“By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be known as the son of Pharaoh’s daughter.”
Hebrews 11:24 NIV
Who is the author of Hebrews?
-The author is unknown.
Who is the audience?
-The audience are second generation Hebrew Christians that were experiencing persecution and/ or defecting from the faith.
Why is the author talking to the audience?
-The author is telling the Hebrew Christians the superior belief of faith in Christ vs. following The Law. So, when we read Hebrews, we are reading what our faith in Jesus means.
Moses is used as an example of faith. How it led to him growing up Egyptians but being and identifying as an Israelite.
PREVIOUS POSTS (here).
“Then Pharaoh’s daughter went down to the Nile to bathe, and her attendants were walking along the riverbank. She saw the basket among the reeds and sent her female slave to get it. She opened it and saw the baby.”
Exodus 2:5 NIV
Moses is born during a time when his people are being oppressed and enslaved. Pharaoh has issued an edict that all baby boy Israelites should be killed at birth. Moses’ mom hid him and Pharaoh’s daughter took him in and raised him.
Who are they?
Who can they represent?
Moses can be us. God’s will shall be accomplished. Even if he needs to use our enemies to accomplish it.
Moses is on a character journey. He grows up as an Egyptian prince. What does he get from that experience? Leadership skills. We learn that our journey with God should look similar to this. It’s where God positions us in life to give us life experiences that are needed for our purpose.
Moses chooses this experience because he could have remained in Pharoah’s house. Yet he finds himself choosing to be with and fight for the Israelites.
“One day, after Moses had grown up, he went out to where his own people were and watched them at their hard labor. He saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his own people. Looking this way and that and seeing no one, he killed the Egyptian and hid him in the sand. The next day he went out and saw two Hebrews fighting. He asked the one in the wrong, ‘Why are you hitting your fellow Hebrew?’ ”
Exodus 2:11-13 NIV
“He chose to be mistreated along with the people of God rather than to enjoy fleeting pleasures of sin.”
Hebrews 11:25 NIV
God is allowing things to happen to Moses to develop his character. God begins to place us in situation that strengthen us. Moses is displaying a strong sense of obligation, morals, he is championing the “little guy,” He is acting as a judge between the two men fighting. God is helping Moses to build his skillset for purpose. Moses will be all these things to Israel, in The Wilderness, and establishing The Law.
“The man said, ‘Who made you ruler and judge over us? Are you thinking of killing me as you killed the Egyptian?’ ”
Exodus 2:14 NIV
“When Pharaoh heard of this, he tried to kill Moses, but Moses fled from Pharaoh and went to live in Midian, where he sat down by a well. Now a priest of Midian had seven daughters, and they came to draw water.
Some shepherds came along and drove them away, but Moses got up and came to their rescue and watered their flock.”
Exodus 2:14-15 NIV
Moses is on the run and probably feels like life is off balance. Except we know how this story ends. Moses has just walked into his next assignment. He needs the skillset of being a shepherd. He is going to need to teach Israel to live off the land in The Wilderness. This situation requires that Moses has to trust God through this process. We will need to do the same. No matter what it looks like, we should always look for the lesson.
“He regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value that the treasures of Egypt,”
Hebrews 11:26 NIV
The story of Moses reveals to us that God designs our lives based on our purpose. Moses needed to be raised Egyptian to lead Israel and he needed to flee to learn to be a shepherd. Along the way, we see Moses being strengthened in character and personhood. His God-given purpose was to liberate the people. God just needed to orchestrate the life experiences that would impart the skillset he needed to build.
