What is the context?
God answers Moses’ complaint by promising that Pharaoh will not merely allow Israel to leave: under God’s mighty hand, he will drive them out. The present setback has not changed the outcome God has declared.
God identifies Himself as the LORD and recalls His appearances to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, His covenant to give them Canaan, and the groaning He has heard. He then promises to bring Israel out of bondage, redeem them through judgment, take them as His people and give them the land He swore to their ancestors. Deliverance includes a relationship: He will be their God, and they will know Him through what He does.
The people do not listen because of their broken spirit and cruel bondage. The account describes people weighed down by suffering, struggling to take in the promise. God nevertheless sends Moses back to Pharaoh.
Moses again questions whether anyone will listen to him. The Hebrew expression translated unskilled in speech is literally uncircumcised of lips. Brown–Driver–Briggs identifies it here as a figure for difficulty speaking. God answers by renewing the charge to both Moses and Aaron to bring Israel out.
How is this passage commonly understood?
The shared reading emphasizes God revealing His faithfulness through the promised deliverance. Calvin and Wesley understand the statement about His name in verse 3 as a fuller experience of who He is: the patriarchs knew the name, while their descendants would now witness the rescue He had promised. Genesis 15:7 already records God identifying Himself to Abraham as the LORD.
Where does this fit in God's plan?
The promise that God will be their God and they will be His people continues beyond this rescue. Jeremiah 31:31–34 repeats that relationship in the promise of a new covenant with Israel and Judah, with God’s law written on their hearts and their sins forgiven. Hebrews 8:6–12 quotes that promise while explaining the better covenant Jesus mediates.
Ezekiel 36:22–28 also joins gathering Israel into the land with cleansing, a new heart and God’s Spirit. The purpose reaches into the people themselves: they are to know God and live in His ways. The Exodus begins a story of rescue and belonging that later promises develop more fully.
The same relationship appears in 2 Corinthians 6:16, where believers are called the temple of the living God, and in Revelation 21:3–4, where God dwells with His people and removes death, grief and pain. The larger purpose is a people living with their God.
What is our position?
We don't have a position on this passage yet. When our study reaches a conclusion the text supports, it will appear here.