Let us turn once again to God's
Word in the New Testament now, having read there in Exodus chapter
2, turning now to Hebrews chapter 11, this remarkable chapter recording
so much of the faith of the saints of the Old Testament dispensation. And I want to read the passage
from verse 23, through 29. We have much detail here concerning
the faith of Moses. Reading then Hebrews 11 verse
23 through 29. By faith Moses when he was born
was hid three months of his parents because they saw that he was
a proper. Back in Exodus 2 it says a comely. The margin here indicates a handsome
child, and they were not afraid of the king's commandment. By
faith Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be called
the son of Pharaoh's daughter, choosing rather to suffer affliction
with the people of God than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for
a season. Esteeming the reproach of Christ's
greater riches and the treasures in Egypt, for he had respect
unto the recompense of the reward. By faith he forsook Egypt, not
fearing the wrath of the king, for he endured, as seeing him
who is invisible. Through faith he kept the Passover
and the sprinkling of blood, lest he that destroyed the firstborn
should touch them. By faith They passed through
the Red Sea as by dry lands which the Egyptians are saying to do
were ground. And I want to concentrate more
particularly on what he said concerning the faith of this
man in the passage from verse 24 through 27. these four verses in concerning
the the faith of Moses and observing three things with regards to
what we're told concerning his faith as I said we we have a
catalog of those of faith from the Old Testament and there's
something to be learned surely in the experiences of all these
who were the true children of God they were the true Israel
The spiritual Israel is there in the Old Testament in the midst
of the nation, ethnic Israel. They're not all Israel who are
of Israel, Paul tells us in Romans. But there were those in the nation
who were truly God's spiritual children and amongst them this
man Moses and we do learn something concerning the reality of his
faith and as I say it's that that I really want to concentrate
on as we have it set before us here in verses 24 through 27. Three things and all vital marks
of that genuine faith. First of all we'll see it was
a considered faith By that I mean there's nothing rash, there's
nothing presumptuous with what we're told concerning the faith
of this particular man. In the second place, it was a
faith that was costly to him. It did involve very real sacrifice
on his parts. There was a forsaking of things.
And then finally we'll see that it was a Christ-centered faith. And of course that is the most
vital thing of all. Even in the Old Testament there
was only ever one Savior. Those who were saved in that
dispensation were all saved by faith in the Christ who was to
come. But first of all to say something
with regards to how his faith was considered. It's not presumptuous,
it's not a leap in the dark. What are we told here in verse
24? By faith Moses when he was come
to years refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter,
choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God. when
he was come to years. Literally the expression that
we have here means having become great. Moses having become great
refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter. In the context what it evidently
means is the way it's rendered in the in the actual text. It's
when he's fully grown. That's what we're reading off
here. This is Moses when he was fully grown. Of course, previously
in verse 23 we have mention of the manner of his birth and the
faith of his parents in connection with his being born. When he
was born he was hid three months of his parents. But now when
we come to the 24th verse we see him as a fully matured man. He knew what he was doing at
this time. There in Exodus chapter 2 and
verse 11 we're told that when he was grown he went out onto
his children and looked on their burdens. He must have been aware,
doubtless, his mother who had nursed him, although he'd become
the son of Pharaoh's daughter because she'd found him there
in the river. In that little ark she'd taken
him but then in the good providence of God his mother had been paid
by Pharaoh's daughter to act as nurse to this child and she
must have told him something of his real origins. He was not
ignorant then and it's interesting what he said concerning him in
Acts chapter 7 remember there in that 7th chapter we have the
record of the great noble defense that Stephen makes at his martyrdom
and before the children of Israel he's recounting something of
the history of God's ancient covenant people and he says much
concerning this man Moses In chapter 7 verse 22, Moses was
learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and was mighty
in words and in deeds. And when he was full forty years
old, it came into his heart to visit his brethren, the children
of Israel. and seeing one of them suffer wrong he defended
him and avenged him that was oppressed and smote the Egyptians."
