Hebrews 11:23 Part One - Moses's Parents Lived By Faith
Let’s read Hebrews 11:22-23, “By faith Joseph, at the end of his life, made mention of the exodus of the Israelites and gave directions concerning his bones. By faith Moses, when he was born, was hidden for three months by his parents, because they saw that the child was beautiful, and they were not afraid of the king's edict.”
As my sermon preparation time came to an end this week I consulted some commentaries to see what they would say about Hebrews 11:23. Most of them gave about one paragraph of commentary on this verse. One of them spent a good amount of time considering the faith of Moses’ parents. And one commentary skipped this verse altogether as if there was absolutely nothing for us to consider here. I was saddenedby this because when I considered this text I found that there are truths surrounding this verse that would greatly benefit us.
Let me give you two main areas where I think the story surrounding this text can encourage our faith today. We will consider the first topic today and the second topic we will consider next week. First, this text can help any Christian who is experiencing a transition from being accepted within their culture; to being rejected by their culture, from enjoying wealth and prosperity; to experiencing poverty, from having some influence; to being disdained by those around you, from experiencing times of peace and stability; to experiencing times of tribulation and suffering, from enjoying freedom; to being oppressed, from enjoying life; to facing persecution.
When we consider the 300 years between the life of Joseph and Moses we see that Israel experienced all of these things. It seem that Christians today are beginning to experience these things in our culture. As this happens we can believe and trust in God and as we do He will bless us!
Secondly, we will see that there is a need for Christians to have a faith that overcomes fear of personal loss and injury as we respond faithfully in the world in which we live. In our text we will see that Moses’ parents respond in faith, at great risk to themselves, to save their son from harm.
I like what Matthew Henry says when we consider the midwives and Moses’s parents during this time. He says, “It is a happy thing where yoke-fellows draw together in the yoke of faith, as the heirs of the grace of God; and where they do this in a religious concern for the good of their children, to preserve them not only from those who would destroy their lives, but corrupt their minds.”
Matthew Henry says, ‘It is a happy thing where yoke-fellows draw together in the yoke of faith…’. When he speaks of being yoked together he is referring to a farmer who yokes his cattle behind a wagon to pull a heavy load. The only way the load is pulled is with the combined effort of the cattle working together.
Christians will often have to come together as yoke-fellows. As we join together in faithful service to the LORDwhen we encounter difficult circumstances orwhen we suffer for Christ we find that this provides us with a surprising sense of happiness and joy. Sin, the world, and the devil seek to steal away our faith but they cannot succeed if we will look to God and remember His Promises.
Perhaps there was a time when Hebrews 11:23 could have been quickly passed over, or gone unnoticed and could have been unappreciated by previous generations but I do not think that this is the case today. We need to hear this text and consider it because of the day in which we live.
As we contemplate this text from Exodus 1-2 you will notice that it begins by addressing things that are happening to the nation of Israel. Then the text will begin to narrow more and more. First the nation, then a particular tribe of Israel- Levi, then we will be introduced to a particular family, and then our attention will be drawn to one particular son who was born.
I found this interesting to consider this week. It is easy to see that God is blessing his people in Egypt. They are growing, multiplying, and becoming strong. And yet, we would not know what really matters about God’s people if the story did not focus in on individuals so that we could see the condition of their faith under adversity, trials, temptations and sufferings.
This sermon should apply to all of us. We are all being caught up in the things that are happening around us and we want to be faithful as individuals and as part of the church together. We all want to overcome our fears, be guided by the LORD’s wisdom, and to be able to rest in His sovereign and providential hand. This text can encourage us in these things.
Let’s read Hebrews 11:22-23, “By faith Joseph, at the end of his life, made mention of the exodus of the Israelites and gave directions concerning his bones. By faith Moses, when he was born, was hidden for three months by his parents, because they saw that the child was beautiful, and they were not afraid of the king's edict.”
There are several centuries between the events recorded in Hebrews 11:22 and what is recorded inHebrews 11:23. Therefore we will work our way through these 300 years till we get to the birth of Moses who was God’s chosen deliverer.
