The Significance of Aaron's Family Tree | Exodus 6:10-30
I invite you to turn to Exodus 6:10-30. The intensity of the storyline of the book of Exodus has been building. In Ex. 6:1, the LORD says, “Now. Now you will see what I will do.” It’s game time. We’re ready. Let’s see what the LORD will do NOW.”
But in Ex. 6:14, the narrative takes a curious turn with the sudden inclusion of a genealogy. It’s like watching a movie with commercials. You’re all into the flow, and then there’s an abrupt break for 2 min. of something random and unrelated.
So, if you find yourself scratching your head with regard to the purpose of a genealogy in Biblical literature in general, or in this passage in particular, friends, I’m right there with you. Why is a genealogy introduced here, 6 chaps into a narrative that appears about to explode with action and adventure? Just when we’re about to see what the LORD will do, the writer includes a page out of ancestry.com. Why?
In what way is this genealogy relevant to the original audience? Moses recorded this account for a specific people, in a specific place, at a specific time, for a specific purpose. How is this list of names intended to serve them? And does this genealogy have any practical relevance for us – you and me – in our time, our place, our context, our cultural moment?
But this isn’t our first genealogy. This isn’t our first “rodeo.” We have seen before, that since this is a divinely inspired portion of Scripture, that means this genealogy, like all the rest of Scripture is God-breathed. This genealogy is as God-breathed as Ps. 23, or Jn. 3:16, or Rom. 8:28. 2 Tim. 3:16 says, “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable.”
“Whatever was written in former days (including the genealogy in Ex. 6) was written for our instruction . . . and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.”
—Romans 15:4
So, let’s give our attention to Ex. 6:10-30, and to how these names are profitable and contain, what one commentator describes as, a “holy surprise.” Please stand and follow along. This is God’s holy and hope-giving Word.
“So the LORD said to Moses, “Go in, tell Pharaoh king of Egypt to the let people of Israel go out of his land.”But Moses said to the LORD, “Behold, the people of Israel have not listened to me. How then shall Pharaoh listen to me, for I am of uncircumcised lips?”
But the LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron and gave them a charge about the people of Israel and about Pharaoh king of Egypt – to bring the people of Israel out of the land of Egypt. These are the heads of their father’s houses: The sons of Reuben, the firstborn of Israel: Hanoch, Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi. These are the clans of Reuben.
The sons of Simeon: Jemuel, Jamin, Ohad, Jachin, Zohar, and Shaul, the son of a Canaanite woman. These are the clans of Simeon. These are the names of the sons of Levi according to their generations: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari, the years of the life of Levi being 137 years.
The sons of Gershon: Libni and Shimei, by their clans. The sons of Kohath: Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel, the years of the life of Kohath being 133 years. The sons of Merari: Mahli and Mushi. These are the clans of the Levites according to their generations.
Amram took as his wife Jochebed his father’s sister, and she bore him Aaron and Moses, the years of the life of Amram being 137 years.
The sons of Izhar: Korah, Nepheg, and Zichri. The sons of Uzziel: Mishael, Elzaphan, and Sithri. Aaron took as his wife Elisheba, the daughter of Amminadab and the sister of Nahshon, and she bore him Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar. The sons of Korah: Assir, Elkanah, and Abiasaph. These are the clans of the Korahites. Eleazar, Aaron’s son, took as his wife one of the daughters of Putiel and she bore him Phinehas. These are the heads of the fathers’ houses of the Levites by their clans.
These are the Aaron and Moses to whom the LORD said, “Bring out the people of Israel from the land of Egypt by their hosts.” It was they who spoke to Pharaoh king of Egypt about bringing out the people of Israel from Egypt, this Moses and this Aaron.
On the day when the LORD spoke to Moses in the land of Egypt, the LORD said to Moses, “I am the LORD. Tell Pharaoh king of Egypt all that I say to you.” But Moses said to the LORD, “Behold, I am of uncircumcised lips. How will Pharaoh listen to me?”
—Exodus 6:30
This is God’s Word. Let’s pray.
One of the most striking features of the Exodus 6 is the contrast between God’s “I wills” and Moses’ “I can’ts.” Seven times God says, “I will.” I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians. I will deliver you from slavery to them. I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great acts of judgment. I will take you to be my people. I will be your God. I will bring you into the land. I will give it to you for a possession.
