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The Choice Moses Made

The story of Moses remains one of the most remarkable in human history. Born into a family of enslaved Israelites, he was at birth slated to be drowned according to the command of the reigning Pharaoh. However, God preserved him to become the adopted grandson of the very king who had decreed his death (Exodus 1, 2; cf. 1 Corinthians 1:25).

Moses enjoyed the privilege of having a godly mother with a real faith in God, enough so as to trust God to preserve her son for His glory. In his early years, she obviously insulated him with the Word of God before she handed him over to his adoptive mother. Thank God for godly parents (Hebrews 11:23)!

On entering palace life, Moses had opportunities for great social advancement. His place in the palace itself suggested a bright future in the kingdom of Egypt. Moreover, he was well educated, being “learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians” and was known for “his words and deeds” (Acts 7:22). With such personal capability and such opportunities available to him, Moses had to make a choice that would have great consequences for him, his ethnic people and all the Egyptians. Consider the place he was in, the opportunities he had, and the future before him! What could be the right choice for him, for his people?

Moses made his choice. He was not guided by the opportunities he had nor the possibilities he saw. He did not make his decision according to the expectations of others. He took his decision, one that was startling then and even now, is incredible to many. He refused a position in the greatest kingdom of that era. It was not just any position but that of being the son of the daughter of the ruler of Egypt! The Holy Spirit records it this way: “By faith Moses when he became of age, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter” (Hebrews 11:24). Note that carefully. He had been an obedient child, learning what he was taught. Whether it was in his natural home with his natural parents or his adoptive home, he took his place as a learner. What a lesson and example he provides to us! So many today want to teach before they have learned!

A choice to be made

It was when Moses reached maturity that he weighed all that he had learned and all that lay before him and made his decision. This decision indicated at least these two things: that he himself had faith in God and that he knew that he could rely on God for the future. However dark the prospect may appear. What a challenge he faced! How much his decision speaks of his willingness to rely on God!

Think of the disappointment that Pharaoh and his daughter would have had to face. They had spent nearly forty years training this young man for the realm, expending resources and energy. Now, all of that had been erased in one swift discarding of the royal robes. At the same time, the hopes of enslaved but militant Israelites were shattered. Their man in the palace had walked away from everything, and all their expectations evaporated like a puff of smoke. He “refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter.”

Though he had abandoned all, Moses did not make a rash decision. “It came into his heart to visit his brethren, the children of Israel” (Acts 7:23). Since “out of it spring the issues of life” (Proverbs 4:23), the decisions we make reflect what is in our hearts. This is serious to contemplate. Secondly, this was the decision of maturity. His maturity was such that he showed great faith in God, and he relied on God in making his choice. This is very important to think of. God does not put us in circumstances that require decisions without making available to us the tools with which to make them.

Therefore, we believers in the Lord Jesus need to give Him His place as Lord so that the decisions we make are subject to His guidance. We do not rely on circumstances, the hopes of others, or our ambitions. My subjection shows the depth of my confidence in Him to Him.

The ultimate refusal

Moses had refused the royal position, but what did that refusal entail? We are not left in any doubt. Included in that refusal was the pleasure of sin. All the entertainment and pleasures that the royal court afforded were part of the package. This may be comparable to having breakfast in Kingston (Jamaica), lunch in Los Angeles, dinner in Hawaii, and taking in the nightlife in Hong Kong. Moses counted them as the pleasures of sin, which only last for a season, “vanity and grasping for the wind” (Ecclesiastes 1:14).

Therefore, they were given up.  Additionally, he gave up “the treasures in Egypt.” All those treasure cities his people had built —Pithom and Raamses (Exodus 1:11), which could soon be his to command—he gave up. Moses turned his back on all else that Egypt had to offer. Today, the allurements might include six-figure salaries, houses, lands, jets, and yachts, among other things. Egypt’s treasures had no appeal to Moses because of what, by faith, he fixed his eyes on. What are your eyes and mine fixed on? What do we behold? Is it by faith?

By faith, Moses learned the reality of all that was found in Egypt. The education, the position, the pleasures, and the treasures belong to this world. The apostle John describes that reality: “For all that is in the world— the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world. And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever” (1 John 2:15-17).

On the contrary, what Moses chose was what the world despises: “to suffer affliction with the people of God.” Affliction was what the world of Egypt inflicted on the Israelites. Only one who has learned the truth that the “whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one” (1 John 5:19) is able to side with the people of God. With whom are you taking sides? Which world have you chosen?

Secondly, he esteemed “the reproaches of Christ to be greater riches than the treasures of Egypt.” The reproaches of Christ are what Christ suffered as He traversed this world: rejection, scorn, and hatred, to the point of being crucified as a criminal. But Moses saw in these reproaches riches that are only to be seen by faith.

The faith that Moses enjoyed was fixed in a Person, not in an ideal, not in a creed, but in a living Person, One who holds sway over everything. Moses endured as seeing Him who is invisible. He had respect unto the recompense, for he knew that “He who promised is faithful” (Hebrews 10:23) and “what He had promised, He was able also to perform” (Romans 4:21). The recompense could not come from this world nor in this world. We know what is in the world. And it is not of the Father.

Conclusion

How will the recompense come? It will come as a result of the faithfulness of Him, “who promised.” The apostle Paul declares it: “a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory” (2 Corinthians 4:17). Pharaoh’s name and achievement may be etched in the bricks of his monuments, but like the pleasures of sin, they only last for a season.

The choice that Moses made brought him face to face with God, to have a relationship with God that brooks no rival (Deuteronomy 34:10). It brought him into the very presence of the Lord Jesus on the mount of Transfiguration (Matthew 17:2, 3). What a choice! What consequences! What a recompense! What is your choice, my young friend?

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