Moses made an amazing decison based upon gentleness of wisdom.

EPH 1:8a: From which grace he [God the Father] has caused to superabound toward us [super-grace believers]

 

EPH 1:8 which He lavished upon us. In all wisdom and insight

 

EPH 1:9 He made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His kind intention which He purposed in Him

 

Wisdom must also be applied towards your relationship with God.

 

James 3:13 Who among you is wise and understanding [skilled knowledge] ? Let him show by his good behavior his deeds in the gentleness of wisdom.

 

/ “gentleness of wisdom” - prauteti sofias[prauteti sophias]. Prauteti - the temper of spirit in which we accept God’s dealings with us as good and therefore without disputing or resisting. \

   

From Vine's Expository Dictionary of Biblical Words:

 

‎/ [Prauteti] is an inwrought grace of the soul; and the exercises of it are first and chiefly towards God. It is that temper of spirit in which we accept His dealings with us as good, and therefore without disputing or resisting; it is closely linked with the word humility, and follows directly upon it. (Vine’s Expository Dictionary) \

 

/Gentleness of wisdom refers to application of doctrine towards God. It is humility before God rather than striving with God.\

 

/Gentleness of wisdom is an application of doctrine to the timing of God and the decrees of God, not desiring anything else besides what God desires for you. \

 

Example: Paul’s trip to Jerusalem: lack of wisdom.

 

God’s highest and best doesn’t line up with the arrogant believer’s highest and best. It’s not that God doesn’t want to give you the desires of your heart, He does, but there are some things that can be enjoyed in peacetime that cannot be enjoyed in wartime.

 

And this is a very important part of the wisdom of God that has been given to this dispensation. We are at wartime. This war is called the angelic conflict.

 

Turn to HEB 11:24. In order to understand this passage we have to look at its historical background.

 

Israelwas 430 years in the land of Egypt — Exodus 12:40,41. The Jews entered the land in BC 1871. Moses was born in BC 1520. The Exodus occurred in BC 1441.

           

 

 

2. The Hyksos dynasty were Semitic invaders of Egypt. They were friendly to Joseph. They were the ones who brought in horses and chariots, they brought in the battle bow so that eventually the Egyptian infantry became archer infantry. Joseph came to power in the Hyksos dynasty.

           

3. The expulsion of the Hyksos dynasty gave rise to the most famous dynasty of Egyptian rulers, the 18th. The first man to come into importance was Amenhotep I. He was followed by his son-in-law, Thutmose I. “Mose” or Moses is an Egyptian name. The Moses of the Bible does not have a Jewish name. Moses means “Mac” in Egyptian, like MacDuff — son of Duff. The illustration is Thutmose I, which means son of Thoth. Moses means “son of”; Thoth was one of the gods of Egypt. Thutmose I had a legitimate daughter [Hatshepsut] and an illegitimate son. Thutmose II. He wanted his son to get on the throne so he married him off to his daughter, Hatshepsut, but he died very shortly thereafter. But they had a daughter. After Thutmose II died Hatshepsut had an adopted son, Moses. She also had a legitimate daughter by Thutmose II called Neferure who was one of the most beautiful women of her day. She and Moses were very much in love, and Hatshepsut had made Moses the crown prince and was to be the next Pharaoh of Egypt after she died. By the time he was forty they were going to make sure by marriage to Neferure so there would never be any opposition. This was the basis for Moses at age forty making a decision. He walked away from her, and by this time Moses had established himself as the greatest man in Egyptian history.

           

 

 

4. Moses was born during the reign of Thutmose I. He lived as the adopted son of Queen Hatshepsut. He could have been and was to be the next Pharaoh of Egypt. Hatshepsut had picked Moses to be her successor.

 

Amenhotep I founded the dynasty. (Amenhotep II will be the Pharaoh of the Exodus) He lived 1546 — 1525 BC. Egypt was one of the greatest centres of learning from Amenhotep I to Cleopatra.

