Hebrews 11:27

‘By faith he left behind/set to one side Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king, for he endured, as seeing him who is invisible.'

Whereas previously the emphasis has been on the choice he had to make, the emphasis here is on the outstanding courage which resulted from his faith.

‘He left behind/set to one side Egypt.' This may refer to the Exodus, with Hebrews 11:28 then being seen as the first stage in this final forsaking of Egypt. (In looking at the issue we might perhaps note here that chronological exactness must not be seen as ruling the passage, as we have seen with the mention of Sarah, for the judges are later listed in an order which was deliberately not chronological. Chronology is maintained overall but not in the detail). This would then make it the next stage after refusing to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, and therefore rejecting his princedom and his loyalty to Pharaoh, followed by his receiving ill-treatment with the people of God.

But it may rather have in mind his whole behaviour and attitude towards Egypt. He had the courage (by faith) to turn his back on Egypt's jurisdiction, setting it to one side, and to choose God's way, and thus face up to Pharaoh, the great and mighty king of Egypt in God's name. In the course of it he rejected the privilege of Egyptian princedom, despite the anger that that would entail and the future conflict it would necessarily incur, so as to follow the invisible God. It is the natural follow up to refusing to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter.

We may therefore see the writer as including in the idea his interest in his fellow-countrymen, his decisive action in slaying the Egyptian taskmaster resulting in his fleeing the land, his return, and his follow-up actions against Pharaoh in the bringing of the Plagues when with the backing of the invisible God he continually outfaced him, all seen as the result of his ‘setting Egypt to one side' and trusting the One Who is invisible. This also adds greatly to the significance of the fact that ‘he endured'. We might put it, ‘he turned his back on all that Egypt was with its might and power and set it to one side, entering into continual conflict with it, and enduring through it all because of his faith in the invisible God'.

There is a strong claim for this latter view in that nothing was more an evidence of his faith than his prolonged battle against Pharaoh for the release of God's people in which he persevered and constantly outfaced Pharaoh because he knew that he was backed by the invisible God.

Some have referred it solely to his fleeing from Egypt to Midian, but that seems less likely unless seen as being a decisive moment as part of the whole. Firstly because that might be seen as already covered in his refusal to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, being the first result of his doing so, secondly because the fleeing in itself was not a supreme act of faith but one of necessary discretion, it was in truth an ignominious flight and it certainly revealed fear of the king, (although the act of faith might be seen as having sided with his countrymen and having slain the Egyptian taskmaster), and thirdly because it seems unlikely that that would be seen as an outstanding act of faith, when compared with the whole of his brave return and his courageous battle with Pharaoh through the Plagues.

It might, however, be accepted if it is seen as symbolic of Moses' whole rejection of Egypt, that ‘by faith he forsook Egypt with all that followed'. The point is surely that by faith he became so courageous that he chose to turn his back on his upbringing and privileged position, an act of open rebellion against Pharaoh and Egypt, and chose rather from that moment on to follow the invisible God.

Whichever way we see it the point is that Moses had to choose between God and Pharaoh, between the very visible lord of Egypt with all his visible splendour and glory, and the invisible God of Israel, and was unafraid. And the reason that he was not afraid of the wrath of the king of Egypt, the most powerful man in his world, was because his eyes were fixed on the invisible God, and on all that He had promised, and through faith he therefore rather feared Him, and endured for His sake. So should all who truly believe be ready to endure for what they know to be true through His word.

Note how this fulfils the fact that faith is to ‘believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek after Him' (Hebrews 11:6).

The thought of ‘seeing Him Who is invisible' was of especial importance in as far as the people to whom he was writing were concerned, for they were in danger of turning from the One Who is now in Heaven, far superior but invisible, to the very visible things on earth, the temple, the priesthood and the sacrifices, all soon to disappear, although they did not know it.