Moses

MOSES

Scripture references:
Exodus-Deuteronomy;
The Gospels, Hebrews 2; 11

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Date:	About 1520–1400 b.c.
Name:	Moses [MOH-zuhs; “drawn-out”]
Greatest accomplishment:	Moses was God’s agent in delivering the Israelites from slavery in Egypt and in giving them His Law.

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MOSES’ ROLE IN SCRIPTURE

We cannot praise Moses’ significance too highly. Moses’ name is mentioned some 850 times in the Old Testament in 787 verses. His name is found 80 times in the New Testament, in 79 verses. He is the traditional author of the first five books of the Bible and the dominant figure in four of them. His ministry during a definitive period of Old Testament history is absolutely unique.

Moses’ role in Scripture can be summed up under four headings. Moses was a miracle worker, a channel through whom God’s power was revealed to Israel, to Egypt, and to us today. Moses was the prototype prophet, a spokesman for God through whom God revealed Himself and His will. Moses was the lawgiver, who at Sinai recorded God’s commandments and the precepts that were to shape the lives of the Israelites. And Moses was a leader, whose struggles with the Israelites and whose prayers to God for them both have encouraged and guided those in spiritual leadership ever since.

Without question, Moses is one of the dominant figures of the Old Testament and remains the central figure in Judaism to this day.

MOSES IN JUDAISM

InThe Book of Jewish Knowledge, Nathan Ausubel writes of Moses:

To the persecuted Jewish people—rootless human beings feeling the need for emotional as well as physical security—Moses appeared as a powerful father-image. He was the indomitable, the wise, the righteous, the comforting father who had been protectingly, in times of crisis, like a shield and a buckler for their ancestors, the children of Israel, and had led them into freedom when they were slaves in Egypt. And whenever God had lost patience with them on account of their backsliding, Moses had stood between them and His wrath and had pleaded their wretched cause for them—his straying sheep.…

To this day, after thirty-two centuries, Moses remains an exemplar of social morality, law, and justice not only to the adherents of three world religions—Christianity, Islam, and Judaism—but also to countless millions of the religiously uncommitted or even downright skeptics and unbelievers. His greatness transcends the sectarian limits of theological dogma or institutional separation. By his intellectual power and moral will, and with his organizational genius to serve both, he was able to hammer a self-respecting people out of a brutalized conglomeration of former slaves. He taught them to abide by a system of morality and law—not a philosophical or utopian system like that described in Plato’s theorizing blueprint for an ideal Republic of superiors, but one realistic and practical enough to enable a people who lived by it to cope with the daily problems of living; working, suffering and striving to create under it a happier and more just society of equals. Therein lies his achievement in the history of human progress (p. 306).

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Boats made of bundles of papyrus reeds carried cargo on the Nile River from before the time of Moses well into New Testament times.

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MOSES’ LIFE AND TIMES

Moses was born into a family of Hebrew slaves. Some twenty years earlier, about1540 b.c., West Semitic peoples known as the Hyksos had finally been driven from Egypt by Ahmose I. Before that, the Hyksos had supplanted the Egyptian rulers and had governed as pharaohs some one hundred years. Perhaps partly because the Hebrews were also a Semitic people, Pharaoh intended to take no chances that the Israelites would support his enemy (see Ex. 1:10). Pharaoh enslaved the Israelites and set them to forced labor. He also determined to limit severely the Hebrew population, and ordered the midwives of Egypt to kill any male children born to the Israelites. When this attempt at population control failed, Pharaoh commanded “all his people” to see that every male Hebrew infant should be thrown in the River Nile.

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Was this the princess who rescued Moses? The Nelson Illustrated Bible Handbook comments on the possibility:

It is possible that the daughter of Pharaoh who finds him is Hatshepsut, only living child of Thutmose I…

As a woman, Hatshepsut could not take the throne in her own right. So she married a brother, born to one of her father’s lesser wives. On his death, the throne passed to one of his younger brothers, who was then about 10. Hatshepsut seized the throne and ruled for another 22 years. After her death the long suppressed and bitter king, Thutmose II, ordered every mention of Hatshepsut obliterated. Throughout all Egypt her statues were defaced and her name chiseled from stone inscriptions. Undoubtedly Thutmose, who went on to become the greatest ruler in Egyptian history, would have hated Moses, and welcomed any excuse to kill him (p. 73).

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Moses’ childhood (Ex. 2:1–10).When Moses was born about 1520 b.c. his parents obeyed Pharaoh’s command. Only they first placed their boy child in a basket-boat, woven of papyrus reeds! Every Sunday school child has heard the story of baby Moses found floating in his basket boat by Pharaoh’s daughter. Moses was adopted by the princess, who hired Moses’ own mother as his wet nurse. As children in biblical times frequently were not weaned until age four, Moses would have heard the stories of his people from his mother during his most impressionable years. Later when Moses was an adult, he identified himself with the Israelites rather than the Egyptians and dreamed of freeing them from slavery.

Moses’ education.As the adoptive child of an Egyptian princess, Moses would have received the best education Egypt had to offer. Interestingly, attendance records from the royal schools of the era list the names of other Semitic boys being trained for roles in Egypt’s bureaucracy.

Moses’ formal education would have lasted for about twelve years. Afterward, he would probably have received additional training in diplomacy and the military. Some have suggested that Moses was probably fluent in some four or five languages of the time.

A reference in Hebrews 11:24 speaks of Moses as “the son of Pharaoh’s daughter.” Some have speculated that this is in fact a title, reflecting the fact that in Egypt the royal line was passed through the daughter, rather than directly to the son. If Moses was considered the “son of Pharaoh’s daughter” and was in line for the throne, we can understand why Moses would have received the best education Egypt had to offer!

Moses’ rash act (Ex. 2:11–22).When Moses was forty, he noticed an Egyptian taskmaster brutalizing a Hebrew slave. Looking around to see that he was unobserved, Moses killed the Egyptian and hid his body.

