The Hall of Faith: By Faith Moses…

EXPOSITORY ARTICLE | Jesse Flowers | Cookeville, Tennessee

Without question or debate, one of the greatest men to ever walk this earth was Moses. How great was this man of God? Consider the following:

1. The first covenant that God made with Israel is most commonly known as “the Law of Moses” (Josh. 8:31, 32; 23:6; Lk. 2:22; 24:44).
2. He foretold one of the great Messianic prophecies when he declared: “I will raise up for them a Prophet like you from among their brethren, and will put My words in His mouth, and He shall speak to them all that I command Him. And it shall be that whoever will not hear My words, which He speaks in My name, I will require it of him” (Deut. 18:18-19). The apostle Peter declared that his prophecy found its fulfillment in Christ (Acts 3:22-26).
3. The word of God testifies of him saying: “Now the man Moses was very humble, more than all men who were on the face of the earth” (Num. 12:3).
4. The LORD defended His servant after Aaron and Miriam criticized him, with a sharp rebuke saying: “Hear now My words: If there is a prophet among you, I, the LORD, make Myself known to him in a vision; I speak to him in a dream. Not so with My servant Moses; He is faithful in all My house. I speak with him face to face, even plainly, and not in dark sayings; and he sees the form of the LORD. Why then were you not afraid to speak against My servant Moses?” (Num. 12:6-8).
5. Consider how the Book of Deuteronomy ends following the death of Moses. “But since then there has not arisen in Israel a prophet like Moses, whom the LORD knew face to face, in all the signs and wonders which the LORD sent him to do in the land of Egypt, before Pharaoh, before all his servants, and in all his land, and by all that mighty power and all the great terror which Moses performed in the sight of all Israel” (34:10-12).
6. When Jesus was gloriously transfigured on the mountain, Moses (along with Elijah) was sent by God to appear alongside His Son to discuss the Lord’s coming decease (Luke 9:28-36).
7. Finally, consider that those who have victory over the beast “sing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying: ‘Great and marvelous are Your works, Lord God Almighty! Just and true are Your ways, O King of the saints! Who shall not fear You, O Lord, and glorify Your name? For You alone are holy. For all nations shall come and worship before You, for Your judgments have been manifested’” (Revelation 15:3-4).

It should come as no surprise then, when we find his name mentioned multiple times in the “hall of faith” in Hebrews 11. Here is the main text for our consideration in this article.

²⁴ By faith Moses, when he became of age, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, ²⁵ choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin, ²⁶ esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt; for he looked to the reward. ²⁷ By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king; for he endured as seeing Him who is invisible. ²⁸ By faith he kept the Passover and the sprinkling of blood, lest he who destroyed the firstborn should touch them.

Three times in these five verses, the inspired author of Hebrews, emphasizes to the reader what Moses did “by faith.” Let us take a closer examination of this text together and be both informed and inspired by the faith of this great man of God.

“By faith Moses, when he became of age…” (vss. 24-26).

The ESV reads: “when he was grown up” and the NASB reads: “when he had grown up.” In other words, when he had attained the years of manhood and responsibility. At this pivotal point in his life, Moses made a mature choice to align himself with God and the people of God – renouncing his privileges.

So, how old exactly was Moses “when he became of age” or “was grown up”? Stephen tells us: “Now when he was forty years old, it came into his heart to visit his brethren, the children of Israel” (Acts 7:23; cf. Ex. 2:11). When Moses was grown up, he acted by faith when he identified with the humbled people of God and rejected the easy life guaranteed a prince in the royal house of Egypt.

He refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter. Moses is given this designation because Exodus 2:10 says that “he became her son.” Stephen stated: “But when he was set out, Pharaoh’s daughter took him away and brought him up as her own son” (Acts 7:21). Moses was raised in Pharaoh’s courts, and he received an education in all the wisdom, knowledge, culture, and religion of Egypt. As a result, he “was mighty in words and deeds” (Acts 7:22).

I don’t believe that this was a decision intended to be hateful to Pharaoh’s daughter or even to Egyptian people. But the princess of Egypt had drawn him as a baby from the Nile River, having compassion on him, and then adopting him as her own (Ex. 2:5-6, 10). She had saved his life and the Egyptian people had provided his daily nourishment, education, and upbringing. However, Moses does provide us with a powerful example of decisive renunciation of power and privilege in an impressive determination to identify himself with his own people who were then enslaved in Egypt. Moses could not be both an Egyptian and an Israelite (cf. Matt. 6:24). Thus, his was a simple but profound act of faith.

In his commentary on Hebrews, Pace asks: “Exactly what was Moses refusing by making this choice? Some writers think that Moses was the adopted son of Hatshepsut, the only daughter of Pharaoh Thutmose I, and that she had no child herself though she had long been married. It is possible that the very crown of Egypt would have been offered to Moses if he had remained in Pharaoh’s household. This is according to the listing of Egyptian kings by Manetho (Egypt’s greatest historian). The list is disputed; but if it is correct, then Moses was born about 1525 B.C., and the exodus occurred in 1446-1447 B.C. Hatshepsut was apparently the power behind the throne of two pharaohs, Thutmose II and Thutmose III” (465).

Moses chose “rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin.” The ESV reads that he chose to be mistreated, while the NASB reads of his choice to endure ill-treatment. The choice to turn away from Egypt was not made without serious consideration, but it was an irrevocable decision (Acts 7:23-24). When he chose to tie his future with God’s people, he was clearly walking by faith and not by sight (2 Cor. 5:7). His choice was made when Israel’s fortunes were at their lowest. Moses made a choice to align himself with his persecuted people rather than ignore their tragic circumstances and enjoy the luxury and the ease of Egypt. He also learned quickly that doing the right thing or making the right choice often carries a price. The very people he was attempting to aid failed to appreciate his first effort (as well as subsequent ones).

