Moses

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walking God’s way. Moses suffered even though his obedience meant suffering. He rejected his Egyptian identity. He was rejected by his own biological and spiritual people. Was Moses’ life ruined? He could have said to himself, “I did all this for those ungrateful people. Don’t they know I am appointed by God to deliver them out of slavery?” Rejected? Sent to wander in the desert for 40 more years? What a waste of my leadership ability. Why should I go out on a limb for them? He was rejected but he continued, he endured, he kept on keeping on even when it was hard. Moses decided to keep obeying God anyway. Have you ever been rejected, stiff-armed by a family member you were desperately trying to help? Keep obeying God. Keep on keeping on even when it is hard. Was Moses’ life ruined? We never find out the answer to that until we endure through the suffering. Moses didn’t know it at the time, but he needed to have his leadership refined in order to be effective. He needed to learn what it was like to understand simple people. He needed to be humbled. When it looks like obedience to God is leading to disaster, obey anyway because that obedience is actually taking you away from the disaster you can’t see. When Moses was 80 years old God called him to go ask the Pharaoh to let his free labor source walk out of the country. Through series of 10 plagues, during the first nine plagues of frogs and grasshoppers etc., the Pharaoh would initially agree to let them go, then renege on his promise. Exodus 4:22, Moses’ words to Pharaoh from God, “Israel is my firstborn son. Let my son go.” God wanted Pharaoh to experience how it felt to have someone assaulting your first born son. God’s point. Because you have not let my firstborn, Israel go, I will send a Destroyer and kill every first born in Egypt. In the other plagues, Israel’s land was not touched, but this plague the destroyer will come to every house and death would come to Egyptian or Israelite if they did not take the prescribed evasive action. Take an unblemished yearling lamb and kill the lamb and spread its blood over the top and sides of the doorposts to the house. If this was done, the angel of death would pass over, that is why it was called the Passover. But don’t think just because you are a Jew you will be exempt from justice. You must take shelter under the blood of the lamb. God knew one day his own son, his first born, only begotten son would be sacrificed. Jesus, the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. Jesus’ death would provide our freedom from slavery. Jesus, the lamb of God, would be our Exodus. Christ is our Passover sacrificed for us. Jesus’ death turns away God’s wrath. Jesus is our propitiation. Both Jews and Egyptians needed saving. Everyone is exposed to judgment, but the good news is that everyone has the opportunity to receive salvation. It doesn’t matter how bad you’ve been or what you’ve done. It doesn’t matter how dark your secrets are. You are no more hopeless than the most respectable person in this room. You too can walk under the doorposts. Today the only way to freedom is by way of the blood stained cross.

If you are in Christ you are in His art gallery of faith. Many pictures have been added down through time. Is your face in the gallery? Don’t let Satan think you can’t get your picture in the hall of faith. God’s hall of faith in not like the church directory that is obsolete as soon as its published. No. Once your picture is in God’s hall of faith it never goes away. Why? Because God is faithful. You may have made a terrible mess of your life. You may be a deceiving, manipulating liar, who is jealous of your brother and controlled mommies’ boy just like Jacob. You may be a murderer like Moses and David, but if you are in Christ you are in the hall of faith because God is faithful. Will you choose in faith to follow God. Will you take a stand today? Will you say, I am going rogue? I am going to live counter-culture and follow Jesus even when it’s hard. I will endure and obey God even when it doesn’t make sense and it so very hard. What do you love most? You are only as durable as the thing you love most. Transfer your trust. Give up the immediate for the ultimate.

This message from the Scriptures was presented at NORTHVIEW BIBLE CHURCH, Spokane, Washington. Scripture quotations are taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE (“NASB”), © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995, 1996 by the Lockman foundation. Used by permission.

