It Takes Faith (Part Eight) Series

IT TAKES FAITH (part eight)

Hebrews 11:23-26

Now we come to Moses-the one who challenged Pharaoh and delivered the Israelites out of Egypt. The great leader of the nation of Israel in the desert wanderings. Although these are the things Moses is best known for, there was much going on in the life of Moses before all this took place. Moses exhibited faith well before he became the leader of the Israelites.

1) The faith of Moses' parents (23).

Heb. 11:23, "By faith Moses' parents hid him for three months after he was born, because they saw he was no ordinary child, and they were not afraid of the king's edict."

The Hebrews being in the land of Egypt goes back to the time of Joseph. When there was a famine in the Canaan, Pharaoh told Joseph (who was 2nd in command) to go back and get all his family members and come and settle in Egypt.

Now, fast forward to the time of Moses and we have a different Pharaoh who wasn't so nice. Exodus one talks about how he didn't like how numerous the Israelites had become and sought to do something about it. His first shot was to make them all slaves but the more they were oppressed the more they multiplied. So when that didn't work he told the Hebrew midwives to kill every boy when it was born. But they feared God and would not do that.

Then the king gave the decree to everyone that every boy born to the Hebrews must be thrown into the Nile river. Now, with everyone knowing this, if anyone saw a Hebrew baby boy it could be reported to Pharaoh and action could be taken. But we see that Moses' parents ignored the decree and hid him for three months.

"She saw that he was no ordinary child". There was something unique about Moses. This may also be translated as, "fair in the sight of God". So it was somehow apparent to Moses' mother that this child was to be someone special in the service of God.

So when it was no longer possible to keep him hidden she puts him in a basket coated with pitch and sends him down the river where eventually Pharaoh's daughter happens upon it and takes him in as her own. Moses' sister, Miriam, had been watching all along and she when she sees Pharaoh's daughter find him she jumps into action, setting it up for her mom to be Moses' nurse. Pharaoh's daughter accepts the idea and, unbeknownst to her, has Moses' own mother nurse him and wean him.

We see that Moses' parents took a risk in hiding Moses from the king who had said that all newborn boys were to be killed. And they also took a risk putting him in a basket and sailing him down the Nile river. But this is how faith acts. Faith enables us to be willing to take risks for the right reasons. Moses' mother saw there was something special about him and that divine understanding superseded the king's order.

She would rather face the king for disobeying the order rather than face God for going against what she knew she needed to do with Moses. We need to be like that too. We shouldn't allow any concerns we might have to stand in the way of us doing what we know God wants us to do. But it takes faith to take risks. And now we will see that Moses' faith caused him to take some risks.

2) The faith of Moses (24-26).

Hebrews 11:24-26, "By faith, Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be known as the son of Pharaoh's daughter. He chose to be mistreated along with the people of God rather than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a short time. He regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt because he was looking ahead to his reward."

"When he had grown up". Acts 7:23 says that Moses was 40 when this happened. Moses came to a defining moment in his life when he decided he didn't want to be known as the son of Pharaoh's daughter. It probably wasn't her so much as it was the aspect of being an Egyptian.

How exactly he came to understand that he was a Hebrew is not exactly known. But the fact is he knew, at some point, who he truly was and he decided that he was going to leave it all behind and go be with his people. This is quite a sacrifice. Aligning himself with Hebrew slaves meant a much more humble and strenuous lifestyle rather than continuing to live in the comfort of royalty.

But for him, he may have lived a comfortable life on the outside but he would've been uncomfortable on the inside. He saw how his people were being treated. He could've taken the easy road and stayed where he was and quite possibly rose in power to become the next Pharaoh. But he knew in his heart he couldn't do that. He couldn't continue to serve Egyptian gods when his heart was with the one, true God.