It is vital that young and old alike continually take heed that the pleasures of sin are always fleeting. They are here today and gone tomorrow. Those who are deceived by them and indulge in them are left empty and unfulfilled. There is no lasting satisfaction that attends sinfulness, only misery and sorrow (1 Jn. 2:15-17; Gal. 6:7-8; Heb. 3:13).

Further, because of his faith, Moses esteemed “the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt; for he looked to the reward.” The reproach of Christ may mean the same kind of reproach that Christ had to bear in His own person (cf. Heb. 13:13). To some degree, every saint must bear it (2 Tim. 3:12). These saints had suffered for their allegiance to Christ (Heb. 10:32-36); the example of Moses would have had great significance to them.

Moses considered the things of God to be of far greater worth than the treasures of Egypt. On this point, Pace wrote: “The wealth of Egypt was already legendary. Some of this great wealth was discovered in 1922 in the tomb of King Tutankhamen by Howard Carter and Lord Carnarvon after six years of digging. The tomb had been sealed for nearly 3,500 years. Finally, this rare find was opened to reveal the golden splendor of the young king’s burial sarcophagus and other items almost too numerous to mention. A golden mask taken from the tomb is one of the most beautiful treasures of the world. The body of the boy king was found inside two large sarcophagi, one inside the other, both made of solid gold! King Tut, as he is popularly known, was himself rather insignificant, dying at age eighteen or nineteen; but his tomb illustrated the wealth of ancient Egypt in a powerful way. Moses and King Tut lived only one hundred years apart. Tut lives in the memory of his wealth; Moses lives in the memory of God and the faithful for all time. The latter chose the side of the lowly Israelites because it was God’s side. King Tut’s life declares that fame and wealth last only for a season. The wealth and power of Egypt were broken, but the wealth and power of God endure. The lust for earthly wealth can be addictive and destructive. Moses chose to share the lot of a downtrodden people and became fully one of them in their suffering” (p. 466-467).

The text reads that Moses “looked to the reward.” The verb for “he looked” means “to look away from all other objects to look only at one.” Moses fixed his eye on one goal, and the force of the imperfect tense here suggests that he kept on looking to the heavenly reward. When he looked at his options, Moses saw the future reward as far greater than earthly riches. And we must do the same by laying up our treasures in heaven and not on this earth (Matt. 6:19-21), never losing sight of the true, eternal reward (Rev. 2:10).

“By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king; for he endured as seeing Him who is invisible” (v. 27).

Not fearing the wrath of the king seems to contradict Exodus 2:11-15, which suggests that Moses fled in fear after killing the Egyptian (Thus, some commentators suggest that this refers to the time of the exodus instead of when Moses fled to Midian. Yet, that would not follow the order of chronology in the text of Hebrews). He may have feared for his own personal safety, even though he had no fear concerning his choice to serve God rather than Egypt. He was afraid, admittedly, but that was not why he left Egypt; his leaving Egypt was an act of faith. It took great courage to flee from the wrath of an evil and powerful ruler who could track him anywhere and kill him.

The word here “forsook” means more than just “to leave” it also suggests “to forsake” or “abandon.” Jesus tells us: “So likewise, whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be My disciple” (Luke 14:33). Are we willing to forsake all to follow Jesus (Luke 5:11)? Are we willing to boldly forsake this world and the things of this world for Christ?

Moses abandoned Egypt rejecting its visible king to honor the will and word of the invisible God. Moses overcame his fear by seeing Him who is invisible, that is, he kept the One who is invisible continually before His eyes. By the eye of faith, he saw the King eternal, immortal, and invisible, standing by him, ready to fulfill all the promises to Israel. How do you see that which is invisible? Is it not with and by the eyes of faith? “For we walk by faith, not by sight” (2 Cor. 5:7). Or, as this chapter begins, “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen” (Heb. 11:1).

“By faith he kept the Passover and the sprinkling of blood, lest he who destroyed the firstborn should touch them” (v. 28).

Moses acted according to the will of God (cf. Rom. 10:17) when he led the Hebrews in observing the Passover. He was much like Noah after he was warned of the coming flood (Heb. 11:7); each fully responded to God’s command even though he could see no physical evidence of what was coming.

The Passover offering did not come from human reasoning. Slaying a lamb, sprinkling its blood (lit. “the spreading of the blood”), and eating its meat (cf. Ex. 12) would have no apparent connection with sparing the firstborn of Israel.

Moses simply took God at His word regarding His commands. Moses told the people what to do, and the firstborn were saved b/c of obedient faith. Like the Lord’s Supper, this ordinance was instituted in anticipation of the event which it was designed to commemorate. The Passover typified the sacrifice of Christ, who is called “our Passover” (1 Cor. 5:7). John declared of Jesus, “Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world” (Jn. 1:29).

Conclusion

By faith Moses… (Heb. 11:24-28). In him, we find a powerful faith to imitate of one who exemplifies Hebrews 11:6. By faith…insert your name. What about you? Will you by faith choose rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin? Will you by faith esteem the reproach of Christ greater riches than the riches this world offers you, as you fix your eyes continually on the reward of heaven? Will you by faith forsake this world (and the things of this world), not fearing men and what they may do to you, but enduring as seeing Him who is invisible? Will you by faith take seriously your worship and service to God with reverence and godly fear?

May God help each one of us to ever look to this great cloud of witnesses (such as Moses) that we may “lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith” (Heb. 12:1-2).

Bibliography:
Pace, Martel. Hebrews. Truth For Today Commentary.
Pace, Martel. Hebrews. Truth For Today Commentary. Resource Publications. 2007.

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April 2024 | GROW magazine