The Faith of Moses (Hebrews 11:23-28)

If we were to conduct a survey in order to find out which persons had influenced history in a notable way we would find that many people would mention Moses. After all, he has a prominent place in three religions – Christianity, Islam and Judaism. Most people would also be aware of his involvement in the ten plagues that came on Egypt as well as his role in the giving of the Ten Commandments.

His parents

The writer begins his description of Moses by referring to the faith of his parents Amram and Jochebed (Num. 26:59), which had its triumph in their response to the commandment of Pharaoh that all male Jewish babies should be killed. Four features marked their faith: harmony, action, discernment and courage.

The first detail is their harmony in faith. It was not only his mother that had faith, although her involvement is prominent in the Exodus account. Both parents were united in their commitment to God. This is obviously a great spiritual benefit.

Second, the action that the author mentions is not the fact that the infant Moses was placed in a basket on the Nile. No doubt, that action was done in faith, but the author sees their prior activity as being more important for his audience, perhaps because of the prolonged length of time in which they hid a baby liable to cry and reveal his existence. His readers were going through a prolonged period of testing, and perhaps they would be challenged by the willingness of Moses’ parents to continue hiding their baby. In any case, their faith was accompanied by an appropriate action; it did not expect God to protect their child without their involvement.

Third, the author also points out their discernment of the uniqueness of Moses – they saw he was a beautiful child. What was it that they saw in Moses? I suspect this is not a reference to his physical beauty but to their awareness that God had a special place for Moses. They may have received this information by a special divine revelation or become convinced about it as they prayed to God before the child was born. Josephus, the Jewish historian, says that God informed Amram, during the pregnancy of his wife, that their child would deliver Israel from Egypt. How they deduced it is not important for us to know; if it was important for us, God would have told us. What was crucial for them was their faith that God would help them to protect their infant son.

Fourthly, the author mentions their courage. Faith produces bravery not bravado. Because it sees God, it puts everyone else, including powerful rulers, into perspective.

In this little snapshot of a Hebrew family, we see several important principles for Christian families today. Just as his parents hid Moses from danger, so parents today should hide children from danger, not only physical danger but also spiritual danger. They should watch the influences on the lives of their children. We know that Jochebed was determined to teach Moses even after he was adopted by Pharaoh’s daughter, and much of his later decisions can be traced to her involvement. Parents should monitor videos their children watch, books that they read, and friends that they choose.

Another principle taught here is that parents should obey God rather than the state if the latter requires them to perform activities that are sinful.

A third principle is that Christian parents should perceive their children as having potential for God. Most children of Christian parents will not become famous adults like Moses, although some will become prominent later in life. Yet each has the potential to be a Christian and the biggest influence in their lives will be the home. Many Christians can testify to the value of their parental upbringing, that they were brought up in the admonition and nurture of the Lord.

There are two other points that I would mention from the story of the birth of Moses. First, God’s remedy for a difficult situation may have small beginnings. When Moses was born, the Israelites were enduring great bondage, a bondage that increased during the period that Moses was growing up. These suffering Israelites had no idea that the man appointed by God to deliver them was alive, living in Pharaoh’s palace. This is always the case as far as God’s deliverers are concerned. For example, John Knox the Reformer and George Whitefield the Revivalist were born in days when God’s cause was low. People who saw them as children had no idea about their future roles. But God had sent them into the world at that time for a purpose, which was to deliver his people several decades later.

Second, our little acts of faith may have great consequences. Each step of faith that Moses’ parents made was crucial. They did what all godly parents would have done at that time. The results of the future come about through the actions of the present. There is nothing insignificant that a Christian parent does for their children – the parent should ensure that it is significant for good.

            

The faith of Moses

Yet as far as Moses was concerned, it was not enough that he had believing parents. He had to become a man of faith for himself. As an adult he did become a believer and the author of the chapter tells us of what Moses’ faith consisted. In a sense, it can be summarised by the phrase ‘careful choice’. What did the beginning of his choice include?

The beginning of Moses’ faith

First, there was his association with the people of God rather than with the society of Pharaoh’s palace. He made this choice when he was come to years (adulthood), although the phrase could mean when he was made great in the court of Pharaoh. As suggested above, the basis of his choice is most likely the instruction that his mother gave him when she was employed as a nursemaid. This is an encouragement to parents to instruct their children when they are young because they will remember it later. In making this choice, Moses was saying what Ruth said to Naomi centuries later: ‘Your people shall be my people, and your God my God’ (Ruth 1:16).

Why did Moses make this choice? The author mentions two reasons: there was his assessment of the lifestyles of the two groups and there was his appraisal of the destiny of the two groups.

His assessment included noting the afflictions of God’s people. To the eye of sense, the Israelites were slaves. But Moses had been told of their destiny, that their God had informed their ancestor Abraham that they would be eventually delivered from Egypt although they would suffer there for a long time. The God who had predicted accurately their distress had promised their deliverance.

