Moses was an extremely important figure in both the rising Jewish religion and in modern day Judaism teachings and practices. He is widely thought of as the best “prophet, leader and teacher that Judaism has ever known” (Rabbi Louis Jacobs, "Moses: In the Bible & Beyond.") Called Moshe Rabbeinu, meaning Moses our teacher, he was considered a person with human like faults and short comings yet acknowledged as the leader of a people’s freedom, the man who spoke with G-d and the instructor of a budding religion. His significance can be explained through his various merits, his largest one being the Exodus. Moses took the Hebrews out from their bonds in the oppressive land of Egypt and led to the promised Holy Land filled with milk and honey. …show more content…
Like no other prophet before him, Moses was “a vessel for displaying God 's awesome powers…” (Jen Saunders, "What Significance Does Moses Have to the Hebrew People?") This not only allowed the Israelites to leave Egypt, but protected them along their way to a new land and cemented their faith in G-d. His most notable act was the ten plagues. G-d channeled his divine powers into Moses’s human vessel and made him turn the Nile into blood, let frogs, bugs, wild animals and locusts overrun Egypt, give disease to their livestock, riddle the people with boils, strike down a thunderstorm of hail and fire, bury them in darkness, and kill off every nonbelievers first born. (Chabad, “The Ten Plagues”) This certainly put the fear of G-d into the Egyptians. His next big act would be splitting the Red Sea. With the raise of Moses’s staff, G-d allowed him to part the sea, protecting the Hebrews of the advancing Egyptian army. Instances like this occurred, just enough for the Hebrews to reinforce their belief in the one and only, to praise no other and to follow the rules of no other. Through demonstrations, such as striking water out of a rock, Moses was the catalyst for Hebrews to accept their G-d. He was able to captivate a people into a zealous belief that lasted for many years to …show more content…
Moses had the duty of not only leading these people into a new land, but guiding them as well, teaching them the things G-d told him to. Moses would meet with G-d in private and relay the messages to the Hebrews or sometimes “tuning” in his people to the words of G-d that described what they were and were not to do, them not being able to hear G-d by themselves, since their spiritual height wasn’t as large as his. The merging of all these tenets became the Torah, “traditionally translated as 'law '.” (BBC, “Moses”), which was authoritative in nature. He was responsible for “bringing the Torah to Israel and in interpreting the Torah for them.” (Rabbi Louis Jacobs, Moses: In the Bible & Beyond).The Torah encompassed every facet of life, it being an instructional guide on how live righteously, these rules reaching 613 commandments. 603 of the commandments all fall in categories under the Aseret ha-D 'varim or the Ten Commandments. (Judaism101, “Aseret ha-Dibrot: The "Ten Commandments"”) It was Moses who brought the two tablets, on which these regulations were inscribed on, down from Mount. Sinai and he was the one who explained these laws for the Israelites. He even was charged with “hearing cases and judging them for the people” (Judaism 101, “Moses, Aaron and Miriam”) By establishing these laws in G-d’s favor and facilitating them to teach and discipline his people, Moses put himself up for being one of the greatest
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Show MoreMoses went against the pharaoh and went on to free and lead the Jewish people to the promised
Moses was a Hebrew who was raised with Egyptian upbringing and education. As he grew he either knew that he was an Israelite or simply sympathized with Israelites in bondage. We know this by the action he took when he saw an Egyptian guard beating on a Hebrew slave. Moses interfered, killed the guard, and buried him. So Moses fled Egypt to Mount Sinai out of fear. This is the location in which God revealed his personal name to Moses and called upon him to lead his people out of the land of Egypt.
Moses spends forty years following the instructions of God throughout Exodus. However, in Numbers, God tells him to speak to the rock and it will bring them water. Instead of speaking to the rock, he strikes it with his staff, like he did previously in Exodus. When he does not directly follow the instructions he was given, God responds by saying, “‘Because you were not faithful to me in showing forth my sanctity before the Israelites, you shall not lead this community into the land I will give them,’” (Numbers 20:12). Moses ends up being able to see the Promised Land, but never being able to set foot inside
...nnel for the message to the Israelites. This serves God's ultimately purpose of setting his chosen people free. Although Moses does not seem like a worthy candidate for the task, God gives him the power to overcome his flaws. Moses was successful in communicating and obeying God's word throughout his journey, because he never sought to control or possess the land or the people, unlike Pharaoh. In the end, the journey of the spiritual hero can finish in either one of these two paths. It is up to the individual whether or not they will succumb to temptation and be led down into hell and remain there forever.
