Moses was born to Israelite parents during their enslavement in Egypt. During that period, Pharaoh feared that the Israelites were becoming too powerful and posed a threat so he issued an edict that all Israelite baby boys would be executed. Moses mother put her baby Moses in a basket and floated him in the Nile river near Pharaoh’s palace and he was found and adopted by Pharaoh’s daughter (Exodus 2:5-6).
Words: 1931 / Time to read: 10 minutes
His life is extensively recorded in the Scripture and can be easily broken down into three sets of 40 years each. The first 40 years covers his birth and time in Egypt where he was raised as a prince and educated by the most prestigious teachers of their day (Acts 7:22). The second forty years covers his years in the desert of Midian when his vocation was that of a shepherd. (Moses had murdered a fellow Israelite and fled for his life to the wilderness and settled in Midian.) There he met a pagan priest named Jethro who raised herds. Moses married his daughter Zipporah and stayed in that region for the remainder of the 40 years. The final 40 year period began when God spoke to Moses in the burning bush incident which happened in the wilderness of Midian. From there Moses traveled back to Egypt with his brother Aaron and became the redeemer of his people Israel. Following the famous 10 plagues, the Israelites left Egypt with the riches of Egypt in tow. They miraculously crossed the Red Sea and made their way to Mount Sinai where God provided the 10 commandments and the rest of the law code to Moses who served as the mediator of that covenant. This was a conditional covenant which basically followed the summary premise of, “if you do this, then I will reward you and if you fail to do this, then I will curse you (Deuteronomy 28:1 ff).” Note the conditional if-then language in God’s conversation with Moses:
Then Moses went up to God, and the Lord called to him from the mountain and said, “This is what you are to say to the descendants of Jacob and what you are to tell the people of Israel: ‘You yourselves have seen what I did to Egypt, and how I carried you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself. Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine, you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words you are to speak to the Israelites.”
Exodus 19:3-6
Moses authored the Pentateuch, which is the first five books of the Old Testament, namely Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. Most of what is recorded there covers the events which happened after their redemption from Egypt and their travels through the wilderness on their way to the promised land, Canaan. In a strange turn of events, Moses sinned publicly and his punishment was that he would not be allowed to accompany his people into the land (Numbers 20:12). He died prior to their possession of it. However, this opened the door for Joshua to take over leadership and we can observe how Moses did a fine job in preparing Joshua for such a task.
There are far too many important events included in the story of Moses to review in this forum. Instead I will include one of my favorite stories which comes from Numbers 16-17. During this time period, the leadership of Moses and his brother Aaron, the high priest, were challenged. The Lord settled the dispute by causing Aaron’s staff, which was a dead piece of wood fashioned into a walking stick, to bud overnight. That miracle is a beautiful picture, or type, of the resurrection of Christ, the antitype. Though the antitype would not happen for many generations in the distant future, it was prophetically demonstrated by God in Moses’ day. This was significant because the covenant that Moses was the mediator of would end in death if it was not kept. But God offered hope in demonstrating that he had the ability to bring things that were dead back to life and prosperity. This is exactly the message that needed to be received. And God did it in a way that was indisputable, not with mere words or promises, but with a demonstration which removed all doubt of his ability and intention.
My hobby for a period was to memorize Scripture and post it to my Instagram account, @woody_brohm. Here is a video with my explanation of these verses:
Moses is remembered favorably as a great prophet, military and religious leader and, of course, lawgiver. The Apostle Paul viewed the story of Moses and those who traveled with him in the Exodus as an example for us to resist sinful behavior and cling to the hope available in the gospel saying, “For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through the endurance taught in the Scriptures and the encouragement they provide we might have hope (Romans 15:4).”
For I do not want you to be ignorant of the fact, brothers and sisters, that our ancestors were all under the cloud and that they all passed through the sea. They were all baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea. They all ate the same spiritual food and drank the same spiritual drink; for they drank from the spiritual rock that accompanied them, and that rock was Christ. Nevertheless, God was not pleased with most of them; their bodies were scattered in the wilderness.
