Deuteronomy 18:15-22'The Lord your God shall raise up a prophet
like me, from among you and your countrymen and you shall listen to him.
Image:
Russian Orthodox Icon of Moses and the Burning Bush
Moses; his name is synonymous with
liberation. Moses led Jewish slaves from Egyptian captivity across the desert,
through the Red Sea and into the wilderness of Sinai where after some 40 years
of preparation under the supervision of God the Jews of the Exodus went into
the Promised Land. Moses is the quintessential man of God of the same faith as
Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Joseph before him, and as David after.
Yet who is Moses one might ask. The Wikipedia
entry for Moses relates of his name that; "(/ˈmoʊzɪz, -zɪs/;[1] Hebrew: מֹשֶׁה, Modern Moshe Tiberian Mōšéh ISO 259-3 Moše; Greek: Mωϋσῆς Mōÿsēs; Syriac: ܡܘܫܐ Moushe;Arabic: موسى Mūsā in both the Septuagint and the New Testament) was, according to the Hebrew Bible, a former Egyptian prince
later turnedprophet, religious leader and
lawgiver, to whom the authorship of the Torah is traditionally
attributed. Also called Moshe
Rabbenu in Hebrew (מֹשֶׁה רַבֵּנוּ, Lit. "Moses our Teacher/Rabbi"), he is
the most important prophet in Judaism.[2][3] "
Moses was named by Pharoah's
daughter who raised him as her own. Moses was adopted. He had been set adrift
in the Nile River in a woven basked/ark by hi natural mother who was trying to
save him from a decree by Pharaoh Ramses II (probably) that all newborn Hebrew
children be slaughtered. Pharaoh was forcing zero population growth on the
Jews. The Jews were increasing their numbers too much and presented a perceived
threat to security.
What does the name Moses or
Moshe mean? Citing the Wikipedia article again we read that; "Moses' name
is given to him by Pharaoh's daughter: "He became her son, and she named
him Moshe (Moses)." This name may be either Egyptian or Hebrew. If
connected to an Egyptian root, via msy "to
be born" and ms, "a
son", it forms a wordplay: "he became her son, and she named him
Son." There should, however, be a divine element to the name Moses
(bearers of the Egyptian name are the "son of" a god, as in Thutmose,
"son of Thut"), and his full name may therefore have included the
name of one of the Egyptian gods. Most scholars agree that the name is
Egyptian, and that the Hebrew etymology is a later interpretation, but if the
name is from a Hebrew root then it is connected to the verb "to draw
out": "I drew him (masha)
out of the water," states Pharaoh's daughter, possibly looking forward to
Moses at the well in Midian, or to his role in saving Israel at the Red
Sea."
Scholars have various dates for
the life of Moses ranging from 1700 B.C. to the twelfth century B.C. Hebrew
scholars prefer the more recent date. It works out well with the Old Testament
chronology of the post-exilic Jews unto the late 11th B.C. century establishment of Jerusalem as David's
capital city of Israel. Excavations of ancient city sites and interpretations
of locations of the Mountain where Moses received the ten commandments, as well
as for the location and circumstances of the crossing of the Red Sea (I
inferred a tsunami and tidal withdrawal several years ago, and that published
concept occurred in a recent (2014) movie 'Exodus' to good effect. My thought was that the tidal
wave precursor draw-down and following tsunami may have been one associated
with the catastrophic volcanic eruption and destruction of the island that was
the capital of the Minoan culture at
Theira/Santorini in that time period.
The first actual mention of the
Israelis in recorded history was found fairly recently on the Meneptah Stela in
Israel. Meneptah was the son of Ramses II and the brother of Moses through
adoption. There is a remarkable coincidence of events and grace in the life of
Moses indicating his pre-determinism as a divine tool. The Ark of the Covenant
carrying the chosen people to return the homeland of their forefathers Abraham,
Isaac, Jacob et al was comparable to the ark that brought the infant Moses to a
new home. The infant Moses would learn the secular laws of Pharaoh, yet the
adult Moses would receive the laws of God-the Ten Commandments, in the Sinai at
Mount Horeb.
