At the beginning of chapter 11, the writer of Hebrews continues his long reflection on the role of faith in the Christian life with examples of faith in important figures in Hebrew history. In this passage he talks about the faith of Moses as he listened to God and delivered the Israelites from Egyptian captivity.

11:23 By faith, when Moses was born, his parents hid him for three months, because they saw the child was beautiful and they were not afraid of the king’s edict. 11:24 By faith, when he grew up, Moses refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, 11:25 choosing rather to be ill-treated with the people of God than to enjoy sin’s fleeting pleasure. 11:26 He regarded abuse suffered for Christ to be greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, for his eyes were fixed on the reward. 11:27 By faith he left Egypt without fearing the king’s anger, for he persevered as though he could see the one who is invisible. 11:28 By faith he kept the Passover and the sprinkling of the blood, so that the one who destroyed the firstborn would not touch them. 11:29 By faith they crossed the Red Sea as if on dry ground, but when the Egyptians tried it, they were swallowed up. 11:30 By faith the walls of Jericho fell after the people marched around them for seven days. 11:31 By faith Rahab the prostitute escaped the destruction of the disobedient, because she welcomed the spies in peace.

A plan by Moses to organize his people and lead them in a revolt against Pharaoh and out of Egypt clearly wouldn’t have gotten to first base. It was God who planned to do great things with this motley crew of displaced, nomadic people, and He chose Moses to be their leader. The whole story from the birth of Moses to the crossing of the Jordan into Canaan would be utterly unbelievable without God’s hand in it.

Much of everyday life is a series of unbelievable events that make sense only within the context of a sovereign God. That’s where faith comes in, but like the father in Mark 9, I sometimes have to say, “Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!”

Dave

-sdg-