According to world history, Moses is reflected as one of the first significant religious leaders. Moses is claimed by Christianity, Judaism, Islam as well as Bahai as one of the vital prophets of God and the forefather of monotheistic belief. In the biblical books of Exodus, Leviticus, Deuteronomy, and Numbers mostly talk of the story of Moses. However, he is also mentioned throughout in the Bible (Tulchinsky, 2010). As such, Moses becomes one of the most referenced prophets in the Bible, especially in the New Testament. In the Quran too, Moses also plays an important role. For instance, he is mentioned 115 times as compared to Muhammed who is referred to in the texts by his name four times only. Moses is widely known from the Book of Exodus and Quran as the receiver of the Ten Commandments on Mount Sinai where he met with God face to face. Also, he is best known for leading the Israelites from the land of bondage in Egypt to the promised land of Canaan (Tulchinsky, 2010). The narrative of Moses and deliverance of the Hebrews from Egypt is found in the Pentateuch books and the Quran, and there are no other known sources that have corroborated this story or any archaeological evidence thereof that supports it. As such, several scholars have asserted that Moses was a mythological figure and thus the story of the Exodus is a cultural myth. This paper seeks to explore the importance of knowing Moses' history, culture, and theology that surrounds him.
The History of Moses
As indicated in the Pentateuch, the history of Moses starts when he is given birth to Jochebed and Amram (Rad et al., 2012). Moses’ birth happens during the time when the Hebrew community had become a threat to the Egyptian population. As such, the then Pharaoh had ordered the killing of all newborn baby boys. Once his mother gave birth, she hid him in the reeds near the shores of River Nile. Pharaoh's daughter who had come to take a bath took pity on Moses and adopted him as her son. Consequently, Moses grew up into adulthood in the palace as an Egyptian prince. Growing up in the palace and as an Egyptian prince, Moses had the privilege to receive the best education of the time. Moreover, he got exposed to leadership roles and skills hence he could actually carry out his leadership task in future as per God’s plan (Tulchinsky, 2010). Although Moses grew up in the palace, he witnessed how his fellow Hebrews suffered as slaves under the Egyptian taskmasters.
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As Moses was moving about, he saw a Hebrew get murdered by an Egyptian. This made Moses kill the Egyptian and then flee to Midian where he felt safe for his life. Once in Median, Moses served as a shepherd to the Midian priest; Jethro. Moses later married Zipporah, Jethro’s daughter (Rad et al., 2012). As Moses went about his duties, God appeared to him in the form of a burning bush, where He talked to Moses and ordered him to back to Egypt and demand the freeing of the Israelites from slavery.
Moses heeded to God’s call and went back to Egypt to face Pharaoh and demand the release of the Israelites. Pharaoh was adamant to set free the Israelites who were a source of free labor in the whole land of Egypt. However, he yielded after Moses performed a series of miracles in the form of plagues; the tenth plague dealt a heavy blow to Pharaoh whose son was among those Egyptian first born children who died on the Passover night. Moses led the Israelites through the Red Sea, to Mount Sinai where he received the Ten Commandments. After getting more instructions and laws from God, he taught the Israelites about them. He further led them through the desert for forty years till they reached the boundary with the land of Canaan. Moses died here at the age of 120 (Lafond, 2015).
From the history of Moses, we get to know that was an intermediate between God and the Israelites. He teaches the Israelites about the Torah and that he is God’s revelation of the Torah. We also get to know that he was the forefather of the prophets since he spoke with God directly (Exodus 33:11 NRSV). Additionally, from his history, we understand that Moses was human and not divine. For instance, he gives excuses when God asks him to go back to Egypt to deliver the Israelites from bondage (Exodus 3:11), we also see his human nature when he marries Zipporah, and they bear children (Exodus 18:2-4). Furthermore, like all humans, he dies (Deuteronomy 34).
The Culture of Moses
Moses underwent a series of cultures, unlike his fellow Hebrews who were in Egypt. This gave Moses cross-cultural identities which enable him to take his leadership roles with much ease and effectiveness.
