By Faith: In the life of Moses
Notes
Transcript
Handout
Handout
Hebrews 11:23-29
Hebrews 11:23-29
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. 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. He considered the reproach of Christ greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking to the reward. By faith he left Egypt, not being afraid of the anger of the king, for he endured as seeing him who is invisible. By faith he kept the Passover and sprinkled the blood, so that the Destroyer of the firstborn might not touch them.
By faith the people crossed the Red Sea as on dry land, but the Egyptians, when they attempted to do the same, were drowned.
Introduction
Introduction
We are saved by faith, but this begins a life of faith in God
Each culture has a “hero” that is given honor and reverence. Sometimes the stories about that person lives a separate life and grows through the years.
A great example of this is the story of George Washington and the cherry tree.
These “heroes” can be found is numerous cultures and sub-cultures. These can be men like Martin Luther, George Washington, Harriet Tubman, Ronald Reagan.
Some examples of sub-culture are sports “heroes” like Bob Stoops, Barry Sanders or Bo Jackson.
We see monuments, denominations and documentaries made about these “heroes”.
From a Jewish perspective, Moses is one of the greatest. Yes, you have Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Joseph. Abraham was esteemed as the Father of Isreal, but I would argue that Moses had the higher esteem.
If you are a Jew, here is what Moses is to you (according to Kent Hughes):
He was Israel’s greatest prophet. (Numbers 12:6-8)
And he said, “Hear my words: If there is a prophet among you, I the Lord make myself known to him in a vision; I speak with him in a dream. Not so with my servant Moses. He is faithful in all my house. With him I speak mouth to mouth, clearly, and not in riddles, and he beholds the form of the Lord. Why then were you not afraid to speak against my servant Moses?”
He was Israel’s greatest lawgiver.
Ever heard of the Mosiac law?
He was Israel’s great ( I would argue the world’s) historian.
He was Israel’s greatest saint.
Now the man Moses was very meek, more than all people who were on the face of the earth.
He was Israel’s greatest deliverer.
So now that we have a better understanding of Moses, let’s look at these verses to see faith in the life of Moses.
By Faith: Amram and Jochebed
By Faith: Amram and Jochebed
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.
Faith drives action.
The author of Hebrews begins with the phrase By Faith, but notice who is acting in faith.
It says By faith Moses, but he was a newborn. It was the faith of his parents Amran and Jochebed that is working in this verse.
Now here is the background of this verse.
Then the king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives, one of whom was named Shiphrah and the other Puah, “When you serve as midwife to the Hebrew women and see them on the birthstool, if it is a son, you shall kill him, but if it is a daughter, she shall live.” But the midwives feared God and did not do as the king of Egypt commanded them, but let the male children live. So the king of Egypt called the midwives and said to them, “Why have you done this, and let the male children live?” The midwives said to Pharaoh, “Because the Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian women, for they are vigorous and give birth before the midwife comes to them.” So God dealt well with the midwives. And the people multiplied and grew very strong. And because the midwives feared God, he gave them families. Then Pharaoh commanded all his people, “Every son that is born to the Hebrews you shall cast into the Nile, but you shall let every daughter live.”
Now a man from the house of Levi went and took as his wife a Levite woman. The woman conceived and bore a son, and when she saw that he was a fine child, she hid him three months. When she could hide him no longer, she took for him a basket made of bulrushes and daubed it with bitumen and pitch. She put the child in it and placed it among the reeds by the river bank. And his sister stood at a distance to know what would be done to him. Now the daughter of Pharaoh came down to bathe at the river, while her young women walked beside the river. She saw the basket among the reeds and sent her servant woman, and she took it. When she opened it, she saw the child, and behold, the baby was crying. She took pity on him and said, “This is one of the Hebrews’ children.”
I want you to notice the specific wording in Hebrews “because they saw that the child was beautiful.
This brings me to another point about faith.
We can trust God to complete His plans.
Why do I connect this to the use of the word beautiful in Hebrews.
I want you to look at three verses describing Moses
The woman conceived and bore a son, and when she saw that he was a fine child, she hid him three months.
At this time Moses was born; and he was beautiful in God’s sight. And he was brought up for three months in his father’s house,
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.
I know babies are cute and they are beautiful, however there is something different about baby Moses.
In fact, Josephus claims that Amram (his father) was given a vision about Moses and that he was going to deliver his people.
Whether this is true or not, we do know that even Joseph knew God had planned to deliver the people from Egypt.
By faith Joseph, at the end of his life, made mention of the exodus of the Israelites and gave directions concerning his bones.
Remember that faith is in the known God, to work out the unknown.
