4-1-2 Moses and "the Reproach of Christ"

At age 40, Moses came to a crisis. He had a choice between the riches of Egypt, the pleasures of sin for a season, and choosing rather to suffer affliction with God's people and thereby fellowship the reproach of Christ (Heb. 11:24-26). He probably had the chance to become the next Pharaoh, as the son of Pharaoh's daughter; but he consciously refused this, as a pure act of the will, as an expression of faith in the future recompense of the Kingdom. There are a number of  passages which invite us to follow Moses' example in this. We will see below that Paul was motivated in his rejection of worldly advantage by Moses'  inspiration. And as in all things, he is our example, that we might follow Christ, who also turned down the very real possibility of temporal rulership of the world- for the sake of living the life of the cross, and thereby securing our redemption. 

Even within Hebrews, the description of Moses' rejection of Egypt for the sake of Christ is shown to be our example: " Esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures (i.e. Pharaoh's treasures, which he could have had if he succeeded as Pharaoh) in Egypt...let us go forth therefore unto (Jesus) without the camp, bearing his reproach" (Heb. 11:26; 13:13). We should be even eager to bear 'reproach for the name of Christ' as Moses did (1 Pet. 4:14), knowing it is a surety of our sharing his resurrection.  

For Moses, " the reproach of Christ" was his  having " respect unto the recompense of the reward" . He therefore must have understood in some detail that there would be a future Saviour, who would enable the eternal Kingdom promised to Abraham through his bearing  the reproach of this world. Such was Moses' appreciation of this that it motivated him to reject Egypt. His motivation, therefore, was based upon a fine reflection upon the promises to Abraham and other oblique prophecies of the suffering Messiah contained in the book of Genesis. Moses knew he could have a share in the sufferings of the future saviour and thereby share his reward, because he saw the implication that Messiah would be our representative. Yet those promises are the very things which Christians now say they are bored of hearing every few weeks on a Sunday evening. No wonder we lack Moses' desire to share Christ's reproach, and thereby reject the attractions of this world. The way Moses had " respect unto the recompense of the reward" is our example; for again, even within Hebrews, we are exhorted: " Cast not away therefore your confidence, which hath great recompense of reward" (Heb. 11:26; 10:35). The Greek for " respect" means to look away from all else; indicating how single-mindedly and intensely did Moses look ahead to the Kingdom; the knowledge of which was, in terms of number of words, scant indeed. All he had was the covenants of promise.  

It is worth trying to visualize the scene when Moses was “full forty years old” (Acts 7:23). It would make a fine movie. The Greek phrase could refer to Moses’ birthday, and one is tempted to speculate that it had been arranged that when Moses was 40, he would become Pharaoh. Heb. 11:24 says that he refused and chose- the Greek tense implying a one off choice- to suffer affliction with God’s people. It is tempting to imagine Moses at the ceremony when he should have been declared as Pharaoh, the most powerful man in his world…standing up and saying, to a suddenly hushed audience, voice cracking with shame and stress and yet some sort of proud relief that he was doing the right thing: “I, whom you know in Egyptian as Meses, am Moshe, yes, Moshe the Jew; and I decline to be Pharaoh”. Imagine his foster mother’s pain and anger. And then in the end, the wonderful honour would have been given to another man, who became Pharaoh. Perhaps he or his son was the one to whom Moses was to come, 40 years later. After a nervous breakdown, stuttering, speaking with a thick accent, clearly having forgotten Egyptian… walking through the mansions of glory, along the corridors of power, to meet that man, to whom he had given the throne 40 years earlier. 

