12. Moses’ Faith (2)

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Hymns: RHC 287 Wonderful Grace of Jesus, RHC 288 Are You Washed in the Lamb, RHC 289 Grace Greater Than Our Sin

 Hebrews 11:27-28 (KJV)

 27  By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king: for he endured, as seeing him who is invisible. 28  Through faith he kept the passover, and the sprinkling of blood, lest he that destroyed the firstborn should touch them.

 Moses’ Faith (2)

OUTLINE

  • Faith’s Humbling Choice/Sanctified Choice
  • Faith’s Heavenly Reward/True Riches
  • Faith’s Heavenly Courage to Fear God Rather Than Man
  • Faith’s Humbling Submission to God’s Way of Salvation

INTRODUCTION

We make decisions daily. Some decisions bear their weight in life as life transforming, life changing and life impacting. It decides the course of one’s life. For many a young person, your course of study, choice of career, choice of life partner, choice of faith determines future direction in life.

Moses’ decision to leave Egypt was one such decision. It impacted his life forever. It was God’s will for his life. By the time he left Egypt, he was 40 years of age. One who was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and was mighty in words and in deeds. (Acts 7:22).

 He obtained mastery in life in things pertaining to success in Egyptian life. And such success can go over the head of one to cling on to it for a sense of fulfilment and accomplishment in life, a sense of achievement and pride. One can throw one’s sense of well-being behind maintaining that status and worldly accolade. Solomon calls such a life vainity or empty! For him to reach such a conclusion, he actually tried indulging himself in the high life but found it in the final analysis disappointing.

We mentioned concerning the making of Moses’ faith last week and attributed it to his early upbringing by his beloved mother as a baby under the auspices of Pharaoh’s daughter. We attributed Moses’ faith to God instilling that faith in his heart so that he will choose to serve God willingly. At that time, there was no scripture. In fact, Moses was God’s man to pen the first 5 book of the Old Testament. Faith was an oral tradition passed down from parents to children. Through Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and his sons Levi and his descendants. That oral tradition was kept within the family for 400 years whilst Israel dwell in Egypt, at first under the care of Joseph, then as slaves after Joseph’s demise.

The choice of Moses to forsake Egypt is likened to Jesus’ call to His disciples to discipleship, Luke 9:23-26 (KJV) 23  And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me. 24  For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: but whosoever will lose his life for my sake, the same shall save it. 25  For what is a man advantaged, if he gain the whole world, and lose himself, or be cast away? 26  For whosoever shall be ashamed of me and of my words, of him shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he shall come in his own glory, and in his Father’s, and of the holy angels.

Mark 8:34-38 (KJV) 34  And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. 35  For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel’s, the same shall save it. 36  For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? 37  Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? 38  Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation; of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he cometh in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.

 Moses’ choice ultimately bores down to a spiritual choice. And there is only way of blessing with our Creator, Sustainer and Redeemer God. A wise choice will be to choose to be on the Lord’s side. And our choices in life ultimately bores down to a spiritual choice.

The greatest divide is not in this life but in death, heaven or hell. But the choice for our ultimate destiny is made in this life. Reconcilation or Separation with the living and true God! Moses’ made a wise choice to serve God. What does that choice entails?

(1) Faith’s Heavenly Courage to Fear God Rather Than Man

(2) Faith’s Humbling Submission to God’s Way of Salvation

 

(1) Faith’s Heavenly Courage to Fear God Rather Than Man

27  By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king: for he endured, as seeing him who is invisible.

 Moses was steadfast in his faith to bring honour and glory to Israel’s God. The word “endure” means “to be steadfast” He endure patiently, persevere, persist. He was unwavering in his faith toward his natural mother’s God, the Hebrew slave woman who nannied him. Faith brings courage. It gave him strength to overcome even hostilities in his natural environment to cling on to faith’s mission.

The wrath of the king, the Pharaoh in power, was the most influential, powerful man in the known world at that time. Incurring the Pharaoh’s wrath means certain death. We are told that Moses forsook Egypt, left Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king. Pharaoh owns the deadliest assassination teams of his day. The most powerful military, the most potent law-enforcing police force are at Pharaoh’s disposal. He has the greatest network of spies working for him.

Moses feared God more than he feared Pharaoh. Indeed, 1  Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. (Hebrews 11:1) Moses saw God by faith and God’s plan for His people. The message would have been passed amongst the Hebrew slaves that they will be leaving Egypt in the fullness of time after 400 years. That time is up. God has a plan to make a nation of the Hebrew people. And Moses was compelled in his heart to be a part of God’s plan even though it means severing his kinship and ties with Pharaoh. That goes his pension, there goes his dream of being a socialite in Egyptian high life.

Moses must have understood something more worthwhile that deep within his heart compelled him to leave Egypt.

James 4:4 Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.

Moses chose not to be called an adulterer in God’s sight. He would rather be faithful to Israel’s God which he believes is the living and true God, versus all the gods that Egypt has to offer, one for each day of the year.

He chose to believe God and not fear God’s enemies as the psalmist David did in Psalm 27, “1 The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? the LORD is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? 2  When the wicked, even mine enemies and my foes, came upon me to eat up my flesh, they stumbled and fell. 3  Though an host should encamp against me, my heart shall not fear: though war should rise against me, in this will I be confident. 4  One thing have I desired of the LORD, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the LORD, and to enquire in his temple. 5  For in the time of trouble he shall hide me in his pavilion: in the secret of his tabernacle shall he hide me; he shall set me up upon a rock. 6  And now shall mine head be lifted up above mine enemies round about me: therefore will I offer in his tabernacle sacrifices of joy; I will sing, yea, I will sing praises unto the LORD.” (Psalm 27:1-6).

