Trusting God in The Trials | Exodus 5-6 | Caeden Sizemore

Exodus places Moses on the road to Egypt after God has called him, equipped him, and sent him in Yahweh’s name. Moses has already thrown out every objection possible, from “Who am I?” to “please send somebody else,” and God keeps pointing him away from his own weakness and back to God’s power, God’s name, and God’s authority. The call is not about Moses being the guy. The call is about Yahweh being the Lord.

Exodus 4 then gives that weird, abrupt lodging place moment where the Lord meets Moses and seeks to put him to death. The moment feels random until the covenant with Abraham comes back into view. Moses is about to carry God’s command to Pharaoh, but Moses has not brought his own house under that command. His son is uncircumcised, and circumcision was the covenant sign God gave to Abraham’s family. So God confronts Moses before Moses confronts Pharaoh. The call of God never exempts the messenger from obedience to God.

Exodus 5 then brings Moses and Aaron before Pharaoh. Yahweh says, “Let my people go,” but Pharaoh answers, “Who is the Lord that I should obey his voice?” Pharaoh does not just reject the word of God. Pharaoh doubles the burden. The Israelites must now gather their own straw and still make the same number of bricks. Moses obeys, and things get worse. The people turn on him. Moses cries out, “Why did you even send me?”

Exodus 5 shows that sometimes the greatest resistance comes on the other side of obedience. The hardened heart of Pharaoh becomes a picture of real opposition against the purposes of God. Obedience is blessed, but biblical blessing is not the same thing as comfort. Difficulty is not proof that God was missed, and comfort is not proof that obedience is happening.

Exodus 6 answers Moses not first with a miracle, but with God’s name. God says, “I am the Lord.” Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob knew him as El Shaddai, the God who makes impossible promises, but Israel is about to know him as Yahweh, the covenant keeping God who acts. God says again and again, “I will.” God will bring them out, deliver them, redeem them, take them as his people, and give them the land.

Jesus stands as the fuller revelation of that name when he says, “Before Abraham was, I am.” The great I Am hangs on the middle cross, takes sin and shame, rises from the dead, and proves that the enemy’s resistance cannot stop God’s plan. The answer is not try harder. The answer is trust Yahweh, look to Jesus, and receive the salvation that no one can accomplish for themselves.

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Key Takeaways

• 1. Calling never replaces obedience. God’s call on Moses did not excuse hidden disobedience in Moses’ own house. The one carrying Yahweh’s command had to come under Yahweh’s authority before confronting Pharaoh with it. Gifts, influence, and open doors can never become a substitute for surrendered obedience. [09:54]
• 2. Obedience can meet resistance. Moses obeyed God, and Pharaoh made the burdens heavier. That painful turn does not mean obedience failed. The enemy often pushes back when God’s people begin moving in the direction of freedom, prayer, repentance, and calling. [18:57]
• 3. Comfort is not the measure. Difficulty is not proof that God was missed, and ease is not proof that everything is right. Scripture gives a deeper category for blessing than comfort. God may not remove the hard thing, but he gives his name, his power, and his Spirit to carry his people through it. [22:17]
• 4. Yahweh keeps impossible promises. God answers Moses’ despair by saying, “I am the Lord.” The answer is not first a strategy, a sign, or a quick escape, but the revelation of the covenant keeping God. Abraham knew the God who made promises, and Israel is about to know the God who keeps them. [25:58]
• 5. Jesus is the true Deliverer. Exodus shows that God’s people cannot rescue themselves. Jesus enters slavery to sin, bears the burden on the cross, and rises with power over death, sin, and hell. Salvation is not earned by trying harder, but received from the Deliverer who stepped into the story. [39:15]

Youtube Chapters

• [00:00] - Welcome
• [00:37] - Israel’s Cry and God’s Rescue Mission
• [01:19] - Moses’ Objections at the Burning Bush
• [03:39] - The Strange Lodging Place Encounter
• [06:03] - Circumcision and Covenant Obedience
• [08:48] - Calling Does Not Exempt Obedience
• [10:31] - Moses and Aaron Stand Before Pharaoh
• [13:10] - Pharaoh Doubles Israel’s Burden
• [18:27] - Resistance After Obedience
• [20:23] - Rejecting Prosperity Assumptions
• [23:03] - God Answers With His Name
• [25:58] - Yahweh, El Shaddai, and Promise Keeping
• [27:14] - Jesus Says, Before Abraham Was, I Am
• [32:35] - Hope Is Found by Looking to Jesus
• [38:36] - The Invitation to Surrender

