Exodus 5

When obedience brings opposition

Then Moses went back to the Lord and protested, “Why have you brought all this trouble on your own people, Lord? Why did you send me? ~ Exodus 5:22

When we read Exodus 5, it can be both inspiring and sobering. Moses and Aaron obeyed God by going to Pharaoh with the message to let His people go. But instead of deliverance, things got worse. Pharaoh increased the Israelites’ workload, making life unbearable. Obedience brought opposition.

I remember a time in my own life when I knew I was obeying God, yet the situation seemed to grow more difficult instead of easier. I thought if I followed the Lord’s leading, doors would open smoothly, and problems would disappear. But just like the Israelites, I found that sometimes obedience first stirs up resistance. In those seasons, I had to learn that God had not abandoned me but was positioning me to trust Him at a deeper level.

This passage speaks to our lives today. You may be doing your best to follow God, yet your circumstances feel like they are only getting harder. Maybe your obedience has led to criticism, loss, or unexpected struggles. The truth is, the enemy resists the work of God, and sometimes the hardest battles come right before the breakthrough. Just like the Israelites, you are not forgotten. God hears, God sees, and God is working even when the opposition increases.

Here are some things you can do when you sense opposition instead of breakthrough:

• Remember that your obedience to God is a step of faith  and not measured by immediate results but by faithfulness while you wait.
• Pray daily for strength to persevere when challenges rise.
• Surround yourself with people who will encourage you and remind you of God’s promises.
• Keep your eyes on the bigger picture, knowing that God’s deliverance may take time.
• Journal your prayers and struggles, and look back later to see how God was faithful in ways you could not see at first.

Today I want to encourage you to keep moving forward even when obedience feels costly. Just because the struggle has intensified does not mean God has left you. He is preparing you for greater freedom and greater faith. Stand firm in His Word, hold on to His promises, and trust that your labor is not in vain. Deliverance is coming, and God is faithful to finish what He has started in your life.

Today’s scripture reading: Exodus 5

1 After this presentation to Israel’s leaders, Moses and Aaron went and spoke to Pharaoh. They told him, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: Let my people go so they may hold a festival in my honor in the wilderness.”

2 “Is that so?” retorted Pharaoh. “And who is the Lord? Why should I listen to him and let Israel go? I don’t know the Lord, and I will not let Israel go.”

3 But Aaron and Moses persisted. “The God of the Hebrews has met with us,” they declared. “So let us take a three-day journey into the wilderness so we can offer sacrifices to the Lord our God. If we don’t, he will kill us with a plague or with the sword.”

4 Pharaoh replied, “Moses and Aaron, why are you distracting the people from their tasks? Get back to work! 

5 Look, there are many of your people in the land, and you are stopping them from their work.”

6 That same day Pharaoh sent this order to the Egyptian slave drivers and the Israelite foremen: 

7 “Do not supply any more straw for making bricks. Make the people get it themselves! 

8 But still require them to make the same number of bricks as before. Don’t reduce the quota. They are lazy. That’s why they are crying out, ‘Let us go and offer sacrifices to our God.’ 

9 Load them down with more work. Make them sweat! That will teach them to listen to lies!”

10 So the slave drivers and foremen went out and told the people: “This is what Pharaoh says: I will not provide any more straw for you. 

11 Go and get it yourselves. Find it wherever you can. But you must produce just as many bricks as before!” 

12 So the people scattered throughout the land of Egypt in search of stubble to use as straw.

13 Meanwhile, the Egyptian slave drivers continued to push hard. “Meet your daily quota of bricks, just as you did when we provided you with straw!” they demanded. 

14 Then they whipped the Israelite foremen they had put in charge of the work crews. “Why haven’t you met your quotas either yesterday or today?” they demanded.

15 So the Israelite foremen went to Pharaoh and pleaded with him. “Please don’t treat your servants like this,” they begged. 

16 “We are given no straw, but the slave drivers still demand, ‘Make bricks!’ We are being beaten, but it isn’t our fault! Your own people are to blame!”

17 But Pharaoh shouted, “You’re just lazy! Lazy! That’s why you’re saying, ‘Let us go and offer sacrifices to the Lord.’ 

18 Now get back to work! No straw will be given to you, but you must still produce the full quota of bricks.”

19 The Israelite foremen could see that they were in serious trouble when they were told, “You must not reduce the number of bricks you make each day.” 

20 As they left Pharaoh’s court, they confronted Moses and Aaron, who were waiting outside for them. 

21 The foremen said to them, “May the Lord judge and punish you for making us stink before Pharaoh and his officials. You have put a sword into their hands, an excuse to kill us!”

22 Then Moses went back to the Lord and protested, “Why have you brought all this trouble on your own people, Lord? Why did you send me? 

23 Ever since I came to Pharaoh as your spokesman, he has been even more brutal to your people. And you have done nothing to rescue them!”

 Journal:

• When have I obeyed God and faced greater opposition as a result?
• How can I remind myself that God is working even when things seem harder?
• Who can I encourage today that may be struggling in their obedience?