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T he N ew T estament biography of M oses is found in the Epistle to the Hebrews. There you have a thumbnail sketch of one of the greatest men of all time. It begins, as every biography should, with the family background on a note of PARENTAL COURAGE: “ By faith Moses, when he was born, was hid three months of his parents because they saw he was a proper child; and they were not afraid of the king’s commandment” (Heb. 11:23). Not fearing the king’s commandment paid off for we read in verse 27 that when Moses grew up he feared not the wrath of the king. Like parents, like children! Egypt is a type of this world and its Pharaoh is the Devil, the prince of darkness. Any godly parent who tries to bring up children in this world-order today knows what it is to buck the edicts of Pharaoh in style, popularity, earthly success. How to rear children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord nowadays calls for all the wisdom the dedicated parents of any teen-ager can pray down from heaven. It takes a double-dose of Christian courage not to fear “ the commandments of the King.” Just as with Moses, the devil is out to destroy every promising child today. It takes faith to commit one’s child to God in an ark of bulrushes by the river’s brink as it wefe, but when a godly mother and Almighty God are in partnership old Pharaoh doesn’t have a chance. Amidst all the handwringing over juve nile delinquency we forget that too many church-mem ber parents would rather have their children succeed and be popular in Egypt than have them “bound for the Promised Land.” But family background is not enough, for ancestry is often like potatoes, the best part is under the ground. A boy must make his own decision so Moses came to A PERSONAL CHOICE (Heb. 11:24-27). It was a
double choice, both negative and positive. It was nega tive in that he refused to be called the son of Phar aoh’s daughter, he turned down the pleasures of sin for a season, renounced the treasures of Egypt and for sook Egypt itself. It was positive in that he chose to suffer affliction with the people of God and he esteemed the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt. Consider what a choice this young man made. He was the only free Hebrew o f his time. His prospects were brilliant. Wealth, ease, refinement, pleasure, pres tige, power were at his fingertips. Josephus says that Moses was in line for the throne of Egypt, one of the most powerful kingdoms of history, one of the greatest civilizations of all time. All o f this the adopted son of Pharaoh’s daughter could have had. Yet he chose to cast his lot with a nation of slaves. He risked his life for a host of ignorant bondmen living in exile, a weak, vacil lating multitude of undisciplined servants, easily dis couraged, often rebellious, quick to fall into the sinful ways of the heathen. They vexed Moses until he lost his patience, spoke unadvisedly with his lips and missed getting into the Promised Land himself. Nine out of ten would call him a fool for making such a choice but he was right. HE WAS RIGHT IN HIS REFUSAL. A man must say “No” to some things if he is to live for God. Nehemiah wrote, “ So did NOT I because of the fear of God.” A righteous man walks NOT in the counsel of the ungodly, he stands NOT in the way of sinners, he sits NOT in the seat of the scornful. Even Dr. Norman Vincent Peale, exponent of positive thinking, has writ ten lately about “ The Power Of The Positive ‘No’ ” . I f we are to travel the way of the cross we must “ say goodbye to the way of the world, to walk in it never-
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THE KING 'S BUSINESS
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