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,
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.