MOSES AND THE DECISION OF FAITH
Heb. 11:23-27
Morning Meditation 4/14/2015
"By faith Moses, when he was born, was hid three months of his parents, because they saw he was a proper child; and they were not afraid of the king's commandment. By faith Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter; Choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season; Esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt: for he had respect unto the recompence of the reward. By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king: for he endured, as seeing him who is invisible."
In Hebrews 11:23-27 we are introduced to Moses, once described as "the greatest man among mere men in the whole history of the world"; and the particular emphasis made in these verses concerns the decision, or decisions, which Moses' faith led him to make. Every child of God is called upon to make decisions.. The first great decision is when we repent of our sins and turn to the Lord Jesus Christ and trust Him as our own Personal Saviour -- this is brought out in Acts 20:21, "Testifying both to the Jews, and also to the Greeks, repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ." And after this, all through our Christian life, decisions have to be made which affect God's glory and our own lives. Moses' life spanned 120 years, and was divided into three equal periods. For the first forty years he was in the Egyptian court as a prince; for the second forty years he was in the wilderness as a shepherd; and for the last forty years he was the leader of God's people. Notice that Moses began his life-work after eighty years of preparation. His first forty he was under the tutelage of his faithful mother. The second forty years he was learning patience and gaining wisdom herding the sheep for his father-in-law on the back side of the desert of Midian. This would be the very place where he would lead God's flock for forty years.
Are you anxious to begin your life work? Don't be impatient during the waiting time, for if you seek to walk with the Lord, the waiting time is not wasted time. Those eighty years were tedious and testing times for Moses, but they qualified him for the great work which God had planned for him. The late Dr. G. Campbell Morgan pointed out that although Moses is mentioned in Hebrews eleven because of his own faith, 'whatever is mentioned there about the faith of Moses is the result of the faith of his father and mother, Amram and Jochebed' -- Hebrews 11:23, "By faith Moses, when he was born, was hid three months of his parents, because they saw he was a proper child; and they were not afraid of the king's commandment." And Jochebed was chosen by Pharaoh's daughter to be Moses nurse. This is the first social program!!!
Our church is near an Air Force Base and we have always had several service personnel in our church. We have the privilege of training them in the Word of God and when the Air force ships them out, they don't only go as Military personal but also as Christian missionaries. A church was begun in Heinsburg, Germany in the late nineties as a result of a family from our church being transferred there. Back during the blockade in West Berlin a Military family was transferred there and resulted in a local church being established there.. We sponsored it. I could tell you story after story about our people being transferred out and many times going to a field that already had a church but needed workers and our people were put to work immediately.. Folks in our church are trained diligently in the basic truths of the Word of God. When they leave here they come out of our church ready to go, when it comes to work in a local church. God developed Moses for eighty years before he under took his life's work. There were three decisions involved in answering God's call: refusing (vs. 24); choosing (vs. 25); and forsaking (vs. 27). Let's notice three things about Moses decision:
THE TIME OF MOSES DECISION
We are told in Hebrews 11:24, "By faith Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter;" He made this decision when he was come to years. When I think of a statement like this, I think in term of a person being old enough to be saved. I was nine years of age when I was saved. I could have been saved younger. But Moses was forty at the time of this decision. It says "By faith" he made this decision. Moses was not shallow thinker. He was not a man greedy for power or money. He was a Jew who had been trained in Jewish customs and the covenants. Moses babysitter saw to that! This decision influenced the remainder of his earthly life.
About this same time Moses knew that Israel was to be delivered from Egypt and every indication is that he knew he was to be the deliverer. But this was not God's timing. Moses would have delivered Israel in his own strength. At that time he didn't know any other way. So we are told in Exodus 2:11-12, "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. And he looked this way and that way, and when he saw that there was no man, he slew the Egyptian, and hid him in the sand."
Then we are told in Exodus 2:13-15, "And when he went out the second day, behold, two men of the Hebrews strove together: and he said to him that did the wrong, Wherefore smitest thou thy fellow? And he said, Who made thee a prince and a judge over us? intendest thou to kill me, as thou killedst the Egyptian? And Moses feared, and said, Surely this thing is known. Now when Pharaoh heard this thing, he sought to slay Moses. But Moses fled from the face of Pharaoh, and dwelt in the land of Midian: and he sat down by a well." I imagine that Moses did a lot of meditating by the well.
Moses knew the Lord and I believe he knew at the time that he was to be the deliverer. But I believe this was his reasoning. "My brethren rejected me as their leader, God allowed Pharaoh to discover my killing of the Egyptian, I have missed my calling. I believe many men have been called of God over the years to do different things and they missed God timing and concluded that they missed God's calling. They were wrong.
Forty years on the backside of the desert of Midian is a long time for preparation. I'm in my 80's and I'm about pooped out. If God came and told me, "You are not really going to start you life's work at this age, I think I would faint!!! I would say, "Lord, I don't hardly have the energy to sit at the computer and do these meditations and you tell me that at this age You are going to call me to my life's work?"
When it came time for the Lord to take Moses from the walks of this life and replace him with the man Moses trained (Joshua), the Word of God tells us in Deuteronomy 34:7, "And Moses was an hundred and twenty years old when he died: his eye was not dim, nor his natural force abated." He did not have the normal characteristics of getting old, baldness, bifocals, bulges, and bunions!!! God had supernaturally kept him strong physically and he died a healthy man. Now that we have looked at the time of Moses decision, let's look at,
THE NATURE OF MOSES DECISION
Moses decision involved a refusal. This is clearly stated in verse 24. When faith comes into action we are led not only to do what is right, but to discern between right and wrong, and refuse the wrong. There are many examples in the Bible where people of faith made a decision to reject something that would have definitely been wrong in the sight of the Lord. It would have been something for which they would have to give an account.
We are told in Genesis 39:9 of Joseph's refusal to Potiphar's wife, "There is none greater in this house than I; neither hath he kept back any thing from me but thee, because thou art his wife: how then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?"
It costs to walk by faith. May God give us grace to pay the price.
May the Lord bless these world to our hearts.
