v. 29 that Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, “I am Yahweh; speak to Pharaoh king of Egypt all that I am speaking to you.”

Here is the commission in its bare, potent essence. It begins with the ultimate authorization: "I am Yahweh." This is the covenant name of God, the name He revealed as the great I AM. Everything that follows rests on this foundation. Moses is not being sent on his own authority, or with a clever plan of his own devising. He is being sent by the self-existent, sovereign Lord of all creation. The authority is absolute. The message is therefore not Moses' to craft. He is to "speak... all that I am speaking to you." He is a conduit, a herald, an ambassador. His job is not to be creative, persuasive, or eloquent. His job is to be faithful. He is to relay the message without addition or subtraction. The target is specified: "Pharaoh king of Egypt." Moses is being sent to the pinnacle of human power, the man who was considered a god on earth. This is a direct challenge, a declaration of war from the throne of heaven to the throne of Egypt.

v. 30 But Moses said before Yahweh, “Behold, I am of uncircumcised lips; how then will Pharaoh listen to me?”

And here is the human response to the divine commission. "But Moses said..." This is the voice of fallen man, the voice of doubt and inadequacy. He speaks "before Yahweh," in the very presence of the I AM, and yet his focus is entirely on himself. "Behold, I..." Look at me, God. Look at my insufficiency. Moses' assessment is that he is of "uncircumcised lips." This is a powerful metaphor in a book where circumcision is the sign of the covenant. To be uncircumcised was to be outside the covenant, unclean, unfit. Moses is saying his mouth is unfit for this holy task. His speech is common, profane, and ineffective. He is, in his own eyes, ritually unclean for the prophetic office.

From this premise of personal inadequacy, he draws a perfectly logical conclusion: "how then will Pharaoh listen to me?" If my own people, the sons of Israel, wouldn't listen to me because of their anguish (Exod 6:9), how can I possibly expect this pagan king, this embodiment of imperial pride, to pay me any mind? Humanly speaking, Moses is entirely correct. An unimpressive speaker with a difficult message has no chance of persuading a hostile monarch. And this is precisely the point. God does not argue with Moses' assessment of his own abilities. He does not say, "No, Moses, you are actually a fine speaker." Instead, in the verses that follow, God simply overrides the objection by providing Aaron and by declaring His own sovereign intention to work through this flawed vessel. The deliverance of Israel will not be a triumph of human rhetoric but a demonstration of divine power. God chooses the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and the weak things to shame the strong, so that no flesh should glory in His presence.

Application

Every Christian is called to be a witness, to speak the words of God into a hostile world. And every Christian, if he is honest, feels the force of Moses' objection. We look at our own mouths, our own lives, and we see "uncircumcised lips." We are keenly aware of our own inconsistencies, our fears, our lack of eloquence, and our history of failures. We know that, in ourselves, we have no standing to command the attention of the proud and rebellious powers of this age.

The lesson of this passage is that our inadequacy is not a disqualifier; it is a prerequisite. God's first order of business is to strip us of any reliance on our own strength. He corners us until we have nothing left to say but, "Behold, I am of uncircumcised lips." It is from that place of acknowledged weakness that true spiritual power flows. Our authority does not come from our skill, but from the one who sends us. Our message is not ours to invent, but His to reveal. "I am Yahweh; speak all that I am speaking to you."

We must therefore stop looking at our lips and start listening to His voice. The question is not whether we are fit, but whether He is faithful. The outcome does not depend on Pharaoh's reception, but on God's sovereign purpose. God did not call Moses to be successful; He called him to be obedient. And He does the same for us. When we are tempted to shrink back in fear, pointing to our own feebleness, we must remember that the God who opened the Red Sea is more than capable of opening our mouths, and of stopping the mouths of kings.