It Takes Faith (Part Nine) Series

IT TAKES FAITH (part nine)

Hebrews 11:27-29

INTRODUCTION: We read in vs. 24-26 how Moses left the palace because he no longer wanted to partake in the pleasures of sin and instead saw greater value in the purpose of God. And he could go through with this major life change because he was looking ahead to his reward. Now, as we get into the next few verses we'll see Moses' faith in leading the Israelites out of Egypt. It takes faith to stay the course despite the opposition.

1) Moses' faith was in the unseen (27).

Heb. 11:27, "By faith he left Egypt, not fearing the king's anger; he persevered because he saw him who is invisible."

I think this mainly applies to Moses when he was willing to approach Pharaoh to demand the Israelites be released from their bondage. Although I also think it took courage to be willing to leave the palace and not be afraid of the Pharaoh's response. There was some fear after he killed the Egyptian but not when he made the decision to leave the palace.

If Pharaoh wanted to he could've had Moses put to death. His mind was made up; he was going to do what God wanted him to do. Moses' faith in God superseded his fear of man. We need to do what God wants us to do despite the potential fears and fallout. Sharing the gospel can be scary but our desire to be a witness for Christ needs to supersede our fear of doing it. In Eph. 6 Paul asked the people to pray that he would fearlessly declare the gospel.

Making sacrifices for the Lord can be scary. When we tithe we can be afraid of not being able to pay all the bills. There are times in our life where following Jesus may invoke certain fears. That's when we keep our focus on the invisible God more than our visible circumstances.

"He persevered because he saw him who is invisible". Moses developed relationships within the Egyptian community. Moses would've had a strong bond with the woman who raised him. I'm sure he had a good relationship with his surrogate grandfather, the Pharaoh. So when Moses made the decision to leave the palace he had to have thought about how Pharaoh and others would react. But God's will outweighed his will and the will of those he loved and who loved him.

He followed through with his decision because of what God laid on his heart. And his commitment would be seen in his dedication to leading the Israelites from Egypt and through the desert wanderings with all the drama that would ensue during those 40 years. Yes, he was in the presence of God on the mountain when he received the ten commandments but God was not a visible presence in his everyday affairs. He relied on his faith to continue to get him through on a daily basis.

Perseverance results from keeping our focus on God. When we're focused on God our problems are quite small in comparison. Moses' faith caused him to follow through with God's command to challenge Pharaoh to let the Israelites go. Moses' faith allowed him to be more concerned about the wrath of God than the wrath of Pharaoh. Moses feared God; not man.

Psalm 56:4, "In God, whose word I praise, in God I trust; I will not be afraid. What can mortal man do to me?" David's trust was in the immortal God; not the mortal man. David was convinced of the fact that the power and ability of God was greater than the power and ability of man so what was there to fear?

This was the principle Moses lived by and we should live by it too. We will persist through our visible situations when we are focused on the invisible God.

2) Faith involves trust and obedience (28-29).

Heb. 11:28, "By faith he kept the Passover and the sprinkling of blood, so that the destroyer of the firstborn would not touch the firstborn of Israel."

Up until now there had been nine plagues. First was the plague of blood where all the water in the Nile, canals, streams, ponds, reservoirs, even the water in buckets and jars would be turned to blood. The fish died and the stench was awful. All the Egyptians had to dig along the riverbank to find drinking water.

But, what's interesting is that Exodus 7:22 says the Egyptian magicians performed the same feat. I doubt it was anywhere near what Moses had accomplished since he had already performed it but nonetheless because of that Pharaoh's heart was hard and he would not listen to God's decree to let his people go.

Then came the plague of frogs. There were so many frogs they were everywhere-on their beds, in their ovens and kneading troughs, they covered the land. But, again, Pharaoh's magicians were able to do the same. However, why I don't think it was of the same magnitude was Pharaoh sent for Moses to make a deal-call off the frogs and I will let the people go and worship. God honored his end of the bargain but Pharaoh did not.