I want you to take your Bibles
with me. Turn to the book of Hebrews 11.
I would like for you to just hold your hand right there, mark
it, because that's where Lord Willard will be. But I want you
to take and now turn back to Exodus chapter 1. Exodus chapter 1. And what I'd
like to do is read the first chapter of the book of Exodus. And then we'll ask our Lord's
blessing upon His Word. Exodus chapter 1. Now these are
the names of the children of Israel. And when we read that
right there, when it says the name of the children of Israel,
that's Jacob. That's Jacob. These are the sons
of Jacob who was named Israel by the Lord. Remember when he
wrestled with the Lord? And the Lord asked him, He said,
What's your name? He said, Jacob. He said, Not
anymore. He said, Your name is Israel. Now these are the names of the
children of Israel which came into Egypt. Every man in his
household came with Jacob. Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah,
Issachar, Zebulun, Benjamin, Dan, Nephili, Gad, and Asher. And all the souls that came out
of the loins of Jacob were seventy souls, for Joseph was in Egypt
already. And Joseph died, and all his
brethren, and all that generation. And the children of Israel were
fruitful, and increased abundantly, and multiplied, and waxed exceedingly
mighty. And the land was filled with
them. And there arose up a new king over Egypt, which knew not
Joseph. And he said unto his people,
Behold, the people of the children of Israel are more and mightier
than we. Come on, let us deal wisely with
them, lest they multiply, and it come to pass that when there
falleth out any war, they join also unto our enemies, and fight
against us, and so get them up out of the land. They did set over them taskmasters
to afflict them with their burdens, and they built for Pharaoh treasure
cities, Pithom and Ramesses. But the more they afflicted them,
the more they multiplied and grew. And they were grieved because
of the children of Israel. And the Egyptians made the children
of Israel to serve with rigor. That means with cruelty. And
they made their lives bitter with hard bondage in mortar and
in brick and all manner of service in the field. All their service
wherein they made them serve was with rigor. And the king
of Egypt spake to the Hebrew midwives of which the name of
the one was Sifra, the name of the other, Pua. And he said,
When ye do the office of a midwife to the Hebrew women, and see
them upon the stools, if it be a son, then ye shall kill him. But if it be a daughter, then
she shall live.' But the midwives feared God and did not, as the
king of Egypt commanded them, but saved the men's children
alive. And the king of Egypt called
for the midwives and said unto them, Why have you done this
thing and have saved the men's children alive? And the midwives
said unto Pharaoh, Because the Hebrew women are not as the Egyptian
women, for they are lively, and are delivered, ere the midwives
come in unto them. Therefore God dealt well with
the midwives, and the people multiplied and waxed very mighty.
And it came to pass, because the midwives feared God, that
he made them houses. And Pharaoh charged all his people,
saying, Every son that is born he shall cast into the river,
and every daughter he shall save alive. Let's pray together. Our Father, as we come before
you this evening, how wonderful it is to be able to assemble
ourselves together in the name of the Lord Jesus. Father, I
ask you to bless the Word tonight. Bless it, I pray, for the salvation
of your people, the comfort of your people, the teaching and
the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. For it is in His name we pray.
Amen. Joseph had been exalted to the
position second in command in Egypt. And it was by God's good
providence and design that through Joseph, that God's people would
be preserved. You remember what happened. Joseph,
his brothers were jealous of him. His daddy had given him
a coat, many colors. They got mad, jealous, sold him
into bondage. God sent him to Egypt to preserve
his family. They meant it for evil. God meant
it for good. Well, what we just read, Exodus
1, tells us that Joseph's family, now this Joseph was the son of
Jacob. Jacob, the one that wrestled
with God, The one that God loved and hated his brother Esau? Jacob. The one that came in, got the
blessing? Jacob. Jacob is Joseph's daddy. And so Jacob, Israel, a prince
with God, who was one of the patriarchs, three patriarchs.