Later when Moses tried to intervene in a dispute between two Hebrews, he discovered that the killing was known! Before long, word of what Moses had done came to Pharaoh, and the text says that Pharaoh “sought to kill Moses” (Ex. 2:15). It may well be that Moses’ rash act had given the Pharaoh an excuse to rid himself of someone he already hated! At any rate, Moses realized his only hope was to flee. And he did.

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Moses wandered in the Sinai desert as a shepherd, and later he led Israel to Mount Sinai, modern Jebel Musa.

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Moses in the Sinai (Ex. 2:15–25). In the time of Moses, the Sinai Peninsula was largely uninhabited, although the Egyptians had long mined it for semi-precious stones. In that desolate wilderness, Moses found a small group of Midianite shepherds whom he joined. In time, he married the daughter of Jethro, the Midianite clan and religious leader. Moses himself became a shepherd, and the text tells us that for the next forty years Moses “was content to live” there (Ex. 2:21).

For forty years, Moses lived the quiet life of a wilderness shepherd, so different from his life in the court of Egypt. During that forty years, Moses’ dream of delivering his people died. His grand vision of himself gradually shrank until, finally humbled, Moses was fitted for the task God had in mind all along.

Moses’ call by God(Ex. 3–4). When Moses was eighty years old, God appeared to him in a burning bush and commissioned Moses as His people’s deliverer.

Reading the text, it’s clear that Moses didn’t want to go. “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh, and that I should bring the children of Israel out of Egypt?” (3:11) was Moses’ immediate response to the Lord. Rather than being unwilling, Moses was uncertain. He had at last become fully aware of his own inadequacies, and seeing his limitations more clearly, Moses was understandably hesitant. Even though God promised to go with Moses, Moses still made excuses. Moses wouldn’t know what to say (Ex. 3:13). He didn’t know enough about God to represent Him (Ex. 3:13). Moses was sure that even the Israelites wouldn’t believe him (Ex. 4:1). He was “slow of speech and slow of tongue” (Ex. 4:10). Despite the fact that God had an answer for every excuse, Moses begged, “O my Lord, please send by the hand of whomsoever else You may send” (4:13).

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Pharaoh’s response to Moses’ demand for freedom was to increase the workload of the Hebrew slaves.

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In this, Moses was very much like many of us today. We hesitate when called by God to act for Him; we fix our eyes on our inadequacies rather than on His sufficiency. The later accomplishments of Moses, who finally did obey the Lord, are a healthy reminder to you and me. We may be utterly correct in our assessment of our weaknesses, but to those whom God lends His strength, weaknesses are irrelevant. We are not to plead, “Send someone else.” We are to respond, and set out in faith to obey.

Moses’ confrontation of Pharaoh(Ex. 5–15). Moses finally responded to God’s commission and did confront Pharaoh. The biblical text tells us that those who had sought Moses’ life were now dead (Ex 4:19). The arrogant Pharaoh with whom Moses had to deal was likely a young man, filled with himself and with the foolish confidence of youth.

The familiar story of the miracle plagues that finally drove Pharaoh to his knees is told in chapters 7–13. In the end, Pharaoh changed his mind once again about his slaves, and set out with his army to recapture the Israelites. This choice doomed the Egyptian forces, for they followed the Israelites into a sea whose waters God had parted, only to have the same waters close on the pursuing Egyptians.

For a detailed study of the plagues and associated miracles, see the companion book in this series, Every Miracle and Wonder in the Bible.

Moses as Lawgiver(Ex. 18—Deut.). Moses had succeeded in bringing some two and a half million Israelites out of Egypt (see Num. 1:46, which numbers only males of military age). God Himself provided a cloudy-fiery pillar that led the Israelites deep into the Sinai peninsula to Mount Sinai. It was there that Moses was given not only the Ten Commandments but also the various regulations that would govern the daily lives of the Israelites from that time forward. It is a mistake to think of “the Law” only as the Ten Commandments, for it also details worship regulations, criminal law, and civil law, defines acceptable sexual relationships and diet, and much more. Moses’ role in the giving of the Law is so central that both Testaments frequently refer to the Sinai revelation as the “Law of Moses.”

In this context, Moses is not only called a prophet, but He serves as the model prophet. Simply put, a prophet serves as God’s spokesman, delivering a message from God to human beings. Deuteronomy 18 forbade Israel to consult with any occult source. There Moses promised that God would “raise up for [Israel] a Prophet like [Moses] from among their brethren, and will put My words in His mouth” (Deut. 18:18). The Prophet like Moses to whom this verse refers is Jesus Christ. Yet the verse also relates to the many prophets who, throughout Israel’s history, appeared at critical times to serve as God’s spokespersons.

In what way, however, were the prophetic ministries of Moses and Christ parallel? The revelation given through these two set sacred history on a new and unexpected course. The revelation given through Moses served as the basis for the founding of a people and a nation; a basis that established the identity of Old Testament Israel as God’s own people. The revelation given through Jesus Christ, which supplanted the Mosaic revelation, served as the basis for the founding of another people of God; not a nation, but the very body of Christ in which we Christians find our identity as God’s Own.

Moses as leader (Ex. 16—Deut.).In the Pentateuch, we discover a Moses who was a leader as well as a miracle worker, lawgiver, and prophet. In these aspects, Moses proved very human indeed. The people whom Moses led were troublesome and rebellious, and Moses felt all the frustration, anger, and pain that can accompany the struggle to lead an unresponsive people. Yet, Moses remained faithful to his task, and frequently interceded with God on the Israelites’ behalf. Moses’ prayers on Israel’s behalf merit intense study on their own, as a challenge and an encouragement for pastors and for parents.