" The reproach of Christ"

Paul " counted" the things of this life as loss " for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ" and his sufferings (Phil. 3:8), so that he would gain the resurrection. Moses likewise rejected the world for the same two reasons: the excellency of sharing the reproach of Christ, and secondly from respect unto the recompense of the reward, at the resurrection. He uses the same word translated " esteemed" when we read of how Moses " esteemed" the reproach of Christ as greater riches than the treasures in Egypt (Heb. 11:26). The " reproach" of Christ is the same word used concerning Christ being " reviled" on the cross. Paul felt that the intellectual heights of knowing the mind of our crucified Lord, of being able to enter into the riches than are even now in the mind of Christ (Col. 2:3) more than compensated for his sacrifice of all material things in this life. And Moses was the same; he esteemed the " reproach of Christ" , the knowledge that he was sharing the sufferings of his future saviour and would thereby enter the Kingdom which he would make possible, as far far greater than the possibility of being King of Egypt. He knew that he was sharing the sufferings of Christ, and that therefore he would be rewarded. It was this knowledge which motivated him in rejecting the riches of Egypt. 

And Moses really is our example- as is Paul. It is tempting to think that intellectual appreciation cannot affect our practical lives. But once we start to sense that we really are touching minds with the Lord Jesus, that our sufferings are really making us one with the mind / spirit of Christ in Heaven, then this alone will make our material position in this life utterly meaningless. We will easily reject demanding jobs, larger houses, the security of savings- because of the sheer wonder of our knowledge of Christ and our fellowship with him. For many, this idea will be pushed off as altogether too theoretical, too abstract. And yet for a minority of brethren and sisters, the truth of all this has been realised in practice, year after year. The teaching of these passages, the examples of Paul and Moses, really are there to be copied. They are not just sweet stories to be admired, as pictures, for their beauty in themselves. There is a dynamism within them, an ability to enter and change our lives- if we are willing. Moses really is our example; he went through the pain of rejecting his mother, the shame of the poor intellectual falling in love with the shepherd girl, the agony of divorce from her later, the bitter loneliness of the wilderness years and apparent rejection by God for the sake of those he loved... We tend to ask for the pain to be taken away as soon as we have it, and I suppose it's natural that we should ask the Father for such things. But through much tribulation we enter the Kingdom. 

Moses forsook the possibilities of Egypt not just for " the reproach of Christ" ; he was also motivated by the fact that " he endured (Gk. was vigorous), as seeing him who is invisible" (Heb. 11:27). It was as if he had seen the invisible God, as he later asked to. When the disciples asked to see God, Christ said that the manifestation of His character which they had seen in him was the same thing (Jn. 14:8). Our experience of seeing the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ, with unveiled face like Moses, ought to be a wondrous experience. When Moses asked to physically see God, the Angel proclaimed the characteristics of God before him. So when we read of Moses as it were seeing God at the time he decided to forsake Egypt, this must mean that he so appreciated God's Name and character, he so had faith in the future Kingdom which this great Name and character promise, that he left Egypt. The Lord Jesus fed for strength on the majesty of the Name of Yahweh (Mic. 5:4). Therefore an appreciation of the Name of Yahweh is what will motivate us to forsake the attractions of this temporal world. This does not mean, of course, that simply pronouncing than Name in our prayers and readings is enough. We must develop an appreciation of God's righteousness, so that we read of His demonstration of grace,  of mercy, of truth, of judgement for sin, and love it, revel in it, respect it. As Paul says, if we behold the glory of the Lord as Moses did, we will by that very fact be changed into the same image of that glory (2 Cor. 3:18). Yet such an appreciation needs constant feeding and development. It is tragic, absolutely tragic, that over the next 40 years Moses lost this height of appreciation, until at the burning bush he seems to have almost completely lost his appreciation of the Name. Whatever spiritual heights we may reach is no guarantee that we must inevitably stay there. The history of our community is littered with many fine brethren who fell from such heights of spirituality. 

" (Moses) refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter; having chosen rather (Gk.) to suffer affliction with the people of God" (Heb. 11:24,25) suggests that there was a struggle within the mind of Moses, between the reproach of Christ and the approbation of this world, and he then decisively came down on the right side. If we are truly saints, called out ones after the pattern of Moses, this struggle between present worldly advantage and the hope of the Kingdom must surely be seen in our minds. For this reason Moses is held up so highly as our example and pattern. He " forsook" Egypt uses the same word translated " leaving" when we read of a man leaving his parents to be joined to a wife, or of the shepherd leaving the 99 sheep to find the lost one.