In Hebrews 11 there is a constant refrain, “by faith”. It is an inspiring passage about people of faith throughout the history of the Bible. There is reference to Abraham and Abel, Enoch and Noah. Then there is also Moses. What is fascinating about Moses is the faith it took to hide for three months in order to be saved as a child, looks very different to the faith he engages as an adult.
Hebrews 11: 24-26 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.
The faith of the adult Moses required a choice to trust and desire the things of God more than his own comfort or pleasure. It is easy to enjoy or pursue faith which makes life better now, and gives blessing now, but that was not the faith Moses engaged in. For him, faith required a harder life, not an easier one. For Moses, his identity with the people of God was far more important than any fleeting pleasure, and a future with Christ was far more valuable than the treasures of Egypt.
The faith of Moses is one to be both admired, and to aspire to. A faith which is prepared to put aside self interest and comfort, in lieu of a determination to identify with the people of God, and allow our present reality to be re-framed in light of the hope we have in Christ.