Abraham, Isaac, Jacob. So now Jacob's Son, Joseph, is
in Egypt, sold there by God's good providence. And whenever
Joseph saw his brothers, he knew them. Revealed himself to them,
and he said, I want you to go back. You go get dad. Brothers,
bring your families. Y'all come on in to Egypt, and
you'll just be able to live right here. And so they did. And the Scriptures set forth
that the children of Israel, verse 7 that we read, were fruitful. They increased abundantly and
multiplied and waxed, exceeding mighty. And the land was filled
with them. Now, the king that knew Joseph,
the king that loved Joseph, the king that had exalted Joseph
to that position, second in command, to dole out. He was over the
distribution of that food. There was a famine. And it was
all up to Joseph. Whatever Joseph said, that's
the way it was. That king that loved Joseph died. And so did Joseph and all of
his brethren. That's what it said in verse
6. Joseph died and all his brethren and that generation Those that
were in that first generation, but they had multiplied. There was an exceeding great,
great country there in Egypt. In fact, there was more Hebrews,
mightier than there was Egyptians. And this new king came up, and
he didn't know Joseph. And he was fearful of the Hebrews,
and he set out to afflict them, to make their lives as miserable
as he possibly could. And what he did was he put them
in a state of slavery. They had to make bricks, and
they used to have straw provided for them. Then it got to where
they had to go get their own straw and increase the bricks
that they had to make. Well, they continued to get stronger
and stronger, more and more of them. So this king said what
he would do, he said he was going to start killing. He'll just
kill the boys. There was two midwives in that
nation that's mentioned right here. And he told these midwives,
in verse 16, he said, Now when you see that one of these Hebrew
women are getting ready to deliver, and you go in as a service of
a midwife, he said, I want you to kill that baby. If it's a boy, you kill that
baby. Well, the Scripture says, in
verse 17, The midwives, they respected
God. They feared the Lord. And they
did not, as the king of Egypt commanded them, but saved the
men and children alive. Now, an amazing thing. They respected
the Lord. They feared God. And something miraculous happened. It said that because They feared
the Lord because they respected God, because they entrusted themselves
into the Lord's hand. Whenever the king realized that
these male babies weren't being killed, he brought them in and
he asked them, he said, why have you not killed these male children
like I told you to? And they told him, they said,
well, what happens is, he said, verse 19, well, the Hebrew women
are not like the women in Egypt. When the Hebrew women have a
baby, these women were lively. What it meant, they were vigorous
women. Hard working. They had been put
under this Slave. They were in slavery. They were
having to work hard. They worked. They were working
women. That's what it meant, lively. They were lively women.
And not like the Egyptian. The Egyptian women were soft.
And they couldn't handle childbirth like these Hebrew women. And
he said whenever these Hebrew women are ready to deliver, they
have the baby. They just have the baby, and
they said before, you know, they're delivered. Verse 19, there the
midwives come in to help them. We weren't there to kill the
baby. That's what happened. They feared
God, and God delivered these midwives. And they said, verse
20, therefore, God dealt well with the midwives, and the people
multiplied. and waxed very mighty. They didn't
lie to the king. They feared God. And God delivered
the midwives. That in the bondage that the
Hebrews were under, He caused the women to be strong and healthy. And they had those children.
And when it came time to give an explanation to the king, they
said, This is the way it is. They had them. Verse 21, they
came to pass because the midwives feared God, that He made them
houses. God gave the midwives families.
And He blessed them. And He honored them. They didn't
have to do anything other than wait on God. They feared the
Lord. Well, then, Pharaoh charged,
verse 22, all his people Saying now, every son that's born, ye
shall cast him into the river, and every daughter ye shall save
alive. Midwives, they weren't there. Turn over to Acts 7.17. Here's
a record of that right there. Acts 7.17. Acts 7.17, But when the time
of the promise drew nigh, which God had sworn to Abraham, the
people grew and multiplied in Egypt, till another king arose,
which knew not Joseph. And the same dealt subtly with
his kindred, and evil entreated our fathers, so that they, that
is, the Egyptians, cast out their young children, the Hebrews to
the end that they might not live. Not that the Hebrews cast out
their children. The Egyptians, when they would have a child,
when there was a male child born, the Egyptians were told, you
take the baby, whoever it is, you take that baby and you throw
the baby in the river. Now back in Exodus now, chapter
2, this is where I want to read the account of Moses in his birth. I've entitled this message tonight,
The Faith of Moses' Parents. The Faith of Moses' Parents. Exodus 2, verse 1-4, There went
a man of the house of Levi, and took to wife a daughter of Levi. And the woman conceived and bare
a son. And when she saw him, that he
was a goodly child, She hid him three months, and when she could
not longer hide him, she took for him an ark of bulrushes,
daubed it with slime and with pitch, and put the child therein,
and she laid it in the flags by the river's brink. And his
sister stood afar off to wit what would be done. to Him. Now that's what happened. There's
the history of what happened, how God delivered those Hebrew
children, those male children, how He delivered the midwives,
what happened when Moses was born. Now, in Hebrews 11.23,
here's where we are tonight. Just so you know, there's the
history. Now here's the Scripture, Hebrews
11.23, Moses, when he was born, was
hid three months of his parents because they saw that he was
a proper child and they were not afraid of the king's commandment. Now, without a doubt, Moses' parents,
you know that they were completely They were loving parents absolutely
concerned with the safety of that child. Now, you know that.
