Moses: A Flawed Hero Of The Faith Series

Introduction

Two weeks ago, I started a sermon series from Hebrews 11 that I am calling, “Flawed: Heroes of the Faith.” This five-week sermon series explores the lives and flaws of some of the believers listed in Hebrews 11. Last week, we studied Sarah, a flawed heroine of the faith. Today, we are going to study Moses, a flawed hero of the faith.

Moses, along with Abraham and David, was one of the greatest men of the ancient people of God. Jews today, along with Christians, still revere him for his great faith, and rightly so. Yes, Moses had his flaws. But Moses also had great faith.

Not many years ago, a nationwide poll was taken in the United States on religious questions. People were asked whether they believed in God. 95 percent of those polled answered “yes.” When asked whether religion in any way affected their politics and their business, 54 percent said “no.”

In other words, the vast majority of people believed in the existence of God, but they did not have a directing faith. Faith shows itself in action. Faith encompasses the entire spectrum of life’s encounters and experiences.

Today, we are going to learn about Moses. The writer to the Hebrews used Moses’ life as an illustration of faith. Moses teaches us that faith makes itself known by its choices.

Scripture

Let’s read Hebrews 11:23-29:

23 By faith Moses, when he was born, was hidden for three months by his parents, because they saw that the child was beautiful, and they were not afraid of the king’s edict.

24 By faith Moses, when he was grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, 25 choosing rather to be mistreated with the people of God than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. 26 He considered the reproach of Christ greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking to the reward.

27 By faith he left Egypt, not being afraid of the anger of the king, for he endured as seeing him who is invisible.

28 By faith he kept the Passover and sprinkled the blood, so that the Destroyer of the firstborn might not touch them.

29 By faith the people crossed the Red Sea as on dry land, but the Egyptians, when they attempted to do the same, were drowned.

Lesson

Hebrews 11:23-29 teaches us that faith makes itself known by its choices.

Moses’ life illustrated and demonstrated his faith and the choices he made. The words “by faith” are used five times in these verses and each section shows us how faith makes itself known by its choices.

I. Faith Accepts God’s Plan (11:23)

First, faith accepts God’s plan.

Hebrews 11:23 states, “By faith Moses, when he was born, was hidden for three months by his parents, because they saw that the child was beautiful, and they were not afraid of the king’s edict.”

Verse 23 begins with the parents of Moses. Their names were Amram and Jochebed (Exodus 6:20). When their child Moses was born, they saw that he was “beautiful.” Somehow they sensed that God had given them a “favored” child. Therefore, they refused to obey Pharaoh’s edict and hand the child over to be killed.

They had him preserved in the water of the Nile. Moses’ older sister Miriam was posted by her parents to watch over the basket in which Moses had been placed in the Nile river.

Eventually, Moses was discovered by Pharaoh’s daughter when she went down to bathe in the river. Quick-thinking Miriam said to Pharaoh’s daughter,

“Shall I go and call you a nurse from the Hebrew women to nurse the child for you?”

And Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Go.” So Miriam went and called Moses’ mother.

And Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Take this child away and nurse him for me, and I will give you your wages.”

So Jochebed, Moses’ mother, took the child and nursed him.

When the child grew older, she brought him to Pharaoh’s daughter, and he became her son. She named him Moses, “Because,” she said, “I drew him out of the water” (Exodus 2:7-10).

We don’t know how much older Moses was when Jochebed took him back to Pharaoh’s daughter. He was likely old enough to know that he was not truly an Egyptian but rather an Israelite. His mother undoubtedly taught him some of the basic truths about God and Biblical faith.

Hebrews 11:1 states, “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” Moses’ parents had a conviction that God had given them a special child, which later proved to be correct.

How does such faith work practically for us today?

It seems to me that as believers we cultivate our relationship with God by reading his word and speaking to him in prayer. We seek his direction constantly as we go about each day. Sometimes there are rather big decisions, such as a potential spouse, job opportunity, home purchase, school choice, and so on. We may want to write down reasons for and against a particular choice or set of choices. And throughout the process, we constantly speak to the Lord in prayer asking him to guide our decision. Eventually, we have to make a selection and we trust that the Lord has led us in making that decision. Sometime later, sometimes many years later, we will be able to look back and see how the Lord led us to make that decision by faith.