Moses, the Old Testament prophet, led the Israelites in their liberation from Egyptian captivity, giving them a set of religious, social, and dietary rules that he received directly from God through divine revelation. His influence exceeded the limit of his earthly existence.
The Bible presents throughout its 66 books an important number of characters who have been part of the history of humanity and the people of God. This is the case of Moses, a man who completely changed the history of a slave people and who is an example for every Christian even today.
When the life of Moses is observed through the Holy Scriptures, a believer finds how God transforms a man, throughout his life. That is why in this article you will find the story of Moses, his birth and life in Egypt, his flight to Midian, God’s call, his return to Egypt, the leadership of the people and his death. .
Moses was the man chosen by God to guide the people of Israel in the liberation of the slavery of Egypt. Moses received the Ten Commandments from God and prepared the Hebrews to conquer Canaan. Also, Moses wrote the first five books of the Bible such as Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy.
Related: Why Didn’t Moses Enter the Promised Land?
Who was Moses in the Bible?
Moses is one of the main characters of the Old Testament. He was governor of the people of Israel chosen by God and was the one who led the nation to the limits of the Promised Land. In this way, it was Moses who, with the help of the Lord, freed Israel from 430 years of slavery and introduced it to the promised land after spending 40 years in the desert.
Related: What are the Ten Commandments in the Bible?
Moses was a descendant of the tribe of Levi, of the Coatite clan. In fact, some scholars maintain that he was the son of Jochebed and Amram. Others believe that he was only a descendant of this couple, that is, a son of the house of Amram. In any case, the name of Moses’ parents does not appear in the Bible, however, the description presents what Moses had to go through until he reached the house of Pharaoh’s daughter (Exodus 2; cf. 6:20 ; Numbers 26:59).
See also: The story of David in the Bible
The meaning of the name “Moses” is uncertain, since its origin is not known exactly. Some believe that this name is of Semitic origin, in Hebrew Mosheh, which means “taken out” (cf. Exodus 2:10). Others understand that this name is of Egyptian origin, perhaps derived from mosewhich means “born”.
How was the birth and life of Moses in Egypt?
The story of Moses is well known, especially his birth. Being born in Egypt, Pharaoh ordered all the Hebrew children to be thrown into the river. However, his parents defied this decree and hid the child. Later, they placed it in the river inside a reed basket sealed with pitch (Exodus 2:3).
When Pharaoh’s daughter went to the river to bathe, she saw a floating basket and found Moses, for whom she had compassion. Moses’ sister always watched the basket and saw when the princess picked it up. Immediately, he offered to find someone who could raise that child and give him good principles. In this case, the chosen woman was his own biological mother.
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Growing up a little, the boy was taken to the daughter of Pharaoh to live at the Egyptian court. Although little is known about his life in Egypt, what is known is that he was “instructed in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and was mighty in word and deed” (Acts 7:22).
When he reached adulthood, Moses demonstrated his concern for his hometown. Defending an unjustly beaten Hebrew, Moses killed the Egyptian assailant. But, he thought that no one had seen his act, however, the other day, when trying to intervene in the discussion between two Hebrews, one of them accused him of murder (Exodus 2: 11-14).
Moses flees to Midian and marries
When Pharaoh found out about this murder, he tried to kill Moses. However, Moses fled to the Sinai desert and settled in Midian, where he helped and protected the daughters of Jethro.
Moses married one of Jethro’s daughters, Zipporah. With her he had two sons: Gershom and Eliezer (Exodus 2:22; 18:4). He also took care of his mother-in-law’s flocks near Horeb in the Sinai Peninsula.
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What did God call Moses?
Moses was herding sheep when God called him to lead the people of Israel in their liberation from slavery in Egypt. He was tending the flock in the desert when he saw a burning bush.
In this extraordinary way, Moses met the living and true God. God called him to return to Egypt and although he did not want to, Moses received from God the assurance of his presence as a sign that he had been sent by the Almighty, whose name is, “I am who I am” (Exodus 3:13-15).
Related: What are the names of God?
