OVERVIEW
Moses' story reads like a Hollywood script. He was born into an ordinary Hebrew family. However, he ended up as the greatest character in the Old Testament. He was a Hebrew slave, but he was raised as an Egyptian prince. He was a shepherd who became a prophet, a priest, a lawgiver, a judge, and a miracle worker. Most importantly, he founded the nation of Israel. When God was looking for someone to deliver his people from Egyptian bondage, he chose Moses.
The Old Testament mentions Moses by name 767 times. However, the New Testament also mentions him 79 times in key passages. He spent the first 40 years of his life in the household of Pharaoh (Acts 7:23). He spent the next 40 years in Midian as a fugitive. He hid from the wrath of Pharaoh after killing an Egyptian who was mistreating a Hebrew. He devoted his last 40 years to leading the Israelites out of slavery in Egypt. He led them toward the land God had promised to Abraham and his descendants (Genesis 12:1-3). Moses died at the age of 120 after leading the Israelites successfully through 40 years of wandering in the wilderness to the very edge of the Promised Land on the east side of the Jordan River (Deuteronomy 34:7).
Moses took a group of mistreated and worn-out slaves and molded them into an entire nation. Israel, God's elect, has since influenced and altered the entire course of history. Is it any wonder Moses stands out as one of the greatest leaders in all of history? When God was looking for someone to accomplish an extraordinary task, he chose an ordinary man like Moses. His story reminds us of God's desire to accomplish his extraordinary plans by using ordinary people in unique circumstances.
BACKGROUND
The meaning of his name is uncertain. It has been explained as a Hebrew word meaning "to draw out" (Exodus 2:10; compare to 2 Samuel 22:17; Psalm 18:16). If, however, it is an Egyptian name given him by the daughter of Pharaoh who found him, it is more likely from an Egyptian word for "son." This word is also found as part of many well-known Egyptian names such as Ahmose, Thutmose, and Ramses. No one else in the Old Testament bears this name.
The Bible is the only source of information for the life of Moses. Archaeology confirms the credibility of the events associated with Moses, but it has never provided any specific confirmation of his existence or work. His story begins with the arrival in Egypt of Jacob, his sons, and their families during a time of famine in Canaan. Invited by Joseph and welcomed by Pharaoh, the family settled down in northeast Egypt in an area known as Goshen, where they remained for 430 years (Exodus 12:40). With the passing of time, their numbers grew rapidly, so that the land was filled with them (1:7). A new king arose over Egypt who did not know Joseph. The biblical account does not give the name of this pharaoh, and there has never been agreement as to his identity. He has most frequently been identified as Thutmose III (1504-1451 BC), Seti I (1304-1290 BC), or Ramses II (1290-1224 BC). Out of fear that their growing numbers might become a threat to the security of his nation, Pharaoh determined to take measures to reduce their number. He put them to work building the store cities of Pithom and Rameses, but the severity of the work did not diminish them.
Pharaoh also tried to enlist the cooperation of the midwives to destroy the Hebrew male babies, but they would not carry out his orders. He then ordered his own people to drown the male infants in the Nile River. Against the background of this first-known Jewish persecution, the baby Moses was born.
THE FIRST FORTY YEARS-IN EGYPT
Birth and Early Life
A man of the family of Levi named Amram married his father's sister Jochebed (Exodus 6:20; compare to 2:1). Their first son, Aaron, three years older than Moses, was born before the command to drown the Hebrew babies was given, as there is no indication that his life was in danger. However, the cruel order was in force when Moses was born. After three months, when his mother could no longer hide him, she took a basket made of bulrushes and daubed it with bitumen and pitch. She put the baby into the basket and placed it among the reeds along the banks of the river. His older sister, Miriam, stayed near the river. She waited to see what would happen.
Soon the daughter of Pharaoh (identified by Josephus, a Jewish historian, as Thermuthis and by others as Hatshepsut, but whose actual identity cannot be determined) came to the river to bathe, as was her custom. She discovered the baby, recognized it as one of the Hebrew children, and determined that she would raise the child as her own. Miriam emerged from her hiding place and offered to secure a Hebrew woman to nurse the child. The princess agreed, and Miriam took the baby to his own mother, who kept him for perhaps two or three more years (compare to 1 Samuel 1:19-24). Nothing is recorded of those formative years. We can only guess whether his mother continued seeing him during his later childhood and young manhood or revealed his true identity to him or taught him the Hebrew faith. Moses was instructed in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, as would befit a member of the royal household, and he became mighty in his words and deeds (Acts 7:22).
