The Faith of Moses -
Overcoming the Fear of Man (Hebrews
11:27)
(Class Notes)
By faithMoses forsook Egypt and feared not the wrath of the king (Hebrews 11:27)
Moses left Egypt initially not by faith, but out of fear:
"And Moses feared ... But Moses fled from the face of Pharaoh" (Exodus 2:14-15)
Moses had good reason to fear, because he killed an Egyptian
"smiting" a Hebrew and hid him in the sand to avoid detection (Exodus 2:11-12)
The Hebrew word translated "smiting" (nakah)
is used here not in the sense of an isolated blow, but of repetitious ones aimed at "killing", as it
is also used of "destroying" inanimate objects (Exodus 9:31-32)
The Hebrew figure of speech, Epizeuxis, the repetition
of a word for emphasis, is translated by the phrase, "this way and that way" (Hebrew, ko ko = "this
and this")
The emphasis is on the "looking" every which
way to see if help would come from any quarter and finding none, he brought deliverance by his own hand; a type
of Israel's final deliverer (Isaiah 59:16; Isaiah 63:5)
Moses' brethren rejected him as their deliverer by refusing
him as an intercessor between them and is forced to flee to Midian (Acts 7:25-29)
Forty years later in Midian, God appears to Moses and
sends him back to Egypt to deliver His people (Acts 7:30-34) and "he brought them out" (Acts 7:36)
Pursued by Pharaoh and his army, Israel in unbelief is
"sore afraid" (Exodus 14:10)
Moses speaks the language of faith to Israel: "Fear
ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord ... ye shall see them again no more forever" (Exodus 14:13)
By faithMoses endured as seeing the One Who is invisible (Hebrews 11:27)
Moses endured Pharaoh's opposition to the Lord's command
of "Let my people go" (Exodus 5:1)
as though the "sight" of the "burning bush" (God's shining presence) was ever before him (Exodus 3:2-4)
Pharaoh said, "Go ye sacrifice to your God in the
land" (Exodus 8:25),
but Moses endured and said, "We will go three days journey into the wilderness" (Exodus 8:27)
Pharaoh's servants said, "let the men go" (Exodus 10:7),
but Moses endured and said, "We will go ... with our sons and with our daughters" (Exodus 10:9)
Pharaoh said, "let your flocks and your herds be
stayed" (Exodus 10:24), but Moses endured and said, "Our cattle shall also go with us"
(Exodus 10:26)
Israel's faithful remnant in the Tribulation will have
to endure separation ("without the camp") from those who would entice them to offer sacrifices ("meats")
to no profit and, thus, deny the true Sacrifice (Hebrews 13:9-15; Hebrews 10:1-10,26-29)
The "sacrifices" of the "brethren that
hated you" (God's enemies) in His temple ("house") will be considered by Him as "abominations"
(Isaiah 66:1-6)
Faithful members of the Body of Christ are warned to separate
from those who "mind earthly things" and are the "enemies of the cross", but are exhorted to
walk with those who know that "they are dead" and "risen with Christ" and have "set their
affection on things above" (Philippians 3:17-21 cf. Colossians 3:1-4)