WWUTT 1868 By Faith He Left Egypt (Hebrews 11:27-29)

By faith, Moses left Egypt. By faith, he kept the

Passover. By faith, he led Israel through the Red Sea. And there's an example for us to follow when we understand the text.

This is When We Understand The Text, a daily Bible study in the Word of Christ. For He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.

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Thank you, Becky. We're back to our study in Hebrews chapter 11. I'm going to read once again this section that has to do with Moses, and we'll finish up this section today.

So this is Hebrews 11, verses 24 through 29, as we are walking through the

Hall of Faith and considering the life of Moses. Hear the word of the Lord. By faith,

Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, choosing rather to be mistreated with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin.

Regarding the reproach of Christ, greater riches than the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking to the reward.

By faith, he left Egypt, not fearing the rage of the king, for he endured as seeing him who is unseen.

By faith, he kept the Passover and the sprinkling of the blood, so that he who destroyed the firstborn would not touch them.

By faith, they passed through the Red Sea, as though they were passing through dry land, and the Egyptians, when they attempted it, were drowned.

So we considered on Monday the faith of Moses' parents.

That was back in verse 23. By faith, Moses, when he was born, was hidden for three months by his parents, because they saw he was a beautiful child, and they were not afraid of the king's edict.

So we had Moses' parents considered examples for us to follow. By faith in Jesus.

Verse 24. By faith, Moses, when he had grown up, of course

I would do that. By faith, when he had grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, choosing rather to be mistreated with the people of God than enjoy the passing pleasures of sin.

And we considered that yesterday. So here today, as we kind of finish up the life of Moses, we have verses 27 through 29, and we have three more examples here of Moses and even the children of Israel enduring by faith.

So in verse 27, by faith he left Egypt. Verse 28, by faith he kept the

Passover. And then verse 29, by faith they, talking about Moses and the rest of Israel, passed through the

Red Sea. So here's three things that they continued in, that they did or obeyed

God by faith. So, verse 27, by faith he left Egypt, not fearing the rage of the king.

Now this is kind of like Moses' parents, right? Because what we read in verse 23 is that they preserved the life of Moses, not fearing the king's edict.

And now Moses, following in the way of his parents, did not fear the rage of the king.

By faith he left Egypt because he loved God and he feared the Lord. You know, the judgment of God surely would have come upon Moses and Aaron and the rest of Israel had they disobeyed and not left

Egypt. Of course, we do see the judgment of God come upon Israel a little bit later on when they grumbled against God in the wilderness and he afflicted them with pestilence and with vipers and with the ground opening up beneath them and swallowing them up.

You know, there's all different kinds of things that the Israelites were afflicted with because they disobeyed

God. So, who would the Israelites be more afraid of? Would they have a reverent fear of God or would they fear the judgment and wrath of Pharaoh?

And so, yeah, we'll just stay here as your slaves because we don't want you to harm us. Consider what

Moses and Aaron said to Pharaoh in Exodus 5. Moses and Aaron came and said to Pharaoh, Thus says

Yahweh, the God of Israel, Let my people go that they may celebrate a feast to me in the wilderness.

But Pharaoh said, Who is Yahweh that I should listen to his voice to let

Israel go? I do not know Yahweh and also I will not let

Israel go. And Moses and Aaron replied, The God of the Hebrews has met with us.

Please let us go a three days journey into the wilderness that we may sacrifice to Yahweh our

God, lest he confront us with pestilence or with the sword. See, isn't that kind of interesting, the way that Moses and Aaron said this to Pharaoh?

If we do not be obedient to God, he's going to afflict us. But of course, Pharaoh is not obedient to God.

So God afflicts Pharaoh and the rest of Egypt. Verse 4,

But the king of Egypt said to them, Moses and Aaron, Why do you draw the people away from their work? Get back to your hard labors.

And then he afflicted the people with even harder labor. So who were the people going to fear?

Were they going to fear Pharaoh and this labor that he afflicts us with? Or were they going to fear God and the plagues that he could surely bring upon them if they did not obey?

Those things that they would witness God do to the Egyptians. And God said to the Israelites, Remember these signs and wonders that you have seen.

Tell your children about them so that they would know the Lord their God and fear him and love him and serve him.

And so Moses, fearing God, not fearing the rage of the king, but he feared the

Lord, reverent fear, loving God with all his heart, soul, mind and strength. He left

Egypt for Moses endured as seeing him who is unseen.

And this goes back to something we've read previously in Hebrews 11. It's in verse 6,

Without faith, it is impossible to please him. For he who draws near to God must believe that he is and that he is a rewarder of those who seek him.

And so here in two verses, we've read that very thing. Moses believed that God is and that he rewards those who seek him.

Consider again verse 26, He regarded the reproach of Christ greater than the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking to the reward.

And verse 27, By faith he left Egypt, not fearing the rage of the king, for he endured as seeing him who is unseen.

By faith, he believed God, him who is unseen, trusted

God, and he received the reward. Now, Moses did not see the promised land.

