Day 346, Year 1

Do Not Be Afraid, Only Believe

“By faith Moses, when he was born, was hidden for three months by his parents, because they saw he was a beautiful child; and they were not afraid of the king’s edict.” (Hebrews 11:23 NASB)

Moses’ parents disobeyed the Pharaoh’s edict of killing all the Israeli baby boys, but hid him for three months due to their faith in God. It is because they saw that the baby was beautiful. The Greek word “beautiful” is asteios, which also means “lovely, elegant, or of the city.” It is likely that they saw Moses’ life as worthy of respect and felt he was a gift from heaven. Indeed, human life is worthy of respect, and any plan to kill innocent people indiscriminately should be objected to. At that time, the Pharaoh feared that the Israelites would multiply, and thus gave the order to kill male babies. This is disrespectful to God’s created lives.

Why did the author specifically mention Moses’ parents here? I believe this is to highlight the salient point of not being afraid of unrighteous power. The word “afraid” in Greek, phobeo, also means “fear, or to be seized with alarm,” and includes the meaning of acting out of fear. This faith without fear resonates with the words of the Lord Jesus, “Do not be afraid; only believe” (Luke 8:50 NKJV). Indeed, when we have faith in God, including faith in seeing His work, it can make us not afraid of any wicked schemes. Moses’ parents were not afraid of the king’s edict, and this means they were not afraid of death. It is difficult for those who are afraid of death to believe in Jesus for a long time. So, if you are not afraid of your death, you are qualified to give birth to a new generation of faith! This will be discussed in subsequent days. We who have faith in God will obey His Word and gradually will have faith in ourselves, too. God’s faithful people will not be easily afraid of anyone or anything.

In the verses before, many of them speak of faith in seeing the future through obeying God’s words. The faith in this verse is to see God’s there and then work against the Pharaoh’s edict to kill male infants. Faith in God is not only about the future, but also about discerning the current situation and acting boldly in His faith here and now. The scripture mentions that they hid Moses for three months, but why these three months? Because the Book of Exodus shows that it was difficult to hide him as he got older. Thus, the act of faith needs to be accompanied by wise judgments of God. Our faith in God and His guidance of wisdom are complementary and indispensable in all our decision-making.

Reflection questions:

1) Are you afraid of death? If you fear, how can you overcome it by the Lord?

2) Is your faith in God enough to encourage others? If you can’t, what’s the reason, and how can you make up for it with His help?