Exodus 6:1

"And Jehovah said unto Moses, Now shalt thou see what I will do to Pharaoh: for by a strong hand shall he let them go, and by a strong hand shall he drive them out of his land."

God's reassurance to Moses not only affirmed that Pharaoh would indeed let the people go, but that Pharaoh himself would thrust them out of the land.

"By a strong hand ..." "The strong hand here is that of Jehovah, not of Pharaoh."[7]

"Now shalt thou see ..." The situation was now dramatically altered toward the ultimate achievement of God's purpose. Israel had been unified by the shameful and pitiless manner in which Pharaoh had beaten the Hebrew petty officers. The willingness of Israel to leave the comfortable conditions of a slavery where they were having plenty to eat and had learned to enjoy the leeks and garlic had been accomplished. Their increased hardships had intensified their hatred of their servile condition and had made them willing to endure genuine hardship in order to escape from it. Also, that first confrontation had been designed merely to bring out the true attitude of Pharaoh and to show his real hatred of God's purpose. That hatred being made clear enough, "The necessity for the great judgments of God against Egypt was demonstrated, and is here distinctly expressed in the words, `Now shalt thou see what I will do to Pharaoh.'"[8]