Hebrews 11:23 "By Faith they Saw Potential"
Introduction
Exposition
It is really the faith of his parents and not of Moses himself that is in view here. As they looked on their baby, they saw he was a beautiful child—but it was more than physical beauty. They saw that he was a child of destiny, one whom God had marked out for a special work. Their faith that God’s purposes would be worked out gave them courage to defy the king’s command and to hide the child for three months.
many Jewish writers expanded the story of Moses’ birth, especially his beauty, into reports that his glory illumined the room at birth and so forth. These stories became very popular as time went on.
Kenneth Wuest points out that the word “proper” (asteion) means “comely to God.” Wuest says, “he was comely with respect to God” (Hebrews, Vol.2, p. 205). That is, God had His hand upon Moses, and apparently his parents realized it.
Failure to obey the law most likely meant death to the law-breaker. The parents risked their lives in disobeying the law. But note what this verse says: “they were not afraid of the the king’s commandment.” They trusted God to preserve the child, and they cast their own lives upon God’s care. They knew they had to risk their lives in order to save their son and the promised seed and land of God.
Conclusion
Though godly parents cannot pass on their faith as they do family traits, they can certainly create an atmosphere of faith at home and be examples to their children. A home should be the first school of faith for a child.
The word is sometimes used in the sense of “start.” Child-training involves “narrowing” a child’s conduct away from evil and toward godliness and starting him in the right direction. Gleason L. Archer points out that this Hebrew verb is similar to the Egyptian ḥ-n-k, which means “to give to the gods” or “to set up something for divine service.” He suggests that in verse 6 this gives “the following range of possible meanings: ‘Dedicate the child to God,’ ‘Prepare the child for his future responsibilities,’ ‘Exercise or train the child for adulthood’ ” (Encyclopedia of Bible Difficulties. Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1982, p. 252).
In the way he should go is literally, “upon the mouth of his way.” “Upon the mouth of” is a Hebrew idiom meaning “according to” or “in accord with.” A servant would respond “upon the mouth of” or at the command of his superior. But what does “the way” mean? Scholars have interpreted this differently. Does it mean according to the way he ought to go (KJV, NASB, NIV) either vocationally or morally?