Moses also claimed not to be an eloquent person to speak. So God allowed his brother Aaron to serve as his spokesman, declaring the message the Lord had given him (Exodus 4:14-16).
Moses returns to Egypt
Then he lived for forty years in the desert tending sheep, and returned to Egypt to face Pharaoh and ask for the release of the Hebrew people. At that time Moses was 80 years old. However, Pharaoh did not approve of his request and despised the God of Israel.
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Due to God’s sovereigntyEverything happened according to His perfect plan. Many years before, the Lord had promised Abraham that he would judge the nation that would enslave his people (Genesis 15:13,14).
God showed, through Moses and Aaron, the signs of the only true God, in which he sent a series of ten plagues as divine judgment poured out on Egypt, Pharaoh and his gods.
Moses leads the people of Israel
After sending the consecutive plagues that pointed to the power of the God of Israel, Pharaoh allowed the Israelites to leave Egypt. However, before the last plague, which was the death of the firstborn in Egypt, God commanded Moses to institute the celebration of the Passover (Exodus 12:27).
After the people of Israel left Egypt, Pharaoh still tried to persecute them. He probably believed that the Israelites would be trapped by the sea. However, God parted the Red Sea for the Israelites to pass through and then closed it on Pharaoh’s army.
After that, the people set out for Sinai, being fed by the manna that God sent from heaven. It was there on Sinai that Moses received the Law of God (Exodus 20-23). He stayed forty days and nights on Mount Sinai to receive the stone tablets containing the ten commandments (Exodus 24:12-18).
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God also instructed Moses on how to make a place for his worship, called the Tent of Meeting. In addition, God also spoke to him of the institution of the priesthood in the house of Aaron (Exodus 25-32).
As a result of the disbelief and rebellion of the Israelites, the people of Israel were in the desert for forty years. The result was that the first generation that had left Egypt died before entering the Promised Land (Numbers 14:20-35).
How was the death of Moses?
While leading the people of Israel, Moses faced much opposition. The people were ungrateful and continually questioned his authority (Numbers 16). Moses was a great leader of the people, who led the people to the limits of the Promised Land by sending spies to investigate the land.
Moses did not enter the promised land. He and Aaron sinned against God when the people were thirsty and struck a stone. God had commanded Moses to speak to the rock to give water to the people of Israel. But Moses acted in anger and arrogance by taking God’s place, striking the stone in his name and leaving God without Glory (Exodus 20: 9-11).
Moses deeply regretted not being able to enter the Promised Land (Deuteronomy 3:24-27). In the last days of his life and his ministry, Moses ordered his house and said goodbye to the people of Israel. The person who received the leadership of the people was Joshua, who led the people to enter Canaan.
See here: The story of the apostle Peter in the Bible
At the moment of his death, Moses climbed Mount Nebo and contemplated from afar the promised land that the Lord would give to Israel. At the age of 120, Moses died and was buried by the Lord in the valley of the land of Moab. It is unknown where the buried body of Moses is located (Deuteronomy 34).
The story of Moses and its importance
Throughout his ministry during the forty years in the desert, Moses wrote the Pentateuch, that is, the first five books of the Bible, or also called the Torah (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy). In addition to the Torah, Moses wrote Psalm 90.
The book of Hebrews highlights the importance of Moses’ faith in having the ability to reject being called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter (Hebrews 11:24). He further compares Moses to Christ by showing that Moses was a Christ figure as mediator of the Old Covenant. This Old Covenant directly reflected Christ, who is the mediator between God and man (Hebrews 3).
Moses was a very famous man due to the choice of God in his calling, which was widely known from the time of Joshua to the times of the New Testament, some examples from the Bible are (Joshua 8:31; 2 Kings 14: 6 ; Ezra 6:18; Mark 12:26; Luke 2:22; 2 Corinthians 3:15).
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Also when talking about the story of Moses, it should be remembered that he and the prophet Elijah were the ones who appeared next to Jesus at the moment of the transfiguration. He was the great leader of Israel, and Elijah the great prophet of the nation. On that occasion they spoke of the imminent death of Jesus, pointing to the fact that the Law and the Prophets testified of Christ.