Coming from God, the infinite and eternal and absolute and unchanging LORD, one can scarcely imagine being on the receiving end of a more lavish treasure trove of love and care. However, to these seven mind-boggling promises, Moses says, twice, bracketing the beginning of the passage in v. 12, “But Moses said to the LORD, “Behold, the people of Israel have not listened to me. How then shall Pharaoh listen to me, for I am of uncircumcised lips?”
And then bracketing it again at the end in v. 30, “But Moses said to the LORD, “Behold, I am of uncircumcised lips. How will Pharaoh listen to me?”
“God, you’re asking me to do something I can’t do. The people won’t listen to me. They’ve turned on me, with a vengeance. They blame me for making them stink in the sight of Pharaoh. They see me as the cause of their problems.”
I’ve been a pastor for over 38 years. There have been some really sweet years. And there have been some not-so-sweet years. I can remember a time and a place and a people – and it was really hard. And I had a prayer partner with whom I would meet regularly. And when he’d ask how I was doing, I remember saying in my ‘native Minnesotan,’ “not so bad. I only quit 5 times this week?” I have a chapter in my past where I can empathize with Moses. “If God’s people don’t listen or respond, then why should we think that Pharaoh, who does not stand to benefit from God’s Word and promises, would listen?”
So Moses comes to the conclusion, “This thing here, this organ, it doesn’t work. It’s ineffective. It’s unfruitful. It’s uncircumcised, in the sense that it is unfit. Therefore, I’m unfit. I’m unqualified for this task. Therefore, I quit.” I totally get that. Do you? I’m not effective at this job. My spouse blames me for all our problems. My kids don’t listen to word I say. I’m unfit.
But God just simply ignores Moses’ objection. And I can identify with that experience as well. Can you? God ignores Moses’ self-evaluation. God ignores Moses’ self-pity. And God just re-issues Moses’ call and commission. And here’s the meaning of Ex. 6:10-13.
God Is Patient!
God is patient with Moses. And God is patient with His people. Ex. 6:10-13 is an illustration, once again, of Ex. 34:6, “The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness.”
Oh friends, we must never cease to be affected by the patience of God with His people. We are meant to marvel at God’s patience, His mercy, and wave upon wave of steadfast love – not only as it is expressed in the life of Moses, and not only as it is expressed in the lives of the people Israel. We are meant to marvel at God’s patience and mercy and wave after wave of steadfast love to us. For you see, God relates to us, IN CHRIST JESUS no differently. Here is the good news – you have not exhausted the patience of God! You have not drained His reservoir of steadfast love and faithfulness. Oh, no.
And here’s the significance of that. God’s patience with us, toward us IN Christ, should engender the deepest humility and most heart-felt gratitude. We of all people, should be the most thankful people. As people who have been treated, by God, so much more tenderly and patiently, IN CHRIST, than we deserve, we have something for which we can humbly say (both this coming Thanksgiving Day, and every day), “O God, thank you.” For here’s the thing – God has said to us, IN Christ, “I will. I will. I will. I will. I will. I will. I will.” And we’ve all said, at some point, “I can’t. So, I won’t.” And God turns right around says, “I will. Because I am the LORD. Now get back to what I told you to do.” Ex. 6:10-13 is intended to turn our hearts and minds away from self-pity and discouragement and in-gratitude, and fill us with humble and heart-felt thanks.
Now in v. 14, we have this sudden, unanticipated appearance of a genealogy. It’s abrupt. It’s a shocker! And it gets the reader’s attention – for moment. Just for a moment - because I don’t think I’m overstating it when I say, the genealogies in the Bible do not make for spell-binding reading. Don’t you agree? We skip ‘em. We skim ‘em.
