The Faith Of Parents Who Chose To Give Up Their Child

 

By Faith They Gave Up

By faith Moses, when he was born, was hidden for three months by his parents, because they saw he was no ordinary child; and they were not afraid of the king's edict.” (Hebrews 11:23)

Your Cross Roads

Today you may be at a cross roads, and any decision you make just doesn't seem to be self evident.  Things look impossible, and you see no way to proceed.  You simply cannot see a good outcome anywhere, but then there is God.  See what Moses parents did, as they chose to give up their child, Moses.

The Faith of Amram and Jochebed

The faith of Moses' parents did not begin when a tiny basket was placed among the reeds of the Nile River. It began months earlier when they chose faith over fear. Pharaoh's decree was clear. Every Hebrew baby boy was to be killed; yet the book of Hebrews tells us that "by faith Moses was hidden for three months by his parents." Amram and Jochebed refused to surrender their son to death. Though Pharaoh wielded the power of a king, and he could have killed them for their disobedience to his decree, they trusted the power of God.

Two Reasons

The writer of Hebrews gives two reasons for their courageous actions. First, "they saw he was no ordinary child." They recognized that God's hand was upon his life. Though they could not fully understand God's purpose, they believed Moses had been given by God for a reason. Faith enabled them to see beyond the circumstances and trust that God was working according to His plan.

Second, they were not afraid of the king's edict. Faith does not mean the absence of danger. It means trusting God in the presence of danger. Pharaoh's command threatened their son's life, but their faith proved greater than their fear. They feared God more than they feared the most powerful ruler on earth.

Their Plans

For three months they protected Moses. Everyday required courage. Every cry from the child brought the risk of discovery. Yet they continued to trust God. Then the day came when Moses could no longer be hidden. The child, they had hidden by faith, would now have to be surrendered by faith. Jochebed carefully prepared a basket and placed her son among the reeds of the Nile River. She had done everything a mother could do. She could not direct the current. She could not foresee the outcome. She could not guarantee his safety. She could not accompany him on the journey ahead. She could do the most important thing, and she did.  She entrusted him to the God. 

Faith That Lets Go And Lets God Be In Control

This is one of the profound lessons of this faith chapter in Hebrews 11. Faith is not only the courage to hold on. Faith is also the courage to let go. Moses' parents demonstrated both. They protected their son when they could, and when they could do no more, they placed him entirely into God's hands. God honored their faith in a remarkable way. Pharaoh's daughter discovered the child and spared his life. Then, through God's providence, Moses' own mother was called upon to nurse and care for the son she had surrendered. The child entrusted to God was returned to her care. During those precious years, she was able to teach him about the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and the promises God had made to His people. What initially seemed like the loss of one child became the beginning of God's plan to deliver an entire nation.

Moses Made A Divinely Revealed Point

As indicated, Moses parents could have not ever dreamed of all that God was doing.  Something greater than the Exodus was going to be proclaimed through the adult Moses, and through this proclamation, something they could have never expected what God was going to accomplish through Moses: Moses himself pointed beyond his own life to a greater Deliverer. Moses would declare:

“The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own people; you shall listen to him.” (Deuteronomy 18:15)

That promise was fulfilled in Jesus Christ, God's Messiah and Son.

There is a beautiful parallel between these two stories. By faith, Moses' parents gave up their son and entrusted him to God, and this saved the nation of Israel.  In love, God the Father gave up His own Son for the salvation of the world. Yes, indeed, Moses was placed upon the waters to preserve his life and eventually deliver Israel from Egyptian bondage. Jesus was given to die on the Cross, shed His blood, and sacrifice His body, and rise again from the dead, so that all who turn from their sin, surrender their lives to Him, believe in Him, receive Him as Savior and Lord, would be delivered from the Hell, Death and The Grave, from bondage to sin and death, and from the Kingdom of Darkness. Hallelujah! The basket floating on the Nile was part of God's hidden plan of redemption. Beneath the surface of that story lay the shadow of an even greater deliverance that would one day be accomplished through the Cross of Christ. A lot of marvelous things happen when we trust God. And they are things we could never imagine.

The Call

The faith of Moses' parents therefore calls us to entrust what is most precious to God. The gospel calls us to place our faith in Jesus Christ, whom God gave for us and raised from the dead. Just as Moses' parents trusted God when they could not see the outcome, we are called to trust God's promises fulfilled in His Son, that we might live eternally and share in God's life everyday, by grace, until we move into our Heavenly Home.  And this is a home that is not made by mere human hands, but its builder and maker is The Son of God, and The Son of Man. By faith they, Jochebed and Amram, hid Moses. By faith they gave him up. By faith God gave him back. And by faith we entrust ourselves to the greater Deliverer, Jesus Christ, to whom Moses ultimately pointed. Then we can have life that comes straight from Heaven, no matter what our circumstances.

Whatever You Are Facing

Whatever you are facing today, let it go and place it in God's hands.  Yes, do all you can, but when you have gone past doing all you can, let it go, and let God be the one in whom you place your faith.  Do it for God's deliverance from evil.  Do it to live by the saving grace of God that comes through faith in Jesus.  Do it to allow you to give you life to the full, and do it to become strong in the Lord and in His mighty power.  You will be glad you did!

Dear Lord,

Give us faith that cooperates with You to do all we can.  Give us faith to give up when there is nothing we can do.  Give us faith to let go and let You oversee us, and everything You have brought us to. Then,  give us faith, through grace, to surrender, as You lead us through our challenges, temptations and trials of life.  Give us faith the will empower us to keep on keeping on, as we decide to follow Jesus.

Lord, when we demonstrate this kind of faith, for all the world to see, we cannot even begin to imagine all You have planned in The plan, but we can benefit, and we can live for Your glory, and see Your mighty hand, our God, in action.  Lord help us, today, to let go, and Let Jesus, not only be our Savior, which is a glorious thing, but grace us to make Him our Lord and King, through every trial, test, trauma, temptation, tribulation and challenge. 

In Jesus name I pray.  

AMEN1

SoJourner