Perspective: Choosing a Harder Life

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Choosing a Harder Life

It's impossible to please God without faith because the one who draws near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards people who try to find him.

Hebrews 11:6 (CEB)

Surely life wasn't made to regret
And the lost were not made to forget
Surely faith without action is dead
Let Your Kingdom come
Lord, break this heart

From "The Power of Your Name" by Lincoln Brewster

Toward the end of a message addressed to the Hebrews, the author tells the stories of numerous people in the Hebrew Bible who demonstrated great faith in their lives.¹  One of these heroes of faith is Moses.

The author of Hebrews writes, "By faith Moses was hidden by his parents for three months when he was born, because they saw that the child was beautiful and they weren't afraid of the king's orders."²  Moses was born at a time when his people, the Hebrew people, lived in Egypt as slaves to the Egyptians.  In the Book of Exodus, we read that, when Pharaoh feared that the Hebrew population in Egypt had grown too great, he ordered that all boys born to Hebrews be drowned in the Nile River.  When Moses was born, his parents defied Pharaoh's orders and hid him.  When they could hide him no longer, his mother crafted a waterproof basket, placed him inside it, and set it on the bank of the river amid some reeds.  When Pharaoh's daughter went to the river to bathe, she found Moses and decided to raise him as her own child.³

The author of Hebrews continues,
By faith Moses refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter when he was grown up.  He chose to be mistreated with God's people instead of having the temporary pleasures of sin.  He thought that the abuses he suffered for Christ were more valuable than the treasures of Egypt, since he was looking forward to the reward.⁴
To be honest, I cannot help but think that maybe the author of Hebrews is telling a somewhat idealized version of Moses' story.  The Book of Exodus does not tell us that Moses made a conscious decision to reject a life of wealth and pleasure in Pharaoh's household and to accept a life lived in solidarity with his suffering people.

In the Book of Exodus we read that one day, after Moses had become an adult, he went out and observed the enslavement of his own people.  He watched an Egyptian slave driver savagely beat a Hebrew slave, and, when he thought that nobody was looking, he killed the slave driver and hid the body.  The next day, Moses discovered that someone had indeed witnessed the murder, and, when word reached Pharaoh about what his adopted grandson had done, Pharaoh tried to have him killed.  Moses then fled for his life to the land of Midian, where he settled down, started a family, and made a life for himself.⁵

According to the author of Hebrews, "By faith [Moses] left Egypt without being afraid of the king's anger.  He kept on going as if he could see what is invisible."⁶  The author seems to be suggesting that Moses defiantly left Egypt, yet we read in the Book of Exodus that Moses fled Egypt because Pharaoh was trying to have him killed.  Again, I think that maybe the author is telling a somewhat idealized version of Moses' story.  Perhaps the author is telling us that people who live lives of great faith, as Moses did, will be remembered not for their shortcomings but for their faithful actions.

It took great faith for Moses to return to Egypt, to confront Pharaoh, and to lead his people out of Egypt to freedom.  In the Book of Exodus, we read that one day, while Moses was in the wilderness tending the flock of his father-in-law, he noticed that a bush was burning but was not being consumed by the fire.  He stopped to observe the burning bush and, God began to speak to him through it.⁷  God said to him, "I've clearly seen my people oppressed in Egypt.  I've heard their cry of injustice because of their slave masters.  I know about their pain...  So get going.  I'm sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people, the Israelites, out of Egypt."⁸

Whether or not the version of Moses' story we read in Hebrews lines up perfectly with the version we read in the Book of Exodus, I think that the author of Hebrews makes an important point about living a life of faith.  Sometimes faithfully following God's call means rejecting a relatively easy life and accepting a life that is much more difficult.  Sometimes following God's call means rejecting a comfortable life and accepting a life lived in solidarity with people who are suffering.  Moses surely understood this truth, for, when God called him to leave his life as a shepherd and return to Egypt to liberate his people, he initially employed every excuse that came to mind in an attempt to get out of his calling.⁹

The author of Hebrews writes, "By faith [Moses] kept the Passover and the sprinkling of blood, in order that the destroyer could not touch [the Hebrew people's] firstborn children."¹⁰  In the Book of Exodus, we read that, when Moses initially confronted Pharaoh, Pharaoh responded by making the lives of the Hebrew slaves even more difficult.¹¹  God then sent a series of plagues against the stubborn Pharaoh and his people, of which the last resulted in the death of the firstborn child of every household in Egypt.  Moses gave his people special instructions from God that would cause their households to be "passed over" on the night of the final plague.  Finally, Pharaoh, having lost his firstborn child, orders Moses to take his people and leave Egypt.¹²

The author of Hebrews writes, "By faith [the Hebrew people] crossed the Red Sea as if they were on dry land, but when the Egyptians tried it, they were drowned."¹³  In the Book of Exodus, we read that, as the Hebrew people were leaving Egypt, Pharaoh changed his mind about allowing them to leave.  He mobilized his army and pursued them so that they were pinned against the Red Sea.  At God's command, Moses held out his staff over the sea, and the water miraculously parted so that the Hebrew people could cross on dry land.  When the Egyptians tried to follow them, they were drowned in the sea.¹⁴

I'm not sure we really know what we're saying when we say that we want to know God's will for our lives.  Following God's call can be an adventure, but it can also be very difficult.  Moses had to leave behind a relatively safe and easy life as a shepherd to accept God's call to lead his people out of slavery and through the wilderness.  Countless other people have had to make similar choices.  To live a life of faith, as Moses did, we have to trust that following God's call is worth the difficulties it brings.

Living a life of faith might not meet all of our expectations.  Moses led his people out of slavery and through the wilderness, but he was not able to lead them into the land promised to them.  He did have the privilege of ascending a mountain and viewing the land from a distance before he died.¹⁵  The author of Hebrews writes, regarding heroes of faith like Moses, "All these people died in faith without receiving the promises, but they saw the promises from a distance and welcomed them."¹⁶

Each of us has but one life to live, so let's make our lives count.


Notes:

1. Hebrews 11
2. Hebrews 11:23 (CEB)
3. Exodus 1:1-2:10
4. Hebrews 11:24-26 (CEB)
5. Exodus 2:11-22
6. Hebrews 11:27 (CEB)
7. Exodus 3:1-6
8. Exodus 3:7, 10 (CEB)
9. Exodus 3:11-4:17
10. Hebrews 11:28 (CEB)
11. Exodus 5:1-21
12. Exodus 7:14-12:32
13. Hebrews 11:29 (CEB)
14. Exodus 14:5-29
15. Deuteronomy 34:1-7
16. Hebrews 11:13a (CEB)

Moses Before the Burning Bush was painted by Domenico Fetti in the early 1600s.