Bible Reading Blog
“Paving the Way”
Categories: Congregational Bible ReadingBIBLE READING: Hebrews 11.23
“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.”
This verse summarizes Exodus 1.8–2.10. The Israelites, having once occupied a place of importance in Egyptian society because of Joseph, now find themselves in bondage. A new Pharaoh has come to power and, out of fear for his own power, has decreed that all male Hebrew infants are to be killed. Into this reality, baby Moses was born to Amram and Jochebed (Exodus 6.20).
As I considered their choices, it occurred to me there were probably other factors motivating this decision: fear, determination, parental love. Without this recounting in Hebrews 11, one might chalk their choices up to any combinations of these factors. But the prevailing thought in Hebrews 11 is “by faith.” The recounted events are only told to us because they spring out of faith. Amram and Jochebed didn’t make this choice thoughtless of God and his sovereign power. Instead, they acted by faith.
It takes faith to disregard an edict of the king. It takes faith put your own life on the line for the sake of another. It takes faith to do what is right. But these parents feared God rather than men because true, persevering faith obeys God. They hid Moses even though their disobedience could have been discovered (and punished) at any time. As we’ve seen from others in this chapter, the prevailing motivator was trust in God to have the final say.
It is interesting the author of Hebrews doesn’t include their names. Their faithful choices not only affected the life of Moses, but of an entire nation. By faith they preserved the life of one of the greatest leaders in history. But maybe that’s the point. Faithfulness is more focused on God’s working through human choices. When we obey God, it has greater impact than just our lives in the present. More importantly it allows God’s glory to be shown in this world.
By faith Moses’ parents disregarded their lives to save their son who would grow up to deliver his people from slavery. The Nile was meant to be the tool to kill him, but God used that very thing to be the means for his deliverance. Even the meaning of his name (“to draw out”) reflects the deliverance that occurred because God was faithful to His promise of sending a deliverer to the Israelites.
By faith, we can have the same impact today. Most of us are not destined for large scale leadership or mass influence. But our faithful choices may be paving the way for those who will. My grandparents both grew up in godless homes. But years ago, they learned about God and chose to walk with him. Today they have 4 children many grandchildren who are also faithful to the Lord. In the coming years, their names may be lost to history, but their legacy of faith will remain because they prepared the next generation to know God. We may not be able to do a lot, but we can do something, by faith, that will serve others and honor God.
