In this study we will just begin to look at one of the most well known people from the Old Testament, Moses. Yes people know Adam, Eve, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, they are familiar with the stories of Joseph, David, Samson and other prophets but it is Moses that seems to take the spotlight. There have been many movies, plays and sermons on the great Exodus from Egypt. This even was and is one of the major stories of the Old Testament with the flood story being a close second. The fascination with Moses comes to us because we see a man that should not have even been alive, rise to the ranks within the most powerful authority of that time to just walk away from it all. Then in that time it is that we see Moses interact with God in a way like no other person on Earth has done. This would continue in many different ways throughout his life.
It will be what happens before the burning bush and before the Exodus that we will look at in this study. We will continue in the next study to look at the faith of Moses through all that God worked in his life. Let’s look now at our first point for this study.
1.The faith of the parents of Moses.
Look with me at Hebrews 11:23 By faith Moses, when he was born, was hidden for three months by his parents, because they saw he was a beautiful child, and they were not afraid of the king’s edict.
Moses’ life started out in a time of turmoil and evil when there was a mandate to have all the boy Israelite babies murdered. This new king of Egypt did not know Joseph and had no regard for the people of Israel. In fact this new king brought hard labor on the Israelites and looked to destroy them at least from the standpoint of being any threat to them. We read in Exodus 1:15-16 Then the king of Egypt spoke to the Hebrew midwives, one of whom was named Shiphrah and the other was named Puah; 16 and he said, “When you are helping the Hebrew women to give birth and see them upon the birthstool, if it is a son, then you shall put him to death; but if it is a daughter, then she shall live.”
These midwives refused to follow these orders and through this God blessed Israel by multiplying the people and making them mighty. The king was not happy and went further into his madness to set out to destroy the sons of those born. This we read in Exodus 1:22 And Pharaoh commanded all his people, saying, “Every son who is born you are to cast into the Nile, and every daughter you are to keep alive.”
It is with this background that we come to the birth of Moses in Exodus 2:1-4 that says And a man from the house of Levi went and took a daughter of Levi as a wife. 2 And the woman conceived and bore a son; and she saw that he was beautiful, so she hid him for three months. 3 But she could not hide him any longer. So she took for him an ark of papyrus reeds and covered it over with tar and pitch. Then she put the child into it and put it among the reeds by the bank of the Nile. 4 And his sister stood at a distance to know what would be done to him.
We do not see the names of Moses’ parents here but we do see in Exodus 6:20a And Amram took his father’s sister Jochebed as a wife, and she bore him Aaron and Moses.
This is also recorded in Numbers 26:59 where we know that they had a sister as well. It says there: And the name of Amram’s wife was Jochebed, the daughter of Levi, who was born to Levi in Egypt; and she bore to Amram: Aaron and Moses and their sister Miriam.
So we know that it is Amram and Jochebed that was the biological parents of Moses, it is these that did not believe in putting to death their newborn son. It is their faith that is referenced in Hebrews 11:23 even though we know that this is the story of Moses. It is his parents though that are commended for the faith they had. They regarded God’s morals over the laws of the land and therefore did what they knew to be right in the sight of God.
The story goes that Moses was placed in the basket to cover him and placed near the Nile. Pharaoh’s daughter saw the child and decided to take him as her own son. Because of needing the child to be nursed, Miriam stood by and suggested that the mother of the child be the one to do so in which this was granted to be done. So Moses grew up in the palace of Pharaoh as the son of Pharaoh’s daughter. This would place him in high ranking positions and could elevate him to status in Egypt just like Joseph. But Moses refused to follow along in the abuse that he saw his kinsmen being treated with. This sets us up to look now at the faith Moses had even before his initial call from God. Let’s look now at our next point.
2.The faith of Moses while in Egypt.
Look with me at Hebrews 11:24-26 By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, 25 choosing rather to be mistreated with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin, 26 regarding the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt; for he was looking to the reward.
Most people will look at Moses at how God used him to bring the Israelites from the heavy bondage and slavery of the Egyptians but in reality his faith began much earlier than that. Just like his biological parents, he would not stand for the wrong doing against his people. We must remember that he would have been educated in Egyptian culture, he would have been placed in the most prominent positions in Egyptian society but as we see here that would not drive him away from the God that he knew. In fact Acts 7:21-22 give us some detail on this, it says there: And after he had been set outside, Pharaoh’s daughter took him away and nurtured him as her own son. 22 And Moses was educated in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and he was powerful in words and deeds.
