“Exodus 1–6,” Old Testament Institute Teacher Manual (2026)
Moses and the Burning Bushes, by Jerry Thompson
Exodus 1–6
After Joseph’s death, the Israelites were enslaved by the Egyptians. Fearing their growing numbers, Pharaoh ordered the death of all male Israelite infants. The Hebrew midwives defied Pharaoh’s orders and spared the newborns. Pharaoh then decreed that every male Israelite baby be cast into the river. To save her son, Moses’s mother placed him in a basket and placed it in the Nile River. Pharaoh’s daughter found Moses and adopted him. The Lord heard the cries of the Israelites and called Moses to deliver them. The Lord reassured Moses that He would be with him and give him power to deliver Israel.
Additional Resources
Scripture Helps: Old Testament, “Exodus 1–6”
Note: The “Introduction to the Course” provides guidance on how to use the standard lesson elements that follow.
Encouraging Personal Study
Before class, consider sending students one or more of the following messages or some of your own:
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How do you respond when you feel pressured to do something that you know is wrong? Study Exodus 1 and reflect on how the example of the Hebrew midwives can help you when you face these situations.
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Think about times when you have recognized that certain experiences or places in your life were sacred. Ponder how the Lord can bless you for showing reverence for sacred things as you study Exodus 3:1–6.
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Have you ever felt overwhelmed or unqualified to do what the Lord asks of you? As you study Exodus 3:7–22; 4:1–17, consider how you can find confidence when you are called to do the Lord’s work.
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Do you ever feel like the harder you try, the harder life gets? As you study Exodus 5–6 and 7:1–5, pay attention to the Lord’s teachings that can help you in these situations.
Questions and Sharing
Provide time for students to ask questions and share insights and truths they discovered in their personal study of Exodus 1–6.
Skill Training
The learning activity for Exodus 3:1–6 might be a helpful place to use the skill “Using Teachings of Church Leaders to Understand the Scriptures” in Scripture Study Skills.
Learning Activity Options
Multiple learning options are provided for you and your students. Prayerfully choose which option or options will be most meaningful for your class. You could also seek input from your students.
Improving Our Teaching and Learning
Seek to learn true doctrine more deeply before you teach it. “As you prepare to teach and learn with others, look carefully for what the Lord has said about the truths you are teaching. Search the scriptures and words of living prophets for explanation and counsel. Living and applying the truths you study will invite the Spirit to teach you the doctrine in even deeper ways and to confirm the doctrine’s truthfulness in the hearts of those you teach” (Teaching in the Savior’s Way, 21).
How can God help me resist unrighteous influences?
Consider sharing the following statement by President Russell M. Nelson:
True disciples of Jesus Christ are willing to stand out, speak up, and be different from the people of the world. They are undaunted, devoted, and courageous. (“Drawing the Power of Jesus Christ into Our Lives,” Ensign or Liahona, May 2017, 40–41)
Invite students to share examples of situations they or other young adults face that require them to “stand out, speak up, and be different” from other people. Encourage them to think about how they have responded to situations like this in the past. Invite them as they study today to look for truths that can help them be courageous followers of Jesus Christ.
Invite a few class members to share what they know about what happened to the Israelites after the death of Joseph of Egypt. If needed, explain that after Joseph died, the Israelites (also called the Hebrews) grew in number in Egypt. Fearing that the Israelites might become too powerful, the new pharaoh enslaved them (see Exodus 1:6–14).
Invite students to study Exodus 1:15–19 and identify a situation where individuals resisted unrighteous influences and acted with courage. You might discuss the following questions:
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What might have made it difficult for Puah and Shiphrah to disobey Pharaoh’s command?
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What do you think it means that the midwives “feared God”? (Exodus 1:17). If needed, refer to the entry for Exodus 1:17 in Scripture Helps: Old Testament.
Invite students to read Exodus 1:20–21, looking for how the Lord blessed Puah and Shiphrah for their courage. You could then ask students to share truths they learn from this account that can help us when we face unrighteous influences. One truth students could identify is this: The Lord will deal well with us when we fear Him and resist unrighteous influences.
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What can make it hard to resist unrighteous influences today?
Have students imagine that they know someone who is struggling to resist unrighteous influences they are facing. Give them a few minutes to find one or more of the following resources that could help:
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A scripture
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A statement from a Church leader
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An example from the Savior’s life
Invite students to share the resource they found with a small group and explain how it could help someone overcome unrighteous influences.