But the Scripture does not say that it was because, even though
they were loving parents, you know they loved that baby. But
it wasn't merely their physical affection for their son that
moved them to do what they did. The scripture says that it was
by faith when he was born that he was hid for three months. The scripture sets forth that
Moses as viewed by his parents back in Exodus, it said he was
a goodly child. Here it says he was a proper
child. And actually, the word is interpreted
beautiful. Now, I don't doubt for a second
that probably he was an attractive child. Maybe he was. But that's
not what the word means when he says beautiful. It means beautiful
in the sight of God. And obviously, the Lord had given
the parents of Moses instruction concerning their child. Because
the Scripture says it was by faith they hid him for three
months. Faith is the substance. It's the confidence of things
that are hoped for. It's the evidence or the proof
of things that are not seen. But faith always acts upon that
which is revealed by Almighty God and His Word. Faith is acting
upon what God Almighty has said. Faith is according to God's Word. When the Scripture sets forth
that his parents did what they did by faith. It was because
God had revealed to them what his purpose was, what their actions
would be. And by faith, they saw this child
to be proper, goodly, blessed in the sight of God, and by faith,
they hid him. And by faith, They did not fear
the King. Their actions proved that they
believed God. Number one, the Scripture says,
by faith they hid Him for three months. Now, I don't doubt for
one second that other parents who had children during that
time, male children during that time, I don't doubt for one second
that they could have done exactly the same thing that Moses' parents
did because they were affectionately tied to that child. Though I
know that the parents of Moses was affectionately tied to the
child. I don't doubt that. But it was not. their mere affection,
as I said a moment ago. It was by faith God had revealed
to them that this child was an object of God's mercy, an object
of God's grace, a proper child, a beautiful child. This was the
child that Almighty God was going to raise up to deliver the children
of Israel out of Egypt. It was this child. It was Moses
that God would raise up, and that Almighty God would use in
delivering His people. And by faith, the parents knew
that God's purpose, God's will, God's mercy, God's grace, God's
compassion was on that child. And when they saw that child,
and by faith they knew it, they hid that child. By faith. He didn't fear the
king. By faith, we fear, we obey God
rather than men. Now, without a doubt, I know
what the Scripture says concerning being in subjection to the higher
powers. I know. I know that Almighty
God rules in the army of heaven and among the inhabitants of
the earth. I know that. I believe that. I believe that
Almighty God sets every person in the position of leadership
that they're in. God put him there. I know that. I know that when the higher powers
set forth decrees, I know that we're commanded to be in subjection
to them. when the powers that be overreach
their authority, and they contradict the revealed will of God. Acts
5.29 says we ought to obey God rather than men. By faith, the
parents of Moses evidenced God's will. And surely it was known. Moses' mama was pregnant. And it was known that she was
going to have a baby. Now can you imagine when this
lively woman had that child? Before the midwives were ever
there, she had the baby. Can you imagine When by faith,
believing God, they hid that baby, I can only imagine how
quiet they wanted to keep him. Babies cry. Babies are hard to
conceal sometimes. Common sense would assume that
the Egyptians would be looking for that baby if no evidence
had been given. That that baby had been murdered
by faith, believing God. They believed God and hid that
baby. They trusted the Lord by faith. They used the means of keeping
Moses safe. They hid him. Discretion is not
cowardice. It was by the grace of God that
Moses wasn't found. He was a proper child. Moses'
parents believed God. They trusted God. They waited
on God. Everything was opposed to him.