For forty years, Moses led two generations of Israelites. Those who failed to respond to God and rebelled against Moses’ leadership died in the wilderness outside the promised land. Moses then led their sons and daughters, a purified and responsive people, to the borders of the land God had promised to Abraham’s offspring. There, finally, Moses died, but only after seeing from a distance the land he had dreamed of from childhood. Moses’ dream had come true in the most unexpected way.

For forty years, Moses was a privileged prince of Egypt, picturing himself as his people’s deliverer. For the next forty years, Moses was a humble shepherd isolated in an empty wilderness, finally aware of his own inadequacies. And for his last forty years, Moses was an agent of God on earth, accomplishing far more in his old age than he could ever have imagined. By God’s grace and sovereign choice, Moses had become the miracle worker, lawgiver, prophet, and leader who towers over every other Old Testament character, the greatest of the Old Testament’s great men.

 

EXPLORING MOSES’ RELATIONSHIPS

The biblical account describes several sustained relationships maintained by Moses. Moses’ mother had a significant impact in shaping Moses’ sense of personal identity. He grew up seeing himself as a Hebrew rather than as a member of Egyptian royalty. Yet, we have no description of the interaction between mother and son. It is also clear that Moses’ sister Miriam played a significant role in his life, not only during Moses’ infancy but also in his later ministry as a leader. [Miriam is discussed in depth in the companion volume in this series, Every Woman in the Bible.] We have much more information on Moses’ relationship with his older brother, Aaron. That relationship is explored in the chapter on notable priests of the Old Testament (see page 140). Similarly, Moses’ relationship to the young Egyptian Pharaoh of the Exodus will be explored in the article on that Pharaoh, on page 134. The two most important relationships, each of which receives extensive attention in the biblical text, must be examined here. These are Moses’ relationship with God, and Moses’ relationship with the Israelites.

MOSES’ RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD

The relationship begins: the burning bush (Ex. 3:1–4:17).We might argue that Moses knew God before the incident at the burning bush. The stories of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and of their God that Moses had heard from his mother had such an impact on Moses that he identified with the Hebrew people despite his privileged position in the Egyptian royal family. Yet Moses’ personal relationship with God clearly began when he was some 80 years old and was caring for sheep in the Sinai wilderness. There God spoke to him from a bush that burned yet was not consumed. And there three significant things occurred.

God commissioned Moses for his mission (Ex. 3:6–10). When God had identified Himself to Moses as the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the Lord told Moses He had seen the oppression of His people and heard their cries. God revealed Himself to Moses at this time because He intended to deliver the Israelites and bring them home to the Promised Land. Moses must have been utterly nonplused when God told him, “Come now, therefore, and I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring My people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt” (3:10).

God revealed His personal name to Moses (3:11–22). The forty years Moses had spent in the wilderness had taken away his native arrogance and pride as well as his early dream of being Israel’s deliverer. Now when God appeared to commission Moses for the task he had once yearned to accomplish, Moses resisted. His self-effacing “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh” (3:11) revealed a man who had come to face his inadequacies and to know himself all too well. The depth of his humbling is further revealed in the series of objections he raised during this conversation with God:

•     “What shall I say to them” (3:13).

•     “But suppose they will not believe me” (4:1).

•     “O my Lord, I am not eloquent … I am slow of speech and slow of tongue” (4:10).

•     “O my Lord, please send … whomever else You may send” (4:13).

God’s initial response to the hesitant Moses was to promise to be with him, and then to reveal His personal name, Yahweh, which is represented in our English versions by “Lord.” That most significant of God’s biblical names, rendered “I AM” in our English text, may be better translated as “The One Who Is Always Present.” Moses and all Israel were about to come to know God as the Ever-Present One whose closeness guaranteed their release. The events about to take place in Egypt and at the Red Sea would forever shape Israel’s and the world’s image of God. No wonder God told Moses, “This is My name forever” (3:15). [For a thorough exposition of the significance of the name Yahweh, see the companion volume in this series, Every Name and Title of God in the Bible.]

Moses would succeed, not because of his personal gifts or endowments, but because God was with Him. The humility Moses had learned during the forty years he had been in the desert would enable him to remain completely dependent on God. That dependence on the Lord was the key to Moses’ greatness.

What a wonderful lesson here for each of us. Spiritual significance is not a matter of our abilities, our talents, or even our gifts. God can and will use those who have learned humility and who as a consequence remain totally, trustingly dependent on Him.

God equipped Moses for his ministry (Ex. 4:1–17). The essential equipment for any successful ministry is a dependence on God, expressed as a ready response to His leading. Moses however was given two unusual gifts.

The first was knowledge of what God intended to do. The Lord plainly told Moses that Egypt’s Pharaoh would resist releasing his slaves and that the Lord would then “stretch out My hand and strike Egypt with all My wonders” (Ex. 3:19–20). It is fascinating that with both Abraham and Moses God announced His intentions beforehand. Just as fascinating is that through Abraham and Moses God announced His intentions to us. The great “I will” statements to Abraham set the course of redemption history, and God’s promise of a Prophet like Moses set the stage for the coming of Christ and His totally unexpected revelation of the cross and Christianity.

But God also equipped Moses with two simple “signs.” This word for miracles emphasizes that such interventions by God authenticate both His presence and His prophet. The word reminds us that when God so chooses, He can intervene in our world in ways that simply cannot be explained by reference to either trickery or to natural law’s reliance on cause and effect. The two simple signs God gave Moses—the ability to turn his staff into a snake and back to staff again, and the ability to turn his arm leprous and restore it to health—were enough to convince both Moses and the Israelites of God’s presence. It would take far greater and more devastating signs to convince Pharaoh, but these signs, too, would be present when the occasion required.

This is worth meditating on. God goes with His own. He equips us with whatever we need to accomplish His purpose in our lives.