We discovered last week in Hebrews 11:22 that Joseph believed the promise that God had given to his great-great-grandfather Abraham. We read of this promise in Genesis 15:13-16. There the LORD says to Abram, “Know for certain that your offspring will be sojourners in a land that is not theirs and will be servants there, and they will be afflicted for four hundred years. But I will bring judgment on the nation that they serve, and afterward they shall come out with great possessions. As for you, you shall go to your fathers in peace; you shall be buried in a good old age. And they shall come back here in the fourth generation, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete.”
Because Joseph believed this 200 year old promise he said to his brothers, “God will surely visit you, and you shall carry up my bones from here.” (Exodus 50:25).
We also mentioned last week that it must have terrified the Israelite's to hear Joseph say,“I am about to die”. Joseph had been a faithful, caring, gracious, merciful, and a wise leader of God’s people for many years. When Joseph dies his voice would be silenced, his presence would be removed from among his people, and his influence would slowly fade away from the minds of the Egyptians. Therefore, the people of God would need to trust in God and in His Word. They would need to anticipate the fact that God would send a deliverer to bring them out of Egypt.
When Joseph dies we may ask, ‘How will the nation of Israel fare now that Joseph is gone?’
The beginning of Exodus answers this question. As we begin to read we discover thatwe are reading a memorial that has been written about the people who had initially come to live in Egypt. The beginning of Exodus gives a tribute to God’s people who came from the Promised Land to Egypt.
Exodus 1:1-5 begins with these words, “These are the names of the sons of Israel who came to Egypt with Jacob, each with his household: Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah. Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin, Dan and Naphtali, Gad and Asher. All the descendants of Jacob were seventy persons; Joseph was already in Egypt.”
InExodus 1:6 we read, “Then Joseph died; and all his brothers and all that generation.”The point of verse six could not be more clear. That first generation that came into Egypt is now dead. Joseph died...and all his brothers (died)...and all that generation (died).
That first generation of Jacob’s descendants contained many heartbeats. But then Joseph died. Then all of his brothers died. Then one by one all of the rest of that generation died off. When Joseph died there would not be another great leader of God’s people for three hundred years until God would raise up Moses.
Because this generation is now gone we must ask, “What happened to those who came after them?”
Exodus 1:7 tells us,“But the people of Israel were fruitful and increased greatly; they multiplied and grew exceedingly strong, so that the land was filled with them.”
Verse 6 gave a three fold proclamation concerning the death of that previous generation: Joseph died, his brothers died, they all died. In verse 7, however, we discover how fruitful the following generations were by it being emphasized in five different ways. We read, “But the people of Israel (1) were fruitful and(2) increased greatly; (3) they multiplied and (4)grew exceedingly strong, so that (5) the land was filled with them.” No matter what is done to Israel the people of God become more fruitful and multiply across the land of Egypt. (12 and 20).
We discover in verse seven that the people were fruitful, they increased greatly, they multiplied, and the land was filled with them. This is great news! However, we are also told that they grew ‘exceedingly strong’. Again, this is wonderful! But the most exciting parts of this story over the next two weeks will be when we see the strength of their faith which is being displayed under very difficult circumstances. What would it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul (Mark 8:36)? Yes, yes, I see that there is a population explosion, but how is their faith? I need to know how they are really doing?
If a year from now the Stevens Point news paper wrote, “The people of Community Church are fruitful and areincreasing greatly; they are multiplying and they are growing exceedingly strong, so thatthe church is filled and overflowing with them”, would these things be the most important things about Community Church? No, we would want to know that we are believing God and His Word. We would want to know that our faith is doing well.
The generations that came after that first generation experienced great success. There appears to be no end to the success that they could have experienced while they were in Egypt. And yet, there is one problem with all of the success that they are enjoying – it will not last. The reason it won’t last is not because they will foolishly squander it away; it will not last because it is not God’s plan for them nor is it His will that it should continue.
I say this because God had said to Abraham, “Know for certain that your offspring will be sojourners in a land that is not theirs and will be servants there, and they will be afflicted for four hundred years.”
God’s people may not have wanted these things to happen to them in their generation (2 Kings 20:19). But the people needed to understand that...
