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STUDY Hebrews 11:23-26 (click here for notes)
COLLEEN MOORE TINKER

By faith Moses' parents hid him for three months after he was born, because they saw he was no ordinary child, and they were not afraid of the king's edict.

By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be known as the son of Pharaoh's daughter. He chose to be mistreated along with the people of God rather than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a short time. 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. (NIV)

Saved from Death

1. Who were Moses' parents? (see Exodus 2:1,2; 6:20; Numbers 26:58-59)

2. What circumstances led to Moses' parents hiding him for three months? (see Exodus 1)

3. When Pharaoh didn't succeed in killing the Hebrew boy babies, what edict did he pass? (see Exodus 1:22)

4. In light of the edict mentioned above, how was Moses' parents' method of hiding Baby Moses both ironic and clever? (see Exodus 2:1-10)

5. Who thwarted Pharaoh's attempts to kill the Hebrew babies, underscoring his powerlessness to destroy God's people? (see Exodus 1:17, 19; 2:3-4, 7-9)

6. What event parallel to the midwives' refusal to kill the Hebrew boy babies happened in the early church, and what makes these two events similar? (see Exodus 1:15-21; Acts 5:25-29)

Flight to Midian

According to William Barclay, Jewish legend states that Pharaoh's daughter presented Moses to her father, and he promised to make Moses his heir. Moses grew up heir to the throne and, according to the legend, became one of Egypt's greatest generals, conquering Ethiopia when that country threatened Egypt, and ultimately marrying an Ethiopian princess.

7. How old was Moses when he had his fateful encounter with an Egyptian abusing a Hebrew? (see Exodus 2:11-15; Acts 7:23-29)

8. The Hebrew word for "judge" also meant "deliverer" and was a synonym for "ruler". When Moses killed the Egyptian and subsequently tried to reason with two fighting Hebrews, how was their reaction prophetic? (see Exodus 2:11-14; Acts 7:27-29)

9. Moses fled Egypt and spent 40 years in the desert of Midian (named after one of Abraham's younger sons) near Mt. Sinai where he married Zipporah, daughter of Jethro, "the priest of Midian" (Ex. 3:1), and where he lived as "an alien in a foreign land." (Ex. 2:22) How was the Hebrew's 40-year-old prophecy fulfilled? (see Acts 7:30-36; Exodus 3:1-12)

10. Years later in the desert the Israelites again questioned Moses' authority. How did God settle the question? (see Numbers 16:1-38)

Suffering for Christ

When Moses left Egypt and settled in Midian, the Pharaoh was intending to kill him after Moses slew the Egyptian. Hebrews 11:26 says, "He regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt"

11. What did Moses know of Christ? (see Exodus 2:24; 3:5-6)

12. How did Moses suffer disgrace for the sake of Christ in the early part of his career following his departure from Egypt? (see Exodus 2:15; 3:1; 6:8-12; 10:28-29)

13. Since Moses's knowledge of the Messianic hope was limited at first, what loyalty did he exercise that demonstrated his faith in God? (v. 25)

A Symbolic Life

14. Of what was Moses' deliverance as a baby symbolic? (see Exodus 2:1-10; 12:22-27, 29-32; Genesis 6:14)

15. How was Moses' early life as an Egyptian significant? (see Hosea 11:1; Matthew 2:13-15)

16. Moses spent 40 years in the desert before leading Israel. Who else spent time in the desert before beginning their ministries? (see Matthew 3:1-2; 4:1-14; Galatians 1:15-18)

17. Hebrews 13:13 calls us to go to Jesus "outside the camp, bearing the disgrace he bore." How did Moses also bear disgrace outside the camp?

18. List the ways Moses in his early years foreshadows Jesus.

Application

19. Out of what comfortable place is Jesus calling you?

20. How have you suffered disgrace for the sake of Christ?

21. What disgrace for the sake of Christ are you avoiding?

22. What desert wandering have you experienced as you've responded to Jesus?

Commitment

23. What is God calling you to leave behind for his sake?

24. What identity is Jesus asking you to give up in order for him to be your new identity?

25. Of what is Jesus' love convicting you?

26. Ask God to show you how he wants you to follow him. Give Jesus your fear and your failures, and ask him to reveal to you how to trust him. Allow the Holy Spirit to soften and open your heart, and let yourself feel the pain and anxiety from which you've been hiding. Let the love of Jesus fill you and give you meaning and peace.