Faith as the Foundation
The writer of the Epistle to the Hebrews lays bare the secret of the marvels effected by the heroes of Hebrew story. They range themselves in one great battalion, and with united breath, cry: Why marvel ye at these things? The God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, the God of our fathers, made bare his holy arm and wrought by us.
We make a profound mistake in attributing to these men extraordinary qualities of courage, and strength of body or soul. To do so is to miss the whole point of the reiterated teaching of Scripture. They were not different from ordinary men, except in their faith.
There was one characteristic common to them all, which lifted them above ordinary men — that they had a marvellous faculty of faith; which, indeed, is but the capacity of the human heart for God. Four times over this is cited as the secret of all that Moses did for his people.
Michelangelo's Moses — San Pietro in Vincoli, Rome
What Made Moses Great
And what is this faith? It is not some inherent power or quality in certain men, by virtue of which they are able to accomplish special results unrealized by others. It is rather the power of putting self aside that God may work unhindered through the nature.
There are, therefore, these necessary conditions of all true faith:
It will be our contention throughout our study of the remarkable life before us, that, though Moses may have had commanding features of mind and body, and have been versed in all the learning of his time; yet the marvellous outcome of his life-work was not due to any of these qualities, but to the faith which knit his soul to God.
His faith made Moses all he was. For it is our eager desire to learn exactly how such a faith as his was produced. Why should we not have it? God's methods are never out of date. And if only we possessed his faith, why should we not see another Exodus? — seas seamed with paths of salvation; foes defied; chains snapped; captives emancipated.
Moses statue — Library of Congress, Washington D.C.
Moses & the Modern World
Each of the conditions of a mighty faith was fulfilled in the history of Moses. He was allowed to make his first efforts for the emancipation of his people in the energy of his own strength, and to fail egregiously; so that he fled away to Midian, abandoning all hope of delivering them.
He was reduced to the last extreme of helpless nothingness when the burning bush flamed in his path, a symbol of utter weakness, possessed and indwelt yet unconsumed by God, who is a consuming fire.
We hope to go further, and show that all the blessings which God in his mindfulness of his covenant bestowed on Israel, came to that rebellious and stiff-necked people through the channel of Moses' faith.
F.B. Meyer — Moses: The Servant of God