The faith of Moses’ parents

Heb 11:23-29 “By faith Moses’ parents hid him for three months after he was born, because they saw he was no ordinary child, and they were not afraid of the king’s edict. By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be known as the son of Pharaoh’s daughter. He chose to be mistreated along with the people of God rather than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. He regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt, because he was looking ahead to his reward. By faith he left Egypt, not fearing the king’s anger; he persevered because he saw him who is invisible. By faith he kept the Passover and the application of blood, so that the destroyer of the firstborn would not touch the firstborn of Israel. By faith the people passed through the Red Sea as on dry land; but when the Egyptians tried to do so, they were drowned.”

At the beginning of the Book of Exodus we read how God’s people had gone to Egypt and how, by God’s providence, they had been fruitful and increased in numbers.: Exod 1:1-7 “These are the names of the sons of Israel who went to Egypt with Jacob, each with his family: Reuben, Simeon, Levi and Judah; Issachar, Zebulun and Benjamin; Dan and Naphtali; Gad and Asher. The descendants of Jacob numbered seventy in all; Joseph was already in Egypt. Now Joseph and all his brothers and all that generation died, but the Israelites were exceedingly fruitful; they multiplied greatly, increased in numbers and became so numerous that the land was filled with them.”

What we do not read is that they had made Egypt their home. There is no indication that they had intermingled or intermarried with the Egyptians. We are at a time, generations after the time of Joseph, when they are still known as the Israelites and not Egyptians. It is clear that by the time Moses was born, when there was a king in Egypt who did not know Joseph or to whom Joseph meant nothing, these Israelites were seen as a threat to his power.

What was his fear? Exod 1:10 “Come, we must deal shrewdly with them or they will become even more numerous and, if war breaks out, will join our enemies, fight against us and leave the country.””

“They will fight against us and leave the country” Joseph had brought the family to Egypt, to preserve them, but he knew, and they knew that there would come a time when they would leave, because God had promised them a land of their own and it was not Egypt. Remember what Joseph had said just before he died: Gen 50:24 “Then Joseph said to his brothers, “I am about to die. But God will surely come to your aid and take you up out of this land to the land he promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.””

God will come to your aid and take you up out of this land. What would cause them to want to leave Egypt? After all, they were settled in one of the best regions of Egypt, Goshen; they were prosperous. Gen 47:27 “Now the Israelites settled in Egypt in the region of Goshen. They acquired property there and were fruitful and increased greatly in number.”

The answer to that question was a new King , to whom Joseph meant nothing. The israelite people were undoubtedly an asset to the country of Egypt, and it is probably true that wherever God’s people are, the country in which they live prospers. This new king decided that labour and hardship was the way to keep these people, the Israelites in their place. Was that plan successful? Ex 1:12 “But the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and spread; so the Egyptians came to dread the Israelites”

This fear led to the King ordering the Hebrew midwives to kill the baby boys at birth. We must take note of the faith of the Hebrew midwives. Ex 1:17 “The midwives, however, feared God and did not do what the king of Egypt had told them to do; they let the boys live.” And God rewarded their faith: Ex 1:21 “And because the midwives feared God, he gave them families of their own.”

Pharaoh’s final solution was to issue a national decree: EX 1:22 “Then Pharaoh gave this order to all his people: “Every Hebrew boy that is born you must throw into the Nile, but let every girl live.””

These were the circumstances in which the Israelites now lived in Egypt.

Egypt had been their home for several generations and there had been good years of prosperity, but everything has changed. Now their life has been turned upside down and there is no future for them in Egypt except as slaves for this Pharaoh who wants to build store cities in that very part of Egypt that the earlier Pharaoh had given to Joseph’s family: Gen 47:11 “So Joseph settled his father and his brothers in Egypt and gave them property in the best part of the land, the district of Rameses, as Pharaoh directed.”

All they have now is the promise that one day they would leave Egypt and move to this Promised land that their forefathers had told them about. A hope that seemed impossible as they toil;ed under the lash of the Egyptians.

A Pharaoh who enslaves and oppresses the Israelites and a God whose plan is to free these Israelite slaves and take them to a new land. We asked earlier “what would cause the Israelites to want to leave Egypt?” This oppression would.

God was preparing his people for the promised Exodus and he was sending the one who is going to be their deliverer.