Abraham received the word of
God hundreds of years before about the future captivity and increase of the
Jews in the land of Goshen-Egypt. The following events occurred and comprise
the story of Moses.
Genesis 15:13 "And he said unto
Abram, Know of a surety that thy seed shall be
a stranger in a land that is
not their's, and shall serve them; and they
shall afflict them four
hundred years;
14 And also that nation,
whom they shall serve, will I judge: and
afterward shall they come
out with great substance.
15 And thou shalt go to thy
fathers in peace; thou shalt be buried in
a good old age.
16 But in the fourth
generation they shall come hither again: for the
iniquity of the Amorites is
not yet full.
17 And it came to pass,
that, when the sun went down, and it was
dark, behold a smoking
furnace, and a burning lamp that passed
between those pieces.
18 In the same day the LORD
made a covenant with Abram, saying,
Unto thy seed have I given
this land, from the river of Egypt unto the
great
river, the river Euphrates"
This
great promise of God to Abraham occurs in the book of Genesis chapter 22. It is
a remarkable book that takes one from the creation of the Universe to the
development of the covenant with a people who would serve as a nation of
priests. The next book is that of Exodus. Exodus is the story of Moses and of
his life. It is the story of the chosen people moving to their destined place
in the next stage of God's reclamation project of human life on Earth, and the
descendants of Adam and Eve, from bondage to original sin and unreflective
materialism.
Moses
is sometimes taken as a role model for Jesus Christ as a liberator leading
people from captivity and bondage (sin) to the promised land of the kingdom of
God. While Moses led his people in faith and in a spiritual way he also brought
them materially out of Egypt and to the Promised Land, though he died just
outside it and was not allowed to enter for being unwilling because of lack of
confidence to be the public speaker for God with his brother Arron appointed in
his stead.
John
the Baptist and Moses were great Jewish leaders bringing those of faith toward
the Promised Land yet stopping just short. Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ is
the only way to enter the promised land of the kingdom of God in the ultimate
covenant.
As a
young man Moses encountered an Egyptian abusing a Hebrew slave and smote him.
Moses chose to flee the realm of Pharaoh as a fugitive. He journeyed to the
Sinai and met the priest of Midian.
Exodus
2 "11 And it came to pass in
those days, when Moses was grown,
that he
went out unto his brethren, and looked on their burdens: and
he
spied an Egyptian smiting an Hebrew, one of his brethren.
12 And
he looked this way and that way, and when he saw that
there
was no man, he slew the Egyptian, and hid him in the sand.
13 And
when he went out the second day, behold, two men of the
Hebrews
strove together: and he said to him that did the wrong,
Wherefore
smitest thou thy fellow?
14 And
he said, Who made thee a prince and a judge over us?
intendest
thou to kill me, as thou killedst the Egyptian? And Moses
feared,
and said, Surely this thing is known.
15 Now
when Pharaoh heard this thing, he sought to slay Moses.
But
Moses fled from the face of Pharaoh, and dwelt in the land of
Midian:
and he sat down by a well.
16 Now
the priest of Midian had seven daughters: and they came
and
drew water, and filled the troughs to water their father's flock.
17 And
the shepherds came and drove them away: but Moses stood
up and
helped them, and watered their flock ye are come so soon to day?
19 And
they said, An Egyptian delivered us out of the hand of the
shepherds,
and also drew water enough for us, and watered the flock.
20 And
he said unto his daughters, And where is he? why is it that
ye have
left the man? call him, that he may eat bread.
21 And
Moses was content to dwell with the man: and he gave
Moses
Zipporah his daughter.
22 And
she bare him a son, and he called his name Gershom: for he
said, I
have been a stranger in a strange land.
23 ¶
And it came to pass in process of time, that the king of Egypt
died:
and the children of Israel sighed by reason of the bondage, and
they
cried, and their cry came up unto God by reason of the bondage.
24 And
God heard their groaning, and God remembered his
covenant
with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob.
25 And
God looked upon the children of Israel, and God had respect
unto
them."
The
third chapter of Exodus reports the great commission given to Moses from God.