God did not intend for them to spread out and settle; rather, they are to be sojourners in a land that is not theirs.
God did not intend that they would assimilate into that culture; rather, they would be servants of the Egyptians.
God did not intend for them to always experience times of prosperity and power; rather, they would be afflicted.
God did not even design this to be a quick affliction; rather, it would last for several generations. God told Abraham, “And they shall come back here in the fourth generation, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete.”
When these things happened to them in EgyptGod’s people could take comfort in several things.
First, the LORD designed these events and He had foretold these things to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
Secondly, God’s people could know that despite all of the suffering that they would go through that the LORD would be with His people through it all.
Third, God’s people could know that there would be a time when the LORD would deliver His people from their trials and when He does this the people would take away from their captors great plunder. The LORD said to Abraham, “But I will bring judgment on the nation that they serve, and afterward they shall come out with great possessions.”
Those who believed God’s Word would display great faith when they began to suffer, loose their wealth, and loose their personal freedoms. Most of them would never see wealth and status again but they knew God would do this for future generations. Like Moses they believed that ‘the reproach of Christ was greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, for they were looking to the reward’. (Heb. 11:26)Over the next several weeks we will see people who had this type of faith.
Before we consider these faithful saints we must first consider the decline of Israel’s status and fortunes in Egypt. What a painful process this must have been to live through. In Exodus 1:8-14 we see that all that the things the LORD had predicted began to come to pass.
We read, “Now there arose a new king over Egypt, who did not know Joseph. And he said to his people, ‘Behold, the people of Israel are too many and too mighty for us. Come, let us deal shrewdly with them, lest they multiply, and, if war breaks out, they join our enemies and fight against us and escape from the land.’ Therefore they set taskmasters over them to afflict them with heavy burdens. They built for Pharaoh store cities, Pithom and Raamses. But the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and the more they spread abroad. And the Egyptians were in dread of the people of Israel. So they ruthlessly made the people of Israel work as slaves and made their lives bitter with hard service, in mortar and brick, and in all kinds of work in the field. In all their work they ruthlessly made them work as slaves.”
In Exodus 1:8-10 we see that a new king ruled over Egypt who knew nothing about Joseph. Pharaoh feared the Israelite's so he tells his people that they are to deal shrewdly (maliciously, badly) with the people. Pharaoh told the people to enslave the Israelite's andto give them heavy burdens.
Despite all of this we are told that, ‘the more Israel was oppressed, the more they multiplied and the more they spread abroad.’ In verses 12-14 we see an intensification of Israel’s suffering. For example, whereas in 8-10 Pharaoh was scared of the Israelite’s, inverses 12-14 we see that the whole nation of Egypt becomes fearfulof the Israelite’s. This fear becomes a pandemic that spreads throughout the land. As a result,the Egyptians treated God’s people ruthlessly. [ruthless is mentioned 2x]
Despite this harsh and cruel treatment of God’s peoplethey continue to increase and flourish throughout the land. In Exodus 22:15-21 we begin to see examples of those individuals who feared God and obeyed His Word.
In Exodus 11:5-21 we are given two examples of such faithful people: Shiphrah and Puah.We read, “Then the king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives, one of whom was named Shiphrah and the other Puah, “When you serve as midwife to the Hebrew women and see them on the birthstool, if it is a son, you shall kill him, but if it is a daughter, she shall live.” But the midwives feared God and did not do as the king of Egypt commanded them, but let the male children live. So the king of Egypt called the midwives and said to them, “Why have you done this, and let the male children live?” The midwives said to Pharaoh, “Because the Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian women, for they are vigorous and give birth before the midwife comes to them.” So God dealt well with the midwives. And the people multiplied and grew very strong. And because the midwives feared God, he gave them families.
Previously Pharaoh had told his people to oppress the Israelite’s. Here, however, he seeks to have Hebrews treat other Hebrews maliciously. Consider for a moment that Pharaoh had the nerve, the gall, the shamelessness to ask Hebrew midwives to kill the male Hebrew babies. We read, “Then the king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives...if it is a son, you shall kill him, but if it is a daughter, she shall live.”