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Catalog No. 337

“Moses”

Hebrews 11:20-28

Sermon Series: “Greater Than: A Study Through the Book of Hebrews” Several weeks ago we traveled back east for my son’s graduation from PA school. During the trip, we visited Washington DC and saw the monuments and museums. Lots of history. I love history. One of our favorites was the National Museum of Art. We love the impressionists - Monet, Renoir, Manet, Degas, Seurat, and American Mary Cassatt. We were able to view an original painting by Monet, that we had a copy of in our home. I was surprised to see they had my favorite action-filled painting by Winslow Homer of a father with three boys in a sail boat on the adventurous open sea. The museum also had a room full of famous portraits of our founding fathers you would all recognize George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin. These were the originals of the classic shots found in a thousand textbooks. As I paused by each one, I thought of the history these painting represented. It reminded me of a wall we have in our living room filled with pictures of our family tree. Our grandparents on both sides, parents, us and now our kids. Each ones picture tells a story, a heritage we have received and a story we are passing on. Hebrews chapter 11 is like walking through an art gallery of faith heroes in our heritage. It’s a hall of faith. God is the curator and determined which one was to be in that hall and what meaning and place they would have in it. The pictures of these great heroes of the faith are intentionally arranged for a reason. They are hung here in Hebrews 11 for a reason, for the original readers and us to encourage us in our faith. The people who first unrolled this scroll to read Hebrews 11 were in danger of giving up, giving in to the culture. Their faith was faltering and sometimes so does ours. We need endurance and that is the message Hebrews continues to hammer home. The writer of Hebrews uses a variety of means to encourage us to keep on keeping on. The author wants us to show us that it really is possible to endure in this disposable world we live in. Hebrews 11 paints picture after picture of people, imperfect people, but faithful enduring people. All this serves to set up the ultimate portrait focused on Jesus in Hebrews 12. So this morning we are going to take a tour of this section of the art gallery and stop and pause to look at several of these paintings, lingering longer on the portrait of Moses. Read with me Hebrews 11:20-28. We pause briefly in front of verse 20 to view the faith of Isaac, Abraham’s son, the long-awaited child of promise, who was almost sacrificed on Mt. Moriah. Isaac blessed his sons Jacob and Esau and handed down to them the future promises “regarding things to come,” challenging them to follow God, the author of Hebrews, wants to demonstrate a continuity of faith from one generation to another as they all look forward to the promise without fully receiving them. The next picture in verse 21 is of Jacob. He was a deceiver who was envious of his older brother Esau and manipulated by his mother to trick Jacob

Pastor Norm Schwab September 3, 2017

into giving him the first-born blessing he had stolen from his older brother (The birthright he had already tricked Esau into selling him for a bowl of soup.) You might remember from Sunday School how Jacob put on Esau’s clothes so he smelled like Esau, covered his arms with animal skins to feel like hairy outdoorsman Esau. Jacob deceived his blind and aging father…yet Isaac doesn’t recant his blessing when the deception is exposed. God used Jacob’s deceit to accomplish His divine purpose. God was not surprised. God can take even our sinful mess ups and use them in ways we never saw coming. All these things are under God’s control. On his deathbed, Jacob blesses all his sons who were leaders of the twelve tribes of Israel (the other name for Jacob), but here in verse 21 the author only mentions a special blessing to his grandsons, Manasseh and Ephraim, sons of Joseph. If you were to paint a picture of this event, it would have Jacob, old and shoulders bent over, the lines of life creased across his weather worn face. His staff cradled in the cup of his arm as he reaches out his gnarled fingers to bless his grandsons. Joseph has set up his sons so that the oldest, Manasseh, is near Jacob’s right hand, to receive the older son blessing. But at the last instant Jacob crosses his arms to bless the younger Ephraim ahead of Manasseh. Joseph stands to object, but no Dad, you have the wrong son getting the primary blessing. Jacob does not change his mind and so by God’s design Ephraim the younger becomes greater than Manasseh. Jacob worships and passes on the promises of faith to his grandsons. We move further down the gallery to see Joseph in location (V.22) One who expect a lengthy description of all the many things Joseph did by faith. By faith Joseph believed God when it was revealed to him in a dream that God would lift him up as a leader and deliverer of his family. By faith when Joseph’s brothers betrayed him and sold him into slavery in Egypt, Joseph his not capitulate to his culture. By faith Joseph refused the advances of Potiphar’s wife. By faith Joseph endured years in prison. By faith Joseph led with integrity in Pharaohs court and brought his family to security. But no, It doesn’t mention any of those things. Verse 22 only says “by faith Joseph when he was dying, gave instructions regarding his bones.” You can read about it in Genesis 50. Joseph gives instructions to his brothers to take his bones back home, back to Canaan land, the land of promise when he died. From age 17 to 110 when he died Joseph lived in Egypt, he never went back. You see Joseph’s heart was always back in the place he was born. If he could not inherit the land, then the land could inherit him, his bones. And indeed, when the people of Israel made their Exodus out of Egypt, they took with them the box of Joseph’s bones. (EX. 13:19). Do you see the progression? Father to Son. Grandfather to grandson. Brother to brother. Abra-

