Seeing Him Who is Invisible • Deshen Daily

By faith, he forsook Egypt, not fearing the king’s wrath: for he endured, as seeing him who is invisible.” (Hebrews 11:27, KJV)

After forsaking Egypt, Moses spent 40 years in Midian, resolute in his divine purpose. Hebrews 11:27 illustrates that Moses could leave Egypt and persevere as if he had seen the invisible God. This emphasizes the transformative power of vision: it enables us to be and to do. This devotional delves into the meaning of Moses’ experience of “seeing” the invisible God and how we can similarly perceive Him today.

Though Moses had many encounters with God, such as seeing the burning bush (Exodus 2:1) or speaking with God “face-to-face”, the point of this verse is not to describe Moses’s experience of seeing God. Many Bible commentaries also overlook this fact and attempt to identify which divine encounter is referred to here (the burning bush or others). However, the key to understanding this verse lies in the little word “as.” Moses left Egypt and persevered as if or as though he was seeing the unseen God.

The NET translation gives us further insight into this “for he persevered as though he could see the one who is invisible.” (Hebrews 11:27, NET)

The essence of the author’s message is this: Moses forsook Egypt and endured in Midian as someone who sees God who is invisible. In other words, if we keep our eyes on the unseen God, we are empowered to perform remarkable feats for God. Imagine going through a difficult time now but seeing God physically by you. How would that affect you? If you see God, you climb any mountain and go through any Valley(Psalms 23:4).

Nonetheless, you don’t have to wait for a burning bush or a burning Sinai experience to see the invisible God. By faith, we understand and know and therefore see Him who is invisible(Hebrews 11:3). And when you see Him, you will triumph over any situation.