Moses was born when the Israelites in Egypt were growing in number. A new Pharaoh who did not know Joseph feared that they might join Egypt’s enemies in war. Egypt forced them into hard labor and brickmaking, but they continued to increase. Pharaoh ordered Hebrew midwives to kill newborn boys. The midwives feared God and did not obey. Pharaoh then commanded all his people to throw Hebrew boys into the Nile. At that time a man and woman from the house of Levi had a son. Exodus does not initially name them; a later genealogy identifies them as Amram and Jochebed.
When the child could no longer be hidden, his mother made a basket of papyrus, coated it with bitumen and pitch, placed him in it, and set it among the reeds by the Nile. His sister watched from a distance. Pharaoh’s daughter came down to bathe, found the basket, and heard the child crying. She recognized him as a Hebrew child and had compassion on him. His sister offered to call a Hebrew woman to nurse the child, and the child’s own mother was given that work. When he had grown, she brought him to Pharaoh’s daughter. The daughter adopted him and called him Moses, saying that she had drawn him out of the water. Scripture does not give a detailed account of his education in Pharaoh’s household.
When Moses was grown, he went out to his own people and saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew. Looking around, he killed the Egyptian and hid him in the sand. The next day he saw two Hebrews fighting and tried to stop the one in the wrong. The man asked who had made Moses ruler and judge over them, and whether Moses meant to kill him as he had killed the Egyptian. Moses realized that the deed was known. When Pharaoh sought to kill him, Moses fled Egypt and went to Midian.
In Midian Moses sat by a well. Seven daughters of the priest of Midian came to water their father’s flock, but shepherds drove them away. Moses helped them and watered the flock. When the daughters returned early, their father asked why. They said that an Egyptian had rescued them from the shepherds and drawn water for them. The priest welcomed Moses into his home, and Moses married his daughter Zipporah. They had a son, and Moses called him Gershom, saying that he had been a sojourner in a foreign land. Scripture does not immediately tell us how long this period lasted, but Israel still groaned under hard labor until the king of Egypt died.
While Moses was tending the flock of his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, he came to Horeb, the mountain of God. There he saw a bush burning without being consumed. When he turned aside, God called his name and told him to remove his sandals because the ground was holy. God said that he had seen the suffering of Israel in Egypt and would bring them out to a good land. Then he said that he was sending Moses to Pharaoh. Moses asked who he was to go, and what name he should give if the people asked who had sent him. God revealed himself as “I AM WHO I AM” and told Moses to say that the God of their ancestors had sent him.
Moses said that the people would not believe him. God gave him signs: a staff turning into a snake, a diseased hand made whole, and water turning to blood. Moses also said that he was not eloquent. God asked who makes a human mouth and promised to be with his mouth. When Moses asked that someone else be sent, God appointed his brother Aaron to go with him and speak. Moses left Midian, returned to Egypt, and showed God’s words and signs to Israel’s elders. The people believed when they heard that God had seen their suffering, and they bowed in worship.
Moses and Aaron asked Pharaoh to let Israel go into the wilderness to hold a festival for God. Pharaoh answered that he did not know their God and would not let the people go. Instead, he stopped providing straw for brickmaking while demanding the same number of bricks. Israelite foremen were beaten, and the people blamed Moses and Aaron because their labor had grown harder. Moses himself asked God why this trouble had come upon the people. God answered by remembering the covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and promising to bring Israel out from under Egypt’s burden. But the people could not listen because of their broken spirit and harsh slavery.
Pharaoh refused Moses and Aaron again and again. The Nile became blood; frogs, gnats, flies, livestock disease, boils, hail, locusts, and darkness came upon Egypt. At times Pharaoh said that he would let the people go, but when relief came he hardened his resolve again. Finally the death of Egypt’s firstborn was announced. Israelite households were told to kill a lamb, put its blood on the doorposts and lintel, and eat the meat roasted with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. That night a great cry rose throughout Egypt. Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron by night and told them to leave with the people. The Israelites left Egypt carrying dough before it had risen.
