2026年2月15日 / グレース・トロント日本語教会
5:20 彼らは、ファラオのところから出て来たとき、迎えに来ていたモーセとアロンに会った。
21 彼らは二人に言った。「主があなたがたを見て、さばかれますように。あなたがたは、ファラオとその家臣たちの目に私たちを嫌わせ、私たちを殺すため、彼らの手に剣を渡してしまったのです。」
22 それでモーセは主のもとに戻り、そして言った。「主よ、なぜ、あなたはこの民をひどい目にあわせられるのですか。いったい、なぜあなたは私を遣わされたのですか。
23 私がファラオのところに行って、あなたの御名によって語って以来、彼はこの民を虐げています。それなのに、あなたは、あなたの民を一向に救い出そうとはなさいません。」
6:1 主はモーセに言われた。「あなたには、わたしがファラオにしようとしていることが今に分かる。彼は強いられてこの民を去らせ、強いられてこの民を自分の国から追い出すからだ。」
2 神はモーセに語り、彼に仰せられた。「わたしは主である。
3 わたしは、アブラハム、イサク、ヤコブに全能の神として現れたが、主という名では、彼らにわたしを知らせなかった。
4 わたしはまた、カナンの地、彼らがとどまった寄留の地を彼らに与えるという契約を彼らと立てた。
5 今わたしは、エジプトが奴隷として仕えさせているイスラエルの子らの嘆きを聞き、わたしの契約を思い起こした。
6 それゆえ、イスラエルの子らに言え。『わたしは主である。わたしはあなたがたをエジプトの苦役から導き出す。あなたがたを重い労働から救い出し、伸ばされた腕と大いなるさばきによって贖う。
7 わたしはあなたがたを取ってわたしの民とし、わたしはあなたがたの神となる。あなたがたは、わたしがあなたがたの神、主であり、あなたがたをエジプトでの苦役から導き出す者であることを知る。
8 わたしは、アブラハム、イサク、ヤコブに与えると誓ったその地にあなたがたを連れて行き、そこをあなたがたの所有地として与える。わたしは主である。』」
9 モーセはこのようにイスラエルの子らに語ったが、彼らは失意と激しい労働のために、モーセの言うことを聞くことができなかった。
10 主はモーセに告げられた。
11「エジプトの王ファラオのところへ行って、イスラエルの子らをその国から去らせるように告げよ。」
12 しかし、モーセは主の前で訴えた。「ご覧ください。イスラエルの子らは私の言うことを聞きませんでした。どうしてファラオが私の言うことを聞くでしょうか。しかも、私は口べたなのです。」
13 主はモーセとアロンに語り、イスラエルの子らをエジプトの地から導き出すよう、イスラエルの子らとエジプトの王ファラオについて彼らに命じられた。
February 15, 2026 / Grace Toronto Japanese Church
5:20 They met Moses and Aaron, who were waiting for them, as they came out from Pharaoh; 21 and they said to them, “The LORD look on you and judge, because you have made us stink in the sight of Pharaoh and his servants, and have put a sword in their hand to kill us.”
22 Then Moses turned to the LORD and said, “O Lord, why have you done evil to this people? Why did you ever send me? 23 For since I came to Pharaoh to speak in your name, he has done evil to this people, and you have not delivered your people at all.” 6:1 But the LORD said to Moses, “Now you shall see what I will do to Pharaoh; for with a strong hand he will send them out, and with a strong hand he will drive them out of his land.” 2 God spoke to Moses and said to him, “I am the LORD. 3 I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, as God Almighty, but by my name the LORD I did not make myself known to them. 4 I also established my covenant with them to give them the land of Canaan, the land in which they lived as sojourners. 5 Moreover, I have heard the groaning of the people of Israel whom the Egyptians hold as slaves, and I have remembered my covenant. 6 Say therefore to the people of Israel, ‘I am the LORD, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will deliver you from slavery to them, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great acts of judgment. 7 I will take you to be my people, and I will be your God, and you shall know that I am the LORD your God, who has brought you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians. 8 I will bring you into the land that I swore to give to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. I will give it to you for a possession. I am the LORD.’ ” 9 Moses spoke thus to the people of Israel, but they did not listen to Moses, because of their broken spirit and harsh slavery.
10 So the LORD said to Moses, 11 “Go in, tell Pharaoh king of Egypt to let the people of Israel go out of his land.” 12 But Moses said to the LORD, “Behold, the people of Israel have not listened to me. How then shall Pharaoh listen to me, for I am of uncircumcised lips?” 13 But the LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron and gave them a charge about the people of Israel and about Pharaoh king of Egypt: to bring the people of Israel out of the land of Egypt.