Bible Reading

Exodus 5:1-2
“Afterward Moses and Aaron went and said to Pharaoh, ‘Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, “Let my people go, that they may hold a feast to me in the wilderness.”’ But Pharaoh said, ‘Who is the Lord, that I should obey his voice and let Israel go? I do not know the Lord, and moreover, I will not let Israel go.’” [10:31]

Exodus 6:2-8
“God spoke to Moses and said to him, ‘I am the Lord. I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, as God Almighty, but by my name the Lord I did not make myself known to them. I also established my covenant with them to give them the land of Canaan, the land in which they lived as sojourners. Moreover, I have heard the groaning of the people of Israel whom the Egyptians hold as slaves, and I have remembered my covenant. Say therefore to the people of Israel, “I am the Lord, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will deliver you from slavery to them, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great acts of judgment. I will take you to be my people, and I will be your God, and you shall know that I am the Lord your God, who has brought you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians. I will bring you into the land that I swore to give to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. I will give it to you for a possession. I am the Lord.”’” [23:11]

Exodus 4:24-26
“At a lodging place on the way the Lord met him and sought to put him to death. Then Zipporah took a flint and cut off her son’s foreskin and touched Moses’ feet with it and said, ‘Surely you are a bridegroom of blood to me!’ So he let him alone. It was then that she said, ‘A bridegroom of blood,’ because of the circumcision.” [04:30]

John 8:58
“Jesus said to them, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.’” [27:14]

Observation questions

1. In Exodus 4:24-26, what changes in the moment after Zipporah circumcises her son, and what does that reveal about why this scene matters?
2. In Exodus 5:1-2, how does Pharaoh respond to the command, “Let my people go,” and what does he say about the Lord?
3. After Moses and Aaron obey and speak to Pharaoh, what practical change happens to Israel’s work burden? [13:10]
4. In Exodus 6:2-8, what repeated words or phrases stand out in God’s response to Moses, especially around his name and what he says he will do? [25:03]

Interpretation questions

1. Moses was called by God, yet God still confronted disobedience in Moses’ own household. Why is it important that the messenger comes under the authority of the message before delivering it to others? [08:48]
2. Pharaoh asks, “Who is the Lord, that I should obey his voice?” What does that question reveal about the deeper conflict in Exodus—not just between Moses and Pharaoh, but between human power and God’s authority?
3. Moses obeyed, and things got worse for him and for the people. How should that shape the way believers think about hardship after taking a step of obedience? [18:57]
4. In Exodus 6, God answers Moses first by saying, “I am the Lord.” Why might God’s identity be a deeper answer than an immediate change in circumstances? [24:43]

Application questions

1. Calling never replaces obedience. Is there any area of life where it is easier to focus on gifting, ministry, work, or influence than on simple obedience to God? What might it look like to bring that area back under his authority? [09:54]
2. Sometimes the greatest resistance comes on the other side of obedience. When has doing the right thing seemed to make life harder instead of easier? How did that affect trust in God? [18:57]
3. Difficulty is not proof that God was missed, and comfort is not proof that obedience is happening. Where is there a temptation to measure God’s favor mostly by how smooth or comfortable life feels right now? [22:17]
4. God’s answer to Moses was rooted in his name and his promises. In this season, what would it look like to lean more on who God is rather than only asking him to change the situation? [23:11]
5. Jesus says, “Before Abraham was, I am.” How does seeing Jesus as the great “I Am” change the way fear, suffering, or uncertainty is faced this week? [27:14]
6. The enemy’s resistance cannot stop God’s plan. Where does discouragement make it feel like darkness is winning, and how does the resurrection speak into that place? [29:34]
7. God’s people cannot rescue themselves; they need a Deliverer. In what ways is there still a tendency to try to save, fix, or prove oneself instead of receiving grace from Jesus? [39:15]