Moses’ relationship with God is tested (Ex. 5:1–7:7). Moses’ first approach to Pharaoh on behalf of Israel proved to be a disaster. The young Pharaoh was understandably contemptuous of Moses and of his God. In the ancient world, one measure of the power of a people’s deities was assumed to be that people’s relationship with other nations. At the time Egypt was not only wealthy but also the dominant power in the region. The Hebrews were an oppressed population of slaves. Weighed in Pharaoh’s balance, the God of slaves seemed weak and feeble indeed.

In utter contempt, Pharaoh increased the burden placed on the Hebrews, causing the Israelites to accuse Moses of putting “a sword” (5:21) in Pharaoh’s hand to kill them. Moses, stunned by this turn of events, turned to God with a complaint of his own. “Lord, why have You brought trouble on this people? Why is it You have sent me? For since I came to Pharaoh to speak in Your name, he has done evil to this people; neither have You delivered Your people at all” (Ex. 5:22, 23). The pattern seen here would be followed throughout Moses’ last forty years. When things seemed to go wrong, the Israelites would murmur and complain to Moses. Moses would take his own frustrations and uncertainties to God (see Ex. 17:1).

In this, the Israelites sinned, while Moses showed respect for God. The Israelites failed to look beyond circumstances and realize that a sovereign God had His hand on every event. Moses understood that however he might feel about an event and however in the dark he might be about God’s purposes, God was at work in the situation. The Israelites’ failure to look to God as Moses consistently did is a stunning revelation of their spiritual insensitivity, while Moses’ immediate acknowledgment of God’s responsibility for what was happening demonstrated a true faith in the Lord.

Here, too, is a vital lesson for Christians today. Events will often test the quality of our relationship with God. It will be so easy to complain about others or about our circumstances. All too often we complain to others. This is an ungodly response. The godly follow Moses’ example, recognize God’s hand in events, and bring their complaints to Him.

God responded to Moses’ complaint by giving him the perspective he needed. Pharaoh would resist, but God would “multiply My signs and wonders in the land of Egypt” (Ex. 7:3) and so convince Israel, Egypt, and future generations that He, the Lord, surely is God.

Moses’ relationship with God is revealed (Ex. 7:8–15). Moses had been called by God and given a mission. He was to win the release of the Israelite slaves. In a most significant interchange the Lord told Moses, “See, I have made you as God to Pharaoh, and Aaron your brother shall be your prophet. You shall speak all that I command you” (7:1–2).

This statement was made in response to yet another of Moses’ expressions of inadequacy: “Behold, I am of uncircumcised lips, and how shall Pharaoh heed me” (6:30). God’s answer was that Moses would represent Him to Pharaoh. Through Moses’ words and actions, God would be revealed to the disbelieving Egyptians.

Moses did represent God before Pharaoh, and when Pharaoh ridiculed the God Moses represented, devastating plagues struck Egypt at Moses’ word. Those same plagues departed at Moses’ word. The reality of Moses’ relationship with God was displayed in the works God performed through Him. The reality of Moses’ relationship with God was revealed. Through His relationship with Moses, God revealed Himself.

This remains true today. God will communicate His reality through the walk and the words of believers who love Him and live close to Him. Spiritual power and effectiveness are as dependent today on maintaining a close relationship with the Lord as they were in Moses’ time. When we maintain this relationship, God will be able to use us as He did Moses. He will use us, not to carry out Moses’ mission, but rather to fulfill His purpose in our lives. The reality of our relationship with God will be revealed in the works God does in us; works that in truth will reveal Him.

Moses’ relationship with God transforms(Ex. 32:1–14). Moses led the Israelites away from Egypt into the Sinai peninsula. When they reached Mount Sinai, God gave Israel the law through Moses. Exodus 32 tells one of the darker stories of the period. While Moses was on Mount Sinai receiving the Ten Commandments, the Israelites camped on the plains below Sinai. They came to Aaron, Moses’ brother, and demanded: “Make us gods that shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him” (Ex. 32:1). Aaron gave in to them and fashioned a golden calf. The Israelites imagined an invisible deity sat astride this calf. God informed Moses of what was happening below, and said, “I have seen this people, and indeed it is a stiff-necked people! Now therefore, let Me alone that My wrath may burn hot against them and I may consume them. And I will make of you a great nation” (Ex. 32:9–10).

What is significant for us here is not any theological questions the verse raises, but rather Moses’ response. For Moses pleaded with God, saying:

“Lord, why does Your wrath burn hot against Your people whom You have brought out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand? Why should the Egyptians speak, and say, ‘He brought them out to harm them, to kill them in the mountains, and to consume them from the face of the earth’? Turn from Your fierce wrath, and relent from this harm to Your people. Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, Your servants, to whom You swore by your own self, and said to them, ‘I will multiply your descendants as the stars of heaven; and all this land that I have spoken of I give to your descendants, and they shall inherit it forever’ ” (Ex. 32:11–13).

There are several things to note about this prayer. First, Moses expressed a concern for God’s glory. To turn against the Israelites at that point would have exposed God as a failure, unable to accomplish His stated purpose (32:12). Second, Moses reminded God of His Word. Surely the Lord would not go back on the covenant commitments He had made to the patriarchs.

In this prayer, we see into Moses’ heart. Whatever His motives were as a youth when he dreamed of freeing the Israelites, His motives at this point were pure. Moses sought not fame for himself; rather, he sought glory for his God.

This same motivation was expressed in a similar prayer uttered just after the Israelites rebelled at Kadesh Barnea and refused to enter the promised land (Num. 14). There, too, Moses prayed for a rebellious people, and there, too, Moses’ intent was to glorify God.

The text adds a fascinating insight. After Moses’ prayer was granted on Mount Sinai, he went down the mountain. But when he saw the golden calf idol and the “dancing” [orgy] taking place around it, “Moses’ anger became hot, and he cast the tablets [stones, on which the Ten Commandments had been recorded] out of his hands and broke them” (32:19).

