1 Then the I AM said unto Moses, “Now shall thou see what I will do to Pharaoh: for eagerly shall he let them go, and eagerly shall he drive them out of his land.”
God promises that not only will Pharaoh LET them go, he will MAKE them go.
2 And God spoke unto Moses, and said unto him, “I am the I AM:
3 “And I appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, by the name of God Almighty, but by my name JEHOVAH was I not known to them.
"God Almighty" is El Shaddai in Hebrew. It means "over powering strength"
"Jehovah" means "absolute, eternal, unconditional, independent existence."
4 “And I have also established My covenant with them, to give them the land of Canaan, the land of their pilgrimage, wherein they were strangers.
5 “And I have also heard the groaning of the children of Israel, whom the Egyptians keep in bondage; and I have remembered My covenant.
6 “Wherefore say unto the children of Israel, ‘I am the I AM, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will rid you out of their bondage, and I will redeem you with a stretched out arm, and with great judgments:
7 “ ‘And I will take you to Me for a people, and I will be to you a God: and ye shall know that I am the I AM your God, which brings you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians.
8 “ ‘And I will bring you in unto the land, concerning the which I did swear to give it to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob; and I will give it you for an heritage: I am the I AM.’ “
God is reassuring them that He exists, knows what is going on, and is in control. His promises WILL come true.
9 And Moses spoke so unto the children of Israel: but they didn't listen to Moses for anguish of spirit, and for cruel bondage.
They didn’t believe him because things were so bad they couldn’t picture them ever getting any better.
10 And the I AM spake unto Moses, saying,
11 “Go in, speak unto Pharaoh king of Egypt, that he let the children of Israel go out of his land.”
12 And Moses spoke before the I AM, saying, “Look, the children of Israel have not listened to me. How will Pharaoh hear me, since I am not a good speaker?”
“If those who are supposed to worship You don’t believe me how can someone who doesn’t even believe in You? I still don’t talk so good.” Evidently Moses thought the Israelites lack of belief was due to his inelegance of speech, but it wasn’t. They just chose to not believe.
13 And the I AM spoke to Moses and Aaron, and gave them a charge to the children of Israel, and unto Pharaoh king of Egypt, to bring the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt.
Now we are going to get a list of who all was meant by “Israel.”
14 These are the heads of their fathers' houses: The sons of Reuben the firstborn of Israel; Hanoch, and Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi: these are the families of Reuben.
Each son of Jacob headed a tribe (with Joseph’s two boys leading one each, also.) Each of their boys headed a clan. The tribe of Reuben had four clans.
This short genealogy is a big reason I believe Israel was in Egypt only 200 years. There simply aren't enough people to account for 400 years of being blessed with babies by God.
15 And the sons of Simeon; Jemuel, and Jamin, and Ohad, and Jachin, and Zohar, and Shaul the son of a Canaanitish woman: these are the families of Simeon.
The tribe of Simeon had six clans.
16 And these are the names of the sons of Levi according to their generations; Gershon, and Kohath, and Merari: and the years of the life of Levi were an 137 years.
I wonder about the possibility that some who actually knew Levi were still alive. Joseph was 30 when he stood before Pharaoh, so he was 39 when his family moved to Egypt (the seven years of plenty plus 2 years of the famine.) If Levi was, say, 10 years older, he was 49. So he would have died just 80 years before Moses got to Egypt. Moses himself is 80 now, so his dad might have actually remembered Levi, his grandfather.
Levi had three clans. The Bible further breaks them down;
17 The sons of Gershon; Libni, and Shimi, according to their families.
18 And the sons of Kohath; Amram, and Izhar, and Hebron, and Uzziel: and the years of the life of Kohath were an 133 years.
19 And the sons of Merari; Mahali and Mushi: these are the families of Levi according to their generations.
20 And Amram (son of Kohath, son of Levi) took him Jochebed his father's sister to wife; and she bare him Aaron and Moses: and the years of the life of Amram were an 137 years.
Amram, Moses dad, was Jacob’s great-grandson. Now, my great-grandfather was born only a hundred years ago, but then, his dad didn’t live to be 133. With these much greater lifespans, plus the fact that Moses was eighty, it is easy to believe Israel has been in Egypt for two-hundred years.
God told Abraham that “…Thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them 400 years;” Some older translations and the Jewish scriptures interpret this scripture as “…and they shall afflict them UNTIL 400 years.” Meaning four hundred years from the time God was speaking, not from the time Jacob went down into Egypt. They would inherit their land in 400 years.
Accounting for the time from the prophecy (1939BC) until Jacob’s birth (1878BC) and the famine that drove him to Egypt (1757BC), there was 182 years before Israel even arrived in Egypt. Add another two hundred years of living there, and you get your 400 years to fulfill the prophecy. This would be about 2513AM (1533BC).
Galatians 3:17 "And this I say, that the covenant, that was confirmed before of God in Christ, the law, which was 430 years after, cannot disannul, that it should make the promise of none effect." Paul here says the Law was given 430 years after God first spoke to Abraham. God first spoke to him about 25 years before Isaac was born. If the official beginning of the "400 years" is Isaac's weaning (when he became the official promised heir), The Exodus had to happened only about 200 years afterwards.
21 And the sons of Izhar; Korah, and Nepheg, and Zichri.
Izhar and Uzziel were Amram’s brothers.
22 And the sons of Uzziel; Mishael, and Elzaphan, and Zithri.
23 And Aaron took him Elisheba, daughter of Amminadab, sister of Naashon, to wife; and she bare him Nadab, and Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar.
Aaron’s wife was the Great-great-granddaughter of Judah. Her brother was a leader of the tribe of Judah (1 Chronicles 2:9).
In modern Judaism the linage is figured through the mother. If your mom is a Jew, than you are too. This is apparently not true here in ancient times. Aaron’s wife was from the tribe of Judah but their children were called “Levites” after their dad’s tribe.
24 And the sons of Korah; Assir, and Elkanah, and Abiasaph: these are the families of the Korhites.
Korah was Izhar’s son, Levi’s great-grandson.
25 And Eleazar Aaron's son took him one of the daughters of Putiel to wife; and she bare him Phinehas: these are the heads of the fathers of the Levites according to their families.
26 These are that Aaron and Moses, to whom the I AM said, “Bring out the children of Israel from the land of Egypt according to their armies.”
27 These are the ones who spoke to Pharaoh king of Egypt, to bring out the children of Israel from Egypt: these are that Moses and Aaron.
I wonder if these last few verses were written sometime after the first part was written? It sounds like it.
28 And it came to pass on the day when the I AM spoke to Moses in the land of Egypt,
29 That the I AM spoke to Moses, saying, “I am the I AM: speak thou to Pharaoh king of Egypt all that I say unto thee.”
30 And Moses said before the I AM, “Behold, I am an unskilled speaker, and how shall Pharaoh listen to me?”