Identification with His Own People
Just when Moses became aware that he was a Hebrew rather than Egyptian cannot be known, but it is clear that he knew it by the time he was forty years old. One day he went out to visit his people and to observe their treatment, for the cruel measures taken against them by Pharaoh at the time of Moses' birth had not been lifted. Seeing an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, Moses in great anger killed the Egyptian and buried him. He thought the deed had gone unnoticed until the next day when he encountered two Hebrews fighting with each other. When he tried to act as peacemaker, they both turned on him and accused him of murder: "Who made you a prince and a judge over us? Do you mean to kill me, as you killed the Egyptian?" (Exodus 2:14, RSV). Acts 7:25 adds: "He supposed that his brethren understood that God was giving them deliverance by his hand" ( RSV). He realized he would not be exempt from punishment. Since the deed was known, Moses fled for his life to the land of Midian.
THE SECOND FORTY YEARS-IN MIDIAN
Marriage into the Family of Jethro
Soon after arriving in Midian, Moses sat down by a well, where he observed the seven daughters of the priest of Midian who had come to the well to draw water for their father's flock. Shepherds came and drove them away, but Moses intervened and helped them water their animals. When Jethro (Exodus 3:1; also called Reuel, 2:18; Hobab, Numbers 10:29) learned what had happened, he invited Moses to stay with his family and gave him Zipporah as his wife. (There is some disagreement among scholars regarding the identity of Hobab in 10:29; some think he was Moses' father-in-law, while others maintain that Hobab was Moses' brother-in-law). Two children, Gershom (Exodus 2:22) and Eliezer (18:4), were born to Moses and Zipporah during the years in Midian.
Forty years passed, and Moses' thoughts about his former life in Egypt must have faded into the past. He could not have foreseen that God would soon thrust him back into the midst of the court in Egypt, where he would confront the son of the deceased pharaoh with the demand to release the Hebrew people from the bondage they had endured for so many years. God had not forgotten his people and was now ready to deliver them.
Encounter with God at the Burning Bush
One day, while Moses was taking care of the flocks of his father-in-law, he led them to Mount Horeb (known also as Sinai), where God appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush that burned but was not consumed. Moses approached to observe the strange sight more closely and heard God speak to him out of the bush, "Moses, Moses!" Moses replied, "Here am I." Before he could come any nearer to the bush, God said, "Do not come near; put off your shoes from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground" (Exodus 3:4-5, RSV). He further identified himself as the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He assured Moses that he was aware of the cruel afflictions of his people and had heard their cries. Then he told of his plan to send Moses to Egypt to deliver his people from their bondage.
Faced with a challenge that seemed beyond his capabilities, the aged Moses began making excuses for not accepting the task. God assured Moses that he would be with him (Exodus 3:11-12). He next objected that he would not be able to give an answer if the people asked him the name of the God he represented. In response, God revealed his name in the cryptic statement, " 'I AM THE O NE W HO A LWAYS I S'...Just tell them, 'I A M has sent me to you' " (3:13-14). Many interpretations have been proposed for the name. Whatever else it means, it undoubtedly suggests the self-existence and all-sufficiency of God. Moses then argued that the people would not believe him when he told them that God had sent him to deliver them from Egypt.
In response God gave him three signs: When he cast his shepherd's rod to the ground, it became a serpent. When he put his hand to his chest, it became leprous. He was also told that when he would pour water from the Nile River on the ground, it would become blood (Exodus 4:1-9). Even armed with these powerful evidences of the presence of God, Moses raised still another objection, "O Lord, I'm just not a good speaker. I never have been, and I'm not now, even after you have spoken to me. I'm clumsy with words" (4:10). God told him that he would teach him what to say, but despite such assurance, Moses asked God to send someone else. In anger mingled with compassion, God made Moses' brother, Aaron, the spokesman. However, he said he would still give Moses his instructions.