God had preserved Moses’ perspective by reporting what was happening while Moses was still on the mountain. Isolated from the awful offenses, Moses retained his perspective, and was able to plead with God. If Moses had first seen the people sinning, in His anger He might well have responded as God had, and determined on extermination.

It’s hard for us, being human, to be balanced in our responses to sin. On the one hand, the godly feel revulsion and anger at humanity’s inhumanities. On the other hand, we are to be concerned for the honor of God who is glorified as much in His displays of grace as in His righteous judgments. All we can do is keep our desire focused on glorifying God, and our thoughts purified by a knowledge of His Word.

Scripture’s own evaluation of Moses makes it clear how completely his relationship with God transformed Moses. The Bible tells us that “the Lord spoke to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend” (Ex. 33:11). Hebrews 3:5 praises Moses as a man who was “faithful in all His [God’s] house as a servant.” Moses, at times referred to as “the man of God” (Deut 33:1; Josh. 14:6), had been transformed indeed by his personal relationship with God.

Moses yearns to know God better(Ex. 33:13–23). Despite Moses’ godly response to the Israelites’ sin with the golden calf, the incident shook Moses to his core. Yet, Moses prayed that the people’s sin might be forgiven. God did announce that He would punish the individuals who had engaged in the idolatry. He forgave the rest and promised that despite the Israelites’ sins He would bring them into the Promised Land. Moses warned the Israelites that God could easily destroy them, and Moses himself continued to meet with the Lord. This intimate relationship with God sustained Moses during the difficult years ahead—years during which the Israelites again and again revealed a hostile and angry spirit and caused Moses, as well as God, intense pain.

God sustained His prophet with a promise: “My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest” (Ex. 33:14). To Moses it was increasingly clear that God’s Presence was Israel’s only hope—and his own only support.

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Israel worshiped at the portable tabernacle for some 400 years after the Exodus.

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Eager to know God even better, Moses begged the Lord, “Please, show me Your glory” (Ex. 33:18). Here “glory” refers to the divine essence. Moses yearned to see God as He truly is, fully revealed. God refused, for “no man shall see Me, and live.” But God did promise to “make all My goodness pass before you” (33:19). The Lord then placed Moses in a fissure in the rock wall of Mount Sinai until His glory had passed by. And then God allowed Moses to see His back, not His face.

The imagery here is metaphoric, not anthropomorphic. God’s “face” stands for His essential being; His “back” for that which He reveals of Himself to human beings. With this, Moses had to be—and surely was—content. For God showed Moses more of Himself than he had revealed to any human being up to that time. This revelation by God of Himself sustained Moses through the difficult and painful years that lay ahead. Moses could not imagine the stress he would experience in trying to lead God’s obstinate people. But through it all, God’s Presence would go with Moses. And through it all, Moses would learn more about the grace and goodness of God.

This thought is important to you and me today. We need God’s presence in our lives if we handle the pressures that stress all people. For us, as for Moses, the ultimate revelation of God’s essence awaits. In the meantime, we can learn more of God, both through Scripture and by responding to His revealed will. As we follow Him closely, we will experience His presence. And this will enable us, as it did Moses, to overcome.

Flaws in Moses’ relationship with God (Ex. 34:29–34; Num. 20:1–12).Whether or not the first incident constitutes a flaw is debatable. But the second kept Moses from entering the promised land.

The veil on Moses’ face (Ex. 34:29–34). God spoke to Moses in the Israelite camp as well as on Sinai. When this happened, the cloudy-fiery pillar that accompanied the Israelites in the wilderness came down and hovered over the tabernacle, which the text also calls the “tent of meeting.” Moses entered the tabernacle to converse with the Lord, and when Moses left the divine presence, his face literally shone.

Exodus tells us that after exiting the tabernacle following his meetings with the Lord, Moses would come out and speak to the Israelites, who were clearly impressed with the radiance that shone from his face. Moses would then put a veil over his face until the next time he met with the Lord. Again Moses would exit the tent unmasked, but soon once again slip on his veil.

Nahum M. Sarna, in the Jewish Publication Society’s commentary on Exodus, rightly notes that the shining face “functions to reaffirm and legitimate the prophet’s role as the peerless intimate of God, the sole and single mediator between God and His people”(p. 221). And certainly, in view of the Israelites’ intransigence, such a symbol must have been comforting to Moses. But why did Moses put on a veil? Why not simply leave it off? The answer is provided by the apostle Paul, who told us that Moses “put a veil over his face so that the Israelites might not see the end of the fading splendor” (2 Cor. 3:13, r.s.v.).

While each meeting with God seemed to recharge the supernatural effulgence, Moses truly was merely a man. He did not wish the Israelites to see the splendor fade and be reminded of his humanity. Strikingly, the apostle urged Christians to abandon similar efforts to mask our mortality, and thus our flaws. He urged us in 2 Corinthians 3 to be bold, “not like Moses,” and to remove the masks. Yes, people will see our flaws. But as we live open and honest lives, people will also see Jesus’ face, for “we are being transformed” (2 Cor. 13:18) by God’s Spirit. Witnessing the process of our transformation—not a pretense of perfection—convinces others that God is in our lives and that He is real!

Was Moses wrong to veil his face so that the Israelites would not realize that the radiance faded away? Certainly given the characteristics of the people whom Moses led, his actions were understandable. Yet, it would seem that Moses might have better glorified God and better set us an example if he had chosen simply to be himself, without any pretense or deceit.

Striking the rock (Num. 20:1–13).The Israelites had rebelled against God, and God had condemned them to wander in the wilderness until the entire unbelieving generation died out. In their wanderings, they came again to the region of Zin [called “Sin” in Ex. 17:1]. The land was parched and waterless, and as at the earlier time, the people were desperate for water. As usual, they complained bitterly against Moses and Aaron and against [but not to] God. And as usual, Moses went immediately to God.

