We often say that the believer’s life is a life of faith.  But one of the remarkable things that the eleventh chapter of Hebrews teaches us is how thoroughly that is true.  From God’s perspective, each decision and every action of a believer is either “by faith” and therefore pleasing to God, or it is by the flesh and therefore displeasing to God.  We are told in this chapter of a watershed decision in the life of Moses which he made according to faith:

“By faith Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter” (v. 24).

In this we have an example of faith in full blossom, refusing to be satisfied with natural things.

                Note the force of the verb refused.  Scripture does not record that he “chose” or “decided” not to be identified as Pharaoh’s stepson.  Rather, he “refused.”  That word has iron and guts in it, resistance to temptation, determination to do right.  Anyone who thinks he can live a successful Christian life by compromise, skirting the issues, or ducking the hard things does not understand what Moses is teaching here.  Imagine for a moment some of the forms that temptation to identify with Egypt and Pharaoh might have taken in the life of Moses.

                External Pressure.  Can you imagine the hurt, betrayal, and anger that Pharaoh’s daughter must have felt following Moses’ renunciation?  She might have pressured him with reminders of his duties and obligations to her.  Had she not after all preserved him from certain death, perhaps at great initial risk to herself for opposing her father’s decree?  Had she not paid Moses’ own mother handsomely for nursing her son?  Had she not given him the best education the world had to offer, lavished on him the wealth and privileges that only the favored grandson of a Pharaoh might experience, and, having initially preserved his life, kept him from a life of slavery with the rest of his people?  And if that were not pressure enough, think of the pressure—even fear—of knowing that to oppose Pharaoh meant probable death.  After all, Pharaoh had had all the Israelite male infants killed on little more than a whim.

                Internal Obligation.  As powerful as external pressure is, many resist that only to fall prey to a self-imposed sense of obligation.  Moses was keenly aware of the debt he owed his adoptive mother.  As an ethical man, the sense of thankfulness for her kindness and generosity must have been overwhelming.  But Moses did not yield to a false sense of duty or obligation.  He realized that the power behind the kindness presented in the form of Pharaoh’s daughter was the sovereign authority of God.  And his first allegiance must be to Him.  Where Divine purposes and human actions converged, he might faithfully show gratitude to both God and man.  But when those purposes diverged, then Moses would be faithful to God.

                Presumption.  Another danger faced by Moses at this critical juncture was that of presumption.  Had not God overseen natural events?  Had He not been instrumental in placing Moses in the arms of Pharaoh’s daughter and at the heart of Pharaoh’s court?  Would it not make sense to, as the saying goes, bloom in the place where he was planted?  In view of the needs of his people, wasn’t the physical reality of his existence in Pharaoh’s household the clearest evidence that God wanted him to stay there?  Did not circumstances clearly indicate what God’s will was, namely to use his power and influence in the court for the sake of God’s people?

                Rationalization.  From presumption, it is just a small step to rationalization.  The power of those thoughts must have been nearly irresistible.  “God put me here.  It’s the perfect place to exercise power and authority.  If I stay and keep Pharaoh’s ear here in court, I will be able to influence him on behalf of my people.  And, who knows, I may eventually become a Pharaoh myself and could easily deliver my people.  It is miraculous that I am here in the first place and inconceivable that I could find a better position from which to help my people.”  Such would be the rationalization of ordinary men. 

                But Moses was no ordinary man.  And so, “by faith” (a term in Scripture always denoting a right response to the Word of God, however revealed), “Moses refused (“rejected”) the temptations of power and privilege, renouncing his place as Pharaoh’s stepson and taking his place alongside his enslaved brethren.  Along with Moses, we will find that many of our greatest tests involve refusing what seems good, excellent, or nearly perfect.  But faith believes God and faithful believers choose His will rather than their own.