Moses

Moses is one of the most influential people of the Old Testament. Moses is the Earthly author of the first 5 books of the Bible. These books lay the foundation of God's message to us! In addition to penning influential books, Moses is one of the few people to see a portion of God.

Introduction

Moses is the primary character in Exodus, as well as the author of the Pentateuch (Genesis, Exodus, Deuteronomy, Leviticus, and Numbers). While many others had the pleasure of speaking with God before Moses, he is the first to be in God's physical presence. Through Moses's we are given the most detailed view of how we are expected to live pre-Jesus. His role as a prophet was not only vital to the Israelites' escape from Egypt, but to the covenant that both Jews and Christians honor today.
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Bible Verses

And the child grew, and she brought him unto Pharaoh's daughter, and he became her son. And she called his name Moses: and she said, Because I drew him out of the water.Exodus 2:10 KJV

¹And there went a man of the house of Levi, and took to wife a daughter of Levi. ² And the woman conceived, and bare a son: and when she saw him that he was a goodly child, she hid him three months. ³And when she could not longer hide him, she took for him an ark of bulrushes, and daubed it with slime and with pitch, and put the child therein; and she laid it in the flags by the river's brink.Exodus 2:1-3 KJV

Other Verses on Moses

Moses is the primary figure (besides God) in the following books.

• Exodus
• Leviticus
• Numbers
• Deuteronomy

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Character

Disclaimer: Liberty taken with the depiction of Moses.
Please remember the Bible does not
specify a description for most individuals.

Not much is told to us about Moses's childhood. After being rescued by the Pharaoh's daughter, we know nothing until he is a grown man (this parallels the life of Jesus, in which we also know nothing about His childhood). We know that Moses is well versed in the knowledge of the Egyptians (see Acts 7:22), but we are not told at what point he learns that he is Hebrew instead of Egyptian. At some point the injustice placed upon the Hebrews angers Moses and he kills an Egyptian who was killing one of the Hebrews. This is the reason Moses flees Egypt originally. After killing the Egyptian and witnessing the Hebrews fighting amongst themselves, Moses reminds them (and us) that they should not fight each other. Moses raises the very valid point that our efforts should not be in harming our brothers but in standing against common enemies—essentially he originated the "united we stand, divided we fall" concept.

It is during Moses's refuge from the anger of Pharaoh concerning Moses's transgression that Moses meets God. Note that God was not angry at Moses for murdering the Egyptian; Moses's act of murder is not a considered a mark against him because the Egyptian was smiting (or killing) a man which we were told in Genesis 9:6 is punishable by death. Still, Moses is initially very doubtful of God. God shows great patience in dealing with Moses who questions his ability to speak to pharaoh, to speak for God, and to lead the masses. Moses's doubt seems to lie mostly in himself; he doubts that he can accomplish the vision God has. However, in doubting himself, he also doubt's God; for it is God who is calling him to work. Take the simplified situation in which God calls a person to move a piece of furniture. If the person says, "whoa God, you've got the wrong person, I can't move this furniture!" They are also saying that God is wrong (He chose the wrong person) and God would call them to something He can't or won't grant them the ability to do. This is major pitfall of many of us (myself included), but our hope lies in how patient God was with Moses. He knew from the time Moses was born that this would be Moses's purpose, just as He knows what our purpose is. The book of Exodus not only shows us God's power but Moses's growth in God. He grows from a doubting disbeliever to the prophet that led the Exodus and provided us with all the foundational knowledge of God we have.
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Descendants

Moses has two sons with his wife Zipporah; their names are Gershom and Eliezer.
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Other Posts about Moses

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References

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