So we're told quite explicitly by Stephen in that passage that
his age at this time would have been 40 years and so we see clearly
that this is not the rash judgment of a young immature man but this
is someone of some substance, a man well schooled in all the
religion, all the philosophy of the Egyptians, and yet so
conscious of who these Hebrew children are. Moses, when he
was come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's
daughter, choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people
of God. Oh, it was God who had revealed
the truth unto this man. What is he doing as he makes
this remarkable choice, turns his back on all the riches, all
the wealth, all the literature, all the learning of the Egyptians,
one of the great nations of the earth at that time? Well, we
read in verse 26 of him, esteeming the reproach of Christ. greater
riches than the treasures in Egypt, for he had respect unto
the recompense of the reward." Those are significant words that
we read at the end of that verse. He had respect unto the recompense
of the reward. He was aware of the promise that
God had given unto Abraham. God had spoken to Abram, of course,
back in Genesis, and there in chapter 15 we read what God had
said concerning the land of promise. Previously Abram had been called
out of Ur of the Chaldees, and he was to enter into a land that
the Lord had promised that he would give to him and to all
his seed. And then we are told something
quite interesting in the 15th chapter of Genesis and there
at verses 13 and 14. He said unto Abram, Know of a
surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is
not theirs, and shall serve them, and they shall afflict them four
hundred years. And also that nation whom they
shall serve will I judge, and afterward shall they come out
with great substance." The reference is to that period that they were
to spend. This is the descendants of Abraham,
his seed. They would go, of course, in
the days of Joseph into the land of Egypt, and they would be there
many years, and there they would be sorely afflicted. But the
Lord God would in the appointed time deliver them, bring them
out, and they would enter into that inheritance that he had
promised to Abraham. They would go and they would
possess the land of Canaan. And so we're told that this man,
Moses, had respect unto the recompense of the reward. All what God had
said to his servant Abraham all those years before was more real
to Moses than all the tangible riches that were there in Egypt. And it was, of course, a place,
a land of great wealth. It was all fertile. It was the
delta of the River Nile. It was a land that was a flourishing
land and a rich country. But this man is not bowled over
by these things. As Paul says, we look not at
the things which are seen, the things which are seen are temple.
The things that are unseen are the eternal things. And this
man saw by faith what was removed from sight. That's the comment
that Calvin makes with regards to the faith of Moses at this
time. He saw by faith what was removed
from sight, the promise that God had given all those many
years previously to Abraham. We knew that God was true, let
God be true, and every man a liar. The reality of this man's faith
then at this time, it's a considered faith. It's a faith that is well
fed by the truth of the Word and the promise of God. It's something real and substantial. Think of the language that the
Apostle John uses in the opening words of his first general epistle,
that which was from the beginning, he says, which we have heard,
which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon and
our hands have handled of the word of life, for the life was
manifested and we have seen it. He's speaking, you see, of the
truth of the Lord Jesus Christ. This is that disciple who was
the beloved and was there leaning upon the Lord's breast when he
instituted the Holy Supper. And he's not only speaking of
the reality of Christ's coming, but also the blessed truth of
his rising again from the dead. A real resurrected body. That which was from the beginning.
All our hands have handled these things. And this is the faith
of this man then. It is something real and substantial. But then, in the second place,
There was a cost, a tremendous cost with regards to the faith
of Moses. When he had come to years he
refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, choosing
rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy
the pleasures of sin for a season. Remember what we said with regards
to what's rendered here when he was come to yours having become
great is a very literal rendering of what's there and so the reference
is not only to his age but also to the eminent position that
he has amongst the Egyptians and the great wealth that would
be his inheritance as the son of Pharaoh's daughter. All the
riches of Egypt were so considerable. Remember how really that country
had so prospered during those days when Joseph had such a preeminent
position. Again back in Exodus chapter
47 we We read of the wealth that Joseph was able to accumulate
for Pharaoh and for the Egyptians. His wisdom was such, you see,
that in the years of plenty, They had storehouses and when
the years of want came there was sufficient not only for the
Egyptians but for all the peoples round about Egypt. You are familiar
I'm sure with the story of Joseph. And there in Genesis 47, 14 Joseph
gathered up all the money that was found in the land of Egypt
and in the land of Canaan for the corn which they bought. And
Joseph brought the money unto Pharaoh's house. Verse 17, they brought their
cattle unto Joseph. And Joseph gave them bread in
exchange for horses, and for the flocks, and for the cattle
of the herds, and for the asses. And he fed them with bread for
all their cattle for that year. Verse 20, not only all the livestock
now, but all the lands of Egypt. those he bought for Pharaoh for
the Egyptians sold every man his field because the famine
prevailed over them so the land became Pharaoh's it was a great
increase in the riches that belonged onto Pharaoh and back in Exodus
1 where we see the children of Israel as bond slaves What were
they to do? They built for Pharaoh treasure
cities, were taught. Treasure cities, there was such
wealth. And yet, Moses forsakes it all, choosing rather to suffer affliction
with the people of God than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for
a season. He esteems the reproach of Christ,
greater riches, than the treasures in Egypt." Oh, what a faith is
this! What a faith is this! Dr. Rowan in his commentary says,
Moses despised the very best of the world for the worst of
Christ's cross. The very best of the world is
despised. for the worst of the cross of
the Lord Jesus Christ, esteeming the reproach of Christ greater
riches. Or we think of the language of
the Lord himself in the gospel, if any man will come after me
let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. And that man of course will be
prospered. The Lord is no man's debtor.