This time God told Moses to “speak to the rock” before the eyes of the Israelites and the rock would produce water for humans and animals. “The rock” is undoubtedly the same rock which, at an earlier time, Moses had been told to strike with his staff and had at that time produced water (Ex. 17:5–7). But this time Moses, upset and angry with the Israelites and undoubtedly worn down by their unresponsiveness, failed to heed God’s words. Rather than speak to the rock, he struck it twice, angrily complaining to the rebels and asking, “Must we bring water for you out of this rock?”

The rock did produce abundant water. But God was displeased.

Then the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, “Because you did not believe Me, to hallow Me in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land which I have given them” (Num. 20:12).

God had told Moses to speak to the rock. Moses failed to heed God’s word, and struck the rock instead.

Some have felt that the punishment God decreed hardly fit Moses’ crime. But there are two possible reasons why such critics are wrong. The first reason is theological; the second is practical.

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Because Moses disobeyed God by striking rather than speaking to the rock to produce water, he was not allowed to lead Israel into the promised land.

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The theological reason is based on Paul’s statement in 1 Corinthians 10:4 that the Rock represented Christ. When Moses struck the rock, the first time on the way to Mount Sinai, the rock provided life-saving water, even as when Christ died on Calvary He provided a life-giving salvation for all who believe in Him. Jesus died once for all for sins: His sacrifice was complete and fully efficacious. Hebrews says that by His one sacrifice He perfected forever those who are sanctified (cf. Heb. 10:10). In striking the rock on this second occasion, Moses distorted the typology, for Christ was smitten once for all. It was not necessary for Jesus to be stricken twice or three times.

The practical reason is expressed in the Numbers text. Moses had failed to believe God. This statement rests on the principle that trust in God leads to obedience, a theme developed in Hebrews 3 and 4. Israel had disobeyed God through unbelief and rebelled at Kadesh Barnea; in a similar way Moses disobeyed God through unbelief and failed to follow His instructions. We might argue that Moses’ failure can hardly be compared to that of the Israelites in degree, but we must admit that Moses’ failure was the same in kind. The consequences to Moses and to the Israelites were the same. Like the Israelites, Moses died outside the promised land, unable to set foot on territory God had promised to Abraham’s seed.

Before we assume that God was overly hard on Moses, let’s consider. Moses was an intimate of God’s. Moses knew far more of the Lord than did the Israelites he led. With Moses’ privileges, there came weighty responsibility. As James reminds us, “Let not many of you become teachers, knowing that we shall receive a stricter judgment” (James 3:1).

Unlike the Israelites of the Exodus generation, however, God did permit Moses to stand on heights across the Jordan and see the promised land. There Moses died, and God Himself buried His faithful prophet and His friend.

 

MOSES’ RELATIONSHIP WITH THE ISRAELITES

One might almost say that Moses had a love-hate relationship with Israel. His early dream of delivering God’s people was shattered when an Israelite rejected Moses’ intervention in a quarrel and revealed that people knew about Moses’ earlier murder of an Egyptian slave-master (Ex. 2:11–15). Forty years later when Moses returned to Egypt he was first welcomed by the Israelite community, but with the very first setback the Israelites turned on Moses and blamed him for their misfortunes (Ex. 5:1–22). This pattern was repeated for most of the forty years that Moses led Israel, with almost all hostility in the relationship expressed by the Israelites.

Yet through the years, Moses not only remained faithful to his mission; he also remained committed to care for and to pray for the Israelites. What an example he set for parents of strong-willed children and for shepherds of God’s sometimes-contentious flock.

The pattern of the relationship foreshadowed (Ex. 5). When Moses first appeared in Egypt, he went to the Hebrew community’s leaders with the good news that God intended to win their release from slavery. When Moses performed the signs God had given him, the Israelites expressed thanks to God for the prospect of freedom (Ex. 4:31). However, when Moses delivered God’s demand to Pharaoh, the Egyptian ruler’s response was to increase his slaves’ workload. Understandably, the Israelites blamed Moses (Ex. 5:21). Puzzled, Moses turned to God for an explanation. When Moses understood that God would use Pharaoh’s hostility as an occasion to display His power, and would win Israel’s freedom in time, Moses believed God. But when Moses reported God’s intentions to the Israelites, “they did not heed Moses, because of anguish of spirit and cruel bondage” (Ex. 6:9).

In this initial story, we can see elements that would mark this generation of Israelites’ relationship with God and with Moses for the next forty years. Moses obeyed God. Difficulties arose. The Israelites criticized Moses. Moses prayed. God acted.

While the nature of the difficulties, the intensity of the criticisms, the content of the prayers, and the nature of God’s responses varied, these elements remained constant.

The character of the relationship displayed (Ex. 16–17).It was one thing for the Israelites to react with unbelief after the setback described in Exodus 5. Their reactions as they left Egypt and traveled toward Mount Sinai were much more difficult to explain.

Before that journey had begun, the land of their servitude had been devastated by a wondrous series of judgments through which God had unmistakably demonstrated His power. On that journey a massive cloudy-fiery pillar that hung in the heavens above them led the Israelites. Even more, the Israelites had seen God part the waters of a sea so they might pass safely through and then had seen the waters close to wipe out their pursuers. God was obviously, unmistakably with them, and Moses was marked as God’s appointed spokesman and leader.

Yet, just three days after being led safely through the sea, when confronted with undrinkable water, “the people complained against Moses” (15:24). Moses prayed, and God responded by showing Moses how to purify the waters so the people could drink.

Some days later, food ran out and again, rather than look to God to provide, the Israelites “complained against Moses and Aaron” (Ex. 16:2). Again the Lord provided. Yet when the water ran out once again, “the people contended with Moses” and demanded water, continuing to “complain” against him.

