Exodus 6:6

Wherefore say unto the children of Israel, I am the Lord, 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:

This verse is full of the heart of God, because in one sentence He declares what He alone can do for His people. He does not merely speak of easing their situation a little. He speaks of bringing them out, setting them free, and redeeming them altogether. That is the story of Israel, and it is also the story of every saved man or woman.

First, He says, “I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians.” That is salvation. Egypt is a picture of the world, of bondage, of the old life under sin’s weight and tyranny. The children of Israel were bowed down beneath heavy burdens, laboring under a cruel master, spending their strength on something that could never give life. In so many ways, that is where all of us were apart from Christ. We lived under the burden of sin, guilt, and emptiness, pouring ourselves into things that could never save us. But God stepped in. He did not simply offer sympathy from a distance. He brought us out. That is what salvation is. Man’s deepest need is forgiveness, and God’s great answer is deliverance through Jesus Christ, God manifest in the flesh, who came to save sinners.

Then the Lord says, “I will rid you out of their bondage.” That is liberation. God not only brings His people out of Egypt, He breaks Egypt’s grip on them. He not only forgives, He frees. There is a world of difference between being pardoned and still chained, and being pardoned and truly released. This is one of the beautiful things about walking with the Lord. He changes desires. He loosens old chains. He breaks habits that once seemed immovable. The life that once ruled over a man no longer has the same hold on him. That is not to say the believer never struggles, but it is to say that sin is no longer his master. God does not merely improve a man’s condition a little. He begins to set him free from what once owned him.

And then the Lord says, “I will redeem you with a stretched out arm, and with great judgments.” That is redemption. For Israel, that stretched out arm meant the mighty hand of God moving in judgment against Egypt and in power on behalf of His people. For us, it brings to mind something even greater. It brings us to Calvary, where the arms of Jesus were stretched out upon the Cross. That is what our redemption required. We were not set free cheaply. We were bought back at the highest cost imaginable. Redemption means a price was paid, and the price was the blood of the Son of God.

So in one verse you have the gospel in seed form. God brings His people out. God breaks their bondage. God redeems them by His own mighty work. Salvation, liberation, redemption. That is not man reaching up to God. That is God coming down to rescue man.

And that is why this verse is so rich. The Lord does not say, “Help yourselves out if you can.” He says, “I will.” The strength of the whole promise rests on Him. He is the One who acts. He is the One who saves. He is the One who frees. He is the One who redeems.

That was true for Israel.

And blessed be His name, it is still true for us.