Prior to this address Moses had carried to Israel God's pledges to bring them out from under Egyptian bondage, to receive them as His own people, and to give them the land sworn to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. That message had been fully delivered before the Lord spoke again in this verse. The speaking follows Israel's refusal to listen to Moses, for they were crushed by anguish of spirit and by cruel bondage. Their deafness came not from unbelief alone but from suffering that left them unable to hearken.
In this verse the Lord directs Moses to go in to Pharaoh king of Egypt with a demand that he let the children of Israel go out of his land. The command turns Moses from disappointed labor with Israel to renewed confrontation with Pharaoh. What is required is outright release, that Israel leave Egypt and depart from Pharaoh's domain.
Prior to this address Moses had carried to Israel God's pledges to bring them out from under Egyptian bondage, to receive them as His own people, and to give them the land sworn to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. That message had been fully delivered before the Lord spoke again in this verse. The speaking follows Israel's refusal to listen to Moses, for they were crushed by anguish of spirit and by cruel bondage. Their deafness came not from unbelief alone but from suffering that left them unable to hearken.
In this verse the Lord directs Moses to go in to Pharaoh king of Egypt with a demand that he let the children of Israel go out of his land. The command turns Moses from disappointed labor with Israel to renewed confrontation with Pharaoh. What is required is outright release, that Israel leave Egypt and depart from Pharaoh's domain.