Hebrews:11:23-29 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. 24: By faith Moses, when he was come to years, 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 pleasures of sin for a season; 26: Esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt: for he had respect unto the recompence of 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: Through faith he kept the passover, and the sprinkling of blood, lest he that destroyed the firstborn should touch them. 29: By faith they passed through the Red sea as by dry land: which the Egyptians assaying to do were drowned.
The first example of faith mentioned here is of Moses’ parents. They hid Moses three months, even though the king had a mandate to kill all the male children.
Acts:7:20-21 20: In which time Moses was born, and was exceeding fair, and nourished up in his father’s house three months: 21: And when he was cast out, Pharaoh’s daughter took him up, and nourished him for her own son.
Ex:2:1-10 1: And there went a man of the house of Levi, and took to wife a daughter of Levi. 2: And the woman conceived, and bare a son: and when she saw him that he was a goodly child, she hid him three months. 3: And when she could not longer hide him, she took for him an ark of bulrushes, and daubed it with slime and with pitch, and put the child therein; and she laid it in the flags by the river’s brink. 4: And his sister stood afar off, to wit what would be done to him. 5: And the daughter of Pharaoh came down to wash herself at the river; and her maidens walked along by the river’s side; and when she saw the ark among the flags, she sent her maid to fetch it. 6: And when she had opened it, she saw the child: and, behold, the babe wept. And she had compassion on him, and said, This is one of the Hebrews’ children. 7: Then said his sister to Pharaoh’s daughter, Shall I go and call to thee a nurse of the Hebrew women, that she may nurse the child for thee? 8: And Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, Go. And the maid went and called the child’s mother. 9: And Pharaoh’s daughter said unto her, Take this child away, and nurse it for me, and I will give thee thy wages. And the woman took the child, and nursed it. 10: And the child grew, and she brought him unto Pharaoh’s daughter, and he became her son. And she called his name Moses: and she said, Because I drew him out of the water.
When Moses was placed in the river, Moses’ mother was depending on God to sustain him. Not only did he do so, but he enabled Moses to live like a king. But she was able to take care of Moses in her home, being paid to do so, for the first couple of years. She would have instilled into Moses the word of God during this time. Now let’s read Hebrews again, where we take up with Moses as an adult. There is no mention of Moses’ upbringing with Pharoah’s daughter except here.
In this passage in Hebrews 11 we are given in Moses example of faith seven steps. There are seven steps to a quality decision given here; refusing, choosing, esteeming, forsaking, enduring, keeping, and passing through. The process begins with three steps; refusing, choosing, and esteeming.
1,2 Steps one and two…refuse and choose.
Hebrews 11:24-25 24: By faith Moses, when he was come to years, 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 pleasures of sin for a season;
Steps one and two are refuse and chose. Refuse is to deny, denounce, reject, or disown. Moses refused to be called the son of Pharaoh. He refused the title, the privileges, and the position in the royal family. His refusal caused him to take the next step which was to chose to be with God’s people.
Acts:7:22-29 22: And Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and was mighty in words and in deeds. 23: And when he was full forty years old, it came into his heart to visit his brethren the children of Israel. 24: And seeing one of them suffer wrong, he defended him, and avenged him that was oppressed, and smote the Egyptian: 25: For he supposed his brethren would have understood how that God by his hand would deliver them: but they understood not. 26: And the next day he shewed himself unto them as they strove, and would have set them at one again, saying, Sirs, ye are brethren; why do ye wrong one to another? 27: But he that did his neighbour wrong thrust him away, saying, Who made thee a ruler and a judge over us? 28: Wilt thou kill me, as thou diddest the Egyptian yesterday? 29: Then fled Moses at this saying, and was a stranger in the land of Madian, where he begat two sons.
Ex:2:11-15 11: 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. 12: 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. 13: 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? 14: 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. 15: 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.
Notice here that Moses did not regard himself as an Egyptian. He had refused the title of Pharoah’s son and regarded himself as the deliverer of the Hebrews. Here it shows that the Hebrews did not regard him as a ruler, or they would have not questioned him by asking him, “Who made thee a ruler and judge over us?” Exodus shows us that Pharaoh did not regard him as his son. That is why he sought to slay Moses. We must take Moses’ example and take the first step of refusal and the second step of choosing.
Ex:2:15: 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.
We have to refuse circumstances that are contrary to God’s word and chose to follow His word alone.
When debt, sickness, or disease show up in our lives we are not to ignore them, but refuse to accept them. If I were sent a special delivery package, I can either chose to accept it or refuse it. If I refuse it, then it will have no influence in my life. We are to refuse anything that does not line up with God’s word. We are to make God’s word number one in our lives.
3. Step 3, Esteem
Hebrews 11:26: Esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt: for he had respect unto the recompense of the reward.
