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 Pharoah'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 in Egypt: for he had
respect unto the recompence of the reward.
Hebrews 11:23-26
Do we not have the Old Testament? Yes! So why do we have to have this narrative about those men of old written about in the Old Testament? Can't we see their faith, their lives, their failures, their successes? Yes! Is this not redundant? NO! The writer of Hebrews is reminding us, and telling others who did not, and do not, have the Old Testament about those men revered by the Jews that they are examples for us today. Think about this: Abraham: revered by the Jews and by Islam. Also, the world who knew anything about the history of the Jews would know that they taught this history to their children, spoke about this in their temples, and synagogues. We can verify this writer's recount of those men and see whether or not he is actually correct and being led by the Spirit. Furthermore, the Hebrew writer is going to make application as to why he wrote under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit about these men of faith.
Joseph died and in time another Pharaoh was on the throne of Egypt and did not know Joseph (Exodus 1:8) and became fearful of the Hebrews as they grew in number (Exodus 1:9) and the fear was that they would join with any enemy of Egypt and destroy them (Exodus 1:10). First this Pharaoh made the Hebrews work harder and bitter (Exodus 1:13-14), then a command went out that the midwives were to kill any boy born (Exodus 1:16). The midwives did not do as the Pharaoh of Egypt commanded and the Hebrews grew even more in number, then the Pharaoh took action himself: "And Pharaoh charged all his people, saying, Every son that is born ye shall cast into the river, and every daughter ye shall save alive" (Exodus 1:22). This was the world in which Moses was born and was to live.
Let us examine this narrative and see what we can derive from it and apply in our lives for it was not simply a recounting of the story in the Old Testament. Moses grew in faith and I will tell more of this when I recount how and why he was allowed to live. Moses being saved and by the providence of God was to be able in his young age to be raised by his mother, a miracle of itself, but only a miracle because God had plans for Moses and the Pharaoh was not to derail His plans for His people, was able to be taught by his mother about Jehovah God and how God was leading those ancestors of the Jews: "Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it" (Proverbs 22:6). While this was written in the Proverbs the people of God knew this fact that if a parent wanted for a child to grow in truth and live according to what God had commanded, they had to begin early to, and the Hebrew word translated "Train" means to "Catechise" which means to teach, to question closely, to teach orally. To do this a person, a parent then must take time to speak orally to a child about the things of God, as well as other things they need to know so they grow and mature into godly men and women prepared to meet the world. This world today has a problem in doing this for parents have come to a place whereby others are doing the teaching and the parent is busy trying to be successful and have things, to present themselves as successful and the child is sent into "a cave where there are lions ready to destroy them." A problem exists that a parent would send their child into such a situation where others are teaching their ideologies, their theologies which might not be in accordance to the truth of Scripture. A child comes home after such teaching and might or might not ask any questions and come to believe what they are taught as truth. I am not speaking of the the 3 "r's" but what the teacher is teaching in contradiction to Scripture. Does this happen? Yes! We see public school teachers making students learn and act out Islam, and even go so far as to teach that this form of theology should be accepted, along with other cultural acceptance as in abortion, same-sex unions, transgenders as being an "other normal." Parents must Catechize their children and one way is to take time to ask questions, and to teach from Scripture what God has revealed as truth. I remember When much was said about "latch key" children and this then became accepted and is not talked about much in today's society, but the children are left to themselves and we all know that children have the tendency to do things that are wrong and harmful. Why have Christians left their responsibilities? The parents of Moses did not and God used this training to raise up a witness for Him and to use Moses in His service. Will not God do the same for your children? Yes! Fear of the world should not stop you, it did not stop the parent of Moses, and other Hebrews. When Moses grew to be a man all that previous training came to bear upon him so that he took action for God's people who were under such persecution. Yes, Moses acted in a wrong way, as some of us have done, but in time Moses so taught about God never left Him and when God called him he went. This can be true of children who are taught at home so that even in hard times they will return to God and live a life of faith.
Do not be caught in a trap and just read these verses in Hebrews as just another story for they have meaning for yours and my life. We are to change from the inside out and this is only possible by knowing the truth and applying that truth in our lives. My prayer is that you will take time to know whether or not God, Jesus Christ, holds the first priority in your lives and will make any changes necessary to cause that to happen.
And he said, Hear ye now,
O house of David; Is it
a small thing for you to weary
men, but will ye weary my
God also?
Isaiah 7:13
Teach your children and you will be blessed
Richard L. Crumb
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