Moses

The lawgiver, the leader of Israel’s exodus from Egypt, brother to Aaron and Miriam, and a descendant of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, through Levi.

Moses stands as one of the most important men who ever lived. Although God had given the original promise of the blessed family to Abraham generations before, it was through Moses that God set the promise in motion. He was the man appointed to bring Israel out of slavery to take the land God had promised them in Canaan. And, he was the man through whom God instituted the Law and the covenant which would govern the Israelite people until Jesus’ death and resurrection.

As Moses’ life spans the entirety of Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy, it is difficult to produce a brief summary of the major events, but, to give a few:

he was hidden in a basket (literally an “ark”) in the Nile and found and eventually raised by Pharaoh’s daughter (2:1-10). He was exiled for 40 years after killing an Egyptian for abusing one of Moses’ fellow Hebrews (2:11-22). God called him from the burning bush and sent him to confront Pharaoh and lead the people of Israel out of Egypt (Exodus 3–4). His confrontation with Pharaoh set off God’s 10 plagues on Egypt before Israel celebrated the Passover and exited by way of the parting of the Red Sea (Exodus 5–14). God gave Moses the Law and the instructions for the tabernacle and the priesthood on Mt. Sinai (Exodus 19—Leviticus 27). And, Moses ultimately lost his chance to enter the Promised Land by disobeying God and not honoring Him as holy (Numbers 20).

In the New Testament, Moses is often referenced as the giver of the Law, but his name is also used as a stand-in for the Law itself. He and Elijah were present at the transfiguration of Jesus (Matthew 17, Mark 9, Luke 9); the two are generally considered to be representatives of the Law and the Prophets, respectively.

Like Joseph’s, Moses’ life also strongly foreshadowed Jesus. A ruler tried to kill both of them as babies. Both were rejected by their people at one point. Both passed through water (the Red Sea and baptism) before going on a 40-day fast and then giving the Law from a mountain (Moses from Sinai, Jesus at the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5). Hebrews 3:1-6 compares the two for their faithfulness while also showing Jesus’ superiority.