Esteem means to value or give weight to. When you esteem something you judge, weigh it carefully, you hold it in high regard. Moses was esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt. In other words, he valued higher having a close personal relationship with Christ, than being the adopted son of Pharoah’s daughter, and all the wealth and privileges that came with that position. He knew that Christ would give him eternal riches even though he may have hardships here on earth..
1Peter:4:13-16 13: But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ’s sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy. 14: If ye be reproached for the name of Christ, happy are ye; for the spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you: on their part he is evil spoken of, but on your part he is glorified. 15: But let none of you suffer as a murderer, or as a thief, or as an evildoer, or as a busybody in other men’s matters. 16: Yet if any man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed; but let him glorify God on this behalf.
In decision making, you must place value on your choices in line with God’s word. Will your choice please God. God’s approval should be more important than looking good to family and friends. You will not make quality decisions until you value God’s word. Most Christians do not value God’s word, but instead value the word of talk shows, the news, the media, or the government.
God wants each one of us is to esteem God’s word as the most important thing in our lives.
Every decision you make should be measured by God’s word. The word of God should be your final authority. It must be the basis for your relationships, your business, your life.
Many people do these three steps, but do not do the next four action steps, and therefore never receive from God. You have to go beyond esteeming, refusing, and choosing. Your decision will not be a quality decision if you quit here. When you have esteemed the Word of God, refuse what opposes the Word of God, and choose God’s way over your way or the worlds way, you have begun your journey to a quality decision, but you must go on from these three steps.
4 Step 4 Forsake.
Hebrews 11:27: By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king: for he endured, as seeing him who is invisible.
What it actually says there in verse 27, even though many translations just say “leave” is, “By faith he forsook Egypt.” It’s a stronger word than just to leave. The Greek word, kataleipo, can refer to a simple departure, but it really is a deeper word, especially here, some commentators have said it means a change of heart. In the Greek both here in Hebrews 11 and also in Luke, it says, they forsook all to follow Jesus.
Lu:5:11: And when they had brought their ships to land, they forsook all, and followed him.
So it has the idea of not just simply physically leaving Egypt but renouncing Egypt. He rejected Egypt as having any power over his life. He rejected the power that Pharaoh supposedly had over his life. He rejected the fear of man.
Proverbs 29:25 :25: The fear of man bringeth a snare: but whoso putteth his trust in the LORD shall be safe. :26: Many seek the ruler’s favour; but every man’s judgment cometh from the LORD.
Totally surrender your life over to God the Father, ask Him to place you in His perfect will for your life, find out what your call and purpose is going to be for Him, and then do not be afraid to enter into a dynamic, powerful, personal relationship with Him.
If each Christian would be willing do both of these things, I believe that God would then take them into heights and adventures that would possibly be beyond their wildest dreams.
Romans:12:1-3 1: I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. 2: And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God. 3: For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.
Paul here commands us to forsake the world, or to be not conformed to it. Be separate from the world and it’s ideologies. We can do the same as Moses did when we forsake the world and transform ourselves by the renewing of our minds.
5. Step 5 is to Endure.
Hebrews 11:27: By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king: for he endured, as seeing him who is invisible.
The only way to endure is to have a close personal relationship with God, to love God.
James:1:12: Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him.
Moses had a close personal relationship to God. He endured the shame of being rejected by Pharoah. He endured 40 years of being in the wilderness, moving a large group of people who complained and whined about their lives on a daily basis. He did this because he had a vision of his personal God. Acts and Exodus 3 record the first encounter with God. We are going to read just Acts… but I encourage you to read the entire story in Exodus 3.
Acts:7:30-35 30: And when forty years were expired, there appeared to him in the wilderness of mount Sina an angel of the Lord in a flame of fire in a bush. 31: When Moses saw it, he wondered at the sight: and as he drew near to behold it, the voice of the Lord came unto him, 32: Saying, I am the God of thy fathers, the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. Then Moses trembled, and durst not behold. 33: Then said the Lord to him, Put off thy shoes from thy feet: for the place where thou standest is holy ground. 34: I have seen, I have seen the affliction of my people which is in Egypt, and I have heard their groaning, and am come down to deliver them. And now come, I will send thee into Egypt. 35: This Moses whom they refused, saying, Who made thee a ruler and a judge? the same did God send to be a ruler and a deliverer by the hand of the angel which appeared to him in the bush.
Moses was able to endure because he knew God. We can only endure the circumstances or people who come against our stand of faith by a close relationship with God.
Deuteronomy:34:10: And there arose not a prophet since in Israel like unto Moses, whom the LORD knew face to face,
6. Step six is to Keep
Hebrews 11:28: Through faith he kept the passover, and the sprinkling of blood, lest he that destroyed the firstborn should touch them.
