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Exodus 5 Bible study: Who is the LORD?

Pharaoh's first answer was "I don’t know the LORD", and the rest of Exodus answers him. He called a request to worship idleness and made the work heavier, with the verb Exodus later uses for his hardened heart and for the honor God gets over him. God asked for Israel to serve him; Pharaoh said "work", the same Hebrew word. When it got worse, Moses took it to the LORD.

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“Afterward Moses and Aaron came, and said to Pharaoh, “This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says, ‘Let my people go, that they may hold a feast to me in the wilderness.’””
Exodus 5:1 · World English Bible

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“Pharaoh gave the order to stop supplying straw on the same day Moses and Aaron came to him.”

Is that in Exodus 5, or not? Make your call.

What's really going on

"Who is the LORD?"

In the text

Moses and Aaron bring Pharaoh the LORD's words: "Let my people go, that they may hold a feast to me in the wilderness" (5:1). Pharaoh's first answer is a question: "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" (5:2). The rest of Exodus answers him. With the first plague, the LORD's message to Pharaoh is "In this you shall know that I am the LORD" (7:17), and at the sea he says, "The Egyptians shall know that I am the LORD" (14:18).

Where it leads to Jesus

I will give you rest

Interpretation

Exodus 5:5leads toMatthew 11:28

Pharaoh complains, "you make them rest from their burdens" (5:5), and answers with "heavier work" (5:9). Jesus says, "Come to me, all you who labor and are heavily burdened, and I will give you rest" (Matthew 11:28), and "my yoke is easy, and my burden is light" (Matthew 11:30). Jesus doesn't cite Exodus 5, so setting the two side by side is a reading: some hear the contrast between the two masters; others read Jesus's words on their own.

Honest questions

Questions people ask about Exodus 5

That was a taste

The rest of Exodus 5 is waiting in Favor

  • Worship called idleness
  • Bricks without straw
  • Moses returned to the LORD
  • Serve me, or work for me
  • Heavy work, a heavy heart, and honor
  • "You have not rescued"
  • 8 questions as you read
  • 11 more Hebrew words
  • A short check at the end
  • Your notes, saved as you go
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The Hebrew word behind it

שָׁלַחshalachsay sha-LAKH

Brown-Driver-Briggs gives "send", and for the form in "Let my people go", senses including "send off, away" and "let go, set free". The chapter uses it at both ends: "Let my people go" (5:1), Pharaoh's "to let Israel go… I will not let Israel go" (5:2), and Moses' "Why is it that you have sent me?" (5:22). God had said, "I will send you to Pharaoh" (3:10), and later both uses stand in one verse: "The LORD, the God of the Hebrews, has sent me to you, saying, 'Let my people go'" (7:16). God sends Moses so that Pharaoh will send Israel out.

For your group

Exodus 5 Bible study questions

  1. 1Moses did what God said, and things got harder before they got better. When has doing the right thing cost you something first?
  2. 2Pharaoh called the people who asked to go and worship "idle" and piled on more work. What in your week pushes out rest and time with God?
  3. 3Moses brought his hardest question straight to the LORD: "Why is it that you have sent me?" What would it look like for you to bring your honest questions to God?

Leading a group? In Favor, everyone reads Exodus 5 during the week and answers these questions privately. Answers stay sealed until you meet, then appear together, and you can print the week's sheet.

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Questions

What is Favor?

Favor is a Bible study app that explains every chapter as you read: the Hebrew and Greek behind the words, the details most readers miss, and how each part of the Bible leads to Jesus. Read on your own, or start a Bible study with friends, family or your church.

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Favor takes the Bible as one story, in order, so you'll reach Exodus 5 with everything that leads up to it in view. Start from Genesis, or meet Jesus first in the Gospels. You can read the text of any chapter in Favor's Look up whenever you like.

Do I need a group?

No. Many people read on their own. If you'd like to read with others, start a Bible study and share one link. Everyone's answers stay private until you meet.

I've never really read the Bible. Is this for me?

Yes. Favor starts where you are and explains as it goes. The questions along the way aren't marked right or wrong: you answer, then see what the text shows.

Which Bible does Favor use?

The World English Bible, a modern, readable translation in the public domain. God's name appears as "the LORD", as in most English Bibles.

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Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, which is in the public domain. Hebrew and Greek words are checked against the original-language texts and public-domain lexicons. What we believe · Favor home