Adult Lesson Plan: Exodus 1–6

OPENING (2–3 minutes)

Exodus begins with a sentence that should make us a little uneasy: “Now there arose up a new king over Egypt, which knew not Joseph” (Exodus 1:8). It’s almost comically brief for something that will reshape an entire people’s history. One generation remembers Joseph as the man who saved the nation; another generation treats his descendants as a threat. Here’s the question I’d put on the table right away: What do you do when your life is being shaped by forces you didn’t choose, by leaders who “know not” your story, and by suffering that seems to contradict the idea of being God’s covenant people?

Come, Follow Me names the spiritual ache in this part of Exodus: “It would have been natural for the Israelites to wonder why God allowed this to happen to them, His covenant people. Did He remember the covenant He had made with them? Were they still His people? Could He see how much they were suffering?” (Come, Follow Me—For Home and Church: Old Testament 2026, “March 23–29. ‘I Have Remembered My Covenant’: Exodus 1–6”). If you’ve ever asked anything like that, you’re in the right chapter of scripture.

SCRIPTURE EXPLORATION (15–20 minutes)

Start with the emotional turning point in the narrative, because it’s easy to miss how carefully Exodus describes it. “And it came to pass in process of time, that the king of Egypt died: and the children of Israel sighed by reason of the bondage, and they cried, and their cry came up unto God by reason of the bondage. And God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. And God looked upon the children of Israel, and God had respect unto them” (Exodus 2:23–25). Notice the sequence: sighed, cried, cry came up; then heard, remembered, looked, had respect. The text is insisting that heaven is not indifferent. If you want a class to lean in, ask: Which of those verbs do you most need to be true about God right now: that He hears, remembers, looks, or “has respect”? Why that one?

Then move to Exodus 3:7–8, where the Lord gives His own interpretation of Israel’s suffering: “And the Lord said, I have surely seen the affliction of my people which are in Egypt, and have heard their cry by reason of their taskmasters; for I know their sorrows; And I am come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians” (Exodus 3:7–8). The Lord doesn’t merely say, “I know you’re suffering.” He says, “I know their sorrows,” and then, “I am come down to deliver.” Come, Follow Me invites us to read that as a pattern for our own lives: “You might wonder, ‘Does God know what I’m going through? Can He hear my pleas for help?’ Israel’s deliverance from Egypt answers such questions clearly: God does not forget His people. He remembers His covenants with us and will fulfill them in His own time and way” (Come, Follow Me—For Home and Church: Old Testament 2026, “March 23–29. ‘I Have Remembered My Covenant’: Exodus 1–6”).

Now take the class to the burning bush, not only for the miracle, but for the holiness. The Lord says, “Draw not nigh hither: put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground” (Exodus 3:5). Then Moses’s response is wonderfully human: “And Moses hid his face; for he was afraid to look upon God” (Exodus 3:6). Ask a question that invites real reflection rather than quick answers: What do you think Moses understood in that moment about God—and about himself—that he didn’t understand five minutes earlier? And what does it mean that the first instruction in this great deliverance story is about reverence?

Finally, linger in Exodus 3–4 where Moses resists the call. Come, Follow Me points us to the pattern: “As you read Exodus 3–4, list Moses’s concerns and how the Lord responded to each” (Come, Follow Me—For Home and Church: Old Testament 2026, “March 23–29. ‘I Have Remembered My Covenant’: Exodus 1–6”). You can anchor this in Moses’s own words: “Who am I, that I should go unto Pharaoh, and that I should bring forth the children of Israel out of Egypt?” (Exodus 3:11). And later: “O my Lord, I am not eloquent… but I am slow of speech, and of a slow tongue” (Exodus 4:10). Moses is not posturing; he’s disclosing insecurity. The Lord’s answer is not a pep talk about Moses’s hidden greatness. It’s presence: “Certainly I will be with thee” (Exodus 3:12). Ask: When you feel inadequate, which is more comforting—God fixing the situation, or God promising His presence inside the situation?

DOCTRINAL DISCUSSION (10–15 minutes)

One doctrine emerging from these chapters is that covenant does not mean exemption from suffering; it means God’s committed involvement in our deliverance. Exodus never pretends Egypt is a minor inconvenience. It calls it “bondage” (Exodus 2:23), “affliction” (Exodus 3:7), “sorrows” (Exodus 3:7). And then it pairs those realities with God’s verbs: “heard,” “remembered,” “looked,” “had respect” (Exodus 2:24–25). Come, Follow Me frames it with the Lord’s own covenant language: “‘I will redeem you with a stretched out arm,’ He declares. ‘I am the Lord your God, which bringeth you out from under [your] burdens’” (Exodus 6:6–7; quoted in Come, Follow Me—For Home and Church: Old Testament 2026, “March 23–29. ‘I Have Remembered My Covenant’: Exodus 1–6”). If you want a discussion that goes beyond platitudes, ask: What do you think it means that God’s promise is not “no burdens,” but “bringeth you out from under your burdens” (Exodus 6:6–7)? How is that different, emotionally and spiritually?