Exodus
3:1 "Now Moses kept the flock of Jethro his father in law, the priest
of
Midian:
and he led the flock to the backside of the desert, and came to
the
mountain of God, even to Horeb.
2 And
the angel of the LORD appeared unto him in a flame of fire
out of
the midst of a bush: and he looked, and, behold, the bush
burned
with fire, and the bush was not consumed.
3 And
Moses said, I will now turn aside, and see this great sight,
why the
bush is not burnt.
4 And
when the LORD saw that he turned aside to see, God called
unto
him out of the midst of the bush, and said, Moses, Moses. And he
said,
Here am I.
5 And
he said, Draw not nigh hither: put off thy shoes from off thy
feet,
for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground.
6
Moreover he said, I am the God of thy father, the God of Abraham,
the God
of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. And Moses hid his face; for
he was
afraid to look upon God.
7 ¶ And
the LORD said, I have surely seen the affliction of my
people
which are in Egypt, and have heard their cry by reason of their
taskmasters;
for I know their sorrows;
8 And I
am come down to deliver them out of the hand of the
Egyptians,
and to bring them up out of that land unto a good land and
a
large, unto a land flowing with milk and honey; unto the place of the
Canaanites,
and the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and
the
Hivites, and the Jebusites.
9 Now
therefore, behold, the cry of the children of Israel is come
unto
me: and I have also seen the oppression wherewith the
Egyptians
oppress them.
10 Come
now therefore, and I will send thee unto Pharaoh, that thou
mayest
bring forth my people the children of Israel out of Egypt.
11 ¶
And Moses said unto God, Who am I, that I should go unto
Pharaoh,
and that I should bring forth the children of Israel out of
Egypt?
12 And
he said, Certainly I will be with thee; and this shall be a token
unto
thee, that I have sent thee: When thou hast brought forth the people out of
Egypt, ye shall serve God upon this mountain.
13 And
Moses said unto God, Behold, when I come unto the
children
of Israel, and shall say unto them, The God of your fathers
hath
sent me unto you; and they shall say to me, What is his name?
what
shall I say unto them?
14 And
God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus
shalt
thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you.
15 And
God said moreover unto Moses, Thus shalt thou say unto
the
children of Israel, The LORD God of your fathers, the God of
Abraham,
the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath sent me unto
you:
this is my name for ever, and this is my memorial unto all
generations.
16 Go,
and gather the elders of Israel together, and say unto them,
The
LORD God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of
Jacob,
appeared unto me, saying, I have surely visited you, and seen
that
which is done to you in Egypt:
17 And
I have said, I will bring you up out of the affliction of Egypt
unto
the land of the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Amorites,
and the
Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites, unto a land
flowing
with milk and honey.
18 And
they shall hearken to thy voice: and thou shalt come, thou
and the
elders of Israel, unto the king of Egypt, and ye shall say unto
him,
The LORD God of the Hebrews hath met with us: and now let us
go, we
beseech thee, three days' journey into the wilderness, that we
may
sacrifice to the LORD our God.
19 ¶
And I am sure that the king of Egypt will not let you go, no, not
by a
mighty hand.
20 And
I will stretch out my hand, and smite Egypt with all my
wonders
which I will do in the midst thereof: and after that he will let
you
go."
Moses
growing up virtually as a prince of Egypt was uniquely positioned to receive
education in the royal court in writing and yet experience the spoken language
of Jews. As an educated Egyptian he may well have read not only hieroglyphs but
cuneaform from Babylon too. It is quite a credible inference that he was the
inventor of the Hebrew aleph-beth based on phonetic (Phoenician?) or phonemes
(sounds) represented with symbols. Not only did Moses receive the Ten
Commandments he was able to write them in a new written language. Moses gave
the Ten Commandments and the language form to write them in to mankind.
In
Deuteronomy the leadership of Moses as God's instrument to bring the Jews into
shape for taking possession of the Promised Land continues. His words continue the development of Israel
for God's purpose given to Abraham, and like those of Abraham are also
prophetic of the future of Israel.
