MOSES REGARDED THE DISGRACE OF CHRIST GREATER RICHES. Heb 11

There is an inescapable. reproach for the sake of our Lord Jesus. David write3s, ‘Reproach has broken my heart. I am full of heaviness, I looked for someone to take pity, but there was none. They also gave me gall for my food, and for my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.’

( Psalm 69:20,21 ) These words one thousand years beforehand previewed our Lord Jesus’ sufferings as He hung on the cross. Moses had entered into the spirit of His sufferings.

He also estimated the true suffering for Christ, where the word ‘repraoch ‘ means, disgrace, rebuke, shame, scorn or taunt. He had his priorities right. Nor did he demur.

For example, a Pastor in China waa imprisoned for his faithful preaching. For discipline, he was let down into the sewerage pit daily, where he could burst into song. His favourite chorus was ‘I come to the garden alone, while the dew is still on the roses, while the voice I hear, the Son of God discloses’. He was out of earshot of the guards for the sickening stench drove them away. . He was completely alone with the Lord Jesus. Oh, such precious oneness. The Lord blotted out the foul odours. He controls the sensitive olfactory nerves. His reproach was greater riches than all else.

Moses lived in the corrupting affluence of the Egyptian court, enjoying the riches of their University life, so advanced in mathematics ( for they had built the pyramids ,facing due north, south, east and west, as no other architect could claim) . He had polished his language skilla as Heir-presumptive . He was accustomed to riches. He lived in the sensuous court of Pharoah as illustrated in the temptation of Potiphar’s wife to Joseph. He would be tempted in all points.

‘ Do not be afraid of the reproach of men, nor be afraid of their revilings.‘ ( Isaiah 51:7).

In Acts 5:41, ‘ The apostles departed from the presence of the council rejoicing that they were counted worth to suffer ‘shame ‘ for His name.’

‘After you were enlightened, you endured a great struggle with sufferings. Or were made a spectacle by reproaches and tribulations’, Hebrews 10:32,33 ) eg

South Sudan has suffered the martyrdom of several million saints from Muslim forces. One of the startling truths in the bible is ‘ Let us go forth outside the camp, bearing His reproach. ( Hebrews 13:13.) It follows then that ‘Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with His own blood, suffered outside the gate’ of His beloved Jerusalem .(v12) Outside the camp meant that our beloved Lord Jesus ‘came unto His own and His own received Him not’, rejecting Him and so excluding Him from His beloved Jerusalem . The tejection was complete even unto death by crucifixion.

Peter continued with ‘ The Spirit of Christ was indicating when He testified the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow.’ ( 1 Peter 1:11 ).

Peter added, ‘ If you are reproached for the Name of Christ, blessed are you, for the spirit of glory and of God rests on you.’ ( 4:14 ) It is not surprising that the once-blaspheming Peter spoke much of suffering for his Lord.

Moses possessed greater riches than the treasures of Egypt. ( Heb 11;26) The treasures are the ‘thesaurus ‘’ or the collection, treasury, deposit, wealth, of spirit ual vaslues even as literary treasures fill our thesaurus. This was the secret of the Crown Prince of Egypt, possessing greater riches than the Court of Pharoah offered.

Jeremiah understood this in ‘ Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, nor the mighty in his might, nor the rich in his riches, but let him wbo glories glory in this, that he understands and knows Me, That I am the Lord, exercising loving-kindness, judgment, and righteousness in the earth.’ ( 9:23,24 )

Paul puts it in an interesting way, ‘ As sorrowful, yet always rejoicing, as poor, yet making many rich, as having nothing, yet possessing all things. ‘ ( 2 Cor 6;10 ) I have been enriched in the modest homes of believers, who have walked closely with our Lord Jesus and have opened to me some of the rich truths in our beloved Lord Jesus. The bible teacher who influenced my wife and me in searching for the treasures in our Lord Jesus was not systematcally taught of men but of God. Each morning he spent four hours with an open bible before Him, drinking in the deep things of eternity. He marked the truths in copperplate writing in numerous colours. He recalled chapter and verse with ease. He had nothing, but possessed all things.

Paul toaches this in Ephesians 1:18, saying ‘ the eyes of your understanding being enlightened, that you may know what is the hope of his calling, what are the riches of His inheritance in the saints.’ So our dear Lord has riches invested in us, His saints. How much does His life in you magnify His inheritance and add to His riches? Sobering!

Moses knew the hidden riches in obeying his Lord, even as Paul expressed it in ‘ To me, less than the least of all saints , this grace was given, that I should preach among the Gentiles, the unsearchable riches of Christ. ( Eph 3: 8).

The Revelation of John has this amazing truth, ‘Buy of Me gold refined in the fire that you may be rich’ ( 3:18 ) Our God wants to give lasting riches to His children.

Boaz comforted Ruth, his future bride, saying ‘ The Lord repay your work, and a full reward be given to you by the Lord God of Israel, under whose wings you have come for refuge. ( Ruth 2;12 ) God honours His word and grants overflowing compensation.

In the Sermon on the Mount our Lord said, ‘ Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you and say all kinds of evil falsely against you for My sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for so persecuted the prophets who were before you.’ ( Matthew 5:11,12 ) Jesus showed that this divine principle applies in every generation.

‘You shall be reoaid, for you shall be recompensed at the resurrection of the just’. ( Luke 14:14 ) The justice of God demands that the resurrection of the saints will show the deep rewards of our God.

Hebrews gives a firm reminder ‘not to cast away your confidence, which has great reward. You have need of endurance, so that after you have done the will of God, you may receive the promise.’ ( 10:35,36 ) Moses hung on to the gracious promises of his God. Hence we should too.

There is a strong word in the 11 th chapter, ‘But without faith, it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a Rewarder of them who diligently seek Him, ( 11:6 )

‘I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that shall be revealed. In Him‘ (Rom 8:18)

Present suffering in the believer must be seen in the light of future blessing and glory. What do you see? We are reminded to ‘Look unto Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of our faith, \Who for the joy that was set before Him, endured the ctoss, despising the shame and is set down at the right hand of God.

Please write to Harrold if this study has blessed you.. hgsteward@cobweb.com.au