Exodus

Exodus 5: God claims His people

Begin in prayer

Before Pharaoh's refusal and Israel's heavier burdens trouble us, let us speak to the Lord who claims His people. Ask Him to keep us from measuring His faithfulness by how easy the next day feels.

I pour out my complaint before him. I tell him my troubles.

Psalm 142:2

Father in heaven, please open our eyes as we read Your Word. Keep us trusting Your word when obedience brings trouble. Show us the Lord Jesus, who suffered to free His people for Your service. Make us more like Jesus. And please bless our family as we worship You together. In Jesus' name, Amen.

See where we're going

Moses and Aaron ask Pharaoh to let Israel hold a feast to the LORD in the wilderness. Pharaoh refuses to listen and sends the people back to their burdens. He then requires the same number of bricks while withholding straw, so the people scatter to gather stubble. Israel's officers are beaten when the quota is missed, and Pharaoh rejects their appeal as idleness. They accuse Moses and Aaron of putting their lives in danger. Moses returns to the LORD and asks why His promised rescue has brought more trouble.

As you read Exodus 5, look for the answers:

Reflect together

Key truth

God claims His people for worship even when Pharaoh refuses His word.

Pharaoh's question challenges the LORD's right to command him. He calls Israel's request for worship idleness and God's message lying words. The demand for bricks continues, but the straw once supplied must now be gathered by the workers. Israelite officers stand between the Egyptian taskmasters and their own suffering people. Their appeal gains no relief, and they blame Moses and Aaron for making their position worse. Moses takes his complaint to the LORD and asks about the rescue God promised. God had already foretold Pharaoh's refusal, so this suffering does not prove His purpose has failed. Rescue will free Israel to serve its rightful Lord. Christ's deliverance likewise brings His people into service before God (Luke 1 verses 74 and 75).

How does Exodus 5 show us that God claims His people for worship even when Pharaoh refuses His word?

The LORD claims the people Pharaoh treats as his servants.

God calls Israel His people and asks for their worship. Pharaoh claims their labor and refuses God's command. The king's power cannot cancel the claim of the God who made him.

Pharaoh makes the burdens heavier when God's word comes.

The workers must gather straw without making fewer bricks. When they cannot meet the quota, their officers are beaten. Serving God brings no promise of an easy road, as Jesus' own suffering shows.

Moses brings his troubled questions to the LORD.

The officers blame the messengers, and Moses returns to God. He asks why the trouble has increased and why rescue has not come. The chapter leaves the questions before the faithful God who sent him.

Memorise

Let my people go, that they may hold a feast to me in the wilderness.

Exodus 5:1

Looking to Jesus in my life

Ask yourself in your heart, where am I blaming Jesus because following Him has been hard?

Moses asks the LORD, “Why is it that you have sent me?” The people are suffering more, and rescue has not yet come. Yet God's claim remains, “Let my people go.” Pharaoh's refusal cannot make that claim false.

The road to Christ's rescue also passed through suffering. Our rebellion deserves God's judgment, and no change of circumstances removes that guilt. Jesus went willingly to the cross and carried His people's sins there. He died as their substitute and rose alive from the grave. His saving work is complete and is enough to free those in bondage to sin.

Bring your complaint to God without making trouble your judge of Him. Turn from your sin and put your trust in Jesus. Through Him, repentant sinners find forgiveness and freedom to serve God. A hard road does not make His promise untrue.

Parent's note

Tell your children that trusting Jesus does not promise an easy life, and that His death and resurrection secure salvation. Please listen patiently when they speak about trouble. Please do not tell them they are saved just because they grew up in a Christian home. Call each child to turn from sin and trust Jesus, and pray that God would give them a new heart.

Pray together

Now please close your time together in prayer. Thank God that His claim on His people survives Pharaoh's refusal, and bring the heart question to Him. Every child can pray, so let each one say a short prayer if they want to.

to grant to us that we, being delivered out of the hand of our enemies, should serve him without fear, In holiness and righteousness before him all the days of our life.

Luke 1:74-75

Father, thank You that You remain faithful when the road is hard. Please hear our complaints and forgive our unbelief. Lead us to rely on Jesus and His finished sacrifice. Teach our family to worship You through trouble and to care for those carrying heavy burdens. Amen.