Problem: This passage says Moses fled Egypt because he was afraid of Pharaoh’s wrath – quite a natural and obvious reaction. Hebrews, referring either to this flight or the Exodus, says he did it out of faith and looking forward to God’s promises, and out of spite to Pharaoh and not fear. But all Hebrews means is that Moses acted courageously – hence the contrast between faith and fear: motivation versus reaction. It’s like describing a soldier charging at the enemy fearlessly: he will certainly be afraid, but the fact that he’s still doing it is the point.
Solution: We can be sure any human being would’ve been afraid during any of those tumultous and life-threatening situations. Hebrews is being figurative and interpretive – Moses was certainly physically afraid, but not afraid enough. And the point was that Moses struck the Egyptian and preferred to defy the Pharaoh, knowing how vicious he or his predecessor dealt with his people not too long ago. For example, it’s clear that Moses did not do this specifically to enjoy Christ’s approval, as he didn’t know of him (Heb. 11:26), but that’s a pesher/midrash of what it boils down to (similarly Galatians 4 on the plurality of “seed”).