Among God’s people there were many who had faith. We saw the faith of the Hebrew midwives. Now the writer to the Hebrews directs our attention to the faith of Mose’s parents. Heb 11:23 “By faith Moses’ parents hid him for three months after he was born, because they saw he was no ordinary child, and they were not afraid of the king’s edict.”

The story of the infant Moses is well known: hidden for three months, then placed in a wicker basket in the reeds at the edge of the Nile, watched over by his sister Miriam; the discovery by Pharaoh’s daughter and the quick thinking Miriam suggesting Moses’ own mother as a nurse for him; and then being adopted and raised in the royal household as Pharaoh’s grandson, a Prince in the court of Egypt.

The King James Bible records verse 23 in this way;

King James Version Chapter 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.

Why does the writer to the Hebrews choose to highlight the faith of Moses’ parents. Wasn’t their desire to protect their child and the actions they took to do so just show what any parents would do? The law was that their child should be given up and destroyed by being cast into the Nile. As God fearing people they had to make the choice to preserve life than obey the instructions of the King. When the choice is to obey God or to obey a law which you know is contrary to God’s will, there is no question but to obey God and trust to his providence. That’s where their faith was plainly being worked out. Yes, it was something that they would have wanted to do anyway, and while it was still feasible, they hid him away from the eyes of the Egyptians.

If they are trusting in God’s providence, why not keep him openly, in plain sight? That would be to deliberately put him in harm’s way. No doubt God would have found a way to save Moses, but faith is often shown in what we would naturally do, and there are many examples through the Bible when we see that.

When threatened by Jezebel, Elijah was afraid and ran for his life: 1 Kings 19:3 “Elijah was afraid and ran for his life. When he came to Beersheba in Judah, he left his servant there,” And this was just after that contest on Mount Carmel.

When persecution began in Jerusalem in the days of the early church we rread this: Acts 8:1 “... On that day a great persecution broke out against the church in Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria.” The believers did what was sensible — they left Jerusalem.

When there was a threat against Paul's life in Damascus: Acts 9:25 “But his followers took him by night and lowered him in a basket through an opening in the wall.”

Jesus himself, when he became aware of a plot to kill him, removed himself from harm’s way: Matthew 12:14-15 “But the Pharisees went out and plotted how they might kill Jesus. Aware of this, Jesus withdrew from that place.

The faith of Moses’ parents was evident in their actions to save the life of their child. That faith overcame their fear of the law of the land. While they could, they kept him at home, but when that became impossible, they put stage two of their rescue plan into action. The wicker basket in the reeds of the Nile. There are people who believe that they just put Moses in the basket and left it to float down the Nile, with Miriam walking along the bank, keeping an eye on it. I am not convinced that that is what really happened. What parent, having protected their child for three months, would suddenly now cast it adrift on a river, leaving it to providence.

This is what I think happened. Moses was wrapped up and carefully placed in the basket, which was set among the reeds before the sun came up, was watched over by Miriam until dark, when Moses could be safely brought home to be fed and washed and comforted overnight. The same would occur on a daily basis until… We know what happened. God’s hand was in all that they were doing.

Faith is in action not just at the big moments , but in the every day tasks and duties of life. Jesus talks of the every day when he said Matt10:42 “And if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones who is my disciple, truly I tell you, that person will certainly not lose their reward.””

And to the Collossian Christians Paul writes: Col 3:23 “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters,”

There is no doubt that God gave encouragement to the faith of Moses’ parents. The King James version says: “because they saw he was a proper child” The NIV says “because they saw he was no ordinary child.” Stephen, gives us more of a clue, when he said in his speech in Acts 7:20 ““At that time Moses was born, and he was no ordinary child. For three months he was cared for by his family.” That phrase “no ordinary child” can be translated as “Fair in the sight of God.” There was something about the baby that convinced them that God had a plan for their child.

What was the outcome? We have a pharaoh opposed to God and to God’s people, with the intention of denying them freedom, and a Prince who grows up in Pharaoh’s own court, who will one day rescue those very people and lead them out to freedom and on to that Promised Land that their ancestors had taught them about. Who would have believed that?

Here’s what it says in Psalm 2:2-4 “The kings of the earth rise up and the rulers band together against the Lord and against his anointed, saying, “Let us break their chains and throw off their shackles.” The One enthroned in heaven laughs; the Lord scoffs at them.”