CONTEXT
The 40-year-old Moses was a fugitive. He fled Egypt into the Midian desert. 40 years later, the 80-year-old Moses was called by God. He became God’s agent, God’s ambassador. He was still afraid. But he was convinced that he had to go to Egypt to rescue his fellow Israelites. He was afraid and yet he was confident because God said he would be with him. God called Moses. Moses had God’s promises. He had high hopes.
But then it was time for a “reality check” (ch. 5).
Moses and Aaron went and said to Pharaoh: Thus says the Lord: Let my people go! (5:1) And what did Pharaoh say? OK, Sure, please go? Of course not. His first answer was, Who is the Lord? I don’t know him. I will not let Israel go (5:2). And not just that, Pharaoh became upset, and he increased Israelites’ burdens. As you know, brick making is a challenging task: (a) you should first bring straw and break it up (Egypt provided straw, so Israel only needed to fetch it and break it up); (b) then you should mix it with mud and water; (c) and then you shape the bricks by hand (or use molds); (d) and finally, you should dry the bricks in the sun; and (e) then move them to the construction site. It was extremely hard labor. Do you know what Pharaoh commanded? (1) He ordered his taskmasters not to provide Israelites with straw—they had to go and gather straw for themselves; (2) but they had to make the same number of bricks every day. 12 So the people were scattered throughout all the land of Egypt to gather stubble for straw. And the reason why Pharaoh did such a thing was because he believed the Israelites were lazy. Pharaoh’s order went to the Egyptian overseers. And the Egyptian overseers pressured the Israelite foremen. So, the Israelite foremen went to Pharaoh and cried to him, This is too much. And Pharaoh said to them, twice, You’re lazy! You’re lazy! 18 Go now and work. No straw will be given you, but you must still deliver the same number of bricks.
TEXT
Pharaoh didn’t listen to them. And the Israelites were in despair. They were angry with Moses and Aaron. So, when they saw Moses and Aaron, they cursed them. They even mentioned God in their curse: The Lord look on you and judge you (v. 21), i.e., they were saying, May the Lord punish you two!
I think Moses’ heart was broken. But instead of getting bitter against God, instead of reacting to or blaming his fellow Israelites, Moses turned to the Lord and said:
22 O Lord, why have you done evil to this people? Why did you ever send me? 23 For since I came to Pharaoh to speak in your name, he has done evil to this people, and you have not delivered your people at all.
Moses is using strong words like “evil” (Why have you done evil to this people?). Moses is asking (1) I obeyed and did exactly what you told me to do; (2) and why are things getting worse? Moses is upset, yes, of course. For sure, he is confused and in despair. But here, he is not rebelling against God. Rather, he is asking for God’s will and God’s guiding; he is asking God to make his will clearer to him.
RESPONSE #1
And God responded: 6:1 Now you shall see what I will do to Pharaoh; for with a strong hand, he will send them out, and with a strong hand he will drive them out of his land.
It was now time for God to act. And he will act with a strong hand. And once God acts with a strong hand, Pharaoh will have to obey God’s will.
RESPONSE #2
And God reminded Moses of his name (v. 3): my name the Lord (YHWH). It has two major meanings.
- Most of all, YHWH shows his self-existence. God is God. He does not depend on anything or anyone to exist. When Moses asked, Who are you? Who made you? God answered, “I am that I am.” God exists in an entirely different way from ours. We cannot live forever. But God cannot stop existing. It is God’s nature to continue to exist forever, unchanged.
- Secondly, YHWH means that he is a God who makes and accomplishes his promises (vv. 4–5): (my covenant, the land of Canaan, the groaning of the people of Israel: and I have remembered my covenant)
Egypt was a powerful and wealthy empire. Pharaoh was its king. Moses was an old shepherd from the desert. It was such an intimidating and daunting task for Moses to even stand before Pharaoh, let alone ask him to let his people go. So, for Moses to be able to stand before the king of Egypt, God is letting Moses know who the LORD is! That’s exactly what Moses needed to have—the knowledge of God. That’s why Moses asked God, Who are you, what is your name? And God reminds him once again of his name: the LORD (YHWH).
RESPONSE #3 (COMMAND)
And then, God commands Moses to say to the people of Israel (vv. 6–8):
- I am the LORD (YHWH) (v. 6)
- I will deliver you from slavery in Egypt.You will be my people; I will be your God.
- I will bring you into the promised land.
- I am the LORD (YHWH) (v. 8)
It’s almost like a sandwich structure. The top bread and the bottom bread are God’s declaration: I am the LORD (vv. 6, 8). And the filling is the promises of the LORD: (1) I will deliver Israel; (2) Israel will be my people and I will be their God; (3) I will bring Israel into the promised land. God is surrounding his amazing promises with his own name. What does it mean? It means nobody can stop it. It will surely happen because I am the LORD.
