²⁵ [Moses] … choosing rather to endure ill-treatment with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin,

One thing it is to identify with a group of people when there is great benefit, but it is another thing to do so when that would mean suffering with them. That’s what Moses did. He becomes the first in our list whose faith is connected with persecution, which leads the author of Hebrews to challenge his readers to, “Remember the prisoners, as though in prison with them, and those who are ill-treated, since you yourselves also are in the body” (Heb 13:3 emphasis added).

To be sure, the previous members of the list at times suffered difficulty; in fact we all do as is the normal course of living in a fallen world. But Moses had a clear choice; he chose the ill-treatment because of his desire to associate with the people of God rather than enjoy the luxury, power and prestige of living the life of a member of Pharaoh’s household.

It all began when he took a risk, by defending a Jewish slave who was being beaten by an Egyptian overlord. In fact, he killed the taskmaster (seemingly on the sly) and hid his body. Later, when he intervened in a dispute between two Jewish slaves, it became evident that the earlier event was now public knowledge. The result was that he fled for his life out of fear of the Egyptians (Exodus 2:11-14).

Why did he take that risk in the first place? Our passage today fills in the answer that is only implied in the original story. It was because of his faith in God. When push came to shove, literally, he sided with his people against the Egyptians. Though he may not have fully thought out his actions ahead of time, and certainly not the consequences, his knee-jerk reaction, which reveals much about a person, was to side with the slaves. They were his real people, not the adopted family of the Pharaoh.

It would not be too much of a stretch to assume that Moses had been kept aware of his Jewish background, if not by his adopted mother, the daughter of Pharaoh, then most probably by his own mother who was also his nurse-maid (Exodus 2:7-10). The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God of Moses’ people Israel was deeply set in his consciousness. So much so that when in the wilderness at the burning bush, that is precisely how God identified Himself to the soon-to-be-deliverer of His people (Exodus 3:6).

Yes, Moses by faith identified with the people whose God was the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob—and he did it at a great price!

Lord, help me to choose loyalty to You and Your people over the world.