| “By faith Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter” (Hebrews 11:24). |
| Yesterday we saw how Moses was rescued from the waters of the Nile River in Egypt, and became (as everyone thought) the son of Pharaoh’s daughter. As a result, we read that he was “learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians” (Acts 7:22). He was also “mighty in words and in deeds” (Acts 7:22), but in all of his upbringing in the court of Pharaoh, Moses had not forgotten that he was not really the son of Pharaoh’s daughter. Somehow he had found out, perhaps from his own family, that he was an Israelite and not an Egyptian. Yet it is interesting that as a young man, he must have looked like an Egyptian, for when he went away to the land of Midian, the young women there told their father that an Egyptian had helped them water their flock. |
| But the time came when Moses had to make a decision. He could remain in Pharaoh’s court, and very possibly become the next Pharaoh of Egypt, or he could choose to “suffer affliction with the people of God” (Hebrews 11:25). We know that Moses chose to identify himself with his own people Israel, for they were the people of God. As a result he had to leave Egypt for a while, but then God eventually brought him back to deliver His people from the slavery to which the Egyptians had put them. |
| In each of our lives, there comes a point when we have to decide what direction to take in our life. If we know the Lord Jesus as our Savior, the world around us will try to get us to “enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season” (Hebrews 11:25). But these pleasures are only for this life, and as we have seen in another meditation, nothing in this world can satisfy our longing hearts. How much better it is to make the choice Moses made, even though it may sometimes be a difficult path! But Moses wanted to live for eternity, not merely for time, and he chose to identify with a nation of slaves instead of with those in a position of power. But it was worth it, for the Lord was with him, and it is recorded that the Lord spoke to Him “mouth to mouth … and the similitude (likeness) of the Lord shall he behold” (Numbers 12:8). Later on, in the New Testament, he appeared with Elijah and the Lord Jesus on the mount of transfiguration. Surely it was well worth it to give up some temporary pleasure, in order to honor the Lord! This is so important for us to remember as young Christians! |
