Faith Exemplified - Moses's Decisions of Faith - Part 2

Well if you would take your Bible and turn back to Hebrews 11, Hebrews 11. I think I said in our scripture reading that we will be covering verses 27-28. But I think you know that behind these verses there are quite a few Old Testament verses, Old Testament chapters. There's a lot of back story to what we have here in Hebrews. And I don't know if you have done this, but I would encourage you to go back and read some history of these events. And you'll pick up on some details. You'll learn quite a few things. You will be reminded of quite a lot that you do know. But Hebrews 11 will be in verses 27-28.

Now for two weeks we have been here in this portion of scripture, verses 23-28, which are all about decisions of faith. In verse 23 we saw the many decisions of faith that Moses' parents made. That slipped up on some of you and surprised some of you, I know, it did me. And in verses 24-28 we see the many decisions of faith made by Moses. Of course last week we started Moses' decisions of faith. We covered verse 24-26.

But before we get back into Moses and his decisions of faith, I want us to think about something that really has been on my mind all week, as I have been praying for these verses, praying over what we've studied, and praying over finishing up these verses. In verses 23-28 the writer of Hebrews really shows us a great heritage of family faith, here in Moses' parents and Moses. You see that? The writer of Hebrews right here in verse 23-28 shows us a great heritage of family faith. And think about this word heritage. I believe it's very important for us to understand this word heritage to see what we need to grasp and attain here.

Webster defines heritage as an inherited or established way of thinking, feeling, or doing. Something that is or may be inherited. In church that is exactly what we see here in this family. Moses inherited an established way of thinking. Moses inherited an established way of doing. Moses inherited the life of faith from his parents. Even though their time with Moses was very limited and restricted, the life of faith that Moses' parents lived and exemplified impacted Moses' life. Amram, his father, and Jacobet, his mother, passed down a life of faith. Now, brother, sister, and Christ, please listen to your pastor here.

My great prayer and my great burden for you is that God would do the same thing in your family and that you men, you would do what you are supposed to do to do this and exemplify this and model this in your family. Look back at your parents. Look back at your grandparents. What established way of thinking, doing, and living has been passed down to you. Let me restate that. Church, look back on your grandparents. Look back on your parents. What established way of thinking and doing and living has been passed down to you. Now, church, look at your children. Husbands, look at your children. Wives, look at your children.

Look at your family right now. What way of thinking, doing, and living are you modeling and giving your children? You might say, "Pastor, you're getting in my business now." What way of thinking? What way of living? What way of doing are you modeling before your children? Are you giving before your children? Now, look at your children's future. And look at your children's children. That would be your grandchildren. You might say, "Pastor, that's a long way off. It's coming quicker than you know." But look at your children's future and your children's children.

Do you want them to inherit and copy for their life the way of thinking, doing, and living that you are modeling in your family right now? Be honest, okay? And all of these things. And men, it is up to us to do this right. Ladies, of course, you have a responsibility too, but it starts with us men. Men, it is up to us to establish the life of faith in our families as the way of thinking, as the way of doing, as the way of living, and do everything we can do to instill that into our children and encourage them to pass that down as a way of living. That's what we see with Moses and his parents.

Now, last week we started our study of Moses and his life of faith, and we know that he is in this long line of great saints here in Hebrews 11. I pointed out that Moses' parents are number 9 and number 10 in this list, and Moses is number 11. But we are seeing that the author is pointing out the unique way that Moses lived the life of faith. The author is focusing on or highlighting the many decisions of faith that Moses made by faith and in faith. And we are discovering that these were not easy decisions. These were hard decisions. I've said these were daring decisions, even dangerous decisions.

These were life-altering, life-threatening decisions, and according to man's standards, they were dumb decisions. I pointed out last week that Leon Morris, the great Bible scholar, called these stupid decisions from man's perspective. I change it to dumb because I've been using the letter D all through here. Dangerous, daring, even dumb decisions. And that leads me back to the title of the message, just a part 2. This is all about faith exemplified, Moses' decisions of faith. Now, like I said earlier, last week we covered verses 24 to 26, and I pointed out the negative and the positive decisions that Moses made.