After they left, Israel came to the sea, and Pharaoh changed his mind and pursued them with his army. Trapped between the water and the army, the people were afraid and complained to Moses. Moses told them not to fear but to see the deliverance God would bring. God told him to lift his staff and stretch out his hand over the sea. A strong east wind drove the water back through the night, and the Israelites crossed through the sea on dry ground. The Egyptian army followed, but the waters returned over chariots and horsemen. On the shore, the people saw the Egyptians dead and feared God; they believed in God and in Moses. Moses and the Israelites sang, and Miriam led the women with tambourines and dancing.
The wilderness did not become easy at once. At Marah the water was too bitter to drink. In the wilderness of Sin the people complained about food, and God gave manna and quail. At Rephidim water came from a rock. When Amalek attacked, Joshua fought while Moses stood on a hill with God’s staff. When Moses’ hands lowered Amalek prevailed; when his hands were raised Israel prevailed. Aaron and Hur supported his hands, and Joshua defeated Amalek. Moses’ father-in-law Jethro saw the people waiting from morning to evening for Moses’ judgments and advised him to appoint leaders over thousands, hundreds, fifties, and tens. Moses listened and appointed them.
At Mount Sinai God spoke to Moses on the mountain while the people stood below. God gave commands that included worshiping no other gods, honoring father and mother, and turning away from murder, adultery, theft, false witness, and coveting. The people saw thunder and lightning, heard the trumpet, and saw smoke. They were afraid and stood at a distance, asking Moses to speak to them so that God would not speak directly to them. Moses said that God had come to test them and keep the fear of God before them. On the mountain he received instructions for the tabernacle, the priesthood, the ark, and other practices.
While Moses remained on the mountain, the people asked Aaron to make gods for them. Aaron collected gold earrings and made a calf. The people sacrificed before it, ate and drank, and rose up to revel. God told Moses that the people had turned aside. Moses came down, threw down the stone tablets and broke them, burned the calf, ground it to powder, scattered it on water, and made the people drink it. The Levites acted at Moses’ word, and about three thousand people died that day. The next day Moses pleaded for the people’s sin to be forgiven and asked that his own name be blotted out if they could not be forgiven. He returned to the mountain for new tablets. When he came down, the skin of his face shone, and Aaron and the people were afraid to come near. After speaking God’s words to them, Moses covered his face.
After the tabernacle was set up, Moses led Israel with God’s presence in their midst. When the cloud lifted from over the tabernacle, the people set out; when it remained, they stayed. Yet they repeatedly complained about food, water, and the way. In the wilderness of Paran, twelve spies returned from exploring Canaan. Joshua and Caleb urged the people to go up and take the land, but the other ten frightened the community. The whole assembly wept and wanted to return to Egypt. As a result, that generation would not enter the promised land and would spend forty years in the wilderness. Through those long years Moses led the people through complaint, rebellion, battles, and travel.
The hardest boundary of Moses’ own life came at Kadesh in the wilderness of Zin. When there was no water, the people again quarreled with Moses and Aaron. God told Moses to take the staff and speak to the rock before the assembly so that it would give water. Instead Moses rebuked the people and struck the rock twice with his staff. Much water came out. God said that Moses and Aaron had not upheld him as holy before the people, and therefore would not bring the assembly into the promised land. Aaron later died on Mount Hor and his son Eleazar became priest. Moses continued to lead the people near Edom and Moab through the bronze-serpent episode and further conflicts.
On the plains of Moab east of the Jordan, Moses spoke at length to the new generation. He recalled the departure from Egypt, the commands given at Sinai, and the failures in the wilderness, and warned them not to forget God when they entered the land. He brought Joshua before the people as his successor and told him to be strong and courageous. God told Moses to go up Mount Nebo, to the top of Pisgah, and look over the promised land. From there he saw Gilead as far as Dan, Naphtali, Ephraim and Manasseh, Judah, the Negev, and the valley of Jericho. He did not cross the Jordan.
Moses died in the land of Moab at the age of one hundred twenty. Deuteronomy says that his eyes were not dim and his vigor was not gone. He was buried in a valley opposite Beth-peor, but no one knows the place of his burial. The Israelites mourned for him on the plains of Moab for thirty days. Joshua, on whom Moses had laid his hands, was filled with the spirit of wisdom and began to lead the people. Deuteronomy says that no prophet like Moses had arisen in Israel, one whom God knew face to face. The Bible’s final view of Moses is of a man who saw the promised land, died in Moab, and was mourned by the people he had led.