... like yet another example of being given a task that in Yahweh’s eyes the person seems not complete well enough, this time loosing the reward of the promise land. The only way to end up successful in the bible becomes to please Yahweh. It seems hard to understand why Yahweh chose not to let Moses into the promise land after Moses completed every task Yahweh told him to. An example being 7: 1-5 God told Moses, “Look at me. I’ll make you as a god to Pharaoh and your brother Aaron will be your prophet. You are to speak everything I command you, and your brother Aaron will tell it to Pharaoh. Then he will release the Israelites from his land.” 7: 10 “Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and did what God commanded.” Nevertheless in some way Moses failed to complete the task well enough and therefore readers need not to look to Moses as an example of success in the Bible.
This section of exodus focuses on Moses, an Israelite who was raised as an Egyptian, who has fled from Egypt after the Pharaoh tried to kill him for killing an Egyptian man. By Exodus 3:1 Moses is married to Zipporah daughter of Jethro who gives him a job working as a shepherd. While tending to his animals Moses arrives at Horeb also known as Mount Sinai or the Mountain of God. Here Moses has his first theophany with God in the form of a burning bush. During this passage God talks to Moses telling him what he needs to do: go to Egypt and convince the Pharaoh to let the Egyptians go by performing a series of miracles. What god is asking Moses to do is intimidating. At this time the Pharaoh was the ruler of Egypt who had a powerful army and the Israelite’s weren’t going to be easy to convince that God sent him. Despite the “signs” Moses is reluctant to take the role beca...
God gave Moses ten plagues to convince Pharaoh and his gods to let God's people go but not until the tenth plague Pharaoh would agree after losing his own firstborn son to the plague. Moses instructed the people to prepare a lamb for sacrifi...
Jesus is connected to Moses. Moses was the first mediator and Jesus was the final mediator. Moreover they both have many similarities. They both fasted for forty days and faced a spiritual crisis on a mountain, both born as Hebrews, the leader of the land they were born in tried to kill all the babies, and they both performed miracles. These four items just some of the similarities they have. Moses is the prophet of the Old Covenant Church and Jesus is the prophet, priest, and King of a new and everlasting Covenant.
“And Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet with God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain. Now Mount Sinai was completely in smoke, because the Lord descended upon it in fire. Its smoke ascended like the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mountain quaked greatly. And when the blast of the trumpet sounded long and became louder and louder, Moses spoke, and God answered him by voice. Then the Lord came down upon Mount Sinai, on the top of the mountain. And the Lord called Moses to the top of the mountain, and Moses went up.” (Exodus 19:17-20, Macarthur, 1997) In the Sinai wilderness, there lies a holy, sacred mountain, Mount Sinai (Jebel Musa), “the mountain of Moses.” This sacred mountain, once made the Israelites tremble with fear at the site of thick smoke and the loud sound of trumpets at the descending of the Lord. The Lord spoke with Moses at the top of Mount Sinai while this thick smoke created by the hand of the Lord covered the mountain, prevailing the Israelites from gazing upon the holiness of the Lord and anyone who touched the base of the mountain would die. Apart from the graveness of what would happen to the Israelites if they were to disobey the Lord, Mount Sinai became this “sacred” place, a holy ground, where Moses (who was the son of a Hebrew slave, born in Egypt and called by the name of the Lord to deliver the Israelites out of exile to the promised land) was once in the presence of the Almighty, Jealous, Holy and All-Powerful Yahweh. Standing in the presence of the Lord, Moses received the Ten Commandments. The Ten Commandments were two stone tablets, breathed to life by the spoken word of the Lord, a symbolic covenant to the Israelites from the Lord. From a biblical, theological perspective, Mo...
