Using your notes and your Bible, describe the character of Moses in the book of Exodus.
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Fall 2009 New Brunswick Theological Seminary
Tuesday, 6:20 - 10:00 PM
The Hebrew Bible
Professor Charles M. Rix
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Moses’ sense of identity begins as a small child. He grows up in the safety and security of the pharaoh’s palace . Here he is first challenged by the inhumane treatment of an Egyptian towards an Jewish slave and Moses kills the Egyptian. He flees Egypt and comes upon the daughters of Jethro who are tending their father’s flocks. Here the women are harassed by the local shephards. Moses comes to their aid showing is compassion for those who are in need and reveals a sense of justice that is for those who are vulnerable. Further in Exodus he shows reluctance in being God’s messenger by negotiating and making deals so as not to do God’s work. He also shows more of his temper when he realizes that he hasn’t brought his people to God, he wasn’t able to elevate them to higher values after they make the Golden Calf. All this shows that even though he was chosen by God to be His messenger, Moses shows that he is a human being with human failings.
ReplyDeleteMoses was the son of the house of Levi. His mother hid him in the bushes while his sister watched over him. Pharaoh’s daughter found him and adopted him even though she knew he was an Israelite. His mother was chosen to nurse him until he was weaned after which time he went to live in the house of Pharaoh where he was trained in the ways of the Egyptians. Despite being raised by Pharaoh, Moses was loyal to his race which compelled him to take the life of an Egyptian taskmaster who was ill-treating an Israelite. Moses trouble with the law forced him to leave Egypt and settle in