So, what is Moses doing here? Why does he hit the pause button on the action by dropping this genealogy on his readers? I suggest that Moses, by interrupting the flow of this narrative, at this crucial moment, is aiming to hold us in suspense. That’s what authors often do. It’s a literary technique. They will build an intense scene, and then completely stomp on the brakes, and take us back in time – in order to bring more light on the pending outcome. This happened to me a couple weeks ago. I was savoring a novel by one of my favorite Minnesota authors, Leif Enger. His prose is always absolutely brilliant. And he had me fully attentive to a climactic event – the setting off of an improvised explosive device at local carnival in a small town on the North Shore of Lake Superior. And right then – end of chapter. And I went, “What? What just happened?” Furious page turn. And the next scene is a quiet meadow off highway 61 and two main characters putting the pieces together – all too late – regarding the suspicious activities of an eccentric resident of their normal town. I was going, “No. No. No. You can’t do that!” Except Enger did. And I soon realized it made amazing literary sense. Which is precisely what Moses is doing in Ex. 6:14ff.
But this genealogy is not only intentionally and purposefully placed here to hold us in suspense. Moses put this genealogy here to answer an important question.
Keep in mind Moses wrote the book of Exodus for the Israelites who are living in “the land in between.” They’ve been nomads in the wilderness for nearly 40 years. And now they are on the east bank of the Jordan River, about to cross over and take the land God had promised. They were an entire generation who had NOT experienced the Exodus, had NOT witnessed for themselves the mighty acts by which the LORD had brought the people out. And they, more than likely, had questions. Questions like, “Who are these guys, Moses and Aaron? Who put them in charge? Who gave them authority to tell us what to do? Where did they come from?” And this genealogy is about to answer those very questions.
The purpose of this genealogy is to communicate, first…
God Is and Has Been Working
And Moses’ aims to show the Israelites (and us) that God has been quietly, but intentionally, and purposefully at work for hundreds of years. Long before Moses’ and Aaron’s arriving on the scene, God was preparing the way for Moses and Aaron and their crucial role in this pivotal moment in salvation history. What’s happening here and now in Ex. 6, is not some spontaneous reaction of God to the suffering of His people. God’s not saying, “Oh oh. Shoot. Didn’t see this going down. Didn’t anticipate that bad boy Pharaoh putting my people through it.”
It’s actually quite the opposite. This, that is about to happen, is part of God’s plan and purpose that all the world should know He is the LORD. He is absolute. And there is no other like Him. The meaning of these names, the meaning of these generations, the meaning of these years – hundreds of years – 137 here, 133 there, and then another 137 – all communicate God’s purpose has been unfolding for centuries. Beginning with the Patriarchs, beginning with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and Jacob’s sons, God was faithfully, quietly, but intentionally and providentially fulfilling the Covenant promise He had made to Abraham until this moment of fulfillment.
This genealogy – this family history – confirms the reality of God continuing graciousness to His people. The meaning of this genealogy is that God is the great mover and shaper of history. This genealogy reveals the faithfulness of God. This genealogy is a testimony of God’s unthwartable saving purpose. Whatever is going down in this world, in our cultural moment, listen, God is not surprised, overwhelmed, ambivalent, or caught off guard. God reigns over the ages, and over the generations. God reigns over families. God reigns and rules over your family. 2nd, this genealogy shows that…
God Works Out His Eternal Plan and Purpose Through Human Agents
More specifically “sinful human agents.” Because that’s the only kind there are. One of the first things we run into when we start to talk about human leadership, is the whole reality that leadership, in general is suspect. And that is especially true in the spheres of home and church. Isn’t the message that saturates our cultural moment is that leaders, especially strong leaders, are more to be suspected than respected?
It would have certainly been true with regard to Moses’ brother, Aaron. If Moses felt unfit on account of the rejection he experienced from God’s people, how much more, Aaron – Aaron, whose primary notoriety with the Israelites in the wilderness had to do with one of the most nefarious, scandalous failures in all the history of spiritual leadership. It was Aaron who had led the people of God to worship an idol, an idol he had crafted himself. How do we trust a leader like that?
And yet, the primary aim of this genealogy is to establish, of all things, the credibility of Aaron to serve at Moses’ side. I get that because, this is a selective genealogy. It begins with, and is limited to, Jacobs first three sons – Reuben, Simeon, and Levi. And it draws attention, in particular, to the line of Levi – of which the brothers, Moses and Aaron, belong. You see, this is not a random list of names. The focal point is Aaron. The story of Moses’ call and commission has already been told. But, now it’s important for the people to understand God’s call and commission of Aaron. It’s important they know that Aaron is a true son of Israel. It’s important they know that Aaron’s God-given role at Moses’ side is legit.
