Who Can Stand Against Pharaoh? (Exodus 5-6)

Introduction: when faith runs into a wall

Quentin is a new Christian. He had been struggling with depression and anxiety, and he finally found a joy he had never known in Jesus Christ. He expected his path to become more peaceful. But very quickly, his choice to follow Jesus brought him trouble. His family opposed his decision and gave him a hard time about it. Some of his friends think he has lost his mind. Now he is caught up again in depression and anxiety, because of the tension his faith has created in his relationships. He is starting to wonder whether following Jesus is really worth it after all.

Juliette has been a Christian for a long time, but she feels like she isn't moving forward. The same sins keep coming back, the same bad habits keep clinging on. Her boss is difficult. She isn't happy being single. She wonders why God hasn't yet answered her prayer for a husband. Doubts keep resurfacing: is he really there? Is he really for her?

Maybe you recognize yourself in Quentin or in Juliette. Maybe you too are going through a season where God's promises feel far away, where the enemy seems stronger than he is. That is exactly the terrain of Exodus 5 and 6. God's people are suffering. They are starting to doubt. And God does not stay silent: he repeats who he is.

Outline

1. Facing a powerful and cunning enemy (Exodus 5:1-23)

2. God reminds them of his identity and his promise (Exodus 6:1-9)

3. A promise he will fulfill through weak messengers (Exodus 6:10-28)

1. Facing a powerful and cunning enemy (Exodus 5)

Full of confidence after being well received by the elders of Israel, Moses and Aaron go straight to Pharaoh. They might have believed it would be just as simple: a few words, and Pharaoh releases the people. Verse 1: "This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: 'Let my people go.'" You can imagine the silence, the waiting. And then the answer comes down, cutting: "Who is the LORD, that I should listen to his voice to let Israel go? I don't know the LORD, and moreover I will not let Israel go."

Moses and Aaron look at each other. They try again, this time repeating exactly the words God gave them. Nothing changes. The problem isn't in the wording. Pharaoh does not know the LORD. It's a matter of ignorance. If he truly knew who he was speaking to (the Creator, the God of the universe), he would not respond this way. Let's not forget that Pharaoh is likely the most powerful ruler in the world at this time. Why would he listen to an old shepherd coming to talk about a God he doesn't know? Why would he release a workforce of 600,000 men? None of it makes sense to him. Pharaoh needs revelation.

Not only does he refuse to listen, he begins to oppose them with power and with cunning. He lies about Moses and about the Israelites. He frames the whole thing as a lie, an excuse to get out of work. Verse 8: "they are idle. Therefore they cry, saying, 'Let us go and sacrifice to our God.'" He blames his own victims. Then he doubles the burden: the Israelites will now have to gather their own straw, while the quota of bricks stays the same. The people suffer, physically. The Israelite foremen get beaten.

This conflict is not primarily political. It is a spiritual confrontation. Pharaoh sees the LORD as a rival. In verse 1, Moses speaks: "this is what the LORD says." In verse 10, Pharaoh's officers use the same formula: "this is what Pharaoh says." He sets himself up as an anti-god. And to crown his strategy, he creates division. The people turn against Moses and Aaron, as though all this trouble came from them. Verse 21: "May the LORD look at you, and judge, because you have made us a stench to be abhorred in the eyes of Pharaoh, and in the eyes of his servants, to put a sword in their hand to kill us."

And Moses cracks too. He goes back to the LORD and almost blames him for the harm: "Lord, why have you brought trouble on this people? Why is it that you have sent me? [...] neither have you delivered your people at all." He doubts that God will keep his promise.

This account brings out a pattern that runs through the life of God's people. When the promises are slow in coming, when suffering enters your life, when your enemies seem too strong, you start to doubt. Is he really good? Is he really able to save me? This is especially true for new believers. Typically, things get harder before they get better. You decide to follow God to be freed from your addictions, your selfishness, your sins, and you discover that leaving your old way of living is far harder than you thought. You feel powerless to free yourself. The promise seems delayed. Others mock you.

Yet this opposition should not surprise us. God had already announced it. Exodus 3:19: "I know that the king of Egypt won't give you permission to go, no, not by a mighty hand." Exodus 4:21: "I will harden his heart and he will not let the people go." And for Christians, the New Testament warns us the same way. 1 Peter 4:12: "Beloved, don't be astonished at the fiery trial which has come upon you, to test you, as though a strange thing happened to you." Jesus himself told his disciples: "If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you" (John 15:20). The promise that it will be hard is right there. But we quickly forget. We need to be reminded of God's word again and again.