That man will be blessed and favoured in his life. And this
is the faith then of Moses. He despises the things of this
world. Turns his back upon all the wisdom
of the Egyptians, all the wealth of the Egyptians. Doesn't seek
to lay up anything with regards to this world's goods. You'll
think again of the language of the Lord in the course of his
own ministry here. Think of the Sermon on the Mount
and the things that the Lord says in the course of that Sermon,
that address that's recorded in such detail in Matthew's Gospel. Matthew 6.19, Lay not up for
yourselves treasures upon earth, where Mark and Ross doth corrupt
and where thieves break through and steal, but lay up for yourselves
treasures in heaven. where neither moth nor rust hath
corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal.
For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also." Well,
these are the words of the Lord. No man can serve two masters,
for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he
will hold to the one and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God
and mammon. and this is the faith I say of
this man we can understand it in the light of what Christ is
saying here in the New Testament though he is there in the Old
Testament he is very much a man of faith is Moses and I was I
was struck this week really in reading in the Daily Light one
day I think it was earlier in the week, probably
on Tuesday, I just took down the Daily Light and we read it
that morning, and it was a comparison between Moses and Christ, similarities
really. Remember the promise that God
gave to the man Moses, I will raise them up, the prophets from
among themselves like unto they, back in Deuteronomy 18. A promise
like unto Moses. Moses is the great man of the
Old Testament, really. All the prophets appealed to
Moses. To the Lord and to the Testament,
if they speak not according to this word, it is because there's
no light in them. And there is to be a prophet
like unto Moses. And I was just struck what was
said in the comments. You know what the Daily Light
does, it has a text and then it follows the theme through,
and there's several verses from other parts of scriptures that
open up the theme that's at the top of the page. And amongst
other things, there was a reference to what's said concerning Moses
in Numbers, Numbers 12. And verse 3, the man Moses was
very meek, above all the men on the face of the earth. He
was a meek man. And then the similarity you see with the language
of Christ at the end of Matthew 11. What does the Lord Jesus say
there? Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, I
will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, learn
of me, for I am meek and lowly in heart, and you shall find
rest unto your souls. Was Moses meek? the meekest of
men on the face of the earth, why Christ is more meek." I'm
not saying that Moses is a type of the Lord Jesus, as others
are in the Old Testament, but there are these similarities.
We know that the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth
came by Jesus Christ. But though we identify Moses
very much with the law of God, yet Moses himself is a gracious
character Moses is a man who has very real faith that's the
point I want to make as we've said already this faith of Moses
it's in many ways a mature faith a considered faith he knows what he's doing here
there's nothing presumptuous here with this man and he is a man who is prepared
to forsake so much because he sees the reality of the word
of God and the ways of God and he willingly identifies himself
here with the children of Israel, with the Hebrews are they suffering? are they those who are having
to endure under great burdens? well we know they were and matters
seem to get worse and worse and there they are, they can scarce
pray to God, they can only express themselves in those sighs and
those groanings in process of time the children, the king of
Egypt died and the children of Israel sighed by reason of the
bondage and they cried And their cry came up unto God by reason
of the bondage, and God heard their groaning. And God remembered
His covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob, that promises
concerning the land of Cana, that they would eventually inherit.
And God looked upon the children of Israel, and God had respect
unto them. I like what the margin says there
at the end of that second chapter. that God looked upon the children
of Israel it says God had respect, the margin says God knew God looked and God knew the children
of Israel, He knew them He knew them in a real and an intimate
way, He knew what all their sorrows and all their sufferings were
not ignorant of them and as He knew them so He respects them,
so He hears their cry and what is God doing in that portion
that we read. He's preparing the man of course.