Let’s go over to the story in Exodus. God commanded the Israelites to take the passover dinner the night that the first born of Egypt would be destroyed. He told them to take a lamb and kill and eat it.
Exodus:12:11-14 11: And thus shall ye eat it; with your loins girded, your shoes on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and ye shall eat it in haste: it is the LORD’s passover. 12: For I will pass through the land of Egypt this night, and will smite all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment: I am the LORD. 13: 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. 14: And this day shall be unto you for a memorial; and ye shall keep it a feast to the LORD throughout your generations; ye shall keep it a feast by an ordinance for ever.
This passover which God commanded them to keep as a feast to the Lord forever, was an example of what Jesus did on the cross. He is the true passover lamb.
1Corinthians:5:7-8 7: Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us: 8: Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.
Jesus’ work on the cross should be eternally in our hearts. We should ever keep before us the work of the cross. In every decision, the cross should be our guide. The saying “what would Jesus do”, should be on our hearts as we make decisions for our lives.
Hebrews:10:16-23 16: This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith the Lord, I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them; 17: And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more. 18: Now where remission of these is, there is no more offering for sin. 19: Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, 20: By a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh; 21: And having an high priest over the house of God; 22: Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water. 23: Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;)
It is all because of Jesus being our passover lamb that we can boldly enter into the throne. It is by his work that we can keep our confession of faith without wavering. We need to keep speaking what is ours because of the sacrifice that Jesus did on the cross. Do not waver in your faith, but keep speaking God’s word over the situations in your life and you will see the answer.
7. Step 7 Pass through
Hebrews 11:29: By faith they passed through the Red sea as by dry land: which the Egyptians assaying to do were drowned.
Let’s go again to Acts to get a little more on this story.
Acts:7:36-38 36: He brought them out, after that he had shewed wonders and signs in the land of Egypt, and in the Red sea, and in the wilderness forty years. 37: This is that Moses, which said unto the children of Israel, A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me; him shall ye hear. 38: This is he, that was in the church in the wilderness with the angel which spake to him in the mount Sina, and with our fathers: who received the lively oracles to give unto us:
Ex:14:19-31 19: And the angel of God, which went before the camp of Israel, removed and went behind them; and the pillar of the cloud went from before their face, and stood behind them: 20: And it came between the camp of the Egyptians and the camp of Israel; and it was a cloud and darkness to them, but it gave light by night to these: so that the one came not near the other all the night. 21: And Moses stretched out his hand over the sea; and the LORD caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind all that night, and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided. :22: And the children of Israel went into the midst of the sea upon the dry ground: and the waters were a wall unto them on their right hand, and on their left. 23: And the Egyptians pursued, and went in after them to the midst of the sea, even all Pharaoh’s horses, his chariots, and his horsemen. 24: And it came to pass, that in the morning watch the LORD looked unto the host of the Egyptians through the pillar of fire and of the cloud, and troubled the host of the Egyptians, 25: And took off their chariot wheels, that they drave them heavily: so that the Egyptians said, Let us flee from the face of Israel; for the LORD fighteth for them against the Egyptians. 26: And the LORD said unto Moses, Stretch out thine hand over the sea, that the waters may come again upon the Egyptians, upon their chariots, and upon their horsemen. 27: And Moses stretched forth his hand over the sea, and the sea returned to his strength when the morning appeared; and the Egyptians fled against it; and the LORD overthrew the Egyptians in the midst of the sea. 28: And the waters returned, and covered the chariots, and the horsemen, and all the host of Pharaoh that came into the sea after them; there remained not so much as one of them. 29: But the children of Israel walked upon dry land in the midst of the sea; and the waters were a wall unto them on their right hand, and on their left. 30: Thus the LORD saved Israel that day out of the hand of the Egyptians; and Israel saw the Egyptians dead upon the sea shore. 31: And Israel saw that great work which the LORD did upon the Egyptians: and the people feared the LORD, and believed the LORD, and his servant Moses.
The final step to a quality decision is the the passing through. When Moses passed through the Red Sea, it was his final step away from Egypt. There was no turning back. But because he stood his ground and made a decision to follow God all the way, God was able to show wonders and signs for forty years. It is the same in our lives. We must be determined that it is God’s way and no other to see the signs and wonders occur in our own lives.
So as you encounter circumstances of life, follow Moses example. Refuse the circumstances, choose rather God’s word. Esteem God’s word as number one. Take a heartfelt turn toward Jesus, forsaking all behind, endure, stand patiently waiting for the answer. Keep in your heart the work of the cross, and finally pass through the circumstances to the answer, being determined that God’s way is the only way for you. If you do this you will see miracles happen in your life.
Goode Christian: learning how to be a good Christian in today's world. 