I was on the phone for the past few hours (!) with my pastors and I had to read and talk at the same time so my notes are quite brief. I might revisit some of this stuff tomorrow but I doubt it.
Exodus 5:21 — It seems that Israel’s rebellion started even before they made it into the wilderness. Rather than wanting to go out and sacrifice to the LORD they’d rather go back to the old, easier way of slavery.
Exodus 6:3 — I’ve never understood this verse. They all know God by his name in the patriarchal narratives (e.g., Gen. 15:2; 27:20; 28:16) so how is it that he wasn’t known to them by name?
Exodus 7-8 — The thing hat strikes me about these two chapters is the way that Pharaoh’s magicians kept matching Moses and Aaron. It’s a testament to the reality of dark power. We often want to act like it doesn’t exist, but it does, and it can be used to deceive people as well (although that’s not really the case here). That’s why I don’t put as much stock in certain signs as a lot of folks I know. The devil can mimic all manner of things.
Exodus 8:18-19 — When they couldn’t mimic the plague they acknowledged that it really was God. What other choice did they have?
B”H
On Exodus 6:3, that’s a big reason why the Pentateuch has been divided into sources. But some who prefer a more harmonizing approach have said that Exodus 6:3 means that the Israelites did not truly understand the significance of the name YHWH until the Exodus.
James: Yeah, Rashi makes a big deal over a distinction between God “making” himself known and “becoming” known. The first suggests that they never knew him before now while the second suggests that they knew him but not as fully as they do now. I’m definitely not convinced by the Documentary Hypothesis but this is one of those passages that gets me thinking.