He's preparing Moses because when we go over from chapter
2 to chapter 3 we are immediately introduced to Moses who's there
in the land of Midian where he's fled and where he's going to
be some 40 years. He was 40 years old when he first
beheld what was happening to these poor Hebrews as strangers
and slaves in the land of Egypt and then he flees because he's
aware that he's been seen slaying the Egyptians and he spends 40
years there in Midian caring for the sheep of Ruad who's also
known as Jethro and then when he's 80 years old
is to go back to Egypt and to be the deliverer of the children
of Israel. But how important are those years
in Midian, those 40 years? Are the children of Israel, are
the Hebrews strangers in Egypt? Well, we see how Moses himself
is a stranger in the land of Midian. That was Moses' experience. He's
in a strange place. He's a stranger on the earth.
This is God's people, isn't it? What do we read here in this
chapter concerning those of faith? Verse 13, These all died in faith,
not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off,
and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed
that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. For they
that say such things declare plainly that they seek a country."
Or they seek a country. Here we have no continuing city,
but we seek one to come. He goes on to say, does the apostle
in chapter 13 and verse 14, And the Lord Jesus makes it plain,
the experience of God's people. In the world you shall have tribulation. But be of good cheer, I have overcome the world. Oh,
that's the comfort of the people of God. Or the fate of this man then.
He's living the life of faith, walking by faith, not by sight. Verse 27, By faith he forsook
Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king, for he endured as
seeing Him who is invisible. Well, that's the life of faith,
to see the God who is invisible. And to live our lives in the
light of the invisible God, and to know that God is that One
who is watching over us, and doing all that is necessary as
he prepares us for whatever work he has for us to do or the faith
of this man such a costly faith and yet clearly God is the debtor
to no man but then ultimately here I say that this man's faith
the considered faith, the costly faith is also a faith that centers
in the Lord Jesus Christ It centers very much in Christ. Here in
verse 26, the reproach of Christ. Esteeming the reproach
of Christ. One of the commentators said, what this really means is the
reproach which Christ himself suffered. He's mindful of the reproach
which Christ himself suffered. Moses evidently had some understanding
of the sufferings that the Lord Jesus Christ had to endure in
order to be the saviour of sinners. He's one of those who received
the Atonement that expression that we have in Romans 5 11 to receive the atonement. We
all have to receive the atonement if we're going to know anything
of salvation. Moses received the atonement
not just intellectually, not just something in his head, something
that he was taught. at the feet of his mother, who
was his nurse, who would relate to him something of the history
of the Hebrews, the descendants of Abraham, to whom God had given
the great promise. But it was more than just a matter
of something that he'd been taught by his mother, taught as it were
on her knee. But he understood these things
experimentally. the reproach of Christ, the reproach which
Christ himself suffered. And I think of those words that
we find subsequently in the fourth chapter of Peter's first general
epistle. And there at verse 12 following,
Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which
is to try you as though some strange thing happened unto you,
but rejoice inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ's offerings,
that when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also
with exceeding joy. If ye be reproached for the name
of Christ, happy are you, for the Spirit of glory and of God
rested upon you on their part he is evil spoken of but on your
part he is glorified." This man Eusebius was willing to bear
every reproach to be altogether identified with the Lord Jesus
Christ he did receive that precious truth concerning the atonement
the work of Christ. He was there, wasn't he? In the
Mount of Transfiguration. That remarkable happening that's
recorded in the Gospels, when Christ took those favoured three,
Peter amongst them, Peter, James, and John, and goes up into a
mountain, and he's transfigured before them. Look at the record, for example,
in Luke's account. In Luke 9, 28, he came to pass. About an eight days after these
sayings, he took Peter and John and James and went up into a
mountain to pray. And as he prayed, the fashion
of his countenance was altered, and his raiment was white and
blistering. And behold, there talked with
him two men, which were Moses and Elias or Elijah who appeared
in glory and spoke of his decease which he should accomplish at
Jerusalem. The Transfiguration, they witness
really something of the glories that belong to the Lord Jesus
as the eternal Son of God. Here he is upon the earth in
that state of humiliation. He's taken upon him now the seed