They're contrasted in the verses. First we saw that Moses renounced his life in Egypt, but he chose a life with God's people instead. For 40 years, Moses lived as a prince in Egypt as the adopted son of Pharaoh's daughter. He enjoyed immense wealth, great education, and great learning, and he had every advantage open to him by being at the very top of society as Pharaoh's grandson. He enjoyed the pleasures of sin that came with life in the royal household. He experienced the satisfaction of ambition and privilege that came from being a part of Pharaoh's family.

But Moses was also taught by his mother, Jacobed, about the ways of God, the promises of God, and the plans of God. No doubt she taught him the Word of God and the plan that God had for his life. We saw that Moses came to a point of decision. He renounced his life in Egypt, and the pleasures of sin associated with that life, he knew that God had a plan for him, and that he was to identify with God's people and God's purpose rather than Egypt. So by faith and in faith, he chose to renounce his position, his power, his privilege, and all of that wealth as the son of Pharaoh's daughter.

And instead, he chose to be mistreated with the people of God who were suffering under slavery and terrible oppression. And second, we saw that Moses rejected the treasures of Egypt, and instead he chose the reproach or the shame of Christ. During the time of Moses, Egypt was the wealthiest, most powerful nation in the world. Egypt was marked by great material abundance, political dominance, and economic power. The Nile River provided a fertile delta that supported immense agricultural wealth, not only for Egypt, but they had enough to sell to the surrounding nations.

And Egypt's wealth was also seen in its storehouses, its store cities, the precious metals that they had, the luxury goods they have, and they were all about these massive building projects. And as a prince and the grandson of Pharaoh, Moses would have possessed great wealth and had the potential to gain even more. It's interesting some scholars speculate he could have even become a Pharaoh. However, Moses carefully considered all that Egypt had to offer. He did not make a quick rash decision, but thoughtfully compared the treasures of Egypt up against what God offered.

And ultimately, he rejected the wealth and power of Egypt, and instead he chose the reproach of Christ. And the reproach of Christ is greater than all of the treasures of Egypt. By faith and in faith, Moses identified with God's people and with God's promised Messiah even before Christ came. And he willingly embraced the shame that came with that identification. Now notice, we learned this last week, what motivated Moses in all these things? Moses was motivated in all of these decisions, and that is because he was looking forward to the reward.

He chose obedience to God and the eternal reward over temporary earthly wealth, position, and power. Now listen to verses 24 to 26 in the Amplified. "By faith Moses, when he had grown up," in other words, "when he was an adult," "refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter." Now the Amplified notes Exodus 2.10, Exodus 2.15. Verse 25, "Because he," thus Moses, "preferred to endure the hardship of the people of God, rather to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin." He considered the reproach of Christ, that is the rebuke he would suffer for his faithful obedience to God to be greater wealth than all the treasures of Egypt.

He looked ahead to the reward promised by God. Now this morning we pick up right where we left off last week looking at these decisions of faith made by Moses. Again, we see the negative and the positive and they're contrasted. So let's read verses 27 to 28, and then we'll get busy with those verses. "By faith he," that's Moses, "he left Egypt not being afraid of the anger of the king," that king being Pharaoh, "for he endured as seeing him who was invisible. By faith he kept the Passover and sprinkled the blood so that the destroyer of the firstborn might not touch them." So let's get back in our outline.

Number three, Moses renounced the king of Egypt. We see that in verse 27. Moses renounced the king of Egypt. Before we dive into what we see here in the verse, I want us to get a glimpse of who Pharaoh was, which will help us understand better Moses and his decisions here. At this time, Pharaoh was the absolute ruler of Egypt, a ruler that possessed unmatched political, economic, and religious power. He was not just a political and national leader, but he was seen as a god deity by the people of Egypt, and he was even worshipped. This meant that he possessed ultimate authority over life and the rule of law, in all things.

His word and rule of law was unquestioned, and his authority extended over the entire empire, which at this time was the most powerful nation in the world. Pharaoh's power was displayed through Egypt's immense wealth, military strength, and control over millions. This included the Israelites who were enslaved under brutal conditions. Pharaoh commanded massive building projects, enforced slavery, and even issued decrees of life and death, such as the order that he gave to kill the Hebrew baby boys. And this was unquestioned.

