“By faith Moses, when he became of age, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin, esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt; for he looked to the reward” (Hebrews 11:24–26).
They called it “Republikflucht,” which means “desertion from the republic.” The word described a person who was escaping the Ger- man Democratic Republic (East Germany) to West Germany (or any other Western country) during the Cold War. Before the building of the Berlin Wall in 1961, masses of people defected. After the wall was built, the numbers dropped to a few hundred each year who attempted to flee by crossing the border. Over the years, several hundred were shot and killed in their attempt to flee. About 75,000 others were caught and imprisoned.
One of the most impressive escapes was by Conrad Schumann, an East German border guard who fled during the construction of the wall. An iconic photograph of him leaping over barbed wire was snapped by a West German photographer and became a symbol of the Cold War era. Schumann eventually married and settled in Bavaria. Unfortunately, he struggled with depression and, in 1998, committed suicide.
Moses was considered a defector and traitor. Though he was adopted by Pharaoh’s daughter and destined to be a commanding ruler of Egypt, “he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king; for he endured as seeing Him who is invisible” (Hebrews 11:27). The child of Amram and Jochebed, his initial upbringing in a God-fearing home never left him. At the age of forty he killed a cruel Egyptian taskmaster and had to flee for his life.
Though Moses escaped Egypt and spent 40 years as a shepherd learning the qualities of a true leader, he was not a deserter of his own people. God called him to go back and free an entire nation. He felt unfit for the work yet crossed back over the border, risking his life, to do God’s bidding. Moses became one of the most admirable Bible characters in all of Scripture.
O Lord, I choose to be on Your side of the great war between good and evil. I will forsake all to follow You.
