There is a time lapse of some forty years between verse 23 and the second “by faith,” which covers verses 24-26 in Hebrews chapter 11. Here we see how Moses identified with his people by faith. His identification began with a negative choice: “By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be known as the son of Pharaoh’s daughter” [v. 24]. R. Kent Hughes notes that “Moses was known by the royal designation ‘son of Pharaoh’s daughter' – a title of self-conscious dignity that is emphasized in the Greek by the absence of definitive articles. A modern equivalent might be Duke of York.” To be such during Egypt’s Nineteenth Dynasty would have meant immense prestige and wealth. Any pleasure that the contemporary mind could conceive was his for the asking. But the object of Moses’ desire was not in the treasures or power of Egypt, and as such, he publicly refused the title – thus committing a grievous and dangerous insult to Pharaoh. Faith is courageous!
True faith will announce its discord whenever God and conscience call for it. Believers can love their culture, but they will refuse to be identified with the godless spirit of their age. Moses’ negation was also motivated by a positive act of his will: “He chose to be mistreated along with the people of God rather than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a short time” [v. 25]. Moses’ sin, had he remained part of the Egyptian system, would have been apostasy – for he would have had to abandon the truth. There is no doubt that the pleasures of sin in Egypt were substantial. But like all physical pleasures, they were only pleasurable for a moment. So, rather than embracing Egypt’s ephemeral pleasures, Moses consciously “chose to be mistreated along with the people of God.” Moses believed that Israel stood in unique relationship with the living God and had a unique role to play in world history. Moses chose to take the most exciting path he could possibly take. To him, life in the brilliance of the Egyptian court was a dull, ignoble thing when compared with the society of mistreated Israel. Christians, likewise, must absorb Moses’ wisdom because the Church is the only thing that will outlive this world.
Almost everyone who reads this story wonders just how Moses could turn his back on Egyptian delights and embrace the affections of his stigmatized people? The answer reveals his faith: “He regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt, because he was looking ahead to his reward” [v. 26]. When Moses identified with Israel, he was aligning himself with the people with whom Jesus Christ had been identified from their inception. He had always been one with His people. “In all their distress He too was distressed” [Isaiah 63:9]. Thus, according to F. F. Bruce, Moses’ identification with the disgrace of the Messianic people was an identification with Christ – he endured disgrace “for the sake of Christ.” The great truth for us is that Moses could do this “because he was looking ahead to his reward.” Here the author again takes us back to the foundational truth of v. 1: “Now faith is being sure of what we hope for.” Moses was, quite simply, sure of his reward. If we ourselves truly believe in the reward, as did Moses and the saints, we will do just fine. It was none other than Paul who said, “I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us” [Romans 8:18]. Similarly, he encouraged the Corinthians: “Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal” [2 Corinthians 4:16-18]. These are the things we must believe!
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