           

Hapshetsit’s regency. Thutmose lasted until 1504 BC, his rule was from 1508-1504 before he was poisoned. Hapchetsit’s regency was from BC 1505-1482 during which she proved that some women are very capable rulers. She brought great prosperity to the empire. One reason was that she picked great administrators. She was holding the regency for Moses. She intended for him to marry her daughter Neferure. During the childhood of Moses she had a famous Prime Minister, an administrative genius.

           

Thutmose III, 1482-1450 BC, the greatest Pharaoh in Egyptian history. He was 5 feet four inches tall, whereas Moses was very tall. He was brilliant but feisty. Cambridge Ancient History, vol. 2, part 1, page 319:

           

“Incontestably he was the greatest Pharaoh ever to occupy the throne of Egypt. His vigorous exploitation of the resources of the empire, his very considerable augmentation of national wealth in Egypt, his efficient organization of the internal administration of the country, his vast program of building, his notable advances of Egyptian art-culture achievement; this we must agree is one of the great insight and many-sided diverse abilities of this talented Napoleonic little man who appears to have excelled not only as a general, a statesman, an administrator, but also as the greatest horseman of his day.” The successor of Thutmose III was his son Amenhotep II by his second wife.

           

Amenhotep II was the Pharaoh of the Exodus. He was famous for his physical strength, his military ability. He was successful in four great military campaigns against Syria, he established a great frontier in the Sudan. His eldest son died at the Passover and he was succeeded by his younger son, Thutmose IV. This is the Pharaoh who had a famous dream that is recorded on an immense slab of red granite on the Sphinx of Giza. He dreamed while he was a young man that his older brother would die and that he would become the Pharaoh. This dream was fulfilled by the slaying of the firstborn in the tenth plague of Exodus 11 and 12.

           

Two points of introduction. The first deals with the first year in the life of Moses, the second deals with the 39 silent years in the life of Moses.

           

We have already seen that in the first year of his life he was hidden by his parents for three months — Hebrews 11:23; Exodus 2:1,2. Then we see how that Moses was put in a basket and drifted off into the Nile — Exodus 2:3-10.

           

Acts 7:21 summarises this first year of his life by saying, “And after he had been put out to die, Pharaoh’s daughter adopted him and reared him as her own son.” This verse also gives us, in effect, 39 silent years.

           

So we have a second point of introduction brought up: the 39 silent years. Moses was roughly one year old when he was delivered back to Hatshepsut, and she adopted him. Very shortly he would be named the crown prince, the next Pharaoh of Egypt.

           

The 39 silent years

           

1. These are the years between Hebrews 11:23 and 24. In the Exodus account these are the same years between Exodus 2:10 and 11.

           

2. One verse, and one verse only, describes those 39 silent years: Acts 7:22. Acts 7:21 implies the 39 silent years; Acts 7:22 describes them. Literally from the Greek: “And Moses was educated in all of the learning of the Egyptians, and he was a dynamic man in words and in deeds.”

           

3. Moses was reared in the highest echelon of Egyptian society. He lived in the palace of the regent queen, Hatshepsut, as her adopted son.

           

4. He was brought up in the palace and was educated in the famous Egyptian colleges and universities.

           

5. Moses was a genius in many of the fields that he studied.

           

6. Moses was handsome, very strong, and very gregarious. He was an accomplished public speaker and a great military leader. It was Moses who delivered the Egyptian empire from the Ethiopian menace.

           

7. Moses was also a great architect and contractor. He was loved by what must have been one of the most beautiful women in the world at that time, Neferure, the daughter of Hatshepsut.

           

8. Hatshepsut herself is a very attractive woman.

           

9. Moses was a man of great physical strength and athletic accomplishment.

           

10. By the time he was 40 years old Moses was the greatest man in Egypt, and Egypt was the greatest empire in the world. The genius of Moses overshadowed his palace rival, Thutmose III who himself was a genius and who, when Moses made his decision, would be the greatest king in Egyptian history.

           

11. Hatshepsut, however, was holding the throne for Moses, and her regency was highly successful.

           

12. But Moses makes a decision, reported in verses 24-26 of Hebrews chapter 11. He made a decision when he was forty years old, a decision which causes him to reject the throne of Egypt, a decision that was made on maximum doctrine resident in the soul.