ham says there is a future hope. Isaac says to his sons, “there is a future hope.” Jacob tells his grandsons, “there is a future hope and promise.” The one thing mentioned here regarding Joseph is his eyes that looked to the promise, the future hope. When Israel was in Egyptian slavery they looked to Joseph’s bones in the box and it reminded them what he had said, “We are not home yet…keep on keeping on”. Endure. Faith itself can’t be passed down, but we can create an atmosphere and model and train our kids, grandkids and brothers and friends what an enduring faith looks like. How are you developing a contagious confidence, a faith in God so that others can see it and be encouraged to do the same? Parents, do you view your home as a training base or merely a holding tank? Grandparents, do you realize how powerful your influence can be on those grandkids God has given you? Your words have much more power to influence your grandkids than you may realize. They are listening. They are watching. Infect them with a contagious confidence in God. Make it very easy for them to observe your faith in God. Make is easy for them to see how you have transferred your trust from the stuff of this earth life, to focus on the eternal life. Grandkids, children, friends, brothers… they easily see what is most important to you. Transfer that trust. Now we take several more steps into the art gallery in this Hall of Faith and just as the writer lingers longer at this portrait of Moses, so will we. Moses was the great Deliverer leading the Israelites out of Egyptian slavery. He was the Great lawgiver, the great Historian. He wrote the first five books of the Bible from Genesis to Deuteronomy, the Pentateuch. (V.23) Moses too received a kick start in his faith, modeled by his mom and dad, Jockebed and Amram. Life in Egypt for the Hebrew slaves was not easy. It had been 400 years since Joseph had been second in command. God had blessed the Israelites and their numbers had grown dramatically. The new Pharaoh was nervous about this power of people turning against them, so they enacted a series of programs designed to oppress and reduce the Hebrews into slavery. The latest edict was to wipe out a generation of Hebrew males. Kill all the Hebrew boys, so that the Hebrew girls must find Egyptian husbands and it will dilute the solidarity of their growing people. Moses’ mom and dad refused to kill their baby boy. There was something very special, divine favor rested on this boy and they were not afraid of the king’s edict. Moses’ parents had two threats on them. The obvious one was the threat of the king to kill all the Jewish baby boys. The other threat was what would happen to those parents who dared to disobey the Pharaohs command. So Amram and Jockebed decided. We do fear for our son’s life, but we do not fear for our own life. So we are going to hide and protect him and put him in this little boat we’ve made. We are not going to go and kill our son out of fear for our own lives. The path of love is always better than what the world promises to give those who run from risk trying to save themselves. Faith in God’s commands frees us up from the fear of death. Faith makes us brave