...he Ten Commandments. Moses next prepared to lead the people from Mount Sinai to the promised land of Israel. However, the Israelite people, accustomed to slavery and uncertain of freedom, soon rebelled against God. They became convinced that they could not conquer the new land, and they constantly questioned Moses' leadership and their own faith in God. As a consequence, the generation that left Egypt was not allowed to enter the promised land. The Bible describes Moses himself as once losing patience with the people and seeming to doubt God: rather than speaking to a rock to get water as God commanded, Moses struck the rock with his staff. For this, Moses was also destined not to enter the new land. Near the end of his life, Moses taught the laws of the Torah to the new generation that had grown up in the desert. He then transferred leadership to Joshua. The Torah ends with Moses' final blessing to the people, after which he ascended Mount Nebo, which is identified with Mount Pisgah, on the eastern edge of the Jordan River. Moses died there, able to see, but not to enter, the promised land. Moses was true to himself and his beliefs, even though his path was uncertain and painful.
...er the sea to divide the water so that the Israelites can go through the sea on dry ground” (Exodus 14:15). Unlike Abraham, who communicated to God solely through prayer, Moses communicated to God in a physical form and a direct way, in addition to prayer.
This is when God made a promise to Abraham that he would save them, “afterward they shall come out with great possessions” (Genesis 15:14). Many years after, the new king of Egypt fulfilled Gods prophecy. After the birth of Moses, days after God heard the people of Israel cries for help and remembered his covenant to Abraham ( Exodus 2:23-35). Moses was used by God to do his work and deliver the people of Israel. Moses went to the Pharaoh to request the Israelites to be let go to worship God. The stubborn Pharaoh “hardened his heart” and refused the request, Moses knew he would already because God warned him (Exodus 4:21). God then began the series of ten plagues. Every time the Pharaoh refused to release the people of Israel, God sent a plague. After the final plague (death of every firstborn), the Pharaoh repented and agreed to let the people go. When the king of Egypt became aware that the people had fled, the Pharaoh had a change of heart, Exodus 14:5, “What is this we have done, that we have let Israel go from serving us?” The Pharaohs army attempted to capture the people but God had another plan. God separated the Red Sea, he made a pathway for his people to pass through safely, but drowning the Pharaoh army in the sea (Exodus 14:28). The parting of the Red Sea is one thing God did to deliver Abrahams people from slavery in Egypt. The omnipresent God used Moses to fulfill the physical work that he can’t do. The deliverance of Israel is one of the greatest testimonies the Old Testament uses to show Gods work of salvation and saving power. Modern slavery isn’t like the slavery of the Israelites in Egypt, John 8:35, “everyone who commits sin is a slave to
Joshua was born a slave in Egypt but he was selected to follow Moses as the leader of Israel. He was the man God used to fulfill His promise regarding the land of Canaan. Joshua had been Moses' Chief of Staff. He assisted him, ministered to him, and led the armies into battle. He watched and learned as God led Moses. He experienced the supernatural deliverance from Egypt; he watched while the hand of God parted the Red Sea, and he saw an entire generation of his peers die while wandering in the wilderness in judgment of their sins. He also saw the grace of God sustain the nation during that same 40 years.
This is what I was taught in Sunday school and even Jesus and Paul referred to Moses as the giver of the Law. However, after this week’s study, I have come to understand the greater evidence in multi-authorship and compilation of the Pentateuch. However, the biggest question that remains, when was the Torah compiled? Alexander does an excellent job explaining what is known and not known. I have to agree that the exile to Babylon makes since when you look at Genesis through Kings being one compilation. However, despite not knowing the exact date, the most helpful resource Alexander offers to the discussion is the purpose the Pentateuch. He traces the Garden of Eden through the Pentateuch to point out the great activity of God from the beginning. God is bringing humanity back to a garden city. Specifically, Alexander
...e complaining, and murmuring while in the dessert. Numbers 11:1-3 says “Now the people complained about their troubles in the hearing of the Lord. When the Lord heard it, His anger burned. The fire of the Lord burned among them, and destroyed some around the outer parts of the tents. Then the people cried to Moses and he prayed to the Lord, and the fire went out. So the name of that place was called Taberah, because the fire of the Lord burned among them.” Third, Moses was a Intercessor in enforced Gods laws to children of Israel. Exodus 20:1, “And God spoke all these words; I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.” God gave Moses the Ten Commandments for the Children of Israel for there disobedience, foolishness.