The faith of Moses

Refusing and Choosing

Hebrews 11:23–29 NIV

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.

This letter to the Hebrew Christians, who were under pressure, by the Jews around them and by their own religious background, to give up this new faith and to return to the long established ways of Judaism. And the founder of that long established way, the way of the law, was none other than the great law giver himself, Moses. Moses was a figure from their past, whom they placed alongside Abraham and David.

In the previous chapter the writer had carefully explained that the law was only a shadow of good things to come, that the law and the practices associated with it could never make perfect those who draw near to worship.

Heb 10:3-4 “But those sacrifices are an annual reminder of sins. It is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.”