11:23
Moses was born at a time of persecution of the Jews, with even babies being killed (Ex 1:16,22). Ex 2:2 says that his mother saw he was a “fine child” and hid him for three months. This was done in defiance of pharaoh’s edict. Now when we read this section in Exodus I guess most of us don’t immediately think of Moses’ mother exercising faith. Faith shows itself in many different ways, decisions and actions we take in life can be true indicators of whether or not we have faith. Faith most definitely is much more than an intellectual assent to some credal statements, though sound doctrine is very important!
11:25,26
The Christians often experienced persecution or discrimination, and this was true of the Hebrews. Moses was brought up in the palace, if he had played his cards right he could have chosen to continue to enjoy that sort of existence. Instead he chose to be identified with the Jews. This was an act of faith. He believed the Jews were God’s people, so it was far more sensible, far more rational, to be associated with them, than with the temporal riches of Pharaoh’s kingdom. So the Hebrews would experience opprobrium from the civic authorities, the Romans, and from the Jews themselves. They needed to ask themselves who they believed God was working amongst, what was God doing? We need to do the same, especially as our society becomes ever more anti-Christian. Do we believe Christ is Lord or not? If we do, then we really have no option but to choose to obey Him and follow His ways, even when that brings us into conflict with the world. It is the rational thing to do. Note that the writer refers to the riches of the palace as the “fleeting pleasures of sin”. Anything that is done in a manner contrary to God’s ways is an act of sin.
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