Consider inviting a few students to share with the class how the Lord has blessed them for doing the right thing despite pressures they might be facing.
Encourage students to ponder and record how they can apply the truths they have learned to their lives.
How can I show reverence for the Lord?
You could display a list like the following:
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Partaking of the sacrament
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Going to the temple
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Receiving a priesthood blessing
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Personal prayer
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Scripture study
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Attending institute
Invite students to share what they do before or during the experiences listed to make them more meaningful. You could then ask:
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Why do you think doing these things helps us have more meaningful sacred experiences?
As they study the following experience from the life of Moses, encourage students to look for truths that can help them treat sacred moments and places with reverence.
Consider pointing out that after Moses fled Egypt, he lived in the land of Midian. There he married Zipporah and tended the flocks of her father, Jethro. During this time, Moses had a sacred experience in which the Lord appeared to him and called him to deliver Israel from slavery in Egypt. Before the Lord gave Moses his calling, He first shared important instructions.
Invite students to read Exodus 3:1–6, looking for what Moses experienced in God’s presence. It may be helpful to point out that the Joseph Smith Translation of Exodus 3:2 replaces “angel of the Lord” with “presence of the Lord” (in Exodus 3:2, footnote a).
Consider asking questions like the following to help students share what they learned:
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What did Moses do to show reverence for God?
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What can we learn about reverence from Moses’s experience with the Lord? (Students might share truths like these: The Lord desires that we show reverence for Him and His holy places. Showing reverence to the Lord prepares us to be taught by Him.)
To help students better understand the importance of reverence, consider displaying the following brief statements and inviting students to read them silently. (For more ideas about using teachings of Church leaders, see “Using Teachings of Church Leaders to Understand the Scriptures” in Scripture Study Skills.)
Reverence invites revelation (Boyd K. Packer, “Reverence Invites Revelation,” Ensign, Nov. 1991, 22)
Joyful reverence? ‘Is that a thing?’ you may ask. Well, yes, it is! We deeply love, honour, and respect our God, and our reverence flows from a soul that rejoices in Christ’s abundant love, mercy, and salvation! (Patrick Kearon, “Welcome to the Church of Joy,” Liahona, Nov. 2024, 36).
When you develop a deepening reverence for sacred things, the Holy Spirit becomes your constant companion. You grow in understanding and truth. (D. Todd Christofferson, “A Sense of the Sacred,” New Era, Jun. 2006, 31).
Invite students to share insights they gained from these statements. You could also ask a few questions like the following:
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What are some examples of how Jesus Christ showed reverence for sacred things or places during His mortal ministry?
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What are some ways you can demonstrate reverence for Heavenly Father in different aspects of your life?
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How has showing reverence for Heavenly Father helped prepare you to receive communication from Him?
Invite students to think about ways they could demonstrate more reverence for Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ in their lives. Invite them to record thoughts or impressions they receive from the Holy Ghost.
Am I capable of doing the Lord’s work?
Consider sharing a scenario about a young adult who feels unqualified to do the Lord’s work. You could use the following or one that you create.
Nyla was shocked when her bishop extended a calling for her to serve as a counselor in the Relief Society presidency. She was only 20 years old, she was new to her ward, and she struggled with social anxiety. She felt overwhelmed by her shortcomings and limitations. She wondered, Why would the Lord call me?
Consider writing the following phrase from Exodus 3:11 on the board:
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Who am I, that I should … ?
Ask students to finish this sentence by sharing things the Lord asks us to do that might seem beyond our abilities. You could list their responses next to the phrase on the board. Encourage students as they study today to seek for truths that can help them when they feel unqualified to do the work the Lord would have them do.
Consider displaying an image of Moses. Remind students that although Moses eventually became a mighty prophet who performed great miracles with the Lord’s help, he initially felt inadequate when he was called by God.
Moses Parting the Red Sea, by Robert T. Barrett
Invite students to read Exodus 3:7–11, looking for how Moses responded when the Lord called him to deliver Israel from Egyptian bondage. Invite students to mark the question Moses asked the Lord in verse 11.
To help students see how the Lord addressed Moses’s concerns, consider displaying the following table. Invite students to study the corresponding scriptures and think about how the Lord’s teachings can help them when they feel unqualified to do God’s work.
