The Faith of Moses

Hebrews 11:23-28

Key Verses 11:24-25

(Read Exodus 1-2; 12, and Acts 7:20-35 for background)

1. Read verse 23. What does "the king's edict" refer to? What is an "edict"? Why might it not have been easy for the Hebrew parents of Moses' day to go against the edict? Yet, his parents were able to hide the boy "by faith." How does faith make a difference for this kind of action? What practical applications can we learn from Moses' parents?

2. Notice the relationship between what Moses' parents did in verse 23 and what "the people" did in verse 29. What does this indicate about the significance of what Moses’ parents did? What lessons can we learn from Moses' parents?

3. Read verse 24. How did Moses come to be known as "the son of Pharaoh's daughter"? (Exodus 2:5,10) What would it have been like for Moses to grow up as the son of Pharaoh's daughter? (Acts 7:22) In what respect might it have not been easy for Moses to refuse to be known as the son of Pharaoh's daughter? Yet, how was Moses able to do so? 

4. Read verse 25. Describe the two choices Moses had. Can you think of any modern day parallels comparable with the two choices Moses had? 

5. Read verses 25-26 again. This passage describes why Moses made the choice he did.  In what respect is "the disgrace for the sake of Christ" of greater value than "the treasures of Egypt"? How was Moses able to see the difference (in value) of the two choices he had? What can we learn about the way to make a good judgment on the values (of the choices coming our way)? 

6. Read verse 27 and think about the two verbs: "left" [Egypt] and "persevered". In order to do these (leaving and persevering) what do you think Moses had to overcome? How was he able to leave and persevere to the end? What can we learn from Moses' example?

7. Read verse 28. The events concerning the Passover and the sprinkling of the blood are recorded in Exodus 12. Why was "faith" necessary for Moses to keep the Passover and the sprinkling of blood? What spiritual applications can we learn from Moses' example? (Hebrews 10:22; 1Co 5:7; Col 3:1-10)