He saw it from afar, but he would not get to enter into the promised land because Moses himself had disobeyed

God. So he had to die in the wilderness along with the rest of the Israelites.

That generation of Israelites that came out of Egypt and for 40 years wandered in the wilderness until they died, and it was their children that would inherit the promised land along with Joshua and Caleb.

Moses would not be one that would get to enter the promised land because he disobeyed God. But remember what we read previously here in chapter 11.

It was in verse 13. All these died in faith without receiving the promises, but having seen them and having welcomed them from a distance and having confessed that they were strangers and exiles on the earth.

For those who say such things make it clear that they are seeking a country of their own. And indeed, if they had been remembering that country from which they went out, they would have had opportunity to return.

But now they aspire to a better country. That is a heavenly one. Therefore, God is not ashamed to be called their

God, for he prepared a city for them. And that's what

Moses considered even, though he was not going to get to enter into the promised land.

He was shown it from afar and still was able to enter into the better country.

That is the heavenly one. He was looking to the reward. Now the reward, of course, for Israel was the promised land, but Moses was looking to a reward even greater.

That reward being Christ himself. My friends, that is the greatest reward that we could be given, the greatest treasure that God could bless us with, his very son, his own son.

So let us not ever scoff at that gift, at that treasure, as though there's something better or greater than this, as though the world has something better for us than Christ.

Let us not go after the fleeting pleasures of sin, but we hold fast to that great treasure that has been given to us,

Christ, loving him so much, we're willing to give up everything the world has to offer us, so that we may gain

Christ. Moses considered this. By faith he left

Egypt, not fearing the rage of the king. We should not fear the rage of anybody in this world.

Don't ever compromise on your faith or the message of the gospel, because you know the hatred that this world is going to respond with.

Don't be surprised when they respond to you with hatred. Don't fear the rage of the world, just as Moses did not fear the rage of the king.

Moses endured, seeing him who is unseen, and so we likewise must put our faith and trust in him who is unseen.

Now, that's our first example, by faith he left Egypt. Second example in the passage today, by faith he kept the

Passover and the sprinkling of the blood, so that he who destroyed the firstborn would not touch them.

Now, we read about the Passover in Exodus 12. It's in chapter 11 when

God promises one last plague, and that's going to be the death of the firstborn in all of Egypt.

He instructs Israel on the Passover lamb, and we have all of those instructions in Exodus 12.

That's a little bit longer chapter. That chapter is over 50 verses long, so I'm not going to read that whole thing, but to just summarize, we've had nine plagues in Egypt.

There's going to be one more, the death of the firstborn, and in order to protect themselves from the wrath of God that is going to come upon Egypt, striking down the firstborn in the land, even among the animals, by the way, in order to save themselves from this judgment that is coming,

God gives them instructions on the Passover lamb, and they are to take a lamb, according to their father's households, a lamb for each household, and there were very specific requirements that lamb had to meet.

It had to be male. It had to be without blemish, a year old. You may take it from the sheep or from the goats,

God said, and you shall keep it until the 14th day of the same month, and the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall slaughter it at twilight.

All of these very specific instructions on the animal that was to be chosen and how it was to be prepared, because, of course, as we've read here in Hebrews, all of this is pointing to the greater lamb who is

Christ. Jesus is our Passover lamb. Jesus, the

Passover lamb, has been sacrificed, as Paul says in 1 Corinthians 5.

So Jesus is the fulfillment of even all of this that we're reading about here at Passover.

What was the meal that Jesus enjoyed with his disciples before he was arrested and taken and crucified?

The night before his death, they were eating Passover. The Passover lamb was slaughtered.

They ate the Passover lamb, and then it was after the meal that Jesus breaks bread and, of course, reinstituted

Passover into the Lord's table, which we continue to practice in church even to this day.

The breaking of the bread, the drinking of the cup, which is the cup of the new covenant in Christ's blood for the forgiveness of sins.

And so all of this pointing to Christ, who would ultimately be our

Passover lamb. The Lord is going to pass through Egypt. He's going to strike down the firstborn, only those who have the blood of the lamb over their doorpost, over the top of the doorpost, on the sides of the doorpost.

The Lord would not afflict that house. He would not strike down the firstborn in that house, the firstborn sons in particular.

He would pass over and go to the next house. And we read in Exodus that on this night, when the

Lord passes through Egypt, there was the death of the firstborn. Exodus 12, 29.

Now it happened at midnight that Yahweh struck all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sat on his throne to the firstborn of the captive who was in the dungeon and all the firstborn of cattle.

Then Pharaoh arose in the night, he and all his servants and all the Egyptians, and there was a great cry in Egypt, for there was no home where there was not someone dead.

Then he called for Moses and Aaron at night and said, Rise up, get out from among my people, both you and the sons of Israel, and go, serve

Yahweh as you have spoken. Take both your flocks and your herds as you have spoken, and go and bless me also.

The fear of the Lord came upon Pharaoh that night. Now, of course, it wouldn't last because Pharaoh would later change his mind and he would pursue the

Israelites, and that's what's coming up in the next verse. But just consider the faithfulness of the children of Israel to keep the

Passover. They did what God told them to do according to Moses' instructions.

