Useful Bible Studies > Hebrews Commentary > chapter 11

The faith of Moses’ parents

Hebrews 11:23

The author of Hebrews has shown us how people in the Book of Genesis had an attitude of faith (active belief and trust in God). Now, he encourages us to look for people with faith in other Bible books, too.

We should expect to find examples of faith as we read the Bible. Faith is one of the most important qualities that God’s people have. In the Bible, it is often the reason for their actions, even if the Bible does not always explain that fact.

In Hebrews 11:23, the author gives us an example of this. If he was not writing by the power of God’s Spirit, his explanation of Exodus 2:1-2 would be a guess. But Christians believe that God showed the Bible’s authors what to write (2 Timothy 3:16).

The king’s law ordered Moses’ parents to kill their baby (Exodus 1:22). It is very difficult to hide a baby in a small house. But Moses’ parents managed to hide him for 3 months.

The author of Hebrews gives two reasons why they did this. Firstly, they saw that Moses was ‘beautiful’. There was something impressive and noble in Moses’ character, even when he was still a baby. This was not merely their opinion; God considered Moses beautiful, too (Acts 7:20). So the parents believed that God had a special plan for Moses’ life.

The other reason was that they were not afraid of the king’s law. They had every reason to be afraid. They were slaves, and the king was powerful. But they respected God more than they respected that evil king. They had faith. So they believed that God would rescue their son.

You can read how God saved Moses’ life in Exodus 2:1-10.

Next part: How Moses started to have faith (Hebrews 11:24)

 

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© 2014, Keith Simons.