Moses’ faith caused him to act in a way that made it totally clear to whom he belonged. It is possible to imagine someone saying to Moses, ‘Look at the important place God has given to you in providence in placing you in the palace. Don’t make too much fuss about your beliefs and once you have more power you will be able to do a lot of good for your people.’ But Moses realised that obedience to God’s requirements is more important than compromise resulting from a wrong deduction from providence. We should never use providence as a reason for disobedience.

Moses’ assessment also included realising the basic nature of the Egyptian lifestyle. Although it was enjoyable, it was sinful. I suspect that when many think of sin they think of murder or other crimes. Obviously, these actions are acts of disobedience to God. But these actions cannot be described as ‘pleasures of sin’. Sin has other aspects in addition to awful actions. A sinner is a person who falls short of the glory of God, who puts something else in place of God. Moses could look round the activities of Pharaoh’s palace and note its political decisions, its wealth, its entertainments, its ambitions, and see that God was not involved in any of these activities. He was in a godless environment, even if it was a happy and pleasant one.

Moses also knew that the Israelites had an even greater promise than deliverance from Egypt; he knew that through them would come the Messiah, the promised Deliverer from the effects of sin. Pharaoh could do many things, but he could not do anything about the problem of sin, even if he had wanted. This was a task far too great for any mere human, even if he had the resources of the palace. Moses realised that it was better to be linked with the Deliverer from sin, even if the identification meant a temporary reproach.

Moses also took into account the destiny of the people of God and the future of those who were not his people. His faith considered the future reward that God would give to those who trusted in him. This reward was not Canaan because Moses did not get there. The reward was heaven. By implication, the destiny of unbelievers is the ongoing experience of divine judgement after this life.

There are parallels between Moses’ experience and the experience of any person who becomes a true believer in God.

Firstly, in our society the people of God are weak and powerless, treated with contempt in many places. Yet to them God has made many great and precious promises of a glorious future. People today are told to plan ahead, to ensure that they have a comfortable future. They are asked to take steps today, even costly ones, in order to ensure they will have a good retirement. The reality is that no matter what steps they take now, nothing can be guaranteed because there are so many possible scenarios that may take place. It is vastly different with the church of Christ. Its glorious future does not depend on it but on God, therefore its future is guaranteed. So although it is in an outwardly poor condition, a true believer will identify with it because of what God says about it.

Secondly, a believer understands the pervasive reality of sin. Sin is not only particular actions; it also includes attitudes, desires, intentions. It describes anything that ignores God or that replaces God in our lives. Our priorities are sinful if God is not taken into account; our pleasures are sinful if they are not done to the glory of God. Sin is like the air, it penetrates everything. A believer confesses that his sin has affected every part of him.

Thirdly, the faith of a true believer in God is Christ-centred. Whether it is Moses in Egypt thirty-five centuries ago or a believer living today, the faith of each involves dependence on Christ. Moses and the modern believer meet the Saviour because of what he did at Calvary.

Fourthly, a modern believer takes into account the existence of heaven and hell. The faith of a Christian inevitably takes the existence of both into account. He resolves to flee from the wrath to come and desires to go to heaven.

The buttress of Moses’ faith

The writer then describes the ongoing focus of Moses’ faith, which was the invisible God. Moses left Egypt twice, the first time he fled because he had slain the Egyptian taskmaster. This is not the departure described here because on that first leaving he was afraid of Pharaoh. The author is referring to the way Moses left Egypt when he led the Israelites out of slavery.

Moses’ faith remained strong because he knew what God was like. He had not only been taught about God by his mother, he had also encountered the Lord personally at the burning bush. Later he saw God’s great power displayed in the miracles that he performed in Egypt.   

We, too, have to focus on God if we want our faith to be strong. Faith does not become healthy by being constantly examined but by being constantly exercised. It grows as we meditate on the attributes of God, on the purposes of God, on the promises of God. In every situation in life, a spiritually-healthy believer thinks of God.

The consequence of his faith

The outcome of true faith is obedience to God’s commandments. The author selects an example of the obedience of Moses to illustrate this aspect. We are familiar with the details of the Passover and tend not to notice how unusual a request it was. Moses had performed many miracles but they had not changed the heart of Pharaoh; also the children of Israel did not have full confidence in him as a leader. Now God asked him to go through a strange ritual that would ensure the safety of the Israelite firstborn. Yet Moses obeyed this command and Israel was safe.

Of course, the Passover teaches many other matters. It was the institution of an Old Testament sacrament that was to be very significant in the religious life of God’s people. It depicts the safety that a believer enjoys because of the protection of the sacrifice of Christ. It was the beginning of the journey to the promised land. Yet it is also the evidence that Moses’ faith was real, that he was obedient, that he was willing to obey all God’s commandments.

In conclusion, we can say that, in addition to being Christ-centred, Moses’ faith was rational (he weighed the options facing him), repentant (he left a sinful lifestyle), reverent (he focussed on God) and righteous (it caused him to obey God).