We could ask two questions at this point. First, we could ask, ‘What would make Pharaoh think that a Hebrew midwife would kill Hebrew babies?’ Secondly, we could ask, ‘Why wouldn’t have Pharaoh thought that these midwives would not have obeyed his command?’
It isn’t uncommon to see evil orders carried out against others who are less powerful and less fortunate. Many will do unthinkable things to others at the suggestion and persuasion of their peers. Under the right conditions people will often act against their own best judgment and consciences. Under the right conditions many people are tempted to act against their most deeply held convictions.
Even today we see that the very institutions that have sworn to serve, protect and to help people do the opposite. The institutions that should defend the life and health of others are not fulfilling this responsibility. Instead, you hear them defending and practicing evil, depraved, and ungodly things (abortion, euthanasia, gender transition reassignment, legalization of drugs, gambling, etc). The truth is, fewer and fewer people in our society will fear the LORD like Shiphrah and Puah do here.
Not only do we see this happening among the professions, the institutions, and the corporations throughout our society, but we also see Satan trying to influence the church to do the same things. Just as Pharaoh commanded these Hebrew midwives to do this evil, church leaders and church members are constantly being tempted to compromise, capitulate in many ways. We are always being tempted to sin, transgress and respond faithlessly to God and His Word.
Within the visible church you are beginning to see who those are who fear the LORD and are remaining faithful to God and His Word. You are also beginning to see those churches who are faithless and do not fear the LORD and His Word. Paul gave us this warning in Acts 20:30 when he wrote to the Ephesian elders and said that there would be some would arise up from among them to distort the truth (Acts 20:30).
It is discouraging to see so much compromise and worldliness in the visible church. However, what a wonderful blessing it is for us to see the faithful response of people who are like these two midwives. People who fear the LORD and His Word and who will not obey anyone else to do evil and to compromise God’s truth!
Notice that because the midwives feared God and did not obey the king God blessed them. They risked their lives to honor God and we are told that God honored them for their faithfulness. We read, “So God dealt well with the midwives. And the people multiplied and grew very strong. And because the midwives feared God, he gave them families.”
Because God’s people continued to multiply because of these faithful midwives Pharaoh gives a terrifying command to his own people as we come to the end of Exodus 1, “Pharaoh commanded all his people, ‘Every son that is born to the Hebrews you shall cast into the Nile, but you shall let every daughter live.’” (1:22) The midwives are God fearing but Pharaoh’s people are not. They will obey their king.
We have seen the people of Israel…
experience prosperity,
then they experienced decline through prejudice,
then the Hebrews were pressured by Pharaoh to sin,
and now they will experience persecution and the murder of their sons.
The LORD has prepared His people for this, he has made them His peculiar people, He provides them with the graces they need, He will protect and provide for them when they look to Him in faithful obedience.
Applications:
As a pastor, I often see pastor’s looking at the current statistics concerning the decline of the church and they ask, “What are we doing wrong?”
Could it be that these things are being brought about by the sovereignty and providence of God during this time? Like Israel we appear to be transitioning from being accepted within their culture; to being rejected by their culture, from enjoying wealth and prosperity; to experiencing poverty, from having some influence; to being disdained by those around you, from experiencing times of peace and stability; to experiencing times of tribulation and suffering, from enjoying freedom; to being oppressed, from enjoying life; to facing persecution. Much of this is out of our control.
During this time we can set ourselves and our churches apart unto the LORD. We can continue to trust in His Word and preach it faithfully in and outside of the church. If there is to be a revival, and we all desire that there would be, it will be the result of time spent in prayer and through the accurate and faithful preaching of His Word.
During times such as these we need to realize that none of the pressures we experience in this world can quench our faith. In fact, if you look carefully you will see that the faith of many is shining brightly under these conditions. Our faith is being tested but we can count it all joy! For we know that the testing of our faith produces steadfastness. Let steadfastness have its full effect, so that we may be perfect and complete and lacking nothing. (James 1:2-4)
Today we have had the privilege of considering the great faith of God’s people. We also have the opportunity with Communion this morning to look to Jesus Christ as He suffered and died for us. He was faithful even in the shedding of His blood so that we might be saved. What a wonderful Savior we have! Amen.