By faith he left Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king; for he endured, as seeing Him who is unseen.
Hebrews 11:27 (NASB)
Refresher
The details of the exodus of Israel from Egypt are found here in Exodus 12:33-41. Israel were ill-treated slaves of the Egyptians. God knew and cared so He called Moses to lead them out of Egypt back to the land he promised to Abraham and his descendents. (Genesis 12:7). Moses received the call 40 years after he fled to Midian for fear of his life. God met him and called him to return to lead His people, to which Moses reluctantly agreed.
Which leaving?
Moses left Egypt two times – once to flee to Midian when he was age 40 and had killed an Egyptian and then 40 years later, after he returned to Egypt, when he led Israel to the promised land. To which is this referring? Maybe to both? Commentators are about evenly split. John Piper, goes with Midian as does one of my go-to’s, Jamieson Fausset Brown. The emphasis for this line of thinking is that it fits chronologically with the next verse (Heb 11:28) talking about the Passover. But more (according to Piper), the idea that Moses left Egypt in his mind, by faith, before he left in action. My others go-to’s like Barnes and Clarke go with the 2nd leaving. Those in this camp see it refers to the mass exodus of Israel. Moses didn’t fear the Pharaoh’s wrath but looked ahead to the promised land.
The point
Not that I want to “cop out” on this debate, I’d prefer to focus on the point. What Moses did, he did by faith. Remembering that “faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” (Heb 11:1), we see that Moses looked past his present circumstances (Egypt and Pharaoh’s wrath) to the unseen (the promised land / Promised Land). Then he acted on that faith by leaving and enduring.
Call to Action
Are we, like Moses, looking past our present circumstances to the unseen? As we study, memorize, meditate on and apply His word and grow in our knowledge of Him, we will be better equipped to respond to our present with faith in Him and His promises. Look past the present.
