In Hebrews 11:23 it was “By faith that 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 Pharaoh’s edict” – the edict being that when an Israelite boy child was born he should immediately be thrown into the Nile (Exodus 1:22).
But Amram and Jochebed, Moses’ father and mother (Exodus 6:20), decided that disobedience was totally called for against this monstrous mandate – based on two points: first of all, that they and their children were descendants of Abraham through whom God was continuing to play out his promise to bless all nations, so the genocide of the Israelites was totally against God’s will.
And secondly, at the birth of their second son and younger brother of Aaron, Amram and Jochebed believed that God wanted this boy alive. They could see “he was no ordinary child” (Hebrews 11:23). Jochebed called him “a fine child” in Exodus 2:2, and in Acts 7:20 Stephen described him as “beautiful before God.” In some way, then, they knew that in this little boy, God had a special purpose.
And notably it was his parents’ faith in both these points that removed all fear in what they were doing. Hebrews 11:23 states, “they were not afraid of the Pharaoh’s edict.” That’s amazing, because they were defying the greatest superpower in existence at the time, but it didn’t scare them one bit. If only Adam and Eve had done that when confronted by the devil into disobeying God. But even Abraham was scared of the powers that be (Genesis 20). So was Isaac (Genesis 26). Jacob was scared stiff about meeting with his brother Esau (Genesis 32-33). And Joseph was never called upon to resist under threat of death.
So the first mention in Hebrews of descendants of Abraham being so fearless were these two unnamed people in Hebrews 11. But their purpose, like all the named people of faith in Hebrews 11 was exactly the same, to illustrate some aspect of God’s salvation, the knowledge and experience of which he blesses us with on our faith in him.
And for Amram and Jochebed that blessing was being utterly fearless, just as it was for those in Hebrews 10:32 who “stood their ground when things got really tough” for them too. And why were they so fearless? Because they were “Given the eyes to see” ….(next blog)
