Hebrews 11:24-28: By Faith Moses
Hebrews 11:24
By faith Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter; (Hebrews 11:24)
Without this verse, we might have missed this in other narratives about Moses. In the Exodus narrative, we read: “And it came to pass in those days, when Moses was grown, that he went out unto his brethren, and looked on their burdens: and he spied an Egyptian smiting an Hebrew, one of his brethren” (Exodus 2:11). Presumably, the phrase “he went out unto his brethren, and looked on their burdens” is presumably a lot more involved than what you might infer. More time passed than we might think, since it is all contained in one verse. It seems Moses went out in a permanent fashion because he saw what was happening to his real people.
Stephen gives us more information. “And when he was cast out, Pharaoh’s daughter took him up, and nourished him for her own son. And Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and was mighty in words and in deeds. And when he was full forty years old, it came into his heart to visit his brethren the children of Israel” (Acts 7:21-23). Here, we see a lot about his upbringing. He grew up in Egyptian culture and in royalty. He received a fancy education there. Even though he claimed he was not a great speaker in Exodus 4:10, here we read that Moses “was mighty in words and in deeds.” He was a powerful speaker and did great things. Perhaps it was more his flight from Egypt to Midian and subsequent experiences that humbled him greatly where he lost some of that or thought that he did.
There came a point where Moses realized that he was not Egyptian and was led of the Lord away from those things. This son of Amram learned something of his heritage and the LORD and realized that his heritage contradicted everything he learned in his Egyptian education. While he probably loved his adopted relatives, he forsook all the Egyptian paganism and found out who his real family is. Consider when Moses told the Lord that he was slow of tongue: “And he said, O my Lord, send, I pray thee, by the hand of him whom thou wilt send. And the anger of the LORD was kindled against Moses, and he said, Is not Aaron the Levite thy brother? I know that he can speak well. And also, behold, he cometh forth to meet thee: and when he seeth thee, he will be glad in his heart” (Exodus 4:13-14). Around the age of 80, having spent half his life in Egypt and half in Midian, Moses knew his biological brother Aaron. No introduction was necessary. When he left the household of Pharaoh’s daughter, he found his family, including his brother Aaron.
What is important is that Moses no longer identified with his pagan adopted family that killed his people. He identified with the family of his birth and the God of their fathers.
Hebrews 11:25
Choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season; (Hebrews 11:25)
We are not sure of all that Moses suffered with his people before his flight to Midian. We only know of one story. Consider Exodus 2:11-15. He took the side of the Israelite over the Egyptian in the first fight, murdering the Egyptian. In the second fight, he sought peace, but his own people did not accept him despite his public association with them.
Pharoah may have granted Moses some leniency if he had not begun associating with his people. We cannot know for sure. However, because Moses rejected the customs and paganism of Egypt, there was no mercy. There was a bounty on his head, and there was a warrant for Moses’s arrest. This forced him out of Egypt.
From this story, we know that Moses did not want the comfortable yet sinful life of Egyptian royalty. The slaying of the Egyptian showed where his true loyalty lied, and it cost him the cushy life he could have had otherwise.
Hebrews 11:26
Esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt: for he had respect unto the recompence of the reward. (Hebrews 11:26)
Moses understood that whatever suffering he had was because of his people and God. He knew there was reward with being faithful to the Lord over anything he could receive in this life. What are these riches? They correspond to God’s generosity, His inheritance, His glory, and many other things. A few thoughts on God’s riches in the Bible:
“Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance?” (Romans 2:4). God’s riches are in His patience toward undeserving sinners.
“What if God, willing to shew his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction: And that he might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy, which he had afore prepared unto glory” (Romans 9:22-23). The riches toward us is in stark contrast to the wrath shown the unsaved. His riches are associated with His glory.
“O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!” (Romans 11:33). His riches are beyond our comprehension; we cannot figure it out in our limited perception.
“To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved. In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace” (Ephesians 1:6-7). The Lord made the unacceptable accepted, He gave the unforgiveable forgiveness, and He redeemed the hopeless to a new lively hope. This is the depths of His riches of His grace.
“The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints” (Ephesians 1:18). The riches of His glory is our inheritance, and though it is incomprehensible, the Lord desires us to know it the best we can.
“That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus” (Ephesians 2:7). His riches correlate to His grace and kindness. They will be displayed in all the ages to come for us to learn and ascribe Him glory.
“Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ” (Ephesians 3:8). We have seen that His riches are beyond comprehension. However, they are offered to the most egregious sinners.
“That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man” (Ephesians 3:16). According to this great generosity, the inner man, the new creature, receives his strength.