A second doctrine is that God’s work often moves forward through people who don’t see themselves as heroic—and through “small and simple” faithfulness that is anything but small in consequence. Come, Follow Me draws our attention to the women in Exodus 1–2 and asks, “What impresses you about the women described in Exodus 1–2? How did they help fulfill God’s plan for His people? What do their efforts teach you about service in God’s work?” (Come, Follow Me—For Home and Church: Old Testament 2026, “March 23–29. ‘I Have Remembered My Covenant’: Exodus 1–6”). Even before Moses speaks to Pharaoh, covenant history is being protected by courageous, quiet decisions. A question worth asking the room is: Why do you think Exodus—so focused on plagues and power—begins by highlighting faithful women and vulnerable infants? What might God be teaching us about how deliverance really starts?

A third doctrine is reverence as a spiritual technology for revelation. Moses is told to stop, step back, and treat the ground as holy (Exodus 3:5). Come, Follow Me invites us to connect that to our own lives: “Reading these verses might prompt you to think about holy things and holy places in your life. Why are they sacred to you? How do you treat them differently from things that are common?” (Come, Follow Me—For Home and Church: Old Testament 2026, “March 23–29. ‘I Have Remembered My Covenant’: Exodus 1–6”). Here’s a question that tends to open hearts: What practices help you keep sacred things from becoming merely familiar? And a braver follow-up: Where have you noticed yourself becoming casual with something holy?

Before leaving doctrine, it’s worth letting the narrative complicate our expectations. Exodus 5 shows that obedience can initially make circumstances worse. Come, Follow Me names the discouragement: “It can be discouraging when our sincere efforts to do good don’t seem to be working—when we’re trying to do the Lord’s will but we’re not seeing the results we expected” (Come, Follow Me—For Home and Church: Old Testament 2026, “March 23–29. ‘I Have Remembered My Covenant’: Exodus 1–6”). Invite the class to sit with that tension: What do you do with your faith when doing what’s right doesn’t immediately produce relief?

PRACTICAL APPLICATION (5–7 minutes)

Bring the class back to the verbs of Exodus 2–3 and make them personal without making them performative. Sometimes the most realistic application is simply to pray with scripture’s own language when ours runs out. Exodus gives us permission to “sigh… and… cry” (Exodus 2:23) and it teaches us what God is doing even when we can’t see it: He “heard,” “remembered,” “looked,” and “had respect” (Exodus 2:24–25). If someone’s week is filled with caregiving fatigue, job uncertainty, family strain, or private grief, these chapters don’t demand cheerfulness; they invite honest crying out and patient trust that God’s covenant attention is real.

Second, consider applying Moses’s call story to the quiet places where adults often feel inadequate: parenting a child whose needs you don’t fully understand, ministering when you don’t know what to say, serving in a calling that stretches you. Moses says, “Who am I?” (Exodus 3:11) and “I am not eloquent” (Exodus 4:10). The Lord does not deny Moses’s weakness; He answers with presence: “Certainly I will be with thee” (Exodus 3:12). There is something steadying about letting that be the promise you lean on this week.

Third, treat reverence as something you can practice deliberately. Moses “hid his face” (Exodus 3:6) and removed his shoes because the ground was holy (Exodus 3:5). Come, Follow Me warns that “even when we’ve had wonderful spiritual experiences, there’s a danger of becoming too casual about sacred things” (Come, Follow Me—For Home and Church: Old Testament 2026, “March 23–29. ‘I Have Remembered My Covenant’: Exodus 1–6”). A practical invitation could be as simple as choosing one sacred habit to “de-casualize” this week: scripture study without multitasking, prayer without rushing, the sacrament with more inward stillness.

CLOSING TESTIMONY & INVITATION (2–3 minutes)

Exodus 1–6 offers a God who is neither absent nor impatient. He is the God who hears real groaning (Exodus 2:24), knows real sorrows (Exodus 3:7), and declares real redemption: “I will redeem you with a stretched out arm” (Exodus 6:6). I trust that covenant reality. I trust that when the Lord says, “I am come down to deliver” (Exodus 3:8), He is revealing His character, not merely describing an ancient rescue.

Invite the class to carry one question into the week: Where do I most need to believe that God “had respect” unto me? (Exodus 2:25). Then invite them to read Exodus 2:23–25 slowly at least once this week, listening for the God who still hears, remembers, looks, and acts—often in His “own time and way” (Come, Follow Me—For Home and Church: Old Testament 2026, “March 23–29. ‘I Have Remembered My Covenant’: Exodus 1–6”).