2. God reminds them of his identity and his promise (Exodus 6:1-9)

Facing this crisis, Moses does the right thing: he cries out to God. He lays out his complaints, his doubts. And God, instead of punishing him or abandoning him, listens. Pharaoh doesn't listen; God listens. The antidote to doubt and discouragement is to talk with God and to remember who he is.

What's striking is that God gives no new revelation here. He patiently repeats what he has already said. First, he reveals that he has a plan within this suffering. Exodus 6:1: "Now you shall see what I will do to Pharaoh, for by a mighty hand he shall let them go, and by a mighty hand he shall drive them out of his land." God could have crushed Pharaoh immediately. But he has a bigger plan through these hardships.

Next, he recalls his name. Verse 2: "I am the LORD." That is precisely the question Pharaoh had thrown out: "Who is the LORD? I don't know him." God answers, not Pharaoh first, but Moses. "I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, as God Almighty; but by my name Yahweh I was not known to them." This may seem strange, since the name already appears in Genesis. But here, it's not about the first time the name is spoken; it's about the moment when God fully reveals himself as the one who fulfills his covenant. The name "the LORD" (in Hebrew, tied to the verb "I am") points to the Being outside of time and space, the source of everything that exists. He cannot be defined by his creation, since he is above it. But this transcendent God wants to make himself known: he borrows our language, he lowers himself, he acts within history.

And the story he is coming to fulfill is that of his covenant. Exodus 6:6-8 unfolds a cascade of future-tense promises, all in the first person: "I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will rid you out of their bondage, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm, and with great judgments: and I will take you to me for a people, and I will be to you a God... and I will bring you in to the land which I swore to give to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob; and I will give it to you for a heritage: I am the LORD." Seven future-tense verbs, seven divine "I wills." Facing the total powerlessness of the Israelites, God declares that he himself will do everything, unilaterally. He is not only the almighty God; he is the faithful God who uses his power, not to serve himself, as Pharaoh does, but to keep his word to his people.

And the reaction? Verse 9: "Moses spoke so to the children of Israel, but they didn't listen to Moses for anguish of spirit, and for cruel bondage." Believing that God will act in the middle of our suffering, when our enemies seem bigger than we are, is hard. Maybe you recognize yourself in that unbelief. God's word seems impossible, out of step with your reality. You start telling yourself these might just be nice stories. A lovely story, but with no real solution for a world where the wicked win, where injustice reigns, where relationships fall apart. And inside, your own sinful nature weighs you down, and you wonder if you will ever truly be free.

Faced with this, God does not say, "Try harder." He does not offer a new strategy. He says: "You will see. Remember what I have already done. Remember what I have said. And watch how I will act."

3. A promise fulfilled through weak messengers (Exodus 6:10-28)

God repeats his command to Moses: "Go in, tell Pharaoh king of Egypt, that he let the children of Israel go out of his land." And Moses, a bit disappointingly, answers: "Behold, the children of Israel haven't listened to me. How then shall Pharaoh listen to me, who am of uncircumcised lips?" He brings out the same excuse as at the burning bush. Moses is old, 80 years old. He likely suffered from some kind of speech impediment. This is the hero of the book of Exodus: a fragile old man, full of doubts. This is the one God chose.

It's almost a little funny. We reach a climax: the people are suffering, Pharaoh is winning, the hero's faith is shaking. What will happen next? And right there, like a commercial break, the text pauses for a genealogy (verses 14-27). Why? It reminds us of several essential things.

First, it shows us that the Exodus is history, not myth. The genealogy traces a line from Reuben, Israel's firstborn, all the way to Phinehas, a well-known figure from the book of Judges, a contemporary of the original audience. The author anchors the account in real history. These are events that actually happened, with a real people. That's why the genealogy closes with the solemn repetition of verses 26-27: "These are that Aaron and Moses [...] These are those who spoke to Pharaoh king of Egypt, to bring out the children of Israel from Egypt."