Moses is
said to have written the first five books of the Old Testament, and that is
credible. Moses was perhaps the first truly literate Israeli with the social
position of leadership and financial capacity to gather the traditional Jewish
history and write it down. Besides Genesis there are the books of Exodus,
Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. The latter four books are written of Moses'
life work and related event including prophetic matters. Who better to write
the books than Moses?
Quite some time passes from the end of the
life of Moses to the founding of the Kingdom of David and Courts of Solomon and
Rehoboam where a great assembly and redaction of Moses' written works from an
earlier time may have occurred. The J writer may have updated and upgraded
Moses' works that themselves may have been handed down by generations of
scribes. It may not be presently known how much the original written language
created by Moses changed over the years until the time of Solomon. The Great
Vowel Shift in England changed pronunciation, and one knows that works written
in the Elizabethan era can be challenging for some modern English speakers to
read, although the difference between Old English, Middle and Modern are far
greater. Consider the Hymn of Caedmon, and of 'God and his modeg panc'- 'mind
plans'. Perhaps ancient Hebrew was evolved a little to make the aleph-beth more
functional.
Deuteronomy
Chapter 4
1
"Now therefore hearken, O Israel, unto the statutes and unto the
judgments, which I teach you, for to do them, that ye may live, and go
in and
possess the land which the LORD God of your fathers giveth
you.
2 Ye
shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall
ye
diminish ought from it, that ye may keep the commandments of the
LORD
your God which I command you.
3 Your
eyes have seen what the LORD did because of Baal-peor: for
all the
men that followed Baal-peor, the LORD thy God hath destroyed
them
from among you.
4 But ye
that did cleave unto the LORD your God are alive every
one of
you this day.
5
Behold, I have taught you statutes and judgments, even as the
LORD my
God commanded me, that ye should do so in the land
whither
ye go to possess it.
6 Keep
therefore and do them; for this is your wisdom and your
understanding
in the sight of the nations, which shall hear all these
statutes,
and say, Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding
people.
7 For
what nation is there so great, who hath God so nigh unto
them, as
the LORD our God is in all things that we call upon him for?
8 And
what nation is there so great, that hath statutes and
judgments
so righteous as all this law, which I set before you this day?
9 Only
take heed to thyself, and keep thy soul diligently, lest thou
forget
the things which thine eyes have seen, and lest they depart
from thy
heart all the days of thy life: but teach them thy sons, and thy
sons'
sons;
10
Specially the day that thou stoodest before the LORD thy God in
Horeb,
when the LORD said unto me, Gather me the people together,
and I
will make them hear my words, that they may learn to fear me all
the days
that they shall live upon the earth, and that they may teach
their
children.
11 And
ye came near and stood under the mountain; and the
mountain
burned with fire unto the midst of heaven, with darkness,
clouds,
and thick darkness.
12 And
the LORD spake unto you out of the midst of the fire: ye
heard
the voice of the words, but saw no similitude; only ye heard a
voice.
13 And
he declared unto you his covenant, which he commanded
you to
perform, even ten commandments; and he wrote them upon
two
tables of stone.
14 ¶ And
the LORD commanded me at that time to teach you
statutes
and judgments, that ye might do them in the land whither ye
go over
to possess it.
15 Take
ye therefore good heed unto yourselves; for ye saw no
manner
of similitude on the day that the LORD spake unto you in
Horeb
out of the midst of the fire:
16 Lest
ye corrupt yourselves, and make you a graven image, the
similitude
of any figure, the likeness of male or female,
17 The
likeness of any beast that is on the earth, the likeness of any
winged
fowl that flieth in the air,
18 The
likeness of any thing that creepeth on the ground, the
likeness
of any fish that is in the waters beneath the earth:
19 And
lest thou lift up thine eyes unto heaven, and when thou seest the sun, and the
moon, and the stars, even all the host of heaven,
shouldest
be driven to worship them, and serve them, which the
LORD thy
God hath divided unto all nations under the whole heaven.
20 But
the LORD hath taken you, and brought you forth out of the
iron
furnace, even out of Egypt, to be unto him a people of
inheritance,
as ye are this day.