           

13. The decision of Moses to turn down the throne made it possible for Thutmose III to immediately ascend the throne. It was a decision that cost him the love of Neferure who had to marry Thutmose III

 

HEB 11:24 By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter;

 

HEB 11:25 choosing rather to endure ill-treatment with the people of God, than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin;

 

HEB 11:26 considering the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt; for he was looking to the reward.

 

HEB 11:27 By faith he left Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king; for he endured, as seeing Him who is unseen.

 

/“By faith he left”. This is coming down now to this great decision, a decision whereby Moses lost everything in life related to happiness and blessing and prosperity, whereby he turned his back on everything in order to do what God had for him, and became one of the greatest men in all of human history.\

“By means of doctrine resident in the soul he left or forsook” — the aorist active indicative of kataleipw.

 

/Kataleipw[kataleipo] deals with the principle of two sides to a decision - what you’re leaving and what you’re going to. \

 

The concept here is to give up or abandon. We have already seen what he is moving toward and we will see it again. But this is the negative side, he gave up everything that was fantastic. To leave behind, to give up, to abandon, is the meaning of kataleipw.

 

The aorist tense is a constative aorist, it gathers into one entirety the function of doctrine in the soul of Moses whereby every phase of this decision he was able to handle by resident doctrine in the soul.

 

The constative aorist gathers up into one entirety everything that Moses faced in this decision. This is a further explanation of the decision of Moses made in verse 24. This does not refer to the failure of Moses — Exodus 2:11-15; but the greatness of Moses — Hebrews 11:24.

 

HEB 11:27 By faith he left Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king; for he endured, as seeing Him who is unseen.

 

/ “seeing that which is invisible” - the invisible assets of the plan of God. This is application of wisdom.\

 

/And though everything your heart desires will be provided by God after the war (Angelic conflict) is completed right now the booty or certain fruits of victory cannot be given. \

 

For instance, you cannot be given a resurrection body. You cannot be entered into the environment of no more tears or pain. You cannot be in the environment of no more suffering or testing or adversity.

 

This wisdom gives humility to the believer who patiently waits on the timing of God and only desires what God desires to give him at this moment. This is the direct antithesis to the thinking of Satan.

 

Notice this context in the next verse.

 

James 3:14 But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your heart, do not be arrogant and so lie against the truth.

 

James 3:15 This wisdom [bitter jealousy, selfish ambition, arrogance] is not that which comes down from above, but is earthly, natural, demonic.

 

James 3:16 For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there is disorder and every evil thing.

 

James 3:17 But the wisdom from above is first pure [holy or uncontaminated with human viewpoint], then peaceable [produces fellowship with God], gentle [no inner war of the soul], reasonable [not implacable but teachable], full of mercy [grace orientation] and good fruits [divine good production], unwavering [without uncertainty], without hypocrisy [freedom from being a phony].

 

So from James 3:17 we get a list of benefits that come from wisdom. In the war of the AC this is God’s highest and best.

 

/God’s wisdom is:

a. uncontaminated by human viewpoint.

b. produces fellowship with God which brings peace to the soul.

c. stops the inner war of the soul. The war is outside.

d. cancels your implacability and makes you teachable. \

 

/e. gives grace orientation.

f. produces divine good.

g. makes you certain about life.

h. frees you from being a phony. I am what I am by the grace of God.  \

 

However, there is a warning to the believer who accumulates wisdom. He will excel in all areas of the soul in comparison to 99.9% of the world, but since he still possesses an OSN there is a warning.

 

/Ezek 28:12

"You had the seal of perfection,

Full of wisdom and perfect in beauty.\

 

/Ezek 28:17

"Your heart was lifted up because of your beauty;

You corrupted your wisdom by reason of your splendor.\

 

Look again at:

 

James 3:14 But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your heart, do not be arrogant and so lie against the truth.

 

James 3:15 This wisdom [bitter jealousy, selfish ambition, arrogance] is not that which comes down from above, but is earthly, natural, demonic.

 

James 3:16 For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there is disorder and every evil thing.