Because of this strong bond that he has with his LORD, it has given him courage and strength not to fear the faces of men or their crafty wiles.

“The LORD is the strength of my life, of whom shall I be afraid?”

The word strength means “a place or means of safety”.

Hebrews 13:6 So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me.

He is saying that his LORD is most capable, mighty and great, His overwhelming strength and power quells all fear in his heart and gives to it strength, soundness.

Fear and stress comes together, it discomfits the heart causes the inner life of the heart to be in turmoil. There are ungodly fears that imprisons, paralyzes, disheartens, sickens, that put hopelessness at the heart of life.

There psalmist speaks of how these fear must be dispelled and put in its rightful place of not incapacitating us. Moses was given the faith to overcome the fear of Pharaoh and his minions.

Psalm 27:2-3 When the wicked, even mine enemies and my foes, came upon me to eat up my flesh, they stumbled and fell. 3 Though an host should encamp against me, my heart shall not fear: though war should rise against me, in this will I be confident.

 The psalmist speaks of the extreme dangers that one faces in life and that because his LORD helps him, he is not subjected to servile fear through the difficult trials of life. He finds deliverance and relief and reassurance through the distresses of life.

When fear grips and overwhelms our heart, we see our problem bigger than our God. But if God is truly God, then our problems must not be beyond God’s help! It is a logical, comforting and reassuring truth. Having a correct perspective of God in our heart will help us to put fear in its place.

The call of God for holy service is a sacred and holy calling. It is a divine decree that is authenticated by a divine encounter. The invisible God makes His will evident to His chosen servant. God predestines and prepares and puts his servant in the picture of His plan and promises His presence and power to go with him to accomplish His plan.

God lays before His chosen man his plan and brings him to understand the mission laid before him for His honour and glory. He is then moved by the Spirit of God in an irresistible call to take up the mantle. God uses feeble man to accomplish His fabulous purpose to make a people for His name. A people that will praise Him forever in heaven’s paradise.

Moses was God’s man to confront Pharaoh and bring forth His people the children of Israel out of bondage in Egypt. God manifests Himself to Moses by a burning bush encounter and God would show him the work God has for him.

When the Apostle Paul was called to the ministry, it was the pierced hand of the Lord who ordained the apostle Paul to serve Him, so God lays His hand on those who are separated unto the work of the ministry. “He is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel” (Acts 9:15).

As God prepares His man, he increases his faith for the work entrusted to him. Moses was such a man.

(2) Faith’s Humbling Submission to God’s Way of Salvation

28  Through faith he kept the passover, and the sprinkling of blood, lest he that destroyed the firstborn should touch them.

 William MacDonald said well, “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.”

Indeed, only Jesus saves – Acts 4:12 Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.

The Passover lamb looked forward to the lamb of God, Jesus Christ, who in the fulness of time, shall die for the sins of the world.

Moses submitted himself to keep the Passover feast. The Passover is a feast. An unblemished lamb or goat, one that is not sick or impaired, less than 1 year old is to be selected for each household. If there are too few members in the household, two households can share one lamb. This is an offering made to God, such a sacrifice must be the best, nothing short of a pure, wholesome sacrifice is reasonable (Exodus 12:3-5). The lamb is kept for 4 days. The sacrifice is to be made at sunset of the 4th day.

According to the historian Josephus, it was customary to slaughter the lamb at about 3pm. This was the time of the day that Christ, the Christian’s Passover Lamb  (1 Corinthians 5:7), died – Luke 23:44-46 “And it was about the sixth hour, and there was a darkness over all the earth until the ninth hour. And the sun was darkened, and the veil of the temple was rent in the midst. And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, he said, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit: and having said thus, he gave up the ghost.”

The blood of the lamb is collected and stroked upon the doors and side posts each Israelite household. The time of the feast was a time where they would have to be on the alert, ready to flee Egypt at the first signal to move (Exodus 12:8-11).

The angel of death will pass over Egypt to execute God’s judgment. It was to declare the victory against all the gods of Egypt. Indeed, Jehovah, the God of Israel is God, greater than all other gods – I am the LORD (Exodus 12:12).

The blood is to be a memorial for Israel to remember how Israel believed God and did in obedience according to all of God’s instruction and how they were saved (Exodus 12:12-14). The word translated “ordinance” is the Hebrew word “ḥuqqāh” denoting the prescription or instruction by God – special spiritual law.

The LORD’s Passover was instituted to save Israel from the death plague that will come upon the land as it is recorded in Exodus 12:26-27, “26 And it shall come to pass, when your children shall say unto you, What mean ye by this service? 27 That ye shall say, It is the sacrifice of the LORD’S passover, who passed over the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt, when he smote the Egyptians, and delivered our houses. And the people bowed the head and worshipped.” Israel is never to forget their humble beginning and God’s merciful deliverance.

In the New Testament, Christ is portrayed as the Passover Lamb that saves us from the bondage of sin and gives the power to overcome sin – 1 Corinthians 5:7 “Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us.” We are to live holy lives to return thanks to Him for saving us from all our sins and give to us a place in heaven. Death has lost its sting. We have indeed a life worth living for.

The day when we received Jesus Christ as our Lord and Saviour is a new beginning. A new life without the strangle hold of sin but having the ability to say “no” to sin, we have before us a life of victory till we reach our heavenly home.

The Lord’s Supper is the Christian’s Passover. We remember how Jesus was our Passover Lamb who died to win our redemption from the bondage of sin and death. May we remember our spiritual heritage and teach them to our children.

CONCLUSION

Faith’s Heavenly Courage to Fear God Rather Than Man. Faith’s Humbling Submission to God’s Way of Salvation. Amen.