ISRAEL STILL IN DESPAIR
Such an amazing and comforting promise from God! If you are going through a very difficult time and God gives you that message, would you be comforted and strengthened?
But the Israelites still didn’t listen to Moses; they still didn’t believe his word. Why? (v. 9)
- because of their broken spirit and
- harsh slavery
The Israelites had two things before their eyes.
- A: The Word of the Lord via Moses
- B: The harsh reality of slavery
Although God gave them a wonderful promise (A), Israelites gave in to (B).
RESPONSE #4
But the LORD didn’t back down. This time, he commanded Moses again to go to Pharaoh: 11 Go in, tell Pharaoh king of Egypt to let the people of Israel go out of his land.
MOSES STILL IN FEAR
Once more, Moses gives in to his fear, and says, 12 “Behold, the people of Israel have not listened to me. How then shall Pharaoh listen to me, for I am of uncircumcised lips [I am unskilled in speech; I am such a poor speaker]?”
RESPONSE #5
But once again, God reminded Moses of his mission: 13 But the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron and gave them a charge about the people of Israel and about Pharaoh king of Egypt: to bring the people of Israel out of the land of Egypt. God never backed down. God kept pushing Moses. God involved him in the Exodus movement. Now who’s great here? Moses, or God? It’s God who is great. It is God who takes the initiative. Rev 7:10 Salvation belongs to our God.
APPLICATIONS
God’s Promise: Not our Success but his Presence
When Moses was going back to Egypt, he was probably thinking like this:
- It was not me who wanted to do this.
- It was God who chose me and sent me.
- And I obeyed.
- So, everything will go well.
- This is not my work but God’s work. He said he would accomplish it.
- So, the Israelites will follow me, and Pharaoh will let us go.
- There will be no problem.
Often, we, too, think like Moses. We sometimes treat God as a vending machine. You insert $2, and the vending machine will give you a bottle of green tea. Likewise, we obey God (or do something for God), and then we automatically think God will give us something back. For example, I obey God’s commandment to go preach the gospel to the end of the world and become a missionary. Then I think God will bless me in some ways because I am doing this for him—he should do something for me as well.
But God never promised that. He promised to be with Moses, for sure. But he didn’t promise Moses that everything would go well.
Rather, God had already warned him that Pharaoh would not listen to Moses (Exod 3:19–20): But I know that the king of Egypt will not let you go unless compelled by a mighty hand. So, I will stretch out my hand and strike Egypt with all the wonders that I will do in it; after that he will let you go.
So, when Pharaoh didn’t listen to Moses and refused to let Israel go and when he was hated by his own fellow Israelites, Moses was deeply distressed and disappointed because he forgot about God’s warning. And he forgot about God’s warning because of his misunderstanding of God. He thought his act of obedience would guarantee the success of the work. Of course, obeying God is so important and we must obey God. But even so, we should know God does not owe us anything because he is the Lord God Almighty.
What God promised Moses and what God promises us are not our success but his presence: I will be with you at all times. However, even God’s promise can sometimes seem hollow and powerless especially when you are extremely distressed. Look at v. 9. It’s truly heartbreaking.
Harsh Reality and God’s Tenacity
6:9 Moses spoke thus to the people of Israel, but they did not listen to Moses, because of their broken spirit and harsh slavery.
And we can understand this, can’t we? In life, we encounter moments when our situations are so harsh and difficult that our minds, hearts, and spirits are hardened and become numb toward God. We are still believers. We still love Jesus. And yet we lose hope. Our spirits are broken.
(1) But we need to see and trust God’s promise in vv. 6–8:
- I am the LORD (YHWH) (v. 6)
- I will deliver you from slavery in Egypt.You will be my people; I will be your God
- I will bring you into the promised land.
- I am the LORD (YHWH) (v. 8)
God “signed” his promise with his own name (I am the LORD). It means nobody can stop it. It will surely happen because he is the LORD.
(2) Remember God’s never-ending pursuit of his people: God never gives up, so don’t lose your hope. When Moses complained again to God in v. 12 (My own people do not listen to me. How then shall Pharaoh listen to me?), God didn’t back down but reminded him of his mission again (v. 13): Go to Pharaoh and bring the people of Israel out of the land of Egypt. Why? Because God is able and he will do it—not because Moses was great and able.
CLOSING
So, everything comes down to this one question: Do you know God? How much do you know him?
What’s taking place in these early chapters of Exodus is that God is teaching Moses about God himself. Moses is getting to know God more—it will enable him to stand before Pharaoh.
Please know your life is a journey toward knowing God. At the end of the day, what matters most to you is how much you know God your Creator. There are two kinds of people dying: those who die knowing God and those who die not knowing God.
Moses didn’t know much about God. But now God is leading him into a deeper knowledge of God. How much do you know him?