What the English text does not reveal is that in the original languages the intensity of the complaints increases incident by incident. We can sense Moses’ increasing frustration as we read Exodus 17:4: “Moses cried out to the Lord, saying, ‘What shall I do with this people? They are almost ready to stone me!’” Once again God provided water.

The sequence of events in these chapters is striking and significant. With each difficulty the hostility of the Israelites toward Moses and their insensitivity to God increased—despite the fact that God continued to meet their every need immediately. In this we see both the pattern and the consequences of “permissive parenting.” In permissive parenting, wrong behavior is not corrected nor are the children disciplined. Rather, they are given whatever they demand. The product is not a mature, self-disciplined and responsible adult, but an individual or a people ever more selfish and insensitive.

All this however was about to change. For the Israelites were journeying toward Mount Sinai. Soon they would become subject to a law that not only set standards but also called for sin to be disciplined.

The rebelliousness of the Israelites unveiled (Num. 11).It is striking to compare the events of Numbers 11 with those recorded in Exodus 16–17. The circumstances are parallel, the responses of the Israelites are the same, but God’s actions are totally different. We see it in the very first verse of Numbers 11:

Now when the people complained, it displeased the Lord; for the Lord heard it, and His anger was aroused. So the fire of the Lord burned among them, and consumed some in the outskirts of the camp (Num. 11:1).

This incident introduced Moses’ role as an intercessor, for “when Moses prayed to the Lord, the fire was quenched” (Num. 11:2).

But the Israelites did not learn from discipline any more than they had learned from unmixed grace. They craved a change in diet, and soon the spirit of dissatisfaction and complaint swept through the camp. Again the Lord was angry, and Moses began to feel the weight of leading an unspiritual and selfish people. We can sense Moses’ frustration in his prayer:

So Moses said to the Lord, “Why have You afflicted Your servant? And why have I not found favor in Your sight, that You have laid the burden of all these people on me? Did I conceive all these people? Did I beget them, and You should say to me, ‘Carry them in your bosom, as a guardian caries a nursing child,’ to the land which You swore to their fathers? … I am not able to bear all these people alone, because the burden is too great for me” (Num. 11:11, 12, 14).

Despite the tone of Moses’ prayer, and Moses’ failure to remember that God was with him so he did not “bear all these people alone,” Moses was right to bring his complaint directly to the Lord. In this, Moses showed a great respect for God and acted quite differently than the Israelites, who directed their complaints against Moses.

God’s response was to provide the meat the Israelites craved, but with it He sent a “very great” plague that must have killed thousands of Israelites. The psalmist commented on this event:

So they ate and were well filled,

For He gave them their own desire.

They were not deprived of their craving;

But while the food was still in their mouths,

The wrath of God came against them,

And slew the stoutest of them,

And struck down the choice men of Israel.

In spite of this they still sinned,

And did not believe in His wondrous works.

Therefore their days He consumed in futility,

And their years in fear. (Ps. 78:29–33)

Here too we find an important lesson. God had provided in manna all that the Israelites needed to sustain life and health. Yet, they craved what God had not seen fit to provide. Rather than be thankful and satisfied with God’s gracious provision, they were dissatisfied and focused on what they did not have. Finally, God gave them what they craved—and it destroyed them. How foolish not to find satisfaction in the gracious gifts God has given us, and how foolish to crave more. Should God give us what we crave rather than what He chooses for us, we too might be destroyed.

The ultimate act of rebellion (Num. 14).When the Israelites reached Canaan, a representative of each tribe was sent to explore the land and bring back reports. Ten of the explorers emphasized the military strength of the Canaanites. This terrified the people. Despite the miracles of deliverance and the terror of the divine judgments they had experienced, they still refused to take account of God’s power or to trust Him. Numbers 14:2, 3 tells us:

All the children of Israel complained against Moses and Aaron, and the whole congregation said to them, “If only we had died in the land of Egypt! Or if only we had died in this wilderness! Why has the Lord brought us to this land to fall by the sword, that our wives and children should become victims? Would it not be better for us to return to Egypt?

Despite the urgings of Moses, Aaron, and the two faithful explorers Caleb and Joshua, the Israelites rebelliously refused to obey God’s command to go up and take Canaan. The Israelites’ response is described in verse 10: “All the congregation said to stone them with stones.”

At this point God again threatened totally to destroy the Israelites and begin anew with Moses. Moses again interceded for the Israelites, pleading God’s glory and reminding the Lord of His covenant commitment to the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. [See the discussion of this similar prayer, page 35.]

Moses’ prayer for pardon was granted (Num. 14:20), yet the disobedient and unbelieving Israelites would have to face some consequences. The Israelites had proclaimed that they would rather die in the wilderness than face the Canaanites. God would give them what they had chosen. God announced through Moses:

“Just as you have spoken in My hearing, so will I do to you: the carcasses of you who have complained against Me shall fall in this wilderness, all of you who were numbered, according to your entire number, from twenty years old and above” (Num. 14:29).

And so it was.

We can learn several lessons from this incident. First, leaders, like Moses, are both to represent their people before God and represent God before their people. On the one hand, faithfulness in ministry calls for earnest prayer on behalf of others even when they sin. On the other hand, faithfulness calls for announcing God’s judgments even when we know they will be unpopular. In each of these aspects of spiritual leadership, Moses provides us with an exceptional example.

The second lesson is that our choices have consequences. When we refuse to follow God’s Word, we can be sure that disaster will follow—whatever our motives for disobedience may have been. Whether it is a fleshly craving or fear that moves us to disobey, abandoning God’s will provides neither satisfaction nor security.

The Israelites’ unbelieving hearts further revealed(Num. 16). The Israelites’ rebellion at Kadesh Barnea destined the Exodus generation to decades of wandering in the wilderness until God’s sentence had been carried out. Yet, clearly the Israelites still failed to understand or to trust the Lord. This is made abundantly clear in the story of Korah’s rebellion.