The king had given a decree. Anybody, nor of a male child,
born of the Hebrew women, destroy that child. By faith, the Scripture
says, Moses, when he was born, was hid three months. of his
parents because they saw that he was a proper child. And secondly,
by faith. By faith. They were not afraid
of the King's commandment. The King's commandment was to
kill those babies. The King's commandment was contrary
to the law of God It was contrary to God's promise to multiply
the people. You listen to this truth right
here. Deuteronomy 27.25. Cursed be he that taketh reward
to slay an innocent person, and all the people shall say, Amen. Exodus, let me read this to you,
Exodus 23, verse 7. Exodus 23, 7. This is God's Word. Here's God's Word. Exodus 23, 7. Keep thee far from
a false matter, and the innocent and righteous slay thou not. For I will not justify the wicked. Keep thee far from a false matter. I looked that up to find out
exactly what that means. Here's what it means. Stay away
from the wrong side of a cause. Stay away from the wrong side
of a cause. That which God has forbid, stay
away from it. And the innocent and righteous
slay thou not, for I will not justify the wicked. This king said, if these babies,
these male babies are born, you kill them. God said, Keep far away from a false matter. Stay away from the wrong side
of a cause. Cursed is he that taketh reward
to slay an innocent person, and all the people shall say, Amen. To kill these innocent children,
to take these babies born to these Hebrew women and throw
them in that river, The king said, do it. Pharaoh said, do
it. God Almighty said, you stay away
from the wrong side of a cause. God said, don't do it. Don't
do it. People made debate. The killing
of innocent people. Innocent children. Abortion. Somebody said, well, I don't
know. You know, it's a big debate. No, it's not a debate. It's wrong. Abortion is murder. It's murder. It's murder. You say, well, there's
extenuating. No, there's not. It's murder. It's murder. And Almighty God
said, you stay away from the wrong side of a cause. Keep thee
far from a false matter. As Pharaoh said, you kill those
babies. The Scripture says that by faith
Moses, when he was born, which he had three months of his parents,
because they saw he was a proper child, and they were not afraid
of the king's commandment. You know why? Because they feared
God. They respected Almighty God. By faith. By faith. When they could not hide him
any longer back in Exodus 2, They did just the opposite of
the tyrant king's command. This ruler was a king, a pharaoh,
that almost everybody feared. Almost. But by faith. When she could
no longer hide him, she took for him an ark of bulrushes,
daubed it with slime and pitch, and put the child therein. She
laid it in the flags by the river's brink. Oh, what faith! In the very place where children
were dying, Moses' mother, by faith, She placed that child
in the very place where Pharaoh had demanded that these children
be thrown in. She did this because this is
what she believed God wanted her to do. What am I going to
do with this baby? I hid him for three months in
which she could hide him no longer. Three month old. When she could
hide him no longer, she took and she made an ark. pitched it, and put him in the
very place where these other children were being thrown. But
I want you to consider the beautiful picture of salvation in her faith. He was placed in an ark, in a
type of the Lord Jesus Christ. And that river, just like the
flood in time of Noah, with certain death, except the object of God's
mercy being the ark. Here, Moses' mother, by faith,
placed that baby, that goodly child, that proper child, that
child that she believed God for That child that she trusted God
for. She placed him in God's hands,
and that's where she rested. Right there. She couldn't keep
him, but there was one that could. There was one who was the guiding
hand, the sustaining hand of his own mercy. And this is where
she put him. Almighty God is going to have
to take care of this baby. I'm in a dire strait. I've got
a baby. The king has purposed to kill
him. But God Almighty has His hand
on this child. And I'm going to put him exactly
where God told me to put him. By faith, she put him in that
spot. Reasoning would say, don't go
there. They're going to see him. Don't
go there. Somebody's going to check out.
They're going to see that boat. Next time, Lord willing, we're
going to look contingent of the faith of Moses when he would
not be. He grew up in Egypt. His mother
absolutely had no hope save Almighty God. Many times we expect that
when we think about faith, We think it's going to be always
exhibited in these extraordinary ways and just things that we
just can't even imagine that we could possibly ever find ourselves
in. But by faith, the parents of
Moses, this is what they did. They hid that baby. They hid
him. Somebody said, well, that's just
an instinctive thing. Well, by faith, They believed
God. By faith, they didn't fear the
King. You know why? Because Almighty
God is omnipotent. Almighty God rules. He rules
all things according to His good pleasure, His purpose. By faith, we tonight, we hear
the Word of God. By faith, We don't forsake the
assembling of ourselves together. By faith, we call on the Lord. By faith, we fellowship with
one another. By faith, we prayerfully beseech
God. Bless, Lord, what You've raised
up. By faith. By faith, we hear the words of
our Savior. I'll never leave You. I'll never
forsake You. Lord, we believe You. Lord, we trust You. Lord, You're
all our hope. Faith. Faith acts. Faith moves on the revealed Word
of God. That's why we do what we do.
By faith, may we walk as He guides us and directs us according to
His Word. As that Word is blessed to our
heart, by His Holy Spirit. Amen.