Return to Egypt
Moses took his wife and sons and set out for Egypt, telling his father-in-law only that he wanted to go back to Egypt to visit his kinsmen there (Exodus 4:18). The biblical account says he put his wife and sons on the same donkey to journey back to Egypt (4:20). The fact that all three rode the same animal indicates that both children were quite young and had not been born in the early years of Moses' marriage. At a lodging place along the way a strange thing happened. The Lord met him and sought to kill him (4:24), apparently because Moses had failed to circumcise the baby before leaving Midian. When Zipporah realized that Moses' life was in danger, she performed the circumcision herself and said to her husband, "What a blood-smeared bridegroom you are to me!" (4:25). Whatever else may have been involved in this unusual encounter with God, it was a solemn reminder that the one who was to be the leader of the covenant people must not himself neglect any part of the covenant (Genesis 17:10-14).
God told Aaron (who was still in Egypt) to go to the mountain where Moses had encountered God at the burning bush and meet his brother there. Moses told Aaron everything that had happened, and together they went to Egypt, gathered the elders together, and informed them of these matters. When Moses and Aaron performed the signs in the presence of the people, they believed God had sent these leaders for their deliverance (Exodus 4:30-31).
THE THIRD FORTY YEARS-FROM EGYPT TO CANAAN
Encounter with Pharaoh
Soon after his return to Egypt, Moses, accompanied by Aaron, went to Pharaoh and repeated the demands of the Lord, "Let my people go, for they must go out into the wilderness to hold a religious festival in my honor" (Exodus 5:1). Pharaoh rejected the demand with the observation that he had never heard of this God of Moses. The Egyptian kings considered themselves to be gods. Moses could not have offended the pharaoh more with his request. Not only did he reject Moses' demands, but also he intensified the burdens of the Hebrews. Their work had up until then required them to make brick using straw provided for them, but now Pharaoh said they would have to gather their own straw and still produce the same number of bricks.
The Hebrews turned in anguish and anger to Moses and blamed him for making them offensive in the sight of Pharaoh. Even Moses could not understand the turn of events and complained bitterly to God. God reassured Moses that he would deliver the Hebrews from their bondage, and moreover, he would bring them into the land he had promised Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He then instructed Moses to return to Pharaoh and repeat the demand to release the Hebrews upon threat of severe reprisal if the demand were ignored.
Ushered again into Pharaoh's presence, Moses repeated his request for release of the Israelites. He attempted to impress Pharaoh by turning his rod into a serpent, but the Egyptian wise men, through their secret arts, were able to duplicate the miracle, so Pharaoh's heart remained hardened and he would not listen to Moses. In rapid succession Moses brought plagues upon the land of Egypt to demonstrate God's power to force the Pharaoh into compliance. These included a plague in which the water of the Nile turned to blood, a plague of frogs, one of gnats, then of flies, a plague on the livestock, boils on the people, plagues of hail, locusts, and complete darkness. During the plagues of the frogs, flies, hail, locusts, and darkness, Pharaoh was distraught and would temporarily relent and agree to Moses' demands, but as soon as the plague was lifted, his heart hardened and he would retract his promise. The outcome of the first nine plagues was terrible devastation of the land of Egypt, but the Israelites were not released. There was yet one more plague in store, the most terrible of all.
First Passover
God told Moses that there remained one more plague in store for the Egyptians: "All the firstborn sons will die in every family in Egypt, from the oldest son of Pharaoh, who sits on the throne, to the oldest son of his lowliest slave. Even the firstborn of the animals will die" (Exodus 11:5). Furthermore, he assured Moses that the plague would not touch a single household of the Hebrews, "Then you will know that the L ORD makes a distinction between the Egyptians and the Israelites" (11:7).
God instructed the people through Moses and Aaron to make their preparations for leaving the land in haste. They were to go to the Egyptians and ask them for their jewels of silver and gold (Exodus 11:2-3), a request to which the Egyptians agreed, perhaps out of fear of the Hebrews and in the belief that the gifts would bring about an end of the terrors that had struck the land. The Hebrews were also instructed to prepare a lamb for each family-small families could share-for the last meal to be eaten in the land of Egypt (a rite that became the pattern for the Jewish observance of the Passover for many centuries). Blood of the lamb was to be put on the doorposts and lintels (door beams) of the houses in which the Passover meal was being eaten that night.
