In Exodus 5:2 Pharaoh answers Moses and Aaron with a question that sounds sensible from his vantage point: “Who is the LORD that I should obey His voice to let Israel go? I do not know the LORD, and besides, I will not let Israel go.” On the surface this is a pragmatic objection—why bow to a power you have not encountered? Many of us have uttered variations of that question when confronted with God’s claims: if I have not met him, why should I change my life for him?
But the Bible presses us beyond mere skepticism about reputation into the reality of divine self‑revelation. The LORD of Exodus is not a new local deity; he is the covenant God who acts, speaks, and bears witness in history. In the fullness of revelation that culminates in Christ, God does not remain an anonymous force but becomes known in relationship: the One who commands is also the One who stoops to meet us, to pursue the lost, to bear our sin. Ignorance does not nullify God’s authority, and encountering him is not a matter of academic assent but of a personal, transforming encounter with the living Lord.
Practically, when we stand in Pharaoh’s place—unfamiliar, suspicious, or resistant—the faithful response is not clever argumentation but vulnerability before God. Admit the not‑knowing, ask to be shown, and take small steps of obedience: pray honestly, read Scripture with a listening heart, talk with Christians who live out their faith, and respond to the claims of Jesus in trust rather than insisting on every answer before you move. History shows that hardened hearts that refuse to see God ultimately face judgment; grace, by contrast, meets those who seek him. God’s call confronts our comfort, but it also offers a mercy that changes wills and opens eyes.
If you find yourself saying, “I do not know the LORD,” take that phrase as an invitation rather than a verdict. Jesus stands as the living Lord who makes the Father known and draws near to the seeking soul; he welcomes honest questions and offers forgiveness, guidance, and new life. Turn toward him in prayer and small acts of faith—he delights to make himself known to those who humbly ask. Be encouraged: the God who spoke to Moses speaks still, and he loves to be known by those who come to him.