21
Furthermore the LORD was angry with me for your sakes, and
sware
that I should not go over Jordan, and that I should not go in
unto
that good land, which the LORD thy God giveth thee for an
inheritance:
22 But I
must die in this land, I must not go over Jordan: but ye shall
go over,
and possess that good land.
23 Take
heed unto yourselves, lest ye forget the covenant of the
LORD
your God, which he made with you, and make you a graven
image,
or the likeness of any thing, which the LORD thy God hath
forbidden
thee.
24 For
the LORD thy God is a consuming fire, even a jealous God.
25 ¶
When thou shalt beget children, and children's children, and ye
shall
have remained long in the land, and shall corrupt yourselves,
and make
a graven image, or the likeness of any thing, and shall do
evil in
the sight of the LORD thy God, to provoke him to anger:
26 I
call heaven and earth to witness against you this day, that ye
shall
soon utterly perish from off the land whereunto ye go over
Jordan
to possess it; ye shall not prolong your days upon it, but shall
utterly
be destroyed.
27 And
the LORD shall scatter you among the nations, and ye shall
be left
few in number among the heathen, whither the LORD shall lead
you.
28 And
there ye shall serve gods, the work of men's hands, wood
and
stone, which neither see, nor hear, nor eat, nor smell.
29 But
if from thence thou shalt seek the LORD thy God, thou shalt
find
him, if thou seek him with all thy heart and with all thy soul.
30 When
thou art in tribulation, and all these things are come upon
thee,
even in the latter days, if thou turn to the LORD thy God, and
shalt be
obedient unto his voice;
31 (For
the LORD thy God is a merciful God;) he will not forsake
thee,
neither destroy thee, nor forget the covenant of thy fathers which
he sware
unto them.
32 For
ask now of the days that are past, which were before thee,
since
the day that God created man upon the earth, and ask from the
one side
of heaven unto the other, whether there hath been any such
thing as
this great thing is, or hath been heard like it?
33 Did
ever people hear the voice of God speaking out of the midst
of the
fire, as thou hast heard, and live?
34 Or
hath God assayed to go and take him a nation from the midst
of
another nation, by temptations, by signs, and by wonders, and by
war, and
by a mighty hand, and by a stretched out arm, and by great
terrors,
according to all that the LORD your God did for you in Egypt
before
your eyes?
35 Unto
thee it was shewed, that thou mightest know that the LORD
he is
God; there is none else beside him.
36 Out
of heaven he made thee to hear his voice, that he might
instruct
thee: and upon earth he shewed thee his great fire; and thou heardest his words
out of the midst of the fire.
37 And
because he loved thy fathers, therefore he chose their seed
after
them, and brought thee out in his sight with his mighty power out
of
Egypt;
38 To
drive out nations from before thee greater and mightier than
thou
art, to bring thee in, to give thee their land for an inheritance, as it
is this
day.
39 Know
therefore this day, and consider it in thine heart, that the
LORD he
is God in heaven above, and upon the earth beneath: there
is none
else.
40 Thou
shalt keep therefore his statutes, and his commandments,
which I
command thee this day, that it may go well with thee, and with
thy
children after thee, and that thou mayest prolong thy days upon
the
earth, which the LORD thy God giveth thee, for ever."
The
following passage from Deuteronomy 4 might be taken as having occurred in the
subsequent Babylonian captivity, yet also refers to Israel in latter times, or
end times, during the first century tribulation when the Temple was destroyed,
Jerusalem devastated, perhaps a half million Jews killed and the diaspora
begun. The covenant given unto Abraham, Moses and David may be singular here as
it brought the people into a right relationship with God. The covenant renewed
with the Lord Jesus Christ.
Deut. 4:29
"But if from thence thou shalt seek the LORD thy God, thou shalt
find
him, if thou seek him with all thy heart and with all thy soul. 30 When thou
art in tribulation, and all these things are come upon
thee,
even in the latter days, if thou turn to the LORD thy God, and
shalt be
obedient unto his voice;
31 (For
the LORD thy God is a merciful God;) he will not forsake
thee,
neither destroy thee, nor forget the covenant of thy fathers which
he sware unto them."
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