YouTube and Podcast teaching for….The Faith of Moses In The Exodus. LIVING BY FAITH IN TRIALS AND SUFFERING study #13 (A Study in Hebrews 11)(Hebrews 11:27-29)

The Faith of Moses In The Exodus. LIVING BY FAITH IN TRIALS AND SUFFERING study #13 (A Study in Hebrews 11)(Hebrews 11:27-29)

We continue our look into these great people of faith with a second look at Moses. Of course in our last study we looked at Moses’ faith while he was still in Egypt but that moves us away from his early years to now look at his faith as he leads the children of Israel out of Egypt. We know the story of how the Israelites became slaves to the Egyptians. God sent them there under the rule of Joseph who was second in command to Pharaoh. But as that Pharaoh dies off another came along some years later that did not like how the people of Israel was prospering. It was then that they were placed as slaves in Egypt.

We learned how God sovereignly kept Moses alive and in fact had him to be in the family of Pharaoh as an adopted child. Moses during that time grew up in the house of Pharaoh but never left his connection with his own people. He killed a man, buried him in the sand and this led to his first departure from Egypt. It was in that 40 year timespan that God called Moses to lead the people of Israel out of slavery. Even though there was some reluctancy from Moses, he eventually did as God commanded.

As we approach our text for this study we must remember that Moses could never have led the children of Israel on his own but only through the power of our sovereign Lord and God. Moses was only special because God made Him this way and not by his own doing or a work of his own. This leads us to look now at our first point in this section that shows Moses’ faith to lead the children of Israel out of slavery.

1.Moses has faith in God’s protection.
Look with me at Hebrews 11:27 By faith he left Egypt, not fearing the rage of the king; for he endured, as seeing Him who is unseen.

We are looking at the fact that Moses has faith in God’s protection here but this was not always the case for Moses. Even though he killed an Egyptian because of how bad he was abusing one of his fellow Hebrew kinsman this was not an act of valor. Moses knew even before he did it that he was wrong for doing what he eventually did in killing this man. Exodus 2:12 says 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.

He did not do what he did to become an instant hero for Israel but was more from a personal vengeance against the oppression. Even though we do see in Acts 7:25 speaking of this matter that And he supposed that his brothers understood that God was granting them salvation through him, but they did not understand. I do not believe that he went about this from the right perspective but only from his own personal choices that led him into Midian for 40 years.

All of this led to Moses leaving Egypt out of a fear of Pharaoh and not God. Exodus 2:15 says And Pharaoh heard of this matter, so he sought to kill Moses. But Moses fled from the presence of Pharaoh and settled in the land of Midian, and he sat down by a well.

So the first time Moses left Egypt he feared man but what we are going to see is that he now in this departure from Egypt fears God. Look with me again at Hebrews 11:27 that says By faith he left Egypt, not fearing the rage of the king; for he endured, as seeing Him who is unseen.

The first time he left, he left out of fear of Pharaoh but here he leaves by faith. This faith was not there the first time he left. His fear of man was what drove him away then but this time he comes back to Egypt to leave with his kinsmen who we know is the children of Israel. It is clear that this time around he had no fear of the rage of the king as our text says. This time we see he endured not because of his trust in himself to set the people free but because as seeing Him who is unseen.

Even though we can look at the story of God talking with Moses and it seems like a very reluctant person that did not want to do this, ultimately we see Moses’ faith as he goes to do what God had commanded him to do. He goes back to Egypt to meet with his kinsman and to tell them all of what God will do. It is in this time that we see God move through the hand and mouth of Moses and his brother Aaron as they meet with Pharaoh on 10 different occasions to come to some agreement for the children of Israel to leave Egypt. We know Pharaoh was hardened against the people of Israel even though there were 9 extremely tough plagues God sent during that time.

After the 9th plague God tells Moses that the next plague will in fact give them the freedom that had been promised. Exodus 11:1 says Then Yahweh said to Moses, “One more plague I will bring on Pharaoh and on Egypt; after that he will let you go from here. When he lets you go, he will surely drive you out from here completely.

The plague is told in Exodus 11:4-6 that says So Moses said, “Thus says Yahweh, ‘About midnight I am going out into the midst of Egypt, ⁵ and all the firstborn in the land of Egypt shall die, from the firstborn of the Pharaoh who sits on his throne, even to the firstborn of the servant-girl who is behind the millstones; and all the firstborn of the cattle. ⁶ Moreover, there shall be a great cry in all the land of Egypt, such as there has not been before and such as shall never be again.

This sets us up to look at our next point in our Hebrews text. We looked at Moses’ faith in God’s protection and now we look at our second point.

2.Moses has faith in God’s promise.
Look with me at Hebrews 11:28 By faith he kept the Passover and the sprinkling of the blood, so that he who destroyed the firstborn would not touch them.