of Abraham. For as much as the children were
partakers of flesh and blood, we're told he likewise took part
of the same. All the wonder of it, you see. Here he is as a man. He humbled
himself, took upon him the form of a man. But these three, they
see through the veil of his human nature, through all his humiliation,
they see the glories that belong to him as gods manifest in the
flesh. But there are two others there,
two men, Moses and Elijah, and what do they do? they appeared
in glory and spake of his decease." Moses is there speaking of his
decease. Now Moses, of course, is the
author of the first five books of scripture, including the book
of Leviticus, which really is a gospel book. All those ceremonial
laws, all those offerings and sacrifices, wonderful types,
of him that was to come and Christ the fulfillment there we have
the shadows, in Christ we have the substance there we have the
types, in Christ we have the anti-type all is, as it were,
prefiguring the one that was to come Moses was aware then
of the atoning sacrifice of the Lord Jesus He esteems the reproach
of Christ, the reproach which Christ himself suffered, more
than the treasures in Egypt. And it wasn't just a matter of
conversation there. Oh yes, that's what it says in
that 31st verse in Luke 9. They speak of his decease, his
death, that he would accomplish. at Jerusalem. It was Christ,
of course, who accomplished that death. His life was not taken. He had authority to lay that
life down and He had authority to take it again. That was the
commandment He had from God. He accomplished it. He gave Himself. No man could take the life from
Him. But they didn't just talk about
these things. Surely, it was more than that
with Moses. It was conviction. And there's desire in this manuscript
for that knowledge of Christ. This is where his faith centers.
His faith centers really in the Lord Jesus. It's the same faith
as that that we witness in the Apostle Paul, that I may know
him and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of his sufferings
being made conformable to his death. That was the faith of
of the Apostle. All that knowledge of Christ,
that fellowship with Christ in all his sufferings. And it's the same faith as Abraham. You remember what the Lord says
there at the end of John 8, speaking to the Jews, He says, Your father
Abraham rejoiced to see my day and he saw it and was glad. How
did Abraham see the day of the Lord Jesus Christ? Living all
those many, many years before ever Christ was to come? Well,
he sees it there in Genesis 22, where God is testing his faith. He has now received the gift,
the child of promise, the son that was born to Sarah. Isaac and God tells him to take
the child and to sacrifice him there on the Mount Moriah and
he is faithful to God's calling and he takes the child but he
doesn't sacrifice the child God makes provision the ram caught
by its horns in the thicket to be sacrificed in the place of
that child It's spoken of here, isn't it,
in the 17th verse? By faith Abraham, when he was
tried, offered up Isaac, and he that had received the promises,
offered up his only begotten son, of whom it was said that
in Isaac shall thy seed be called, accounting that God was able
to raise him up even from the dead, from whence also he received
him in a figure. What a remarkable statement is
that he received his son Isaac back from the dead it says from whence he received him in
a figure, it's a figure of Christ Abraham's faith centers in the
Lord Jesus Christ and he sees it all there in in
Genesis 22 in the sacrifice, the substitution that is made
the ram that is offered in place of the son and so in a sense
he is receiving his son now from the dead it's all prefiguring
the Lord Jesus this is the faith of these men and these women
that we read of in this chapter this is the faith of this man
Moses it all centers ultimately in the Lord Jesus esteeming the
reproach of Christ greater riches and the treasures in Egypt, for
he had respect unto the recompense of the reward." Oh, it's that
looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who
for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising
the shame, and he sat down at the right hand of the throne
of God. It's Christ, that's where faith
must center. It's always that great object.
Look unto me, he says, and be ye saved. All the ends of the
earth. Oh friends, this is where we
have to look. We have to look altogether away from ourselves,
we have to look to Christ. As he said before us here, in
every part of the Scriptures, in the Old Testament, he's in
the New Testament. He's the object of the faith
of Moses. Well, is he the object of your
faith today? Are we those who would desire
to know something of such a faith as this man possessed by the
grace of God? No leap in the dark, this. For
this is a faith that centers in the Word of God. It's a considered
faith. It's a costly faith. It's a Christ-centered
faith. Oh, the Lord God, be pleased
in that we might have such a faith, that we might identify with these
men and women who live by the faith of Jesus Christ. Like Moses, he forsook Egypt,
not fearing the wrath of the king. He endured, seeing him
who is invisible. Oh, the Lord then bless his word
to us. Amen.