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"died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were
persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and
pilgrims on the earth" (Heb. 11: 13).
No.3.
Moses.
pp. 68 - 72
It is probably hardly necessary to recount the antecedents of the man Moses, they are
so well known. Heb. 11: 23-27 gives us the summary:
"By faith Moses, when he was born, was hid three months of his parents, because they
saw he was a proper child; and they were not afraid of the king's commandment. By
faith Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's
daughter; choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the
pleasures of sin for a season; esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the
treasures of Egypt: for he had respect unto the recompense of the reward. By faith he
forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king: for he endured, as seeing Him who is
invisible."
An unusual element to his birth, as is the case with several of those whom God called,
he was hidden by his parents, his sister stood guard over him when in the `ark of
bulrushes', and was found by the princess of Egypt. But when he had grown, and quite
possibly as a result of the teaching of his mother, who had nursed him, he obviously
knew something of the God of his fathers, and so, "by faith he refused to be called the
son of Pharaoh's daughter". This knowledge led him to the incident recorded in
Exodus 2: 11-15:
"And it came to pass on those days, when Moses was grown, that he went out unto his
brethren, and looked on their burdens: and he spied an Egyptian smiting an Hebrew, one
of his brethren. And he looked this way and that way, and when he saw that there was no
man, he slew the Egyptian, and hid him in the sand. And going out the second day,
behold, two men of the Hebrews strove together: and he said to him that did the wrong,
Wherefore smitest thou thy fellow? And he said, Who made thee a prince and a judge
over us? intendest thou to kill me, as thou killedst the Egyptian? And Moses feared, and
said, surely this thing is known. Now when Pharaoh heard this thing, he sought to slay
Moses. But Moses fled from the face of Pharaoh, and dwelt in the land of Midian."
In The Companion Bible structure this section is headed "Moses self-sent. Failure and
flight".
Moses saw the need of his people; He desired to serve God. Like many another since,
he had to learn that the mere recognition of need, is not necessarily God's call. He saw
the need, but thus far he was neither called nor sent by God. Possibly this was because
his knowledge of God was not personal; he knew God only by hearsay. No one can
serve God until head knowledge becomes heart knowledge.