Unphased By Wrath
24 “By faith Moses, when he became of age, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, 25 choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin, 26 esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in[a] Egypt; for he looked to the reward. 27 By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king; for he endured as seeing Him who is invisible.” Hebrews 11:24-27 NKJV
Through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit who knew the heart of Moses, the friend of God, the author of Hebrews gives us a great testimony. When we read the verses above we see how Moses was aroused by faith to look ahead. He did not just see the comfort of the moment as he was living in the luxury of being in the family and care of the Pharaoh’s family, even being called a part of the family of Pharaoh. He could not have had more comfort and assurance of the best in life.
Try and imagine that you were living as part of the family of a king of the greatest empire in the world at the time. Like Moses, you lacked for nothing and had all that you could want or crave. Would you be able to look beyond that and see something better? Something that the flesh would rebel against and say is not truly better? Would you be able to look ahead and see that something greater was not in material wealth but rather in the purpose and call of the Lord?
Few of us will probably ever experience that kind of wealth, but probably each of us has experienced this. In times of even moderate blessing and abundance, we lose sight of Jesus and focus on things. We hold tight to the things we have and struggle not to lose what we perceive as being ours. We lose sight of Jesus when we are in periods of peace and plenty. How could Moses have so much and yet still look ahead and see something that He valued more, something that could only be found in God? Moses was stirred and aroused by “faith” according to verse 24. Moses left the affluence and power of his place within the family of Pharaoh so that he could grab hold of what he saw ahead in God. That is amazing! I want to open my eyes to Jesus to see what He has ahead for me. I want to be aroused in faith to look and see what is so much better than earthly wealth and power.
Moses was so stirred in his faith that he was not dismayed at the response of Pharaoh the most powerful man on earth. He was not fearful of Pharaoh’s anger because Moses saw the truth of the unseeable God. Too often we are influenced by what we have and we are loath to think that others might scorn us for our faith, to be so blinded that we fail to see Jesus’ call on our lives. We fail to realize the fulfillment that comes when we see the greater things that come from serving Jesus and not self. How about you? Do you want to be so aroused in your faith that you become blind to the disappointment of others, to the deception of wealth and to be stirred so you can see only the things of Jesus for your life and for His glory? That should be our goal in life.
J Todd Hostetler