enough to risk love. Fear is one of Satan’s most effective weapons but Moses’ parents and Moses (V.27) in faith, “endured by seeing Him who is unseen.” Psalm 27, “The Lord is my light and salvation, whom shall I fear? The Lord is the defense of my life; Whom shall I dread?” So just like Noah’s life was spared by a boat, Moses was put into a boat made watertight sealed with pitch and floated in the Nile toward where the Pharaoh’s daughter, the princess, was bathing. She found Moses and it was love at first sight. I wonder if God had allowed her to have infertility problems to magnify her desire for a baby. I’m not sure, but when Moses’ older Sister Miriam came out of the bulrushes and offered a nurse to care for Moses until he was weaned, the princess jumped at the chance. Moses mom, Jockebed was paid to care for her own little baby boy. Moses grew up in the palace. He had the best food, the best clothes, the best education and housing and recreation and opportunities. Moses lived in Egypt during the pinnacle of world power, wealth and splendor. I tried to imagine what it must have been like to live in the world’s best. There is a hotel in Antalya, Turkey called the Marden Palace. It boasts the largest swimming pool in the world. They imported 9,000 tons of special white sand from Egypt. Their luxury suites rent for $11,000 per night complete with indoor spa, grand piano and remote controlled toilets, (I’m not sure how those work). After massage and sauna treatments, fresh snow is made available to roll around in. Sounds pretty cool to me. But it’s the best in the world. Moses had access to the very best of the world and(V. 24,25) Moses made a choice to reject all that. In faith Moses refused to take the security, power and provision offered him by being a son of the princess. I’m sure his friends said, “Moses you’ve got it made, why give up so much?” Right choices are made on the basis of right faith. Satan tries to make his way seem attractive and good and God’s way seem hard and unenjoyable. Moses gave up the immediate for the ultimate. II Cor. 4:16-17 “Don’t lose heart…for this momentary light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory FAR BEYOND all comparison. Don’t look on those things that are temporary but look to the eternal things that last forever. Baron Justinian Von Weltz renounced his title, estates and income to become a missionary to Dutch Guiana. His friends said, “you’ve got it made here, why give up so much.” Von Weltz said, “What is it to me to bear the title ‘well born’, when I am born again to Christ? What is it to me to bear the title, ‘lord’, when I desire to be a servant of Christ. What is it to be called ‘your grace’, when I have need of God’s grace. All these I walk away from, and all else I lay down at the feet of my dear Lord Jesus.” By faith Von Weltz and Moses made a choice believing the world has little to offer when compared to the riches and satisfaction in Christ. So in faith, make your choice. Choose. Will you choose to follow after the world, or follow God? Take a stand. Will you embrace the values and priorities of the world? Laugh at its jokes? Hold its priorities? Or will you say, this is my life. I’m following Jesus. The world may say I’m crazy, but I’m going rogue.

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I’m going to live not anti-cultural, but counter to the culture. My hope and faith is built on nothing less than Jesus blood and His righteousness. On Christ the solid rock I stand all other ground is sinking sand. Faith chooses to follow God Jesus over the very best the world has to offer. Faith is not only choosing, but (V.26) faith is considering. Moses reasoned, assessed, figured it out, considered. That word ‘considering’ in verse 26 means Moses carefully weighed the pros and cons and decided following God was a good deal for him in the long run. Moses considered the “reproach of Christ greater than the riches of the treasures of Egypt.” It’s interesting that the author would use the term “Christ” here since Jesus Christ wasn’t going to be on earth for another 1,500 years. The word Christ does mean anointed one or Deliverer, so it could mean a generic sense that Moses identified with the disgrace of the One Unseen who would Deliver God’s people. But I think we can take it in a very real way, Moses suffered for the sake of Christ in that He identified with the Messiah’s people in their sufferings. Indeed, all believers for all time are saved by the blood Christ. So also, any believer who suffers for God sake also suffers for Christ sake. God’s people are identified for all time both in the benefit of the cross and the suffering of the cross. Moses could see the unseen. Moses considered. Moses weighed all the wealth, privilege and royalty of Egypt against the satisfaction of being an instrument of the Living God and heir to the promise and chose to follow God. (V.27) “he endured as seeing Him who is unseen.” He saw the unknown. Moses looked beyond the visible and believed God. He saw God at work and was excited about joining Him. At the Academia Gallery in Florence, Italy a hallway leading up to the famous David statue is home to a series of Michelangelo’s unfinished carvings. I almost liked it better than the David statue, because it looks at if the carved people are literally crawling right out from the stone. Michelangelo is quoted to say, “Every block of stone has a statue inside it and the task of the Sculptor is to discover it. Michelangelo could see the unseen. Moses saw the unseen. Can you see the unseen potential in people as God chisels away at their life? In your friends? Your kids? You? Moses was able to make the choice to follow God over the world because he considered, he assessed his choice believing that the worst he would endure for Christ would be more valuable than the best of the world. (V.27) In faith Moses, not fearing the king, endured. Now the times of Egypt for Moses was quite different than when Joseph served in the royal court. The Jews were an enslaved people. His people were being killed. He saw that he could not be both a Jew and an Egyptian. He was trying to be two things that were mutually exclusive. He felt the internal pressure of being a walking contradiction. Playing both sides will never bring happiness or satisfaction. When Moses was 40 years old this internal angst was building. He would make excursions to the land of Goshen where his people, the Hebrew lived. On one occasion,