And this shows that Pharaoh had the unchallenged authority, not only to rule, but to determine life and death without question, no opposition. So as we will see, Moses certainly could have feared Pharaoh because from a human perspective, Pharaoh represented unstoppable power and danger. And to cross or to defy Pharaoh meant certain punishment, but most likely death. But we will see, Pharaoh's authority and power was no match for Moses. Really a better way to say it is that Pharaoh's authority and power was no match for the God who was working through Moses.

Now before I move on, let's make sure we remember that this Pharaoh, Moses did not fear, truly had absolute unchallenged power on all fronts. He even possessed religious power in that he was worshipped as a God. But notice what the author tells us that Moses did. He left Egypt not fearing the anger of the king. We see that clearly in verse 27. But a question, what time is the author referring to? Because Moses fled Egypt more than once. Actually he fled Egypt twice. So which time of fleeing is the author referring to?

Now if we know our Old Testament, we know that Moses, when he was grown, was out observing his fellow Jews and their labors and mistreatment. And he saw an Egyptian abusing a Hebrew, one of his blood brothers. So he killed the Egyptian and he hid his body. Thought he got away with it. And when Moses realized that he had, what he had done had been made known, he fled Egypt to Median in fear of Pharaoh. We see this in Exodus 2, 1 to 15. And if we know our Old Testament, we know that Moses went out of Egypt with the rest of the Jews and what we know as the Great Exodus.

Under Moses' leadership, the Israelites were able to flee Egypt through a series of ten plagues and their departure is seen in Exodus, chapter 12 and following. But which time of leaving is the author referring to here in verse 27? Well, by logical deduction, it seems obvious that the author is referring to the first time that he fled. The order of the events help us here. The Passover is mentioned here in verse 28 as being after Moses fled Egypt. So this flight cannot be connected with the Exodus, and that is because the Israelites celebrated the Passover and then they fled or left Egypt.

And besides, the entire nation fled or left Egypt along with Moses. And they also left at Pharaoh's request as seen in Exodus 12, 31 and 32. But notice we do seem to have a contradiction. In Exodus 2, 14, we see that Moses fled Egypt in fear. But here in verse 27, we see that Moses had no fear. So which is it? Well, to understand this, we have to understand just what Moses feared, who he feared, who he did not fear. Let me explain. In Exodus 2, 15, we see that fear was the motivation that caused Moses to flee. But here in verse 27 of Hebrews 11, we see that Moses did not fear Pharaoh.

In Exodus 2, 15, it is best to see that that fear was connected to the fact that he was leaving his life in Egypt behind, not that he feared Pharaoh. By fleeing Egypt, Moses was renouncing his entire life for a new and unknown life. And there was a certain amount of, if not a great amount of fear in Moses' heart as he left his old life and faced a new life. But he did not fear the wrath or the anger of the king. And the reason he was able to be fearless of Pharaoh was that he had in his mind and his heart a new king. And we know that to be God. So notice who he renounced. He renounced Pharaoh. He renounced Pharaoh and he did not fear Pharaoh.

But conversely, in contrast, Moses chose a new king, the king of heaven. But in choosing a new king over and above this old king, notice that he endured in seeing this new king. Look at verse 27. "By faith he left Egypt, not being afraid of the anger of the king," or Pharaoh. "For he endured as seeing him," we know that's God, "who is invisible." Now we have seen that Moses fled Egypt after it was made known that he killed the Egyptian. And according to Exodus 2, 11 to 15 and Acts 7, 30, we know that he lived in Midian for 40 years, which means he waited some 40 years before he went back to Egypt to be used by God to deliver God's people.

And the author of Hebrews tells us that during that time of waiting, he endured seeing him who is invisible, which is God. And this enduring, all of the translations we study use the same language. It means to be steadfast, it means to be persistent, and it speaks of an endurance that does not yield. It speaks of a holding out in the face of difficulty. I love something that the Bible scholar Kenneth Woos points out here in the language. He says that the language, and I'm quoting, "gathers the 40 years in Midian into one exhibition of wonderful perseverance in faith." That's good.