Korah and his followers argued that in a faith community where each individual had been redeemed and set apart to God, it was inappropriate for Moses and Aaron to exalt themselves “above the assembly of the Lord” (Num. 16:3). They felt that this was especially true for them, for they were Levites, set apart to serve God at the tabernacle. So Korah and his followers argued that where all are holy [in the sense of being set apart to God], no individual should be responsible to a mere human leader.

In this, of course, Korah and his followers totally ignored the fact that God Himself had commissioned Moses to lead His people and that while Moses had consistently been faithful to the Lord, Korah and all the rest had proven rebellious and unbelieving. So Moses proposed a test: let Korah and his followers appear before the Lord ready to lead in worship, and let the Lord decide.

But Korah’s coleaders in this rebellion, Dathan and Abiram, refused to listen to Moses. They accused Moses of being responsible for the failure to take Canaan, and they blamed him for the wilderness death they now faced. Whatever Moses suggested, they would refuse to do! Angry then, Moses prayed against these rebels, asking God not to respect their offering. How could they treat Moses in this way; Moses who had never done one thing to exploit his position as a leader or to harm a single individual (Num. 16:15)?

When the day of the test came, Korah with Dathan and Abiram and their followers, some 250 men in all, marched up to the tabernacle bearing censers filled with incense to offer to the Lord. They were followed by the entire congregation of Israelites, who supported them in their stand against Moses!

Again, God threatened to destroy the Israelites. Again, Moses prayed for the people. This time, however, Moses made a distinction in his prayer between the congregation and the leaders of the rebellion. God then told Moses to warn the Israelites to get away from the tents of the rebel leaders. Moses then established the parameters of the test: The people would know that God had chosen Moses as their leader if the ground opened and swallowed the tents and families of the rebels. A great chasm opened and swallowed the households and possessions of Korah’s clan, and fire blazed from the tabernacle and consumed the 250 men who had arrogantly violated God’s Word and taken on themselves the priestly role reserved for Aaron’s descendants.

The terrible fate of Korah and his family and followers was unmistakably the result of an act of God. Yet “on the next day” all the Israelites complained against Moses and Aaron and accused them of killing “the people of the Lord!” (Num. 16:41). Again, God threatened to wipe out His rebellious people, and a plague struck. This time Moses sent the true priest, Aaron, to make atonement for the Israelites, and the plague was stopped.

The incidents reported in this chapter fully demonstrate why the Lord had no choice but to replace the Exodus generation with their children. The adults who left Egypt simply refused to respond to the Lord, no matter what God did. This generation could not enter the promised land, for only people who trusted God enough to obey Him would win the victories that would establish the Hebrew’s dominance of the Holy Land.

Moses leads the new and responsive generation (Num. 26–36).Taking the census described in Numbers 26 marks the passing of the Exodus generation. The census revealed that just as some 600,000 men of military age had left Egypt four decades earlier, there were now some 600,000 men of the new generation, ready to succeed where their fathers had failed.

These last chapters of Numbers tell of Moses’ travels with the new generation, travels marked by military victories and preparations for entering the promised land. What a relief and joy it must have been for Moses, now well over a hundred years old, at last to be able to guide a people who were respectful, responsive, and willing to trust the Lord. It is so much easier for leaders when those they lead willingly follow! The Lord had given Moses a wonderful gift near the end of his life.

At the same time, we must appreciate that Moses’ travails are more instructive for us. Moses’ experience with the Israelites remind us that leadership is burdensome, a ministry not to be sought lightly or for self-aggrandizement. A person who accepts the mantle of leadership must accept with it the care of persons who will often misunderstand, criticize, and complain. A person who accepts the mantle of leadership must faithfully pray for the hostile, and just as faithfully honor and communicate God’s Word, regardless of whether others accept that Word. Yet, a person who accepts the mantle of leadership will find in that ministry great and wonderful rewards. Leadership’s challenges will drive the leader closer to God. When at last the leader sees God’s people respond and grow, it will all seem worthwhile.

MOSES: AN EXAMPLE FOR TODAY

We rightly hesitate to compare ourselves to the greatest or even great men of faith. Yet, we can learn much from their lives. Perhaps the most significant quality Moses modeled was humility. No person full of himself would have been so totally dependent on God or so patient with the Israelites. Both these aspects of humility are required in anyone who aspires to spiritual leadership. Only the person who acknowledges and who acts in total dependence on the Lord will experience God’s full working in and through his life. And only the truly humble person will remain loving despite the unmerited complaints and hostility that seem so typically associated with leading God’s people.

It is striking that in a world where people assume that the self-confident, assertive individual is the leader type, that in God’s economy it is the humble and self-effacing who achieve great things. It took Moses forty years in the wilderness to learn humility. May we learn humility from him, in far less time, and far less painfully.

There are also other lessons a person can take away from a study of Moses’ life.

•     Moses was eighty years old before he was ready to be used by God. Never despise the time it takes to prepare yourself for ministry. And never assume that it’s too late to serve. The church and the world are well able to wait until God has fully equipped you.

•     Moses performed miracles—and even so those God called him to lead abused him. Few of us will ever perform miracles, so we should not be surprised when we are treated unfairly.

•     Moses brought his complaints to God, not to the neighbors. We will often be tempted to tell friends and fellow believers when we feel we have been mistreated. This will only make matters worse. We need to recognize God’s hand in all that happens and honor Him by bringing our complaints as well as our praises to Him.

•     Moses continued to pray for his congregation, despite their lack of spirituality and the personal abuse he suffered. We are not called to treat others as they treat us, but rather to treat others as God for Christ’s sake has treated us.

•     Moses remained obedient to the Lord, even when obedience seemed to lead to disaster. The “success” of what we do does not indicate God’s pleasure. What pleases the Lord is our obedience, whatever may come.

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