Moses returns as a hero
At the end of Exodus 4, Moses returns to Egypt and meets with the leaders of Israel. He left Egypt as a fearful murderer on the run, but he returns as a man restored and commissioned by God. In order to convince the people that he’s being directed by God, Moses performs the miraculous signs that God showed him.
Exodus 4:31 Then the people of Israel were convinced that the Lord had sent Moses and Aaron. When they heard that the Lord was concerned about them and had seen their misery, they bowed down and worshiped.
The Israelites believe that Moses and his brother, Aaron, have been sent to free them. This was a triumphant moment for Moses. All the years of fear, shame, and loneliness were now over.
In our pursuit of God, we will experience similar moments of joy and victory. It may be the moment when you first understand the message of the Bible, when you first get connected with Christians, or when you first put your faith in Jesus. In those moments, it can seem like you will never have a problem ever again.
But then real life happens. You hit a brick wall. This is what happened with Moses.
Failure is common for the Christian
After their success with the Israelites, Moses and Aaron go before Pharaoh, and make their request, “Let the Israelites go into the wilderness to worship their God.” Apparently, Moses thought that Pharaoh would let them go, but he doesn’t.
Exodus 5:2 “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.”
Pharaoh refuses to grant Moses and Aaron’s wish. In fact, he thinks their request is a sign that the Israelites have become lazy slaves. As a result, he increases their burden. He forces them to get their own straw when making bricks, but he does not reduce the amount of bricks they have to make. This is an insufferable situation and the Israelites panic. And they turn on Moses.
Exodus 5:21 The foremen said to them (Moses and Aaron), “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!”
This was Moses’ first great setback after coming back to Egypt. It caught him by surprise. Apparently, he thought that he was going ride a wave of success that led to the people’s release from Egypt. But before that happened, he had to learn the lesson that faith can hit a brick wall.
Maybe you have experienced this too. You became a Christian and in your excitement you told your family and friends about it, and they thought you were crazy, or they just didn’t care. Maybe you feel like God is calling you to do something bold like starting a small group or reaching out in your community, but you haven’t had any success with your plans.
Failure can lead to disappointment with God
For many, failure in our plans will lead to disappointment with God. This is what happens to Moses. Moses doesn’t take this rejection by Pharaoh and Israel well. He’s disappointed with God.
Exodus 5:22-23 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? 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!”
Moses blames God for this failure. It’s odd that he is this upset, since God had already told him that Pharaoh wouldn’t give in to this plan right away (Exodus 4:21-23). But Moses is upset, and he lets’ God know about it.
It’s important to notice God’s response to Moses. He doesn’t kill Moses. He doesn’t sit him on the sidelines.
This shows us that we can be honest with God about our disappointments and frustrations. We can let God know how we feel. Now, this doesn’t mean that you can be disrespectful with God. It doesn’t mean that you can walk away from God. But you can let God know how you feel, and wait for him to answer.
We ultimately trust God because of his character
God answers Moses right away, and his answer is, “trust me.” God tells Moses to trust his character. Five times in chapter 6 God tells Moses, “I am…” (verses 2, 6, 7, 8, 29). He’s reminding Moses that he is the Lord of the world who is in control. He’s telling Moses to fix his eyes on God, not on his circumstances, not on Pharaoh, and not on the rejection of the people. We must do the same thing. We must fix our eyes on God, especially when life is frustrating.
We do this because we believe that God will act on our behalf. After the 5 times God says, “I am,” he tells Moses 8 times, “I will” (verses 1, 6, 7, 8). God will accomplish his work in our lives. Moses surely remembered how God saved him as a child and came to his rescue in the wilderness. We too can trust God. When faith hits a brick wall, we trust God to see us through to the other side.
Discussion Questions:
- Watch the video together or invite someone to summarize the topic.
- What is your initial reaction to this video? Do you disagree with any of it? What jumped out at you?
- What are some high moments you’ve experienced in your pursuit of God?
- What are some low moments you’ve experienced in your pursuit of God?
- Have you ever been disappointed with God? Explain what happened.
- Read Exodus 5:22-23. How would you describe Moses’ complaint to God? What is his attitude like?
- Read Exodus 6:6-8. What is God’s response to Moses? How does God meet the disappointments in our lives?
- Write a personal action step based on this conversation.