We just read the plague in our last point that showed that every first born in the land of Egypt will die. That is animals and humans alike. This would be what brings Pharaoh to the point of sending the children of Israel away. This of course took faith to believe that the instructions given to them would in fact keep their firstborn safe. The Passover is a shadow of Christ’s work on the cross. It symbolizes a sacrifice of an animal, the sprinkling of blood and the protection from death. The Passover lamb is a type of Christ that is not Christ but a picture of Christ in the Old Testament. The instructions that were given to the children of Israel for their protection is found in Exodus 12:5-13 but I want to just point out what is said concerning what will happen.

We see this in Exodus 12:5-7 Your lamb shall be a male, without blemish, a year old; you may take it from the sheep or from the goats. ⁶ And you shall keep it until the fourteenth day of the same month, then the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall slaughter it at twilight. ⁷ Moreover, they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and on the lintel of the houses in which they eat it.

Then also I want to point out Exodus 12:12-13 that says And I will go through the land of Egypt on that night and will strike down all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments—I am Yahweh. ¹³ And the blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you are; and I will see the blood, and I will pass over you, and there shall be no plague among you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt.

It is this promise that God gives that Moses and the children of Israel would have to be protected from the wrath of God. I want to point out that we do not see God giving this opportunity to those in Egypt. This again is another example of God’s sovereign choosing in protecting and saving Israel from His wrath. This is a continual theme throughout the Bible and here again this can’t be refuted. Israel had not been some special people or even done anything to receive this mercy but because of God’s covenant and purpose that is beyond our understanding.

The fulfillment of these promises in seen in Exodus 12:29-32 that says Now it happened at midnight that Yahweh struck all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sat on his throne to the firstborn of the captive who was in the dungeon, and all the firstborn of cattle. ³⁰ Then Pharaoh arose in the night, he and all his servants and all the Egyptians, and there was a great cry in Egypt, for there was no home where there was not someone dead. ³¹ Then he called for Moses and Aaron at night and said, “Rise up, get out from among my people, both you and the sons of Israel; and go, serve Yahweh, as you have spoken. ³² Take both your flocks and your herds, as you have spoken, and go, and bless me also.”

With this we now have seen Moses have faith in God’s protection and promise which lead us to look at our last point.

3.Moses has faith in God’s providence.
Look with me at Hebrews 11:29 By faith they passed through the Red Sea as though they were passing through dry land, and the Egyptians, when they attempted it, were drowned.

God’s providence is seen all throughout the Bible and even today. I know for myself I could tell story after story of how God providentially guided me even before I was saved. One of the best places to see God’s providence is seen in the crossing of the Red Sea. Here God moved the people of Israel out of Egypt just to be chased by the Egyptian army just a little bit after being set free. This brought fear and anxiety from the people but Moses continued to trust God in spite of their slander towards him and God.

They were so fearful that they started questioning why they ever left Egypt. Then we see how Moses responds to this in Exodus 14:13-14 that says But Moses said to the people, “Do not fear! Stand by and see the salvation of Yahweh which He will accomplish for you today; for the Egyptians whom you have seen today, you will never see them again forever. ¹⁴ Yahweh will fight for you, and you will keep silent.”

This was amazing faith in God in spite of the situation that they were in and the fact that he was being mocked and questioned by the people. I love that God tells Moses in Exodus 14:15-16 “Why are you crying out to Me? Speak to the sons of Israel so that they go forward. ¹⁶ As for you, raise up your staff and stretch out your hand over the sea and split it, and the sons of Israel shall go through the midst of the sea on dry land.

Notice Moses did not tell the people what was going to happen but only to move forward. This must have seemed to be an ignorant command with the Sea roaring in front of them. We know how this story goes, they move along on dry land through the Red Sea, the Egyptians are confused and unable to keep up because of the Lord working in Israel’s favor and then eventually after the children of Israel are safe on the other side, God closes the Sea on the Egyptians and all that went in after them died.

Even though we are looking at the faith of Moses in this study we see the faith of Israel here. They were afraid and then went into the parted Sea to escape the Egyptians. Here is God’s providence to keep His covenant that He made with Abraham is in full effect. All of this was not a response by God to what was happening concerning Israel but all of this was in the plan of God from before time as we know it began.

No doubt that even though at times we see Moses’ fear, reluctance and disobedience to God’s commands that we still see his faith in God through the most difficult situation in his life. There is so much more that we could talk about concerning Moses but for this study we will leave it right here where the writer of Hebrews left it as well. In our next study we will look at the story of the walls of Jericho coming down and the faith of those that led that great victory. Along with that we will look at Rahab that God providentially saved through that victory.

YouTube and Podcast teaching for…The Faith of Moses Before The Exodus. LIVING BY FAITH IN TRIALS AND SUFFERING study #12 (A Study in Hebrews 11) (Hebrews 11:23-26)

The Faith of Moses Before The Exodus. LIVING BY FAITH IN TRIALS AND SUFFERING study #12 (A Study in Hebrews 11) (Hebrews 11:23-26)

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.