Identity

Tim Chester on Exodus 1-2:

Left to themselves, the Israelites might well have integrated with the Egyptians, have been absorbed, and have disappeared from history. But their ethnically-defined persecution meant their identity was maintained and clarified. Again, left to themselves, the Israelites might well have settled down to life as a marginalised people in Egypt. Even with their sufferings, it was hard to get them to leave and they quickly wanted to return (see, for instance, Exodus 16: 3). One of the ways in which God works good from suffering is that he uses it to make us cling to him in faith, to clarify our identity as his children and to increase our longing for the new creation.

Hebrews 11: 24-27: 

“By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be known as the son of Pharaoh’s daughter. He chose to be ill-treated along with the people of God rather than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. He regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt, because he was looking ahead to his reward. By faith he left Egypt, not fearing the king’s anger; he persevered because he saw him who is invisible.”

We face the same choice as Moses. Every Christian is in the same situation. After our conversion, the land of our birth and our upbringing becomes a foreign land to us. Now we are pilgrims heading for the promised land, the home that is kept for us in heaven. 

We have to choose. Which home will set our priorities? Which home will shape our behaviour? Which home will define our standard of living? Will we choose the “pleasures of sin” and “the treasures of Egypt”? Or will we choose “to be ill-treated along with the people of God”? Will we choose “disgrace for the sake of Christ”? There is the stark choice: will you live for pleasure and treasure, or will you live in disgrace? 

Moses chose the disgrace. Why? Because he “was looking ahead to his reward …By faith he left Egypt, not fearing the king’s anger.”. Notice again how his faith meant he did not fear the king—just like the Hebrew midwives. 

How do we live in the face of hostility? By looking to the home that God has promised. And by fearing God rather than men.