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.