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Hebrews 11:24-28 - “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 greater riches than the treasures in Egypt: for he had respect unto the recompence 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 Moses himself was able to make several noble renunciations. Though reared in the luxury of Egypt's palace and assured of all the things that men strive for, he learned that “it is not the possession of things but the forsaking of them that brings rest” (J. Gregory Mantle).
First of all, he refused Egypt's fame. He was the adopted son of Pharaoh's daughter and therefore assured of a place in the social elite, perhaps even as Pharaoh's successor. But he had been born of better blood—a member of God's chosen earthly people. From this nobility he could not step down to Egypt's royalty. In his adult years he made his choice; he would not hide his true nationality to win a few short years of earthly fame. The result? Instead of occupying a line or two of hieroglyphics on some obscure tomb, he is memorialized in God's eternal Book. Instead of being found in a museum as an Egyptian mummy, he is famous as a man of God.
Second, he repudiated the pleasures of Egypt. Humble association with the suffering people of God meant more to him than the transient gratification of his appetites. The privileges of sharing ill-treatment with his own people was greater pleasure to him than dissipation in Pharaoh's court.
Third, he turned his back on the treasures in Egypt. Faith enabled him to see that the fabulous treasure houses of Egypt were worthless in the light of eternity. So he chose to suffer the same kind of reproach as the Messiah would later suffer. Loyalty to God and love for His people were valued by him more that the combined wealth of Pharaoh. He knew that these were the things that would count one minute after he died.
Then, he also renounced Egypt's monarch. Emboldened by faith, he made his exit from the land of bondage, careless of the wrath of the king. It was a clear break from the politics of this world. He feared Pharaoh so little because he feared God so much. He kept his eyes on “the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who only has immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto, whom no man hath seen nor can see, to whom be honor and power everlasting. Amen” (1 Ti. 6:15-16).
Finally, he rejected Egypt's religion. By instituting the Passover and by sprinkling the blood, he emphatically separated himself from Egyptian idolatry forever. He flung down the gauntlet in defiance of the religious establishment. For him, salvation was through the blood of the lamb, not through the waters of the Nile. As a result, the firstborn of Israel were spared while the firstborn of Egypt were slain by the destroyer.
The previous is excerpted from the Believer’s Bible Commentary on Hebrews 11.
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