How did Israel end up enslaved in Egypt?

In Exodus 1-2, the family of Israel has grown into a nation — and into slavery. In this study, Dr. Toby Holt opens the book of Exodus and shows that its story is, in a sense, our story too.

Generations after Joseph, “a new king arose who did not know Joseph” and enslaved the Israelites, even ordering their baby boys killed. Yet God was at work: a Levite child named Moses was hidden in a basket and rescued — placed, by God’s irony, inside Pharaoh’s own household. Dr. Holt shows how God keeps the promises He made to Abraham centuries earlier, preserving His people against every threat. Exodus is ultimately a picture of God redeeming a people for Himself.

Questions this study answers:

1. Who was Moses, and why was he born under a death edict? He was a Hebrew child born when Pharaoh had ordered every Israelite baby boy killed. God preserved him to become Israel’s deliverer.

2. Why did Egypt enslave Israel? A new Pharaoh, who did not honor Joseph, feared the growing nation and forced them into brutal slavery. Fear drove his cruelty.

3. How is Exodus a picture of the gospel? It shows God rescuing a helpless, enslaved people for Himself. That deliverance points to the greater rescue from sin in Christ.

“Now there arose a new king over Egypt, who did not know Joseph.” — Exodus 1:8 (NKJV)

Speaker: Dr. Toby Holt is the President of New Geneva Theological Seminary, a Reformed seminary in Colorado Springs. He is known for clear, down-to-earth Bible teaching, and his sermons have been downloaded more than 1.9 million times on SermonAudio.

Listen and go deeper: This sermon is part of the Exodus Explained study from New Geneva Theological Seminary. Find more verse-by-verse teaching across the Bible at newgeneva.org. To support this teaching ministry, visit newgeneva.org/give.

What is God’s name?

In Exodus 3, God speaks to Moses from a bush that burns but is not consumed. In this study, Dr. Toby Holt unpacks this holy encounter and the name by which God reveals Himself.

Moses, now an eighty-year-old shepherd, turns aside to see the strange sight and meets God on holy ground. God tells him He has seen Israel’s suffering and will rescue them — through Moses. When Moses asks who he should say sent him, God answers, “I AM WHO I AM.” Dr. Holt explains that this name reveals God as the self-existent, unchanging One. And He chooses a weak, reluctant shepherd, so that the power and glory would clearly be God’s, not man’s.

Questions this study answers:

1. Why did the bush burn without being consumed? It pictured God’s holy, fiery presence — and His promise that He would not consume His people but save them.

2. What does “holy ground” mean? That God’s presence makes a place set apart. Moses had to remove his sandals before the holy God.

3. What does the name “I AM” reveal? That God is self-existent, eternal, and unchanging — dependent on nothing and no one. He simply is.

“And God said to Moses, ‘I AM WHO I AM.’ And He said, ‘Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, “I AM has sent me to you.”’” — Exodus 3:14 (NKJV)

Speaker: Dr. Toby Holt is the President of New Geneva Theological Seminary, a Reformed seminary in Colorado Springs. He is known for clear, down-to-earth Bible teaching, and his sermons have been downloaded more than 1.9 million times on SermonAudio.

Listen and go deeper: This sermon is part of the Exodus Explained study from New Geneva Theological Seminary. Find more verse-by-verse teaching across the Bible at newgeneva.org. To support this teaching ministry, visit newgeneva.org/give.

What happens when obeying God makes life harder?

In Exodus 5, Moses confronts Pharaoh with God’s command — “Let My people go” — and things immediately get worse, not better. In this study, Dr. Toby Holt explores what to do when obedience seems to backfire.

Pharaoh sneers, “Who is the LORD, that I should obey Him?” and responds by making Israel’s slavery even harsher — bricks without straw. The people’s faith collapses, and they blame Moses. Dr. Holt explains that God’s people often expect deliverance on their own timeline and grow angry when it does not come. God answers not with an explanation but by reasserting who He is: “I am the LORD,” recalling His covenant promises. Hardship is often the very soil in which faith grows.

Questions this study answers:

1. Why did Pharaoh refuse to obey? Because in his pride he did not know or fear the LORD. He saw no reason to submit to Israel’s God.

2. How did the people respond to harder oppression? Their faith faltered and they turned on Moses. They had expected quick relief, not greater hardship.

3. What does this chapter teach about trusting God? That His timing and methods are not ours, and delays are not abandonment. God answers by reminding us who He is.

“Thus says the LORD God of Israel: ‘Let My people go, that they may hold a feast to Me in the wilderness.’” — Exodus 5:1 (NKJV)

Speaker: Dr. Toby Holt is the President of New Geneva Theological Seminary, a Reformed seminary in Colorado Springs. He is known for clear, down-to-earth Bible teaching, and his sermons have been downloaded more than 1.9 million times on SermonAudio.

Listen and go deeper: This sermon is part of the Exodus Explained study from New Geneva Theological Seminary. Find more verse-by-verse teaching across the Bible at newgeneva.org. To support this teaching ministry, visit newgeneva.org/give.