Moses the Egyptian
Moses grew up in the Egyptian palace where he learned the vast Egyptian culture. For instance, as a prince, he understood what roles a good leader had to have, what was important in nation building, and what administrative and structures that were vital in building a nation. In the Egyptian culture, he also received the best education of the time since the palace had the finest teachers in Egypt (Lafond, 2015) .
Moses the Midianite
Moses also had contacts with the Midianite culture. At Midian, he got familiar with traversing through the desert environment as a shepherd (Lafond, 2015) . He got quite an experience of serving as a shepherd and as a family man hence he could easily lead the Hebrews through the desert into the Promised Land.
Moses the Hebrew
Although Moses was brought up in the Palace as Prince, he learned the Hebrew culture through his mother who happened to take care of him as he grew up in the palace (Lafond, 2015) . As a Hebrew growing in the palace, he had seen what abuse of power could do to people. Moses felt that it was due to pharaoh's abusive power that the Hebrews served as slaves in the land of Egypt. Even at one point, he fell into the temptation of abusing power when he killed the Egyptian who had killed an Israelite. Maybe this is the reason behind his reluctance of lead the Israelites to the Promised Land.
The three cultures that Moses went through developed him into a tri-cultural leader. The importance of knowing the culture of Moses helps us to understand who God took part in modeling Moses into a strong leader who could effectively deliver the Israelites from the land of bondage to the Promised Land of Canaan. For instance, in Pharaoh’s palace Moses learned how to control power, and in Midian, Moses learns about the importance of community in the life of a leader when he cares for his family as a father. As a result of these cultures, Moses got a significant transformation in his understanding of leadership and its practice.
The Theology Surrounding Moses
At Mount Sinai, Moses goes up the mountain to meet with God. He enters a dark cloud that obscures God (Exodus 20:21). As such, he leaves the normal created world and penetrates into an invisible and incomprehensible world that is perceived through senses and intelligence. Moses is guided by faith when he drew near the completely superior darkness of divined nature.
According to Gregory, the luminous darkness that Moses enters articulates the puzzle of knowing God (Gregory, 2006). For instance, God created this luminous darkness his coat around him. However, we need to observe that this darkness is not associated with the darkness of evil or error but as a darkness that emanates as a result of excess light. According to Timothy 6:16 the darkness is a unapproachable light that God dwells in. The theology of Moses enables us to understand the divine nature of God and how He manifests Himself to human beings.
It is no doubt that Moses is considered as a great figure in the Old Testament and more especially in the Pentateuch books. One of the reasons he is considered as great is because through him the Israelites get to experience God’s redemption. Also, it is through Moses and his leadership and the Exodus experience that the Israelites come to know who they are before God (Whiting, 2005). For instance, God raises His hand through Moses to part the Red Sea waters for the Israelites to cross it on dry ground. Additionally, it is through Moses that the Hebrews are given the Ten Commandments at Mount Sinai.
In conclusion, Moses is seen to be acting on God’s behalf in bringing a long-term nation of Israel as he performed his duties as God’s prophet, intercessor, a judge and an ultimate shepherd of the uncontrollable Hebrew communities. In the New Testament, Jesus fulfills Moses’ laws that he was given to him by God at Mount Sinai. For Christians, it is no doubt that Moses is an important figure and this is emphasized when he and Elijah appear to Jesus during transfiguration. In this case, Moses represents the Law whereas Elijah represented the prophets. Thus by studying and knowing Moses, we are in a better position of knowing the foundation of the Israel nation and the relationship between God and the entire human race.
References
Gregory. (2006). The life of Moses . San Francisco, Calif.: HarperSanFrancisco.
Lafond, P. (2015). The story of Moses . United States: Flowerpot Press.
Rad, G., Hanson, K. C., & Neill, S. (2012). Moses . Cambridge, U.K: James Clarke.
Tulchinsky, K. X. (2010). The five books of Moses Lapinsky .
Whiting, J. (2005). The life and times of Moses . Hockessin, Del: Mitchell Lane Publishers .
