Moses stands out as great. He was the deliverer, leader, lawgiver and prophet of Israel. The life of Moses is divided into three equal portions of forty years each.
- His life in Egypt
- Exile in Arabia
- Government of Israel.
Moses birth was when the Egyptians were slaying all male children. His life was spared as God had a purpose for his life, his upbringing was unusual as he was adopted by the kings daughter and "educated in all the learning of the Egyptians."
Moses received his call as a prophet when an angel of the Lord appeared to Moses in a flame of fire in the midst of the bush that did not burn up. Through this Moses learnt that there was one God and of his mission to deliver his own people, then he returned home to Egypt to visit his brethren.
Moses had to confront Pharaoh one of the most powerful men on earth and convince him to let God's people go free into the wilderness and sacrifice to Yahweh. But Pharaoh was a hard man. Moses told Pharaoh ten times that Egypt would suffer terrible consequences if he didn't set free God's people. Each plague made Pharaoh's heart more hardened. This didn't make it easy for Moses so he prayed a lot to God through this time for guidance.
In the wilderness Moses become the great lawgiver through whom Israel's religion was revealed. Moses received the law from God. The law showed God's covenant with His newly delivered nation. These were known as the 10 commandments.
Here are some interesting types between Moses and Christ:The life of Moses foreshadowed the life of Christ. As Pharaoh slew the Hebrew children at the time Moses was born, so Herod did when Jesus was born. As Moses left Egypt so did the Lord Jesus. As Moses was mighty in word and deed so was the Lord. As Moses led the people from Egypt, baptised them in the Red Sea, gave them a law, formed them into God's people so the Lord calls his people to separate themselves from spiritual Egypt and devote themselves to his service.
At the close of Moses' career, Joshua who had already been named as Israel's leader was appointed as successor to Moses. In a song Moses expressed his praise to God recounting how God had delivered Israel and provided for them through the wilderness journey. Then with the pronouncement of a blessing upon each tribe, Moses departed for Mount Nebo where he was privileged to view the promised land before he died.