The Lord of hosts has sworn: “As I have planned, so shall it be, and as I have purposed, so shall it stand,
This is the purpose that is purposed concerning the whole earth, and this is the hand that is stretched out over all the nations. For the Lord of hosts has purposed, and who will annul it? His hand is stretched out, and who will turn it back?
It is this knowledge that Amram and Jochebed were not afraid of the king’s edict. They had faith in God over the power of the king.
Notice that this was not a one time matter of faith, but this was a on-going action of faith. They hid a baby for three months. I do not know about you, but this is quite a feat of faith.
However, we see that God had a plan. Not only were Amram and Jochebed able to keep Moses hidden, they were able to place him in the household of Pharaoh.
If that was not enough, we then see that Jochebed was then hired to nurse Moses. This could have been up to three years old. I think the amazing aspect is that this would have keep a connection between Moses and his parents well after he was weaned. So even though Moses was in the house of Pharaoh, he was still taught about God and the Israelites.
Why does this matter?
It is logical to assume that Moses was taught the faith of the Israelites and about God.
This is why Pastor Mike and I are passionate (even dogmatic) about regularly reading and studying the Word.
Your outward actions indicate your internal beliefs! Especially when facing external pressures.
This is what happened in the life of Moses, he was called to make a choice.
By Faith: Refusing in order to gain
By Faith: Refusing in order to gain
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.
Let’s put this in context. This is like renouncing a title like the Duke of Essex. Moses refusing was not a small thing.
It is really hard for us to fully understand this action in a modern context. But he went from the life of luxury to a life of slavery and mistreatment.
Moreover, he did not do this as a young man. Moses was around 40 when he made this choice.
He gave up immense riches, pleasure and wealth to be one of the people of God.
Remember how Pharaoh treated the Jews when Moses was born. He committed genoicide against the Jews and there was no condemnation from the Egyptians. There were no special counsels or tribunals, there was no earthly power angry over this action.
I am not saying this went unnoticed, absolutely not, God knew. He had the plan and judgement was coming, not only for Pharaoh but for the nation of Egypt.
But I call to God, and the Lord will save me. Evening and morning and at noon I utter my complaint and moan, and he hears my voice. He redeems my soul in safety from the battle that I wage, for many are arrayed against me. God will give ear and humble them, he who is enthroned from of old, Selah because they do not change and do not fear God.
Arise, O Lord! Let not man prevail; let the nations be judged before you! Put them in fear, O Lord! Let the nations know that they are but men! Selah
Jeremiah starting in chapter 46 tell the nations that their judgement was coming. God used these nations to punish Israel for their disobedience and sin against God. But those nations were going to feel the full force of God’s wrath for their own transgressions against God.
This is why the second half of verse 26 is importance.
He considered the reproach of Christ greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking to the reward.
What did Moses gain? He gained Christ!
He went on his way through towns and villages, teaching and journeying toward Jerusalem. And someone said to him, “Lord, will those who are saved be few?” And he said to them, “Strive to enter through the narrow door. For many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able. When once the master of the house has risen and shut the door, and you begin to stand outside and to knock at the door, saying, ‘Lord, open to us,’ then he will answer you, ‘I do not know where you come from.’ Then you will begin to say, ‘We ate and drank in your presence, and you taught in our streets.’ But he will say, ‘I tell you, I do not know where you come from. Depart from me, all you workers of evil!’ In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God but you yourselves cast out. And people will come from east and west, and from north and south, and recline at table in the kingdom of God. And behold, some are last who will be first, and some are first who will be last.”
As for the rich in this present age, charge them not to be haughty, nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy.
For in this way there will be richly provided for you an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Moses refused earthly honor to gain eternal riches in Christ!
As we see in the Scripture, this was the first act of faith of Moses but it was not the last. Remember I said that external actions are driven by internal faith.
Moses separated himself from the house of Pharaoh societally, the next action we see is that he physically separated from Egypt.
By Faith: Leaving
By Faith: Leaving
By faith he left Egypt, not being afraid of the anger of the king, for he endured as seeing him who is invisible.
There is some debate on which time Moses left Egypt. Some say this is the first time he left, others say it is the final exodus from Egypt.
I believe that the reason is because of the apparent discrepancy between Exodus 2:14 and Hebrews 11:27
So to make this fit some use the second exodus as the background for verse 27.
I do not think this makes sense, as all of the events of this passage are in chronological order, so I believe this is the first time he left Egypt.
One day, when Moses had grown up, he went out to his people and looked on their burdens, and he saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his people. He looked this way and that, and seeing no one, he struck down the Egyptian and hid him in the sand. When he went out the next day, behold, two Hebrews were struggling together. And he said to the man in the wrong, “Why do you strike your companion?” He answered, “Who made you a prince and a judge over us? Do you mean to kill me as you killed the Egyptian?” Then Moses was afraid, and thought, “Surely the thing is known.” When Pharaoh heard of it, he sought to kill Moses. But Moses fled from Pharaoh and stayed in the land of Midian. And he sat down by a well.
