God's Plan and Some Begats
- God assures Moses that, really, it's all good and life will turn out okay for the Israelites. He promises to fulfill his covenant with the patriarchs, give the Israelites the land of Canaan (modern day Israel, Jordan, etc.). And he even reveals his true name—YHWH—to Moses.
- God basically turns this thing into a freedom fight. Before, Moses was supposed to get the Israelites a few days in the wilderness for worship, but now God wants to free the Israelites from slavery in Egypt. Big job.
- Exodus 6:14-27 is a big genealogy of both Aaron and Moses. It gives them street cred in the biblical universe—this isn't exactly a rags to riches-oriented society. Family matters, and demonstrating that Moses and Aaron aren't just "some dudes" is a big deal.
- Also, check out how much power the Biblical writers have over their work. If they want to insert a thirteen-verse interlude of crazy-sounding names, they get to.
- But you know what? If we want to skip over it while reading, we get to. Take that, Bible.