Moses

(drawn out, or saved, from the water) (Ex. 2:10 and others)—leader and lawgiver of the Hebrew people, prophet and the first sacred historian. He was born in Egypt 1574 or 1576 years before Christ, and was the son of Amram and Jochebed. When Moses was born, his mother Jochebed hid him for some time from the general slaughter, by order of Pharaoh, of the Hebrew male infants; but when it was no longer possible to hide him, she carried him out to the river and placed him in a basket of reeds, daubed with asphalt and pitch, by the bank of the river Nile, among the reeds, while the sister of Moses watched from a distance to see what would become of him.

The daughter of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, came out to wash herself in the river, and there she saw the basket, heard the child’s crying, took pity on him, and resolved to save his life. Thus, taken from the water, he was, at the suggestion of Moses’ sister, given over to be nursed by his own mother. When the infant had grown, the mother presented him to Pharaoh’s daughter, and he became to her as a son, and being raised in the royal palace, was instructed in all the wisdom of the Egyptians (Ex. 2:1–10, Acts 7:20–22).

According to the testimony of Josephus, he was even made commander over the Egyptian army against the Ethiopians, who had invaded Egypt as far as Memphis, and he defeated them successfully (Antiquities, book II, ch. 10). Yet, notwithstanding his advantageous position at Pharaoh’s court, Moses, in the words of the Apostle, “chose rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season; esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt” (Heb. 11:24–26).

He had already reached the age of forty, when it came into his heart to visit his brethren, the children of Israel. There he saw their heavy labors, and how much the Hebrews suffered from the Egyptians. It happened once that he stood up for a Hebrew who was being beaten by an Egyptian, and in the heat of the struggle he killed him, there being no one present but the injured Hebrew. The next day he saw two Hebrews quarreling with one another, and began to urge them, as brothers, to live in harmony.

But the one who was wronging his neighbor thrust him away, saying, “Who made thee a ruler and a judge over us? Wilt thou kill me, as thou didst the Egyptian yesterday?” (Acts 7:23–28). Hearing this, Moses, fearing that a report of the matter might reach Pharaoh, fled into the land of Midian. In the house of the Midianite priest Jethro he took to wife his daughter Zipporah, and spent forty years there. While tending his father-in-law’s flock, he went far with the flock into the wilderness and came to the mountain of God, Horeb (Ex. 3:1).

There he saw an extraordinary sight: a thornbush all in flame, burning yet not consumed. Drawing near to the bush, he heard the voice of the Lord from the midst of the bush, commanding him to remove the sandals from his feet, since the place on which he stood was holy ground. Moses hastily removed his sandals and, in fear, covered his face. Then he was given the command of God to go to Pharaoh for the deliverance of the Israelites. Fearing his own inconstancy and raising various difficulties, Moses several times declined this great mission, but the Lord reassured him with His presence and His help, and revealed to him His Name: I AM (that is, the Existing One), and, as a confirmation of His power, turned the rod that was in Moses’ hand into a serpent, and turned the serpent back again into a rod; then Moses, at God’s command, put his hand into his bosom, and the hand became leprous as snow; and at a further command he again put his hand into his bosom, took it out, and it was healthy.

And for a helper to Moses the Lord appointed his brother Aaron. Then Moses submitted without question to the call of the Lord. Together with his brother Aaron he presented himself before Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and in the name of Jehovah they asked him to let the Hebrews go out of Egypt for three days to offer sacrifices in the wilderness. Pharaoh, as the Lord had foretold to Moses, refused them. Then the Lord struck the Egyptians with terrible plagues, of which the last was the slaying by the Angel, in a single night, of all the firstborn of Egypt.

This terrible plague at last broke Pharaoh’s stubbornness. He allowed the Hebrews to go out into the wilderness for three days to pray, and to take with them their flocks and herds, both small and great. “And the Egyptians were urgent upon the people, that they might send them out of the land in haste; for they said, We be all dead men.” The Hebrews, having kept the Passover on that last night according to the command of God, went out of Egypt to the number of six hundred thousand men, with all their possessions, and, despite all their haste, did not forget to take with them the bones of Joseph and of some of the other patriarchs, as Joseph had commanded.

God Himself showed them which way to go: He went before them by day in a pillar of cloud, and by night in a pillar of fire, to give them light along the way (Ex. 13:21, 22). Pharaoh and the Egyptians soon repented of having let the Hebrews go, and set out with their army to pursue them, and were already drawing near their camp at the Red Sea. Then the Lord commanded Moses to take his rod and divide the sea, so that the sons of Israel might pass through the midst of the sea on dry ground.

Moses did according to the command of God, and the sea divided and the dry bottom was uncovered. The sons of Israel went through the midst of the sea on dry ground, the waters being a wall to them on their right hand and on their left. The Egyptians followed them into the midst of the sea, but, thrown into confusion by God, they turned to flee back. Then Moses, after the Israelites had already come out onto the shore, again stretched out his hand over the sea, and the waters returned to their place and covered Pharaoh with all his army, his chariots, and his horsemen; there remained not so much as one of them, to tell in Egypt of that terrible destruction.

On the seashore Moses and all the people solemnly sang a hymn of thanksgiving to God: “I will sing unto the Lord, for he hath triumphed gloriously: the horse and his rider hath he thrown into the sea,” and Miriam and all the women, striking their timbrels, sang, “Sing ye to the Lord, for he hath triumphed gloriously” (Ex. 14:5–21, 15).