God promised the Hebrews that wherever the blood was on the door, no harm would come to that household. They were also instructed to prepare unleavened bread-a flat cracker bread without yeast. At midnight the death angel of the Lord killed all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh himself to the lowest captive in a dungeon; not a single house of the Egyptians escaped tragedy. When Pharaoh saw what had happened, he ordered Moses and the people to leave the land at once (Exodus 12:31-32). The biblical record says that about 600,000 Hebrew men left Egypt. Together with women and children, the total would have been in excess of two million people. They traveled with their flocks and possessions. The Hebrews also did not forget the request of Joseph to carry his bones with them when they returned to their own land (Genesis 50:25; Exodus 13:19).
Exodus from Egypt
The Exodus is the central event of the Old Testament and marks the birth of Israel as a nation. The Jewish people still look back to that event as the great redemptive act of God in history on behalf of his people, much as Christians look upon the cross as the great redemptive act of their faith.
The exact route the Hebrews took out of Egypt cannot be determined today, though many possibilities have been proposed. They did not take the shortest, most direct route to Canaan (which would have been about a ten days' journey along the Mediterranean coastline), but set out in the direction of Mount Sinai, where Moses had earlier met God at the burning bush. As a sign that Moses had been sent to deliver the people, God told Moses he would bring them to that same spot, where they would worship God (Exodus 3:12). As the people journeyed, a pillar of cloud led them during the day. A pillar of fire pointed the way at night. The cloud represented the presence of God with his people and guided them along the route they should travel.
Back in Egypt, Pharaoh was having second thoughts about letting the Hebrews leave the land and decided to pursue them with his army and bring them back. When the Hebrews saw the approaching cloud of dust and realized that the Egyptian army was pursuing them, they were terrified. The sea lay ahead of them and the Egyptians were behind; there seemed to be no way of escape. The people turned on Moses, blaming him for bringing them out of Egypt. God again assured them that they did not need to be afraid. He promised to fight the battle for them and give them victory (Exodus 14:14).
The Lord parted the water of the Sea of Reeds (traditionally but wrongly referred to as the Red Sea) by a strong east wind and allowed the Israelites to pass through the sea on dry ground to the other side. The Egyptians rushed after the Israelites, following them into the dry bed of the sea. But before they reached the other side, the waters rushed back, destroying the Egyptian army in the midst of the sea and leaving the Israelites safe on the other side. The people celebrated their great deliverance in song (Exodus 15) and then continued their journey. The narrative that follows describes the struggle of the Israelites to survive in the desert-problems of food and water, internal dissension, murmurings against Moses, and battles with enemies. Through all their experiences, Moses towers as the unifying force and great spiritual leader.
In spite of having seen God's great act of deliverance so recently, the faith of the Israelites was not strong. Three days later they came to a place where the water was not fit to drink, and they began complaining against Moses. The Lord showed Moses how to purify the water, and the people's needs were satisfied (Exodus 15:22-25). When they reached the wilderness of Sin, they complained again, this time because of lack of food. God met their need by supplying manna, a breadlike substance that would serve as their food until they came to Canaan (16:1-21). Later, camped at Rephidim, the people complained again, this time for lack of water. Once again God met their needs by supplying water from the rock at Horeb (17:1-7). The Amalekites attacked them while they were still camped at Rephidim, but God gave a great victory to the Israelites (17:8-13).
Moses and the people reached Sinai and camped there. Jethro came to visit, bringing Moses' wife and sons. Zipporah had apparently decided to return with her children to stay with her father rather than to go on to Egypt with Moses. It was a joyful reunion, and Jethro made a burnt offering and sacrifices to God (an act that has evoked the suggestion that Jethro was a true worshiper of God, though nothing is known of his links to the Hebrew faith). When Jethro observed Moses trying to settle all the disputes and problems of the Hebrews unaided, he proposed that Moses delegate responsibility for some of the lesser matters to able men chosen from among the people. Moses accepted the suggestion, and shortly afterward Jethro returned to his own land. He did not remain at Sinai to participate in the ratification of the covenant (Exodus 18:13-27).
