Who is moses in the bible

Sometimes it names people whose lives are recorded in secular histories, or events that were recorded elsewhere. Or the date of the text itself gives a clue. Eusebius of Caesarea , the father of church history, recorded the timeline of important biblical people and events in painstaking detail in his book, Chronicon.

In a translation of this work, Jerome claimed Moses was born in BC. But this is pretty unreliable. While Eusebius had access to one of the greatest ancient libraries in the world including many works which have been lost forever , and Jerome was a gifted scholar, their calculations are pretty unscientific. The Bible mentions Moses more than times. Nearly everything that happens in the Pentateuch involves him in some way. Through Moses, God laid the foundation for pretty much everything else that happens in the Bible.

He defined the Law, which helped the Israelites understand every aspect of their daily lives in terms of their relationship with God.

He outlined religious rituals and practices which set the Israelites apart from other nations, which Orthodox Jews still follow today. Moses was born at an unfortunate time. He forced the Israelites to work as slaves, and eventually commanded his people:. She saw the basket among the reeds and sent her female slave to get it.

She opened it and saw the baby. He was crying, and she felt sorry for him. At all. Exodus says Moses checked to make sure no one was looking, then killed the Egyptian and hid him in the sand Exodus — While Moses apparently thought he was pretty discreet about all of this, I guess he forgot that there was a pretty obvious witness: the person he saved.

Rather than seeing Moses as some sort of savior from the Egyptians, the Hebrews questioned if he might be willing to kill them as well Exodus — When he fled to Midian, Moses settled down, got married, and started a family. This is the moment when God first calls Moses to save the Israelites and lead the exodus out of Egypt. So God told him. I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since you have spoken to your servant.

I am slow of speech and tongue. Who makes them deaf or mute? Who gives them sight or makes them blind? Is it not I, the Lord?

Now go; I will help you speak and will teach you what to say. I know he can speak well. He is already on his way to meet you, and he will be glad to see you. You shall speak to him and put words in his mouth; I will help both of you speak and will teach you what to do. He will speak to the people for you, and it will be as if he were your mouth and as if you were God to him.

In this passage, God identifies himself and then outlines his plan. Ancient Egypt was one of the most powerful nations in the world. And the people of Egypt worshipped their own pantheon of gods—including Pharaoh himself. Like many powerful monarchs throughout history, Pharaoh was treated not just as royalty, but divinity. Before Moses could lead the Israelites out of Egypt, he had to convince Pharaoh to let them go. The Ten Plagues of Egypt is one of the more well-known Bible stories, and Moses played a key part in it.

He was the primary messenger God used to administer his wrath upon Egypt for persecuting his people. Some suggest that each of the Ten Plagues correlates to a specific Egyptian god and their domain. As the plagues went on, God began making a distinction between the Egyptians and the Israelites, and between the land of the Egyptians and therefore the domain of their gods and the land of the Israelites.

The Israelites and Goshen the land they dwelled within were unaffected by the later plagues. The Egyptians depended on the flooding of the Nile to spread minerals and keep the land fertile. God told Moses to have Aaron strike the Nile with his staff, and the water turned into blood, which killed all the fish and made the water undrinkable.

The magicians replicated this, but only Moses was able to make the frogs leave, by praying to God. This time, Moses had Aaron stretch out his hand, strike the dust, and turn it into gnats. In the fourth plague, God made a distinction between the Egyptians and the Israelites.

Flies swarmed the Egyptians and ruin the land, but they left the Israelites and their land Goshen untouched. In the seventh plague, God gave a warning to bring people and animals indoors, giving the Egyptians a chance to listen to him. Hail devastated the land and killed every person and animal that had been left out in the open—except for in Goshen.

The ninth plague brought total darkness on the land for three days. Interestingly, the Israelites apparently still had light in Goshen Exodus The final plague was likely a judgment of Pharaoh himself, who the Egyptians believed to be a god.

In Exodus 1, a different Pharaoh ordered Egyptian midwives to kill the sons of Israel. As Moses led the Israelites out of Egypt with the help of a pillar of cloud and pillar of fire , Pharaoh changed his mind classic Pharaoh and sent out his chariots to slaughter them. The angel of God stalled Pharaoh and his army along with the pillar of cloud, and meanwhile, Moses held out his staff over the Red Sea, and God sent a strong wind to part it.

God wanted to demonstrate his power again, this time delivering the Israelites from an entire army:. The waters were divided, and the Israelites went through the sea on dry ground, with a wall of water on their right and on their left. That may be true, or it might be God burying his friend. Only God knows. Danielle Bernock is an international, award-winning author.

Share this. Who Was Moses in the Bible? Danielle Bernock Crosswalk. Moses was a Hebrew. Moses was a special baby. Moses was raised as royalty. Moses was a murderer. His Story and Significance Today.

Today on Christianity. Is Thanksgiving Truly a Christian Holiday? There has been some debate about the meaning of his name, with some scholars relating it to a root "to bear, " and found in such Egyptian names as Ahmose and Thutmose. In Exodus , the name given to him by the princess is connected with a Hebrew verb meaning "to draw out" cf. To hide his crime, he buried his victim in the sand. More than just a play on words, when Moses ran from the murder charge, he fled to the desert of Midian where he met Zipporah, the daughter of a shepherd, and began working with her father, Jethro.

He married Zipporah and had two sons. Not surprisingly, God rebutted every one. I never have been, and I'm not now, even though you have spoken to me. I get tongue-tied, and my words get tangled.

After the first assignment, however, Moses was front and center, and Aaron takes a backseat to his little brother. Today most people his age would be firmly ensconced in their rocking chairs, but not Moses. Moses had leprosy. When he withdrew it, his hand was covered in leprosy.