Woos says, "This language gathers the 40 years in Midian into one exposition of wonderful perseverance in faith." It was during those 40 years in Midian that Moses kept before him his great destiny, that of leading God's people out of Egypt. And he kept trusting in God in spite of his flight from Egypt and his enforced absence from that land, that he would yet bring him back there and affect the deliverance of the chosen people. And I agree with that insight.

But I add to that by saying, Moses was able to endure and to remain steadfast in it all because he was seeing him who was and is invisible, by faith and in faith, in that 40 years of waiting, he was seeing God, his new king. So notice the two things that Moses chose. First, the negative. He chose to renounce the king of Egypt. Second, the positive. He chose the king of heaven instead. Now, just like last week, let's take a step back here and look at what the author is telling us. Moses possessed a personal faith. His faith was in God. That is because faith has substance. It rests on the concrete. Faith has substance, and then it rests on God.

It is rooted in God. So by faith in God, Moses made a choice, really more than one choice. He fled Egypt, leaving behind his entire life. Although he may have feared leaving his old life behind, and he may have feared the new life that was before him, he did not fear Pharaoh. And he chose a new king, the invisible God, who had made himself known to him. And he endured faithfully, faithfully, waiting to fulfill God's plan for his people, all because he had his eyes and he had his heart on his new king, the invisible king, God.

Now, church, there's quite a bit we can learn here, but there's really two points of application that I want to make on two words, the word fear and endurance. Question. What do we have to fear? What do we have to fear? Let me alter the question. Who do we have to fear? Look, church, if we are walking with our Lord in obedience to our Lord, we should have no fear. The opposite is worry, which is a grievous sin against God. If we are walking with our Lord in obedience to our Lord, we should have no fear.

And if we are tripped up by fear, or if we are even totally trapped by fear, then that tells us we do not have our eyes and our hearts set on our Lord, the invisible God. Even though he is the invisible God on high, by faith and in faith, he is right beside us, he is with us, he is in us in all of our fears. Father, sister, are you struggling with fear? Moses had no fear. We should have no fear. And look at Moses and his endurance. He had a steadfast holding on faith, even in the face of great difficulties and years of waiting. Do you realize, 40 years of waiting?

And look, saint of God, our Lord ordains hard times, hard times of waiting for us, yes, even years of waiting for us, and in those times we must patiently endure steadfastly. I've had to learn how to wait patiently. I've had to learn how to wait and wait and wait and endure patiently, and it's hard work. Our Lord ordains times of waiting, even hard times of waiting, even years of waiting, and the lesson there is this. We must endure steadfastly. How? How do we do that, pastor? By keeping our eyes and our hearts on the Lord, just like Moses did. And then last, number four, we see that Moses rejected the gods of Egypt. This is in verse 28.

Moses rejected the gods of Egypt. Look at verse 28. "By faith he," that's Moses, "kept the Passover and sprinkled the blood so that the destroyer of the firstborn might not touch them," them being the people of God, the Israelites. Now, if we're honest with what we see here in the verse and what we just read, the author does not tell us that Moses rejected the gods of Egypt. But to choose the one true God, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of his parents and his God, Moses had to reject the gods of Egypt. But what were the gods of Egypt? Some of you know this. Some of you may not.

Scholars and historians tell us that the gods, the Egyptians worship, were this vast pantheon of gods that were connected to nature, power, and the afterlife. Chief among their gods was Ra, the sun god, who was considered their supreme deity and the source of life. Amun, or Amun Ra, was another god who was associated with hidden power and kingship. The Nile River was personified in a god for the Egyptians. The Nile River was personified in the god of Hapi, who was the god of fertility and provision. And then they worshiped another god, Osiris.

Osiris was their god who ruled over the dead and over the afterlife, and his wife, Isis, was worshiped as the goddess of magic and motherhood. And then Horus was a god that represented kingship, and Horus was personified as a falcon. It's interesting that Horus, the god of kingship, was believed to embody Pharaoh himself. And then they had other deities, I'll mention three. Hathor, the god of love and joy, and Anubis, the god of embalming the dead, and Pata, the god of creation and craftsmen.

