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. 24
By faith Moses, when he was 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 fleeting pleasures of sin. 26
He considered the reproach of Christ greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking to the reward.
Batman, Spiderman, Hulk, Ironman, Superman, Hancock, Wolverine, Daredevil, Electra the list of superheroes seems to be growing! This genre of movies has become increasingly
popular, because everyone loves a hero. We love someone to do for us and to stand-up for us, to bring justice and to make right what for so long has been wrong, and to do so with some flair.
If only it were real. If only there was a real hero…someone who could step into this world, and supernaturally do for man what man cannot do for himself…Where
is the deliverer, the One who comes to rescue us and set things right?
Exodus is the story of God’s grace and mercy filling the man Moses and using him to rescue the people of God. We hear of Israel groaning under persecution in Egypt
and then suddenly we are reading about the birth and the unusual life of a particular Israelite boy and his growth into manhood.
Any reader of the Bible knows the role Moses will play in the history of God’s people and their salvation. Moses is mentioned 803 times in the bible and in 31 of the
66 books of the Bible…but of course we already know how important He is.
In chapter one of Exodus, we find Pharaoh using the phrase, “come let us…” speaking to the oppression to be placed upon the Israelites, it is the same
phrase that was used in Genesis 11, regard the building of the tower of Babel, man seeking his own glory, man seeking to deify himself when he says, “come let us build…”
Pharaoh names the city after himself, building cities out of brick as Babel was built. These cities are to his own glory and honor, the glorification of man without
God and the oppression of God’s people.
The true desire of Pharaoh is to live without God and to destroy His people. Moses, the one whom God has chosen as mediator for his people, was threatened with death
from the day of his birth. There are a number of ironies in this history that I want to bring to your attention.
First, Pharaoh says that the male children are to be thrown or cast into the water. This is the same word that will be used in Exodus 15:1 of what happens to the armies
of Egypt when they pursue the people of God at the Red Sea. They are THROWN INTO THE WATER, the same words used, showing us that the plot of Pharaoh is turned on his own head.
Second, Moses is actually saved by his mother obeying Pharaoh’s command. She put him in the water of the Nile just as Pharaoh said to do and then Pharaoh’s own daughter
is the one to pull him out.
The third irony is seen as the evil Pharaoh seeks, in his fear of the people of God, to destroy them and the harder he works the more obvious it is that his fears
are coming true, namely, the people of God grow and become more powerful.
God is showing us through these ironies that what is happening in this world, what is happening in the circumstances of life, even your life and my life…do not just
fall out randomly, they fall out just as He has ordered them to fall out and not Pharaoh or Satan himself can concoct a plan to stop what God is doing.
Moses is raised in the courts of Pharaoh. We are told in Acts 7 that he was, “…learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians and was mighty in words and deeds…” But
it is the Lord who was preparing Moses as the young man was instructed in the ways of Egypt, he would understand Egypt, but his education was not going to incline his heart toward Egypt.
Moses could not, even in the midst of the world’s riches and wisdom, forget who he truly was. He considered himself a child of Israel and the cause of the Lord’s people,
Moses’ people, was to be his cause, even when having set before him all the pleasures, riches and influence the world could offer if he would choose differently.
This would be the same temptation that would be served up to Jesus. All the riches of the world, all the splendor of man set before Jesus by the Devil, saying to him,
“Simply forget who you are, and all of this is yours.”
Brothers and sisters, this is the same temptation offered up to us every day. Simply forget who you are, forget for just a moment as you get ready to make this choice
or that choice…forget what it means to belong body and soul to Jesus…forget what He has done for you…forget, just for a second, that you are not your own…forget that your identity, therefore your choices, your affections, your dreams and goals are tied up
in and directed to, the Lamb of God.
Our passage in Hebrews makes this astounding statement, that Moses would choose…that is, he purposed…he was intentional…he would stand with the people of God…he would
bear the reproach of the world, so that He might honor the promise of God and the people of God.
We take note that the faith that would lead Moses was first the faith of his parents. Verse 23 makes it clear that Moses’ parents trusted the Lord and entrusted Him
with taking care of their son. Faith…true faith in parents and grandparents is formative in the lives of children.
This is as mysterious a truth as is the Eucharist, or the efficacious nature of baptism, but it is everywhere the testimony of the bible. Parents must live the faith,
not just talk about it but truly be given over to the obedience of faith as Paul puts it that the next generation might know the life that they have been called to!
To be continued…
Prayer: Father, my heart yearns for such encounters with you through Your Spirit. I desire to see You in Your beauty, to hear Your voice speaking to my spirit and
to know that you are close by, leading, guiding, speaking words of comfort and peace. I would not ask for some great thing to know or do, but Father, I would ask for more faith, that I might find a deeper joy and greater service to my King, through Jesus Christ
my Lord, Amen.
Song: Revive Me