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. Dr. Toby Holt explores what to do when obedience seems to backfire.

Pharaoh sneers, "Who is the LORD, that I should obey Him?" and makes Israel's slavery harsher — bricks without straw. The people's faith collapses and they blame Moses. God answers not with an explanation but by reasserting who He is: "I am the LORD." Hardship is often the 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)

Dr. Toby Holt is President of New Geneva Theological Seminary, and his sermons have been downloaded more than 1.9 million times on SermonAudio. Find more verse-by-verse Bible teaching at newgeneva.org; support this ministry at newgeneva.org/give.