Now these things occurred as examples to keep us from setting our hearts on evil things as they did. Do not be idolaters, as some of them were; as it is written: “The people sat down to eat and drink and got up to indulge in revelry.” We should not commit sexual immorality, as some of them did—and in one day twenty-three thousand of them died. We should not test Christ, as some of them did—and were killed by snakes. And do not grumble, as some of them did—and were killed by the destroying angel.
These things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us, on whom the culmination of the ages has come.
1 Corinthians 10:1-11
The Biblical narrative readily records the failures of Moses as well as his accomplishments which offers hope to all of us with checkered pasts. The story of Moses is told in Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. He is also mentioned in Acts 7:20-44 and Hebrews 11:23-29.
“At that time Moses was born, and he was no ordinary child. For three months he was cared for by his family. When he was placed outside, Pharaoh’s daughter took him and brought him up as her own son. Moses was educated in all the wisdom of the Egyptians and was powerful in speech and action.
“When Moses was forty years old, he decided to visit his own people, the Israelites. He saw one of them being mistreated by an Egyptian, so he went to his defense and avenged him by killing the Egyptian. Moses thought that his own people would realize that God was using him to rescue them, but they did not. The next day Moses came upon two Israelites who were fighting. He tried to reconcile them by saying, ‘Men, you are brothers; why do you want to hurt each other?’
“But the man who was mistreating the other pushed Moses aside and said, ‘Who made you ruler and judge over us? Are you thinking of killing me as you killed the Egyptian yesterday?’ When Moses heard this, he fled to Midian, where he settled as a foreigner and had two sons.
“After forty years had passed, an angel appeared to Moses in the flames of a burning bush in the desert near Mount Sinai. When he saw this, he was amazed at the sight. As he went over to get a closer look, he heard the Lord say: ‘I am the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.’ Moses trembled with fear and did not dare to look.
“Then the Lord said to him, ‘Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground. I have indeed seen the oppression of my people in Egypt. I have heard their groaning and have come down to set them free. Now come, I will send you back to Egypt.’
“This is the same Moses they had rejected with the words, ‘Who made you ruler and judge?’ He was sent to be their ruler and deliverer by God himself, through the angel who appeared to him in the bush. He led them out of Egypt and performed wonders and signs in Egypt, at the Red Sea and for forty years in the wilderness.
“This is the Moses who told the Israelites, ‘God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your own people.’ He was in the assembly in the wilderness, with the angel who spoke to him on Mount Sinai, and with our ancestors; and he received living words to pass on to us.
“But our ancestors refused to obey him. Instead, they rejected him and in their hearts turned back to Egypt. They told Aaron, ‘Make us gods who will go before us. As for this fellow Moses who led us out of Egypt—we don’t know what has happened to him!’ That was the time they made an idol in the form of a calf. They brought sacrifices to it and reveled in what their own hands had made. But God turned away from them and gave them over to the worship of the sun, moon and stars. This agrees with what is written in the book of the prophets:
“‘Did you bring me sacrifices and offerings
forty years in the wilderness, people of Israel?
You have taken up the tabernacle of Molek
and the star of your god Rephan,
the idols you made to worship.
Therefore I will send you into exile’ beyond Babylon.
“Our ancestors had the tabernacle of the covenant law with them in the wilderness. It had been made as God directed Moses, according to the pattern he had seen.
Acts 7:20-44
By faith Moses’ parents hid him for three months after he was born, because they saw he was no ordinary child, and they were not afraid of the king’s edict.
By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be known as the son of Pharaoh’s daughter. He chose to be mistreated along with the people of God rather than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. He regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt, because he was looking ahead to his reward. By faith he left Egypt, not fearing the king’s anger; he persevered because he saw him who is invisible. By faith he kept the Passover and the application of blood, so that the destroyer of the firstborn would not touch the firstborn of Israel.
By faith the people passed through the Red Sea as on dry land; but when the Egyptians tried to do so, they were drowned.
Hebrews 11:23-29
All Scripture quoted from:
New International Version (NIV)
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