he witnessed an Egyptian taskmaster beating a Hebrew slave. It so enraged Moses that he killed the Egyptian and buried him way out in the sand. It was at this point he joined the Hebrew slaves. The next day Moses returned to the scene of the crime and two Hebrews were fighting. Moses yelled at them to break it up. With adrenalin flowing the Hebrews spat back at Moses, “who made you judge over us? Are you going to kill us just like you killed that Egyptian yesterday?” His own people were frightened of him. Moses knew his murder was out and made public. Pharaoh would hear about it. He had a choice to make. As a prince, Moses could easily have gone to the king and say, “king, hey listen I just toasted a slave worker in the Hebrew sector.” But to do that would go against his principles. He was rejected by his people. As Stephen’s sermon in Acts 7:25 explains “and Moses supposed that his brethren understood that God was granting them deliverance through him, but they did not understand.” He was rejected by Egypt and the king. It was death to his career. In a single day, Moses went from having two peoples to having no people. His only option was to run to the desert. I wonder if Moses chose God over the world because he realized, he considered, that he was only as durable as the things that he loved. Tim Keller says, “You are only as durable as the thing you love most.” If I love something most that will never pass away, lasts forever, then I will never pass away, but if I love anything that is vulnerable, temporary, then I am vulnerable. I am as temporary as the thing I most love. His point is that everyone is goal oriented. Even if it proves to be an unworthy goal, you can’t live unless you have something to look forward to and all goals at some point will compete with each other. A goal to have the security of money in the bank will compete with the goal to be generous and help other people. Here’s the deal. If I choose a finite central controlling life goal, then I will always be frustrated, but if I choose an infinite Goal, pleasing God as my goal, then I am unshakeable. If my goal is to be happy no matter what, then I may say I believe in the 10 commandments, but I will set them aside if my center goal is that I need to do whatever it takes to get someone to love me. That person I am trying to get to love me is finite, is not durable, not stable. And when that relationship become under threat then I am shaken to the depths. That is one reason why many of you here woke up and came back to Christ. The thing that you were trusting in, banking on, centered your life on crashed and failed because it was finite, vulnerable. That crash caused you to see the unseen and turn your eyes back to the infinite, to the One who lasts. Faith is a transfer of trust. Do you see it? Consider it. What is the real basis of your trust? In what or Whom do you place your faith? Remember faith is not believing God will do what I want, do what is easiest, act to remove pain, but believing that God will do what is right even when that thing is hard. Moses figured it out. Moses reasoned it out. This what I live for. Have you? Faith is choosing. Faith is considering. And faith is Continuing. By faith he endured. Faith means you can endure difficult circumstances when

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