“But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:19). If God can generously provide all our spiritual needs, He can surely provide our physical needs.
“To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Colossians 1:27). The riches of His glory is found in having Jesus, the Lord of glory, dwelling within Gentile believers.
“That their hearts might be comforted, being knit together in love, and unto all riches of the full assurance of understanding, to the acknowledgement of the mystery of God, and of the Father, and of Christ; In whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge” (Colossians 2:2-3). The church is where there is assurance that all true treasure of wisdom and knowledge are found in the Father and the Son.
“Saying with a loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing” (Revelation 5:12). The angels of heaven ascribe all riches to Jesus Christ.
Moses could have had the inheritance of Pharaoh. Perhaps, being Pharaoh’s daughter’s son, he could have potentially had the throne of all Egypt. He pondered the riches of Egypt and the riches of God, as we just saw, and found the Lord’s riches were the better eternal investment.
Hebrews 11:27
By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king: for he endured, as seeing him who is invisible. (Hebrews 11:27)
How did Moses forsake Egypt? There are three ways that He did. In the previous verses we saw how he forsook his Egyptian family and culture. This was the first way.
The second way was when he physically left the boundary of Egypt to the land of Midian. Consider Exodus 2:14-22. Maybe he did not fear the wrath of the king, but there was some fear present in Exodus 2:14. He was now a fugitive. However, he showed valiance in helping Reuel’s daughters against these shepherds. This Midianite priest was told, “An Egyptian delivered us out of the hand of the shepherds.” They could still identify Moses as an Egyptian by his appearance, clothing, or somehow. They did not identify him as an Israelite. There was still some Egyptian in him. He was not yet ready to be a deliverer of God’s people. He tried to deliver His people in worldly ways. The next 40 years of his journey are in preparation for those final 40 years, where he would be a deliverer of God’s people. Before all that, Moses became a husband, a father, and a herder of flocks in the land of Midian. This was more akin to what an Israelite was like rather than the royal Egyptian lifestyle, where they hated shepherds. “Thy servants’ trade hath been about cattle from our youth even until now, both we, and also our fathers: that ye may dwell in the land of Goshen; for every shepherd is an abomination unto the Egyptians” (Genesis 46:34). Like David, who learned to be a leader through shepherding, Moses learned over four decades the principles of real leadership.
The third way he forsook Egypt when he led the hundreds of thousands of Israelites out of Egypt, through the desert, and to the border of Canaan. The next two verses have to do with that portion. The forsaking of Egypt and not regarding the backlash from the king was a process for Moses.
Consider on the eve of the Passover, when Moses was 80 years old, we read this: “And Pharaoh said unto him, Get thee from me, take heed to thyself, see my face no more; for in that day thou seest my face thou shalt die. And Moses said, Thou hast spoken well, I will see thy face again no more” (Exodus 10:28-29). Any vestige of fear for Pharaoh was gone.
How did Moses see the invisible God? The first real encounter with God we read of Moses is the burning bush. Consider Exodus 3:1-6. He was led to this curious sight of the bush that would not burn and encountered a theophany. “And Moses hid his face; for he was afraid to look upon God.” Surely, God does not look like a bush and cannot be likened to any creature, but Moses encountered the presence of God and averted his eyes.
God is invisible and cannot be seen unless He reveals His glory in some way.
“For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse” (Romans 1:20). Though we cannot see God, we can see some of what God is like by looking at His creation. He is all powerful and must be disparate from His creation.
If you want to see the invisible God, we look to the Son, the image of the invisible. “Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature” (Colossians 1:15). “Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father?” (John 14:9). You know the Father only by looking to the Son.
Hebrews 11:28
Through faith he kept the passover, and the sprinkling of blood, lest he that destroyed the firstborn should touch them. (Hebrews 11:28)
By faith, Moses kept the Passover. What is this Passover? Consider Exodus 12.
For a discussion on the Passover, see posts here and here.
The new Passover celebrates the risen Savior, not a dead animal. However, Moses knew that if he did not do as God had said, the firstborn of the Israelite would perish just as the firstborn of the Egyptian would perish. The Israelites were naturally spared from some of the previous plagues. “And I will sever in that day the land of Goshen, in which my people dwell, that no swarms of flies shall be there; to the end thou mayest know that I am the LORD in the midst of the earth” (Exodus 8:22). “Only in the land of Goshen, where the children of Israel were, was there no hail” (Exodus 9:26). The Passover was different; there was a condition attached to being spared of the death of the firstborn. “And the blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where ye are: and when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you, when I smite the land of Egypt” (Exodus 12:13). Moses and the Israelites had to believe God’s Word and heed the warning to be saved.