Giving the Law at Sinai
God kept his promises to Moses. He delivered the Hebrews from their Egyptian bondage and brought them to the very place where he had commissioned Moses to be their leader. He was now ready to enter into a covenant relationship with Israel. Amid a spectacular and terrifying scene of lightning, thunder, thick clouds, fire, smoke, and earthquake, God descended to the top of Sinai and called Moses to come up the mountain, where he remained forty days to receive the law that would become the basis of the covenant.
At Sinai, God revealed himself as the God who demands exclusive allegiance in all areas of life and, at the same time, as the God who desires personal fellowship with his people. The God who seems far away because of his holiness is the same God Jesus repeatedly encouraged us to address as a Father. Ideally, believers esteem and respect God in worship and devotion, yet they also confidently and lovingly approach him in a personal relationship. Unfortunately, the Israelites did not practice the ideal. Instead, they rejected God altogether and set their sights on a false god.
Apostasy of the People
While Moses tarried on Mount Sinai, the people below became impatient and skeptical about his return, so they went to Aaron and asked him to make idols for them to worship. They contributed the gold earrings they were wearing. "Then Aaron took the gold, melted it down, and molded and tooled it into the shape of a calf. The people exclaimed, 'O Israel, these are the gods who brought you out of Egypt!' " (Exodus 32:4). The next day they joined in the worship of the idol with sacrifices and revelry. God told Moses what was taking place below and angrily declared that he was going to destroy the people but would make a great nation of Moses and his descendants.
Moses immediately interceded on behalf of the people, and calmed God's wrath. Moses descended the mountain, carrying the two tablets of stone on which the law had been written, but when he entered the camp and saw what was taking place, he could not restrain his anger. He threw the stone tablets to the ground, ground the golden calf to powder, mixed it with water, and forced the people to drink it. He turned angrily to Aaron and demanded an explanation. Aaron lamely tried to shift the blame by minimizing his own role: "I threw them [the gold] into the fire-and out came this calf!" (Exodus 32:24). Moses called for volunteers to carry out God's judgment on the people for the great sin they had committed. Men of the tribe of Levi responded and executed about three thousand men. Later they were commended and rewarded (Deuteronomy 33:9-10). Moses again interceded for the people, requesting that he be destroyed with the rest if God could not forgive them. God relented and promised Moses that the angel of the Lord would go with them still (Exodus 32:34).
Moses' willingness to identify with his people, even to the point of innocently sharing their punishment, contributed to his great leadership ability. Instead of abandoning his charge to their own demise, Moses courageously begged God for their forgiveness. Moses identified himself as a leader among equals. He was one of them even while his leadership role placed him above them. Neither their endless complaining nor stubborn disloyalty could convince Moses to rid himself of his leadership responsibility toward them.
Then Moses made a special request that he might be allowed to see the glory of the Lord. God instructed Moses to make two more tablets of stone like the ones he had destroyed and to return to the top of the mountain the next day. There the Lord passed before him and proclaimed his name: "I am the L ORD, I am the L ORD, the merciful and gracious God. I am slow to anger and rich in unfailing love and faithfulness" (Exodus 34:6). Moses remained on the mountain another 40 days, where he received renewed warnings against idolatry and further instructions from the Lord, together with another copy of the Ten Commandments on tablets of stone. When Moses came down from the mountain, he was not aware that the skin of his face shone as a result of talking with God. At first the people were afraid to come near him, but he called them together and repeated all the Lord had said to him on the mountain. Afterward, he covered his face with a veil, which he removed only when he went into the presence of the Lord. Paul said the purpose of the veil was to prevent the people from seeing the heavenly light gradually fade from Moses' face (2 Corinthians 3:13).
The Tabernacle and Priesthood
When Moses went up to the mountain the first time to receive the law from God, he was instructed to collect materials to be used in the construction of the tabernacle or tent. Gold, silver, bronze, blue and purple and scarlet yarn, fine twined linen, goats' hair, tanned rams' skins, goatskins, and acacia wood would be needed, along with oil for the lamps, spices for the anointing oil and for the fragrant incense, onyx stones, and stones for setting (Exodus 25:3-7). The pattern for construction was also given to him, together with the ritual to be used for the consecration of the priests. A man named Bezalel was put in charge of the construction of the tabernacle, assisted by Oholiab (31:1-6). The tabernacle was portable like a tent so that it could be taken down and moved from place to place as the Hebrews continued their journey toward Canaan.
