Moses and His Legacy
Moses is a legendary figure in Christianity, Islam, and Judaism. He is credited with being the prophet of the Judaic faith and is revered throughout the world as the Israeli people’s greatest prophet and teacher (Stringfellow, 2014). His contribution to the formation of the Israelis as a people and a nation is significant, as he personally led their exodus, brought them to the promised land, and established the laws that served as a foundation for Judaism and early Christianity (Stringfellow, 2014). This paper will cover Moses’s life and the accomplishments attributed to his actions.
Birth and Early Life
The exact date of when Moses was born is currently unknown, as there are no surviving records of birth or witness accounts. However, the consensus is that Moses lived somewhere between the 14th and 13th centuries BCE (Dershowitz, 2021). The book of Exodus states that “he was born in Egypt to a family of Hebrews, who had put him in a basket and set him floating down the river Nile, in order to save him from the Egyptians” (Stringfellow, 2014, p. 18). The book also mentions an edict under which all firstborn Hebrew boys were to be killed (Stringfellow, 2014). According to the legend, he was found by the Pharaoh’s daughter and raised as the adoptive son of royalty without knowing the struggles and grievances of his people.
Moses’ Calling and Return to Egypt
Everything changed when, one day, Moses encountered a brutal taskmaster abusing slaves and killing them in anger. Having broken the law and faced with potential charges, he fled to a land called Midian (Dershowitz, 2021). There, God revealed himself to Moses in the form of a burning bush, commanding him to save the Israelites and bring them to the Promised Land.
Moses then returned to Egypt and stood in front of the Pharaoh, demanding that his people be released (Stringfellow, 2014). Upon being denied, he was forced to send deadly plagues upon Egypt. These plagues included turning the water of the river Nile to blood, creating a rain of frogs, starting a lice epidemic among the population, flies and livestock pestilence, plague-like boils, hails of ice and fire, locust swarms, perpetual darkness, and the killing of firstborn children.
The Exodus and Parting of the Red Sea
The book of Exodus says that after losing his firstborn child, the Pharaoh agreed to let the Israelites go. Then, however, in a fit of rage, he rode out with his army to bring them all back. Moses supposedly parted the Red Sea, allowing his people to pass while drowning the pursuing army and the Pharaoh himself (Stringfellow, 2014). After that cataclysmic event, Moses led his people to Mount Sinai, where God gave him the Ten Commandments, which served as the backbone of the biblical moral code and as a guideline for the Israelites.
Journey to the Promised Land
After that, the long and arduous journey towards the Promised Land began. According to the Old Testament, it took 40 years for Moses and his people to reach Canaan. Some historians theorize that the journey took so long that all those born in slavery would die out, and the new generation would have never known the yoke (Dershowitz, 2021). Moses himself had never set foot on the Promised Land, having died just before his people reached the edge of it. His legend is, in many ways, symbolic and serves as the cornerstone of the Israelites as a people and Christianity and Judaism as a religion.
References
Dershowitz, I. (2021). The valediction of Moses: a proto-biblical book. Mohr Siebeck
Stringfellow, A. (2014). Through the Bible in one year. Whitaker House.