Some of you know this, again, because of your study of the Old Testament, but in the ten plagues in Exodus, we see the direct judgment of God upon the pagan gods of Egypt. Look, folks, those plagues were not random. They were judgments that exposed the Egyptian gods as faults by exposing their powerlessness. The Nile River was turned to blood, therefore the god of Hapi was confronted, proving that the source of life was under God's control. The plague of darkness confronted the god Ra, Egyptian Supreme Sun god. This judgment demonstrated that their highest god could not give them light.

And the death of livestock in the outbreak of the boils confronted the god Hathor and their healing gods. This judgment revealed their god's inability to protect and restore. And finally, the death of the firstborn struck at the very divinity of Pharaoh himself, proving that no human or false deity in Egypt could stand against the supreme power and authority of the one true god, the god that Moses represented and spoke for in Egypt. And this is why it was important for us to see the great education of Moses in our message last week.

Through his great education and learning as the grandson of Pharaoh, he would have been well versed in all of the gods of the Egyptians. So notice what Moses rejected, all the gods of Egypt. Actually in choosing the king of heaven, he was automatically rejecting the gods of Egypt. I love what William McDonald says here. He uses very modern language. He even says things that you and I would say, and I'm quoting, "Moses emphatically separated himself from the Egyptian idolatry. He flung down the gauntlet." I love that. "He flung down the gauntlet in defiance of the religious establishment." That's what he did.

And conversely, to the contrary, Moses chose the plan, the provision, and the promise of God instead in the Passover. Look back at verse 28. "By faith he kept the Passover and sprinkled the blood so that the destroyer," that's the death angel, "of the firstborn might not touch them." But a question, what was the Passover? And what does the Passover have to do with God's plan, provision, and promise? It has everything to do with God's plan, provision, and promise. You see in the 10th plague of judgment upon Egypt and their false God, God sent the death angel of the firstborn upon the Egyptians. And we see this in Exodus 11.5.

"And to protect the Israelites from this plague or judgment, the Passover was given and instituted, and in the Passover blood from an innocent, slaughtered, perfect lamb was placed on the doorposts and the lentils of their homes." We see this in Exodus 12.7. Now think with me here. "The blood of that lamb on the doorframes of their houses had no power to turn away the death angel, but this was an act of obedience and faith, and although they could not have seen this, the blood of that Passover lamb was and is symbolic of the sacrifice of Christ on the cross, by which Christ conquered death for all who savingly believed." Again, Moses nor the Israelites could have known fully what the Passover meant, but they came to see that the Passover was three things.

The Passover was the plan of God to judge the Egyptians and to save His people. The Passover was the provision of God to judge the Egyptians and to save His people. The Passover was the promise of God to judge the Egyptians and to save His people. And notice how serious Moses and the Israelites took the Passover. The verse says that by faith, Moses kept the Passover. He kept the Passover. This word "kept" here, it means to keep, to make, to institute. And scholars tell us this is in the present tense, which means that Moses instituted the Passover and they kept it on that first occasion, and they kept on keeping the Passover.

They continued to keep the Passover from that time on. I love what John MacArthur says here, and I'm quoting, "The people of Israel, including Moses, did not fully understand the full significance of the ceremony, but they knew it was a part of God's plan. God required it and they obeyed it. Moses accepted God's provision." He goes on to say, "Faith always accepts God's provision, no matter how strange and pointless it may seem to human understanding." So notice the things that Moses chose.

He chose the plan of God, the provision of God, and the promises of God all bound up in the Passover because he chose the person of the Passover who was in his God. But take a step back here as well. Look at what the author is showing us. "Moses certainly possessed a personal faith, and his faith was in God." We know this. This is because faith has substance. It rests on the concrete. Faith has substance in that it rests on God. Faith is rooted in God. So by faith and in faith, Moses made a choice. He rejected the pagan false gods of Egypt, and he instituted the Passover for the people of God as commanded by God.