Second, it reminds us of the imperfect nature of God's people. God does not save them because they are exemplary. Reading through the list, we're immediately reminded of the failures. Verse 14, Reuben: known for sleeping with his father's concubine. Verse 15, Simeon: known for deceiving and slaughtering the men of Shechem. The same verse mentions "Shaul the son of a Canaanite woman," a marriage forbidden by God's law. And that's just the first two verses. Moses and Aaron are real, historical, weak, and part of an imperfect people. Yet they are the ones God spoke to, and the ones God sent.

After this pause, the narrative picks back up and Moses persists in his excuse. Verses 29-30: "I am the LORD. Speak to Pharaoh king of Egypt all that I speak to you. Moses said before the LORD, 'Behold, I am of uncircumcised lips, and how shall Pharaoh listen to me?'" The message is clear: God accomplishes his plan through weak messengers.

This is a pattern that runs through the whole Bible and finds its high point in Jesus. Jesus of Nazareth: a man who, in the eyes of the world, seemed weak, insignificant, and who is nonetheless the Son of God, the prophet greater than Moses. At the start of his ministry, he opens the scroll of Isaiah and reads: "The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim release to the captives, recovering of sight to the blind, to deliver those who are crushed, and to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord." Then he says: "Today, this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing." Jesus is the better Moses: he did not run from his mission, he faithfully proclaimed God's message in the face of the powers of this world. And Paul writes: "God chose the foolish things of the world... God chose the weak things of the world, that he might put to shame the things that are strong... that no flesh should boast before God" (1 Corinthians 1:27-29). God loves to work through what seems weak, so that everyone recognizes that it is the LORD who sets free. To him alone belongs the glory.

It may be that God seems slow to fulfill his promises. You can trust him: he is working for your good and for his glory. He keeps his word.

Key takeaways

• Doubt shows up when suffering drags on and the promise seems delayed. This is nothing new: it's a recurring pattern in the life of God's people.
• The antidote to doubt is not more effort, but more revelation. We need to hear again who God is, what he has done, and what he has promised.
• The name "the LORD" is the name of the God who keeps his covenant. His power serves his faithfulness.
• God accomplishes his plans through weak messengers, so that the glory belongs to him alone.
• Jesus is the better Moses: he did not run from his mission, and he brings true deliverance.

Personal application

• When you doubt, where do you first look for answers: your own ability, your strategies, or God's word?
• Can you name three concrete promises God has already kept in your life? Is recalling them regularly a habit for you?
• Is there a present suffering that makes you believe God is absent or against you? What does this passage say about that?
• Do you feel too "slow of speech" to talk about Jesus to the people around you? How does this story of Moses set you free?
• If you are not yet a Christian, are you willing to open a Gospel (John's, for example) and let Jesus speak for himself?

Verses cited

• Exodus 5 (WEB)
• Exodus 6 (WEB)
• Exodus 3:19 (WEB)
• Exodus 4:21 (WEB)
• 1 Peter 4:12 (WEB)
• John 15:20 (WEB)
• Luke 4:18-21 (WEB)
• 1 Corinthians 1:27-29 (WEB)

FAQ

Why does the Christian life sometimes get harder after choosing to follow Jesus?

Because God doesn't promise us a life without opposition, but a life with him in the middle of opposition. Exodus 5 and 6 show this: the announcement of deliverance first triggers Pharaoh's hostility. God had already warned Moses of this in Exodus 3:19 and 4:21. Jesus gave his disciples the same warning (John 15:20), and Peter tells us not to be surprised by "the fiery trial" (1 Peter 4:12). Opposition is not a sign that God has broken his word; it's part of the path.

What exactly does "I am the LORD" mean in Exodus 6:2?

The name "the LORD" comes from a Hebrew root tied to the verb "to be." It's a way of saying he exists outside of time and space, the source of everything that exists. But in the context of Exodus 6, this name is especially tied to covenant: it's the name of the God who remembers his promises and fulfills them. When God says "I am the LORD," he isn't only making a statement about his nature; he is reminding us that he is the faithful God who will keep his word to his people.

How do you fight doubt when God seems slow to act?

The passage gives a clear answer: through revelation, not through effort. God does not tell Moses to "believe harder." He reminds him of who he is, what he has already done, and what he is going to do. Practically, that means going back to the Bible to hear his word again, remembering the promises he has kept (in Scripture and in your own life), and speaking to him honestly about your doubts, just as Moses did. God listens, even when Pharaoh does not.