Moses: A Flawed Hero Of The Faith Series

So, faith accepts God’s plan.

II. Faith Accepts God’s Purpose (11:24-26)

Second, faith accepts God’s purpose.

Hebrews 11:24-25 state, “By faith Moses, when he was grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, choosing rather to be mistreated with the people of God than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin.” Moses was raised as the adopted daughter of Pharaoh. When he came to manhood, however, he could have chosen to remain in Pharaoh’s family, with all the privileges that would have come along with being a member of the royal family. Some scholars speculate that Moses might even have become Pharaoh.

However, Moses also came to possess a true understanding of the word of God and the purpose of God for the people of God, of which he was also a member by birth. Although Moses could have enjoyed vast wealth and pleasure, he chose instead to align himself with God’s people and God’s purpose.

Believers are constantly faced with the pleasures of this world, whether it be power, pleasure, popularity, possessions, and so on. There is a choice to love the things of this world or to love God. Jesus once said, “No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money” (Matthew 6:24).

Moses was eventually mistreated with the people of God but he embraced the purpose of God. Believers must think long-term. Yes, there may be pleasure in the short term. But once they are passed, and they will pass, what is then left?

Let us embrace the purpose of God, which will last for all eternity.

Concerning Moses, Hebrews 11:26 states, “He considered the reproach of Christ greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking to the reward.” Moses grew up in the royal palace of Pharaoh as the adopted son of Pharaoh’s daughter. Pharaoh had vast, almost unimaginable wealth. All of this was available to Moses.

However, Moses also learned about his biological ancestors. He learned about the promise made after the fall of Adam in Genesis 3:15, where God said to the serpent,

“I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.”

Moses learned about the promise God made to Abraham in Genesis 12:1-3,

“Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

Moses understood that God was going to send a Promised Deliverer. He did not know his name but we do. That Promised Deliverer was Jesus Christ. Moses was willing to forego all the treasures of Egypt and suffer “the reproach of Christ” because he “was looking to the reward,” the glory of being with the Lord and his people for all eternity.