"Moses and Abraham hold the most prominent places in the roll of faith; and the central event of both their lives, as Hebrews presents them, is a journey."367
11:23 Faith confronts hostility in a characteristic way that the writer began to emphasize in this verse. We see Amram and Jochebed's faith in God in their placing His will above Pharaoh's command. Moses was no ordinary child among other ways in that His parents saved his life even though Pharaoh had ordered all Jewish male babies killed.368Amram and Jochebed regarded God's will concerning the sanctity of life as more important than obedience to the state when national law required disobeying God's will (cf. Acts 4:19). God honored their faith.
11:24-26 Moses had a true appreciation for the promises of God. This led him to choose the reward associated with Israel's promised Messiah over the temporary material wealth he could have enjoyed had he stayed in Egypt. We should also be willing to suffer temporary disgrace, reproach, and loss as we continue to cast our lot with God's faithful disciples.
"As with Abraham and Moses of old, the decisions we make today will determine the rewards tomorrow. More than this, our decisions should be motivated by the expectation of receiving rewards. . . . The emphasis in the Epistle to the Hebrews is: Don't live for what the world will promise you today! Live for what God has promised you in the future! . . .'"369
11:27 Moses persevered in spite of the king's wrath, and so should we in spite of the wrath we may experience from ungodly opponents. Probably Moses' departure for Midian 40 years before the Exodus is in view here. This seems likely in view of the chronological sequence the writer followed in this passage. The reference to the king's wrath is appropriate because Moses left Egypt then because Pharaoh sought to kill him (Exod. 2:15).
"The emphasis . . . falls not on endurance but on continually seeing, as it were, the unseen God . . . The reference is not to the awesome event at the burning bush . . ., as if to say that Moses saw one who is invisible, but to a fixed habit of spiritual perception. . . .
"From the pastoral perspective of the writer, the firmly entrenched habit of Moses in keeping God continually in view establishes a standard for imitation by the community in its experience of fear and governmental oppression."370
11:28 Furthermore as Moses continued to demonstrate confidence in the blood that God provided, so should we. He avoided and we avoid God's judgment by doing so.
In this verse there is a subtle transition from emphasis on exemplary persons to exemplary events (cf. vv. 29-30, 33-38).
11:29-30 The people of Israel experienced victory over their enemies as they trusted God, and we can, too. At the Red Sea the Israelites willingly went forward at God's word rather than turning back. Trust and obedience resulted in the Israelites' preservation and eventual entrance into their inheritance. The believing community that originally received this homily could identify with a group of people who persevered, not just individuals.
11:31 Even though Rahab was a Gentile sinner (i.e., a secular prostitute), God spared her when he destroyed all those around her. Likewise God will preserve the faithful not because they are personally worthy but because of their faith in Him.
"Although a foreigner to the covenant people, she manifested a faith that was oriented toward the future and that found specific content in the acts of the God of Israel (Josh 2:11). She was prepared to assume present peril for the sake of future preservation (Josh 2:12-16)."371