In God’s providence, even though Moses would grow up to be be placed in the hand and care of Pharaoh’s daughter as her son, we must know that Moses would have been around his biological mother until he was weaned which would have been around 2 to 8 years of age. I know that does not give him a lot to remember concerning his true family but for sure we know that he knew he was not an Egyptian by birth. The reference to what is in our Hebrews 11 text is from Exodus 2:11 that says Now it happened in those days, that Moses had grown up. And he went out to his brothers and looked on their hard labors. And he saw an Egyptian striking a Hebrew, one of his brothers. 12 So he turned this way and that, and he saw that there was no one around. So he struck down the Egyptian and hid him in the sand.
Here we see Moses take into his own hands his vengeance against one that was mistreating one of his own Hebrew brothers. He knew he was a Hebrew and he would not just stand by to watch his people get treated with such hard labors and abuse. They were treated worse than we can imagine therefore he could not take it anymore, acted on this and killed the Egyptian. Now understand that I am not saying that he had a right to kill but am only pointing out that we see that he would not just take his place in the palace and be content. Rather what we see is yes he sinned by killing a man but behind his wrong we see a right motive to not follow in this type of behavior towards his own people. These people would be his own family, friends of his family and fellow heirs to the promises of what God had spoken to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
So he commits this sin but in that act he showed as Hebrews 11:24b-25 refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, 25 choosing rather to be mistreated with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin.
The life he chose was a life that was not for Egypt but was for his own people, Israel. The act of killing that man brought along fear because the word got out and for fear of Pharaoh he leaves Egypt to escape the consequences of his actions. It seems to me that Moses did a lot of wrong up to this point, he had defied Pharaoh by siding with the Hebrew people, he had killed an Egyptian and tried to conceal it then we see him flee the area to avoid the consequences of what he had done. If someone had done this in our time we would have our government on his or her track.
Here we must not confuse ourselves by thinking that Moses was commended for any of these wrong actions. He was not commended for killing a man, nor was he commended for running away from these consequences. As I studied this I looked to see what others thought concerning the fact that God never reprimanded Moses nor punished him for these actions but instead used him. Many people offered things that pointed toward the fact that the law was not established or that his punishment was that he would not be a free man living in Egypt.
I would say to both of those that even when Cain killed Abel there was consequences for that sin. So that does not seem to be the case. The only explanation that makes any sense to me is that God had mercy on Moses just like He would with David when having an adulterous relationship and killing Bathsheba’s husband. He would have mercy on Moses just like He does on us. Psalm 103:6-12 says Yahweh performs righteous deeds, And judgments for all who are oppressed. 7 He made known His ways to Moses, His acts to the sons of Israel. 8 Yahweh is compassionate and gracious, Slow to anger and abounding in lovingkindness. 9 He will not always contend with us, And He will not keep His anger forever. 10 He has not dealt with us according to our sins, And He has not rewarded us according to our iniquities. 11 For as high as the heavens are above the earth, So great is His lovingkindness toward those who fear Him. 12 As far as the east is from the west, So far has He removed our transgressions from us.
So I do believe because of God’s mercy Moses was never brought under the consequences of his actions and no, this does not mean that if we do something against the law in our country that we may not suffer the consequences but I’m only showing how God was merciful towards Moses. In fact if we jump ahead to Exodus 3 where Moses was talking with God about going back to Egypt look at what is said in Exodus 3:11-12 But Moses said to God, “Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh, and that I should bring the sons of Israel out of Egypt?” 12 And He said, “Certainly I will be with you, and this shall be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you: when you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall serve God at this mountain.”
God confirms to Moses that He will be with him as he goes before Pharaoh. God knew what Moses had done, God knew that Moses would look for excuses to not be used in this way and God knew that Moses did not want to go back to Egypt so He lets him know that He would be with him, this was an act of mercy from God.
So what was Moses commended for in all of this? Look again at Hebrews 11:26 regarding the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt; for he was looking to the reward.
The best explanation I could find to bring all of this together is from the Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers that says this concerning what this verse says and I quote: Throughout the whole of their history the people of Israel were the people of the Christ. Their national existence originated in the promise to Abraham, which was a promise of the Christ; and till the fulness of time should come their mission was to prepare the way for Him. The reproach which Moses accepted by joining the people of the promise was, therefore, “the reproach of the Christ,” the type of that “reproach” which in later days His people will share with Him (Hebrews 13:13). He who was to appear in the last days as the Messiah was already in the midst of Israel (John 1:10). END QUOTE.
The commendation is in the fact of knowing that God would provide a Savior, the Messiah who we know as the Lord Jesus Christ. He did not have the full revelation of what was to come but it was his faith in God that led him to lead the people of Israel and be known as the one that God used in delivering Israel from Egyptian slavery. We will see more about Moses as we move along in our next study.
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