Verse 28, By faith he kept, Moses kept the Passover, the sprinkling of the blood, so that he who destroyed the firstborn would not touch them.

And all of the children of Israel were saved that night by the blood of the Lamb. And my friends, we likewise are saved by the blood of the

Lamb. If you are in Christ, His blood is upon you, God's wrath passes over you, and you are saved.

You will not perish in judgment, but you inherit eternal life, keeping our eye on the reward, looking to the reward, just like Moses did.

So we must do in faith. So our three examples today, so far,

By faith he left Egypt, by faith he kept the Passover, and now verse 29, By faith they,

Moses and the rest of Israel, passed through the Red Sea as though they were passing through dry land.

And the Egyptians, when they attempted it, were drowned because they did not have faith.

They did not fear God. And once again, the judgment of God was upon the Egyptians.

We read about the Israelites crossing the Red Sea, crossing through the Red Sea, in Exodus chapter 14.

The Israelites are being pursued by the Egyptians. Pharaoh, having changed his mind, he's going to gather up the

Israelites once again and enslave them. So he sends his chariots in pursuit of them.

They get to the Red Sea, and the people grumble already because they realize, Hey, we're trapped.

We can't get through this water. We're undone. You brought us out to the wilderness just to be slain.

But then verse 15, Yahweh said to Moses, Why are you crying out to me? Speak to the sons of Israel so that they go forward.

As for you, raise up your staff and stretch out your hand over the sea and split it. And the sons of Israel shall go through the midst of the sea on dry land.

As for me, behold, I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians with strength so that they will go in after them.

And I will be glorified through Pharaoh and all his army through his chariots and his horsemen.

Then the Egyptians will know that I am Yahweh when I am glorified through Pharaoh through his chariots and his horsemen.

God will be glorified even by the death and the destruction of these wicked

Egyptians. Verse 19, Then the angel of God who had been going before the camp of Israel moved and went behind them.

And the pillar of cloud moved from before them and stood behind them. So it came between the camp of Egypt and the camp of Israel, and there was the cloud along with the darkness, yet it gave light at night.

Thus, the one did not come near the other all night. Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and Yahweh swept the sea back by a strong east wind all night and made the sea into dry ground.

So the waters were split, and it's very clear, very descriptive as to what this picture would have looked like in verse 22.

So the sons of Israel went through the midst of the sea on the dry land, and the waters were a wall to them on their right hand and on their left.

Then the Egyptians pursued them, and all Pharaoh's horses, his chariots, and his horsemen went in after them into the midst of the sea.

Then at the morning watch, Yahweh looked down on the camp of the Egyptians through the pillar of fire and cloud and brought the camp of the

Egyptians into confusion, and he caused their chariot wheels to swerve, and he made them drive with difficulty.

So the Egyptians said, Let us flee from Israel, for Yahweh is fighting for them against the

Egyptians. Then Yahweh said to Moses, Stretch out your hand over the sea so that the waters may come back over the

Egyptians, over their chariots, and over their horsemen. So Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and the sea returned to its normal state at daybreak while the

Egyptians were fleeing right into it. Then Yahweh overthrew the

Egyptians in the midst of the sea. And do you know what Moses and Aaron and their sister

Miriam and all the Israelites did after that? They celebrated. They praised

God because their enemies had been destroyed. By faith they passed through the

Red Sea. They obeyed God. Did the impossible, parting a body of water so that Israel could pass through it.

And by faith they passed through, as though going through dry land, just as it's said in Exodus 14.

And the Egyptians, when they attempted it, they were drowned. And so we have read the story of Moses.

Our example by faith in Hebrews 11 verses 23 through 29.

So that we, by faith, we would leave our Egypt, our slavery, and put our faith and trust in Jesus Christ, who rescues us, redeems us from slavery, never to return to those chains again.

Enslavement to our sin and our flesh and our passions. Let us flee from that. Set free in Christ.

By faith we put our trust in Him, our Passover Lamb, He who died for us, whose blood is upon us, so that the judgment of God passes over us and instead we are fellow heirs of His eternal kingdom.

By faith, we pass through death itself into everlasting life that we may live forever with God.

The enemies of God will not succeed. They will try to pass through and they will perish forever in hell.

Only those who are in Christ will live forever with Him in glory. Heavenly Father, thank you for these reminders.

Thank you for the message of the gospel, of Jesus Christ who died as an atoning sacrifice for us, who rose again from the dead, so that all who believe in Him will not perish, but we will have everlasting life, just as Moses put his faith in God, who is unseen.

He obeyed God. He followed God. May we follow that example and keep our eyes on Christ, the author and the perfecter of our faith.

Help us to walk according to the example of Christ, even today. It's in Jesus' name we pray.

Amen. You've been listening to When We Understand the Text with Pastor Gabe Hughes. Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, Gabe will be going through a

New Testament study. Then on Thursday, we look at an Old Testament book. On Friday, we take questions from the listeners and viewers.