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Moses’s Concerns |
The Lord’s Responses |
|---|---|
Moses’s Concerns | The Lord’s Responses |
Moses’s Concerns | The Lord’s Responses |
Moses’s Concerns | The Lord’s Responses |
Moses’s Concerns | The Lord’s Responses |
Moses’s Concerns | The Lord’s Responses |
After students have had time to study, invite them to share their insights with a partner or small group. You could also discuss the following question together as a class:
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What did you find in these verses that can help you when you feel inadequate or unqualified to do the Lord’s work? (The following is one example of a truth students might identify: When God calls us to His work, He gives us power to accomplish it.)
To help students better understand this truth, consider sharing this statement by President Henry B. Eyring and discussing the questions that follow:
There will be times when you will feel overwhelmed. One of the ways you will be attacked is with the feeling that you are inadequate. Well, you are inadequate to answer a call to represent God with only your own powers. But you have access to more than your natural capacities, and you do not work alone.
The Lord will magnify what you say and what you do in the eyes of the people you serve. (“Rise to Your Call,” Ensign or Liahona, Nov. 2002, 76–77)
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What have you learned about the Lord through your efforts to serve Him?
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When have you seen God empower you or others to do His work?
(As part of this discussion, consider showing “Do You Want to Be Happy?” from time codes 4:02 to 5:36.)
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Encourage students to write down any impressions they want to remember from their experiences in class. You may also want to share your own testimony of the Lord’s ability to help us accomplish His work.
What can help me when I face challenges as I try to follow the Lord?
You could begin by sharing the following statement by President Jeffrey R. Holland.
Christianity is comforting, but it is often not comfortable. The path to holiness and happiness here and hereafter is a long and sometimes rocky one. It takes time and tenacity to walk it. But, of course, the reward for doing so is monumental. (“Waiting on the Lord,” Ensign or Liahona, Nov. 2020, 116–17)
Invite students to discuss the following questions with a partner:
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What can make it hard to be a follower of Jesus Christ today?
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Why do you think it is ultimately worth the effort to follow the Savior?
Remind students that Moses was called by the Lord to free the Israelites from bondage in Egypt. While the Israelites were ultimately delivered by the Lord, Moses and his people experienced many difficulties along the way. Encourage students to look for insights as they study today that can help them when they experience challenges in following the Savior.
Invite students to read Exodus 5:1–2, looking for how Pharoah responded to the request of Moses and Aaron to let the Israelites go free. After students share what they found, point out that not only did Pharoah refuse to let the children of Israel go, but he also made their lives harder by increasing their workload (see Exodus 5:4–19).
Invite students to study Exodus 5:20–23, looking for how Moses and the children of Israel responded to the increased difficulty of their trials. Ask a few students to share what they found. You could also discuss the following questions:
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What are some examples of times when you didn’t see immediate blessings, even though you felt like you were obeying the Lord?
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Why do you think the Lord sometimes allows us to experience trials or setbacks as we are following Him?
Invite students to read Exodus 6:1–8 and 7:1–6, looking for how the Lord responded to Moses and the children of Israel in their trials. Ask them to make a list of at least three truths these verses teach them about the Lord. Explain that they will have an opportunity to share what they wrote after they study.
Display the following questions, and invite students to discuss them with a partner or small group:
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What did you learn about the Lord from these verses?
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How could remembering these things about the Lord help you when you experience difficulties in following Him?
After students have finished their discussion, consider inviting a few to share their insights with the class. They might identify truths such as these: The Lord is all powerful. The Lord remembers and keeps His promises. When we believe the Lord and His promises, we can trust and follow Him even when we don’t see the immediate outcome.
You might share this statement by Elder Jörg Klebingat and discuss the questions that follow:
Accept trials, setbacks, and “surprises” as part of your mortal experience. … When these trials come, the adversary’s minions begin broadcasting that you did something wrong, that this is a punishment, a sign that Heavenly Father does not love you. Ignore that! Instead, try to force a smile, gaze heavenward, and say, “I understand, Lord. I know what this is. A time to prove myself, isn’t it?” Then partner with Him to endure well to the end. Spiritual confidence increases when you accept that “often trials and tribulations are allowed to come into [your life] because of what [you] are doing right” (Glenn L. Pace, “Crying with the Saints” [Brigham Young University devotional, Dec. 13, 1987], 2; speeches.byu.edu). (“Approaching the Throne of God with Confidence,” Ensign or Liahona, Nov. 2014, 36–37)
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When have you experienced setbacks as you strived to obey God?
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What do you know about Jesus Christ that helps you to trust in Him even when you experience challenges?
Invite students to reflect on what they have learned or felt from the Holy Ghost that can help them in their lives. Encourage them to record their thoughts or spiritual impressions.