The Pulpit Commentary - Exodus 3:20
I will stretch out my hand . To encourage Moses and the people, to support them in what was, humanly speaking, a most unequal contest, this important promise is made. It is a confirmation, and to some extent, an explanation of the pledge, already, given, "Certainly I will be with thee" ( Exodus 3:12 ). It shows how God would be with him— he would smite Egypt with all his wonders —what those would be was left obscure. He would come to his people's aid, and openly assert himself, and... read more
The Pulpit Commentary - Exodus 3:19-20
Pharaoh's obduracy, and God's mode of overcoming it. There are stubborn hearts which no warnings can impress, no lessons teach, no pleading, even of God's Spirit, bond. With such he "will not always strive." After they have resisted him till his patience is exhausted, he will break them, crush them; overrule their opposition, and make it futile. God's will surely triumphs in the end. But it may be long first. God is so patient, so enduring, so long-suffering, that he will permit for... read more