In addition to giving Moses directions for the tabernacle, God also instructed him concerning the sacrifices that were to be brought: the burnt offering, grain offering, peace offering, sin offering, and guilt offering (Leviticus 1-7). Moses was responsible for performing the solemn ceremony for ordaining Aaron and his sons as priests and for inaugurating the worship practices (Leviticus 8-9).
Sometime after this, Nadab and Abihu, two of Aaron's four sons, offered unauthorized fire before the Lord. A fire came out from the Lord and destroyed them. Moses forbade Aaron and his sons Eleazar and Ithamar to express grief because of the sinfulness of the act (Leviticus 10:1-7). The nature of their sin is difficult to determine, but it surely involved a violation of God's holiness. Therefore, it is appropriate that a large part of the remainder of the book of Leviticus gives regulations that stress the holy living that God expected from his people.
From Sinai to Kadesh
A year elapsed from the time the Israelites left Egypt until the census was taken (Numbers 9:1). God reminded the people that it was time to observe the Passover, which they did, and a month later they set out from Sinai and came to the wilderness of Paran. Along the way they complained about the unvarying diet of manna and they longed for the fish, cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions, and garlic they had eaten in Egypt (11:4-6). In anger God sent quail in abundance, but even while the people were devouring the meat, God sent a great plague that killed many Israelites.
Miriam and Aaron now joined in the complaining of the people. They began to speak against the Cushite woman Moses had married (Numbers 12:1-2). It is not certain whether the Cushite was an Ethiopian or whether this was another way of referring to Zipporah. If Moses did marry a second time, no mention is made of it elsewhere in the Old Testament. Moses made no reply to the accusations of his brother and sister. It was not necessary, for God intervened in defense of his servant. Miriam suffered leprosy for her part in speaking against Moses. Aaron saw what had happened to Miriam and soon acknowledged that they both had sinned. Once again, Moses prayed, and Miriam was healed.
While the people were encamped at Kadesh (also called Kadesh-barnea-Numbers 32:8) in the wilderness of Paran, Moses sent twelve men into Canaan, one from each tribe, to spy out the land in preparation for the Israelite entry. After forty days the spies returned and, though they acknowledged that the land was fertile and inviting, ten of them were afraid of the Canaanite inhabitants and advised against going into the land. Only Joshua and @Encyclopedia|Load|[#ca
Who?
Who told Moses to lead the Hebrews out of Egypt? God told Moses to go to the pharaoh and demand that he let God's people go free.
Why?
Why is Moses the greatest character in the Old Testament? Moses faithfully led God's people out of slavery toward the Promised Land.
When?
When did Moses die? Moses died just before the people entered their destination-the Promised Land.
Where?
Where did Moses grow up? Moses grew up in the Pharaoh's household from the time he was two or three.
What?
What happened to Moses as a baby? The Pharaoh ordered all the Hebrew baby boys killed. Moses' family placed him in a basket of reeds in the river. Pharaoh's daughter discovered the baby and adopted him.
Amalekites
Canaan
Circumcision
Covenant
Egypt
Exodus
Glory
Golden Calf
I Am
Idols
Israel
Jordan River
Kadesh
Law
Leprosy
Manna
Midian
Nile
Offerings
Passover
Plagues
Promised Land
Sea of Reeds
Sinai
Tabernacle
Ten Commandments
Wilderness Wanderings
Aaron
Abraham
Balaam
Caleb
Israelites
Hobab
Isaac
Jacob
Jethro
Joseph
Josephus
Joshua
Levi
Miriam
Paul
Pharaoh
Priests
Zipporah
YES, BUT . . .
Moses is generally considered Israel's greatest leader. Some say he's one of the best leaders of any nation in any era. You would expect him to demonstrate classic leadership qualities like self-confidence, ambition, and eloquence.
Yes, but . . . we get a different picture from the Bible. When Moses was called by God to lead the Israelites, he didn't want the job. He was insecure about his own abilities, especially his speaking. He wanted God to call his brother Aaron instead.
The lesson for us is that God's calling doesn't always depend on our personality traits. Yes, God gives us abilities to use for him, but he also surprises us by using unlikely servants. We shouldn't let our insecurities keep us from working for the Lord.