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23 By faith Moses, when he was born, was hidden three months by his parents, because they saw he was a beautiful child; and they were not afraid of the king’s command. 24 By faith Moses, when he became of age, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, 25 choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin, 26 esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt; for he looked to the reward. ~ Hebrews 11:23-26
Today, we continue our study of biblical faith in Hebrews 11. Having consider several from the Old Testament, today we turn our attention to Moses whom God specifically chose to lead the Israelites from captivity in Egypt to salvation in the Promised Land. Moses was also the mediator of the Old Covenant and is commonly referred to as the giver of the Law.
The unknown writer of this letter wrote to a group of young Hebrew Christians who had come to recognize the Lord Jesus as the long promised Messiah of the Old Testament. They had left Judaism because it had developed into a system of works which taught that if one were good enough and moral enough, and observed all of the ceremonies and all the rituals, and did their part to keep the Law externally, and do all of the required things that the rabbis had added, they would be accepted by God. As they came to understand, it is impossible to earn the favor of God. If it were possible for any of us to measure up to acceptability before Him, He would be a very small god.
In v.23 of today's passage we read, "By faith Moses, when he was born, was hidden three months by his parents, because they saw he was a beautiful child; and they were not afraid of the king’s command."
Moses' life can be described in three forties, the first forty was spent growing up in Egyptian luxury, the second forty he shepherded another man's sheep on the backside of the wilderness, and the last forty was spent leading the Israelites out of Egypt. D.L. Moody once said, "Moses spent forty years thinking he was somebody; forty years learning he was nobody; and forty years discovering what God can do with a nobody."
The providence of God is when God uses the events of our lives to miraculously bring about His will in and through our lives. Such was the case for Moses. The Jews had become so innumerable in Egypt that Pharaoh issued a decree to have all the Hebrew male newborns thrown into the Nile river. But, God spared the life of Moses for obvious reason. The word "beautiful" indicates God gave Moses outstanding physical features that served him in the various callings God made on his life. This illustrates: Where God guides, He will provide.
In v.24 of today's passage we read, "By faith Moses, when he became of age, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter."
Moses weighed the wealth of Egypt and the prestige of royalty against the satisfaction of knowing the living God and being His instrument in the lives of his people. He without hesitation Moses chose God’s will because he looked beyond the visible and saw the invisible. He saw God at work and, because of that, Moses became the man, more than any other man in recorded history, who saw God doing things and learned to know God most intimately. Faith in the God of the Bible rejects this world’s prestige.
Moses, by the providence of God, had been put in a basket covered with pitch and set in the Nile River to float away. His mother did that because there was a decree to kill all of the Hebrew babies. And so, in order to save his life, they simply let him float away, cared only for by the providence of God. Had he been one of the Hebrew babies to be killed by Pharaoh, there would have been no story of Moses.
As a baby, Moses floated down the river, and, just so happened to be discovered by the daughter of Pharaoh who claimed him as her son. Amazingly, for the first twelve years of Moses life, the most impressionable years of his life, Moses was raised miraculously by his mother. The daughter of Pharaoh needed someone to nurse the baby and that nursing led to twelve years in the home of his biological parents.
With the formal education in Egypt, Moses learned hieroglyphics and hieratic scripts. He no doubt copied the texts that were part of his formal education. And, while doing that he learned the languages of surrounding nations. All of this was used of the Lord to use Moses to write much of the Old Testament.
In v.25 of today's passage we read, "choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin."
The way the writer of Hebrews lays out the faith of Moses shows how His faith acted. Moses made a series of choices. In fact, the word "choosing" reveals his life was marked by choices related to his faith in the God of the Bible. This word used by the writer of Hebrews translated "choosing" reveals Moses made a judgment. It was not a rash conclusion, he made it after much contemplation. And, his choice did not render the easiest path for Moses.
Choice is the hinge of destiny. We make choices and our choices make us. For forty years Moses knew luxury and ease, and then, he chose the will of God for his life. And, the will of God often includes little luxury and disease while we live on this earth.
When we choose God's will, we are enabled to see the temporary nature of this world's pleasures. The will of God for our lives also enables us to see that which is most substantive in this life. Moses chose to suffer which led him to a biblical family. It was in that context that Moses learned the deeper truths of God. It is in the context of a family that our greatest needs are met. The two essential elements of family, marriage and parenthood, reveal God’s character like nothing else in Creation. The love between a husband and wife provides a glimpse of Christ’s passionate devotion to us as His bride. In the same way, the ups and downs of parenthood offer a compelling picture of God’s tenderness and patience toward us as His children. And family provides a safe place where children can experience God’s love through the parents and learn how to love other people.
In v.26 of today's passage we read, "esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt; for he looked to the reward."
Clearly, Moses is the picture of one who demonstrates that salvation comes not by works or ritual, but by faith in the God of the Bible. Moses was granted personal belief in the living God, and he built upon his belief through many trials in his 120 years on this earth. Moses choices' enabled him to see what others could not see. As a result, Moses had vision.
Moses endured reproach that was similar to that which Christ endured, although he didn’t know about Christ and didn’t know Christ, he just knew that there was the promise of the coming Deliverer. But we know, and the readers of Hebrews know that he was willing to take a reproach to move from having everything to basically having nothing, from being honored, to being treated with scorn and disdain, as was Christ. Like the Lord Jesus, Moses was rich but he chose to become poor for the sake of others.