And when Moses gets to v. 26, he writes, intentionally, I believe, “These are the Aaron and Moses to whom the LORD said, “Bring out the people of Israel from the land of Egypt by their hosts” (Exodus 6:26).
This Aaron. This Moses. Did you catch that? Did you see the order is Aaron and Moses. “These are the Aaron and Moses to whom the LORD said, ‘Bring out the people of Israel from the land of Egypt.’” The accent is on Aaron. And then in v. 27, “It was they who spoke to Pharaoh king of Egypt about bringing out the people of Israel from Egypt, this Moses and this Aaron.”
The order of names is reversed. They are, together, God’s called, ordained, commissioned human agents to lead God’s people out of Egypt, out from slavery, and into the promised land. The credentials by which Moses and Aaron will confront Pharaoh, are established by God. And it is communicated here, at this point in the narrative, in order to prepare the people of God for the action which is about to come. The fireworks are about to begin. There will be no more suspense. These men, these flawed and sinful men – they will lead you. There aren’t any sinless men. Only humans, only earthen vessels, subject to the same limitations, and temptations, and physical and psychological variations as you. Are they perfect leaders? No. Is their family tree unstained? Hardly. Aaron had some relatives to be proud of. But his two sons, Nadab and Abihu who were clearly black sheep in the household. Like their father, it seems that these two had decided to “experiment” in creative worship. We know from the book of Leviticus that they tested the Lord by offering “unauthorized fire before the LORD.” And their experiment, like their father’s, was NOT a success. “Fire came out from the presence of the LORD and consumed them and they died before the LORD” (Lev. 10:1-2). Phil Ryken comments, “This tragedy is a warning not to count on family connections for salvation. Nadab and Abihu came from the holiest tribe in Israel, and yet they perished in the flames of God’s judgment. We cannot travel to heaven on our parents’ passport. If we want to escape the fires of hell, we must repent of our sins and ask Jesus to be our Savior.”
There is a 3rd purpose in this genealogy I want you to notice.
The Exodus Points to the Ultimate Exodus
The exodus Moses and Aaron are part of is only a foreshadow of a much more significant exodus. Again, Phil Ryken writes, “There is a hint of God’s saving grace in Aaron’s genealogy.”
What does that mean? It means that there is something in this genealogy that directs attention to the most important genealogy. There is a hint of something in this genealogy that points to the coming of Christ. And therefore, get this, it means that this genealogy in Ex. 6, is NOT just the history of the people of Israel. This genealogy is our history. In other words, if you are a Christian, you are reading OUR family history. There are two names recorded here that might, that should stand out.
“Aaron took as his wife Elisheba, the daughter of Amminadab and the sister of Nahshon.”
—Exodus 6:23
Amminadab and Nahshon are names that stand out because they also appear in another genealogy, the most important genealogy in the Bible. In the gospel of Matthew, chap. 1, it says, “The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham. Abraham was the father of Isaac, and Isaac the father of Jacob, and Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers. And Judah the father of Perez and Zerah by Tamar, and Perez the father of Hezron, and Hezron the father of Ram, and Ram the father of Amminadab, and Amminadab the father of Nahshon” (Matthew 1:1-4).
There they are. Amminadab and Nahshon, both ancestors of King David, both ancestors of Jesus Christ, our great sin-bearing sacrifice. Even in the days of Moses and Aaron, God was working out His plan – not only to deliver His people from Egyptian slavery, but also His plan to send a Savior to deliver His people from their sins.
The genealogy of Ex. 6 is significant because in it, we see that God was at work, not only to complete His immediate purpose. God was at work to accomplish His ultimate purpose – the deliverance of His people from a greater slavery, a deliverance from slavery to sin, by sending and sacrificing His Son, our Lord Jesus, the Christ, for our sins. Who would have dreamed? Who could have foreseen, that in an obscure genealogy, God had placed a precious nugget of gold for us to find – a witness to His determined faithfulness to keep His promise, and a hint of the final fulfillment of His glorious plan to make us His daughters and sons? Let’s pray with humility and thanks.