In our last two studies of Hebrews 11, Moses has been prominently featured. Two weeks ago, he was the illegal Jewish baby hidden by his parents, put on the Nile River in a wicker basket and found by Pharaoh's daughter. Last week, he was the forty-year-old man who left Pharaoh's house to suffer with his enslaved people, the Israelites.
As we learned from Acts 7, it had entered Moses' mind that he was being called by God as his people's protector and deliverer.
He saw a Hebrew slave being beaten by an Egyptian, so he attacked the Egyptian, killing him, and burying him in the sand. But the next day when he broke up a fight between two Hebrews, the guy who had started it said,
Exod. 2:14 ..."Who made you a prince or a judge over us? Are you intending to kill me, as you killed the Egyptian?"...
It became clear to Moses that people had found out about him killing the Egyptian the day before. Worse yet, the news got to Pharaoh. Exodus chapter two says,
Exod. 2:15 When Pharaoh heard of this matter, he tried to kill Moses. But Moses fled from the presence of Pharaoh and settled in the land of Midian...
Moses fled. He ran away. Considering the circumstances, that is understandable, but the mystery to me comes when we look at verse 27...
The author of Hebrews says that Moses left Egypt by faith. That doesn't seem to jibe with what we just read in Exodus. So which one is it? Did he flee or did he leave by faith? The answer is: "Both." In other words, he fled by faith.
You see, although we instinctively think that running away is the result of fear and faithlessness, that is clearly not the case. As it is stated here, Moses was not afraid of the wrath of Pharaoh. But it was wise to leave.
Sure, there are times to stand firm. But there is no cowardice in fleeing when your life is in danger.
No one who knows anything about Jesus' divinity and humanity could ever accuse Jesus of being weak, yet when the people of the synagogue in Nazareth became infuriated at His teaching and dragged Him to the edge of a cliff to throw Him down, He slipped away (Luke 4:16-30).
An angel told Joseph to take Mary and Jesus and flee to Egypt (Matt. 2:13) when Herod wanted to kill Jesus.
Jesus told the disciples to flee to the next city when they were persecuted (Matt 10:23).
Jesus told the Jews to flee Judea when the antichrist entered the temple (Matt 24:16).
Paul told us to flee immorality (1Cor. 6:18), idolatry (1Cor 10:14), and youthful lusts (2Tim. 2:22).
Whenever your life is in danger, be it from Herod, persecutors, the antichrist, or the devil, there is no shame in running away.
The trick is to flee in faith. You see, everything has to be done in faith, trusting that God is in control, no matter how out of control the situation seems.
I have met a lot of Christians who blame the devil for every negative thing that happens in their lives. I think that this is a terrible lack of faith. When something bad happens to me, my thoughts immediately go to, "Okay, the Lord is allowing this for a reason. I may not discover what that reason is for a long time, but I have faith that He is still in control." While some say, "This is a terrible setback. The enemy has had victory," it is those who choose to see God in their situation who always endure. This is how Moses was able to flee Egypt in faith, and how he endured, seeing God in the situation even though God was not physically visible.
These two sentences jump over a long period of time, so I'll recap a bit.
When Moses fled Egypt, he went to the land of Midian, where he married a woman and became a shepherd of his father-in-law's sheep for forty years.
It was while he was pasturing the flock that he saw a bush which had caught on fire, but was not being consumed. When he went to investigate, the Lord spoke to him from the bush. God said, "I have seen the affliction of My people..."
Exod. 3:10 "Therefore, come now, and I will send you to Pharaoh, so that you may bring My people, the sons of Israel, out of Egypt."
After forty years learning to shepherd sheep, Moses was being called by God to shepherd His people.
You are probably familiar with the story after this. Moses came to Pharaoh and said,
Exod. 5:1 ..."Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, ‘Let My people go..'"
When Pharaoh refused, Moses informed him that God would bring a plague. When the plague came, Pharaoh temporarily agreed, but then changed his mind. This happened several times, until Moses announced the final plague.
Exod. 11:4 And Moses said, "Thus says the LORD, ‘About midnight I am going out into the midst of Egypt, and all the first-born in the land of Egypt shall die...'"
Moses informed the Israelites that there was only one way to protect themselves from this judgment coming upon the land. They were to take a lamb, kill it, and put the blood on the doorways of their houses.
Exod. 12:12-13 ‘For I will go through the land of Egypt on that night, and will strike down all the first-born in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments —I am the LORD. And the blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you live; and when I see the blood I will pass over you, and no plague will befall you to destroy {you} when I strike the land of Egypt."
When the Israelites applied the blood of the lamb to their homes, the judgment passed over them. (This is where the Jews get the name "Passover." Pharaoh finally agreed to let them go, and they left Egypt. Even when Pharaoh changed his mind and sent his army after them, God opened up the Red Sea for the Israelites to pass through, but crashed the walls of water down upon the pursuing soldiers.
Today, just as in Egypt, God has announced a coming judgment. God has said,
Isa. 59:2 ...your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God
Ezek. 18:4 "...The soul who sins will die."
All who have sinned will die and face judgment. But today, the solution for salvation is the same as it was in Egypt. We must take the blood of the lamb and apply it to our households. Not just any lamb, but Jesus Christ, Who is called,
John 1:29 "...the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!"
When you ask Jesus to be your Lamb, the blood that He shed on the cross covers your life. The judgment passes over you, and you have life. Eternal life.
John 3:16 "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life.