July 11, 2025 | Be God's Family
Moses, the Deliverer of Israel
Scripture: Hebrews 11:28-29(NIV)
28 By faith he kept the Passover and the application of blood, so that the destroyer of the firstborn would not touch the firstborn of Israel.
29 By faith the people passed through the Red Sea as on dry land; but when the Egyptians tried to do so, they were drowned.
Devotional
The book of Hebrews Chapter 11 contains meaningful information about living a life of faith. Today’s scripture, verses 28-29, have only two sentences with a total of 49 words. These 49 words provide two key stories about the strong faith of Moses and the Israelites that is written in the Old Testament. As you reflect on these stories, think about the obedience and trust that was required by Moses and the Israelites to believe and to follow God’s commands.
In Hebrews 11:28, Moses’ strong faith in God was evident when he told the Israelites to put the blood of a lamb on their doorposts to save their firstborn sons in Egypt. Moses had trusted God that the Passover would happen. The Israelites had faith in Moses’ and in God’s words. They saved the lives of their firstborn sons by putting the blood of a lamb on their doorposts. This verse is a metaphor about trusting in the blood of the Passover Lamb; Jesus was the ultimate Passover Lamb for all of us.
In Hebrews 11:29, Moses’ strong faith in God was evident when he listened to God’s command and led the Israelites out of Egypt. The beautiful story of the Israelites crossing the Red Sea to leave Egypt as commanded by Moses is told in Exodus 14:21-31. God commanded Moses to stretch “out his hand over the sea, and all that night the Lord drove the sea back with a strong east wind and turned it into dry land. The waters were divided, and the Israelites went through the sea on dry ground, with a wall of water on their right and on their left” (Exodus 14:21-22). At the end of the night, “the Lord looked down from the pillar of fire and cloud at the Egyptian army and threw it into confusion” (Exodus 14:24). When the Egyptians tried to cross the Red Sea, the water flowed back into the sea and they drowned.
Faith is the focus of some of our beloved hymns, including “My Faith Looks Up to Thee.”
“My faith looks up to thee, thou Lamb of Calvary, Savior divine!
Now hear me while I pray, take all my guilt away,
O let me from this day be wholly thine!”
(Words by Ray Palmer, 1875; Music by Lowell Mason, 1831)
Take a few moments to pray for continued strengthening of your faith in God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit.
Poem
Trusting God's View
Psalm 105
The Lord made his people very fruitful; he made them too numerous for their foes, whose hearts he turned to hate his people, to conspire against his servants. He sent Moses his servant, and Aaron, whom he had chosen. They performed his signs among them, his wonders in the land of Ham. He sent darkness and made the land dark—for had they not rebelled against his words? He turned their waters into blood, causing their fish to die. Their land teemed with frogs, which went up into the bedrooms of their rulers. He spoke, and there came swarms of flies, and gnats throughout their country. He turned their rain into hail, with lightning throughout their land; he struck down their vines and fig trees and shattered the trees of their country. He spoke, and the locusts came, grasshoppers without number: they ate up every green thing in their land, ate up the produce of their soil. Then he struck down all the firstborn in their land, the firstfruits of all their manhood. He brought out Israel, laden with silver and gold, and from among their tribes no one faltered. Egypt was glad when they left, because dread of Israel had fallen on them.
Psalm 105:24-38
God sits above earth’s timeline
Each moment in His view
The past is like the present
The future His purview
A century—A moment
A twinkling of an eye
A thousand ages in His sight
Is like a breath, a sigh
No matter when we plod along
This earth we call our home
It is “Today,” it is “I AM”
All is before God shown
And so, dear gentle pilgrim
Fret not, only obey
For God is working all for good
E’en when all seems delayed
In faith, we like our forebear’rs
Must wait upon our God
Full trusting in His mighty works
Creating all for good
