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the first lesson in faith

Hebrews 11:23-26 (JDV)

Hebrews 11:23 By faith Moses, after he was born, was hidden by his parents for three months, because they saw that the child was beautiful, and they didn’t fear the king’s edict.
Hebrews 11:24 By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter
Hebrews 11:25 and chose to suffer with the people of God rather than to enjoy the fleeting pleasure of failure.
Hebrews 11:26 You see, he considered reproach for the sake of Christ to be greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, since he was looking ahead to the payment.

the first lesson in faith

Amram and Jochebed were the parents of Moses, and his story of living by faith began with them. Before Moses could make any decisions for himself, they decided by faith to protect him.

Folks, we need to be parents like that. Our children and grandchildren will face dangerous things in this life, and they will be unaware of the danger. So, we need to step in and be brave enough to shield them from the danger that they do not see.

You know the story. You’ve seen the movies, and I hope you’ve read the book. Moses “was hidden by his parents for three months, because they saw that the child was beautiful, and they didn’t fear the king’s edict.” In other words, they were moved to act by two things: their love for their child, and their loyalty to someone higher in rank than the king. They saw two things. They saw a beautiful child who needed to be protected, and they saw an invisible almighty God who they needed to obey.

Jesus told his disciples “do not be afraid of those who kill the body and after that have no more that they can do. But I will warn you whom to fear: fear the One who, after He has killed, has authority to cast into hell; yes, I tell you, fear Him!” (Luke 12:4-5). Amram and Jochebed’s fear of God was stronger than their fear of Pharaoh’s sword.

Because they trusted God to protect their son, he enabled them to teach their son about that trust. So, Moses’ first lesson in seeing the invisible came from those two faithful parents.