So now we know the background, how do we resolve the apparent conflict?
Here is another point.
Faith does not eliminate fear, it keeps fear from dominating our actions!
It is clear that Moses feared Pharaoh, this is easily seen in Exodus 2 and the following chapters.
But what about Hebrews 11?
Dennis Johnson provides the clearest explanation.
“To attribute Moses’ flight from Egypt to his faith instead of to his fear of the king conveniently parallels our author’s (Hebrews) treatment of Moses’ parents protection of his in infancy as being motivated by their faith in God, not their fear of the king. But surely a desire to highlight this parallel cannot justify our author’s deliberately suppressing the truth about his fear that Moses frankly confessed when he wrote Exodus. Our preacher’s (Hebrews) point seems to be that although Moses was afraid of the king’s wrath (as anyone familiar with the OT knows), his faith, not his fear was the dominant motive in driving him out of Egypt.”
Dennis Johnson
We conquer fear by having our focus on the invisible God!
This is how Moses was able to keep his faith the dominating factor in his actions.
The fear of man lays a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord is safe.
He had faith in God, this is the invisible.
We know the invisible from reading our Scripture, but there are times when He reveals the invisible to people.
When the servant of the man of God rose early in the morning and went out, behold, an army with horses and chariots was all around the city. And the servant said, “Alas, my master! What shall we do?” He said, “Do not be afraid, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.” Then Elisha prayed and said, “O Lord, please open his eyes that he may see.” So the Lord opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw, and behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.
Paul tells us about a man (probably himself) who was caught up to the third heaven, the experience was indescribable.
We need to remind ourselves daily of the invisible God we serve, we need to remind ourselves that while He is invisible, He is not distant, He is not absent and He is not weak.
Many seek the face of a ruler, but it is from the Lord that a man gets justice.
This last point was fully emphasized in the background events of verse 28.
By Faith: Passover
By Faith: Passover
By faith he kept the Passover and sprinkled the blood, so that the Destroyer of the firstborn might not touch them.
After striking Egypt with nine plagues, Pharaoh’s heart was still hardened against God. God then instructed Moses on the next plague. However this one was different, there were very specific instructions to the Israelites. These instructions became the Passover celebration. So the writer of Hebrews is correct when he says that Moses kept the Passover, then the Destroyer came.
The lamb’s blood was the shield from Destruction, just like Christ’s blood.
There is not a clearer picture of salvation than of the Passover.
Who sent the Destroyer? God sent him.
Do you have the blood of the Lamb protecting you?
This is the only refuge from the Destruction to come.
Finally we see the Egyptian saga coming to a close and again faith plays a part in the events. But there is a difference
By Faith: Crossing
By Faith: Crossing
By faith the people crossed the Red Sea as on dry land, but the Egyptians, when they attempted to do the same, were drowned.
I want you to notice that the author of Hebrews starts the section on Moses with the faith of his parents and ends with the faith of the people. Moses is a central figure of this passage of verses, but it is bookend by the faith of others.
Faith drives individual and community actions.
Look at these passages, we see individual faith in Amram, Jochebed and Moses. Each had to exercise individual faith in the actions they undertook. These were actions of individual faith, similar to our individual faith in Christ for salvation. This is one of the many examples of how our individual faith is driving our individual actions.
But there are also times where the collective faith of a community is driven to action. This is one of those times. The author of Hebrews is reminding us that we have a collective part in this work.
The Christian faith is individual in salvation but communal in practice.
William Wilberforce is known for ending slavery in the British Empire, but did you know he is also a part of an entire culture change in England. It was a spiritually dark country.
But....
As Charles Wesley warned Wilberforce, pursuing scriptural cultural reformation by our own resources and strength, as though cultural action alone were sufficient, would be a great mistake ending in exhaustion and disappointment. Wilberforce understood that there would be no preservation of justice nor the growth of godly social order without a transformation of people’s hearts and minds – beginning with the individual.
Charles Colson correctly noted that: Wilberforce ultimately prevailed because he understood the futility of attempting to end a systemic evil without also changing citizens' values and dispositions. He knew he not only had to work for justice; he also had to convince people of the need for the moral consensus that flowed from a biblical worldview.
This needs to be a reminder for us today. We are facing a number of challenges and pain in our world.
We are now at a point in collective faith in action. Are we going to learn from the example of history? Or are we going to try a new but failed way?
We see an example here today, we are baptizing three people. These are changed hearts, these are new creations in Christ.
Imagine what a world will be when we see true change from an army of new believers in Christ.