And by keeping the Passover, he believed the plan of God, the provision of God, and the promise of God to save his people. And look at the lesson here, folks. Faith accepts God's provision. If you take notes, you need to write that down. Faith accepts God's provision. I go back to what John MacArthur said earlier, and I'm quoting, "Faith always accepts God's provision. No matter how strange and pointless it may seem to human understanding." Church, faith, true faith accepts God's provision. And for those of us who are born again, by faith and in faith, we accept God's provision in all of life, especially in our salvation, brother or sister.

Are you struggling to accept God's provision for all of life, by faith and in faith? Think about this. In the will and the purpose and the plan that God has uniquely for you, are you struggling to accept God's provision for all of life, by faith and in faith? Are you dissatisfied with what God has provided, and are you always looking for what God provides others? And for the lost, notice what God has provided you. God has provided a Passover Salvation Lamb for you. Will you accept what God has provided? Let me restate that. For the lost, God has provided a Passover Salvation Lamb for you. Will you accept what God has provided?

Jesus, who is God's plan, provision, and promise for your salvation, will you accept Him? And church, this morning we will celebrate the Lord's Supper. We will remember and worship the true Passover Lamb that God has provided us. Jesus was and is God's plan of salvation, His provision of salvation and His promise of salvation, and we remember His sacrifice on the cross by celebrating and participating in the Supper. Now I want to close like I introduced the message this morning by keeping the decisions made by Moses' parents and the decisions made by Moses together. And I do that because the writer of Hebrews does.

Verse 23 to 28 are all about decisions of faith that were made by faith and in faith in God. And I want to show us that the decisions that Moses and his parents made were driven by five things we can see in their lives. And when we go over these things, let's make sure these five things drive us, motivate us, and energize us in our life of faith. We should see these things in our life of faith. First, their decisions were driven by a personal relationship with God. Moses and his parents, all three, had a personal saving relationship with God, as did all of these Hebrews 11 saints.

And church, the life of faith begins and ends with a saving relationship with God. It does. Sadly, I've known so many in the life of the church who were not truly born again, and they tried to live the life of faith externally with rules and religion. They were always frustrated, some of the most angry and hard to get along with people I've ever met. Their decisions of faith were driven by a personal relationship with God. Second, their decisions were driven by God's personal purpose and plan for their lives.

Just like Moses and his parents, God has a plan and a purpose for our lives, and it is up to us to live out those things by faith and in faith. Your walk with the Lord, God's plan for you, could be much different than the one that God has for me, but we are responsible to live out the plan that he has for our lives. Third, their decisions were driven by a personal trust in God personally. Moses and his parents had to trust God and trust God personally in each hard step and in each hard decision, and it is the same with us.

We must personally trust in God in each step and decision in life, no matter how hard, and the many steps and the decisions that are before us very well can be hard. Fourth, their decisions were driven by God's overall purpose and plan for his people. For them and their day, God's overall purpose and plan was to deliver Israel from Egyptian bondage and to deliver them unto himself, unto God. God's overall purpose and plan was to deliver his people unto himself and then to form them into the nation that we know is Israel, God's chosen people. And Moses and his parents lived the life of faith and they were willing to that plan, that purpose.

And for us in our day, God is all about delivering a people to himself out of the world to himself. God's overall purpose and plan in the world today is all about delivering a people out of the world to himself and forming these people into the church. And we are to form our life's purpose and plan around and in God's overall purpose and plan. We are to form our entire lives, our families, in and around God's work on earth, the church. And then the last decision of faith, their decisions were driven by a faith in an eternal reward. Last, their decisions were driven by a faith in an eternal reward.

Moses and his parents were motivated by the eternal reward that was to come by faith. They kept their eyes and their hearts towards God in heaven and the reward that was waiting for them. And it's the same for us, church. Now, a few questions here. Are we living with eternity in view? Are we storing up treasures in heaven, looking forward to and looking to our eternal reward? Are we living with our hearts' affections on the invisible God? So these are motivations. These are to energize us and to motivate us in our life of faith. First, a personal relationship with God. Second, a personal purpose and plan for our lives.

Third, a personal trust in God personally. Fourth, an overall purpose and plan for his people being involved in that. And then last, our eternal reward. So this is all about faith exemplified, Moses and his decisions of faith. And this is a part two.