Heroes Of Faith – Part 4 – Moses

WARM-UP

Imagine being raised as prince/princess of the greatest kingdom on earth. Imagine knowing that your father answers to NO ONE and everybody bows down to him. Imagine having access to all the servants to cater to all your needs, all your whims. Imagine that you never have to worry about money, about bills, or the cost of something you want. That sounds like a good life, right? But what if, in spite of having all those things, you choose to live like a poor and live with the poor? That seems like a crazy idea! But Moses did and refused to be called a prince of Egypt.

ONE BIG  IDEA

You can never discover what God can do until you trust Him.

 STUDY (Hebrews 11:23-28 ESV)

“23 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. 24 By faith Moses, when he was grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, 25 choosing rather to be mistreated with the people of God than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. 26 He considered the reproach of Christ greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking to the reward. 27 By faith he left Egypt, not being afraid of the anger of the king, for he endured as seeing him who is invisible. 28 By faith he kept the Passover and sprinkled the blood, so that the Destroyer of the firstborn might not touch them.”

LEARN

Before Moses was born, the Pharaoh, king of Egypt, made an edict or official order that all the male children were to be killed.  The Pharaoh didn’t want to see the Hebrew people increasing in number.  They were scared that when the Israelites had become many, they would conquer them.

However, by faith, the parents of Moses (Amram [the father] and Jochebed [the mother]) made the decision in spite of the law of the land regarding the killing of the kids to save the baby and ignore the king’s order. They made their decision about Moses by faith.

If you want your children to HAVE FAITH, they need to SEE FAITH. The faith of Amram and Jochebed did not manifest when everything was doing well but when the law of the land was against their belief, their faith. The king made an official order to kill all the Hebrew babies. But by faith, they were not terrified to go against the king.

The parents chose to believe GOD’S PLAN for the child in spite of what the culture is saying, doing or legalizing.  Parents should COMMIT their children to God’s plan just like what Amram and Jochebed did. Moses was born in a faith environment. In fact, they took care of him for 3 months before kissing him goodbye and entrust him to the Lord. In the Book of Exodus, the parents put Moses in a basket and sent him down the Nile river in Exodus 2:5-6.

How did the Pharaoh’s daughter know that the child is a Hebrew?  One of the reasons why she knew that the boy is a Hebrew is because he is circumcised. Only the Israelites circumcise the boys in their time. Egyptians don’t circumcise their sons. The Israelites circumcise their boys on the 8th day. Circumcision means that the child belongs to God and under God’s rule and covenant.  The parents made Moses know at an early age that he doesn’t belong to the Egyptian.  The parents BRANDED the child with the MARK OF GOD even if they have to push him in a secular environment, to be raised by Pharaoh’s daughter. To the parents: Have you branded your children so that people will know that they belong to God? Or you’re letting the culture determine who they are? Worse yet, you allow other people to determine who they are.

Miriam, Moses’ sister, ran along the bank when the parents put Moses in the basket and sent him down the river. Miriam saw the daughter of Pharaoh picked Moses up. So, she went to the Pharaoh’s daughter and asked her if she needed a nanny for the kid. When the Pharaoh’s daughter said yes, Miriam called her mom to take care of her brother.  By faith, Amram and Jochebed entrusted the baby to God. The mother was paid to take care of her own baby. This is what faith can do.  You can never discover what God can do until you trust Him. When you trust God, He will make a way when there seems to be no way. The parents decided that they will not be controlled by the culture.

When Moses had become an adult, he refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter. From 3 months old to 40 years old, he was living in castle with Pharaoh’s daughter.  Imagine his life then. He was living in a mansion.  He had every person’s dream in terms of success, money, and power. But the Bible says, at 40 years old, he made a choice to no longer be viewed as the son of Pharaoh’s daughter. Why did it take Moses 40 years to make this decision? He was caught between 2 worlds. The real mom had been teaching him about God and the mom has been telling him, “Moses, you belong to God. You’re not an Egyptian, you’re a Hebrew.” However, he had another mother on the other side, the Pharaoh’s daughter,

who was also telling him, “Boy, you have a lot of things that we prepared for you to do.”

Faith demands a choice. So, Moses made a choice. Sad to say, many

of us have not made a choice. Many Christians are still dancing in two realities – FAITH and the PRESSURE OF THE WORLD. Once you make a choice you will be mistreated. This is why Christians are often persecuted, laughed at. The reward of CHRIST is far better than the REWARD of the WORLD.

Moses saw God at the burning bush. Moses saw God after he endured. There was a gap between Moses’ refusal and his seeing. What filled the gap is ENDURANCE. It took Moses 40 years to make the decision and it took him another 40 years of endurance process before he got to see the invisible.  If you’re going through ENDURANCE process, God is getting you READY for what you are about to SEE. God did not allow Moses to see until he made the decision. A lot of us are waiting to see God work in our lives but we’re not making the choice to follow God. A lot of us can’t see God’s plan unveil in our lives because we’re not willing to endure.

We cannot see God until we humble ourselves before Him (Read Exodus 3:2-6). The CREATURE should humble himself in front of the CREATOR. When God creates a situation in your life that doesn’t make sense, then He is ready to talk to you. When God creates something in your life that makes absolutely no sense, don’t try to figure it out, just get close to Him as close as you can and listen to Him for the next step, He has for you.

Grow:

Application Questions:

1. Considering Moses’ life, what can we learn about God’s time table for our lives? (the waiting, the rejection, the promise)
2. Moses was spared when he was a baby because he had a purpose to do for God: to deliver the Israelites out of Egypt. What do you think is the purpose of God for you why you are still alive today? Are you living out that purpose? If not, what’s keeping you from doing your purpose in life?
3. What methods has God used to direct or redirect your life, or to get your attention (problems, correction from other people, painful relationship, etc.)? Share an experience you had where God used a situation in your life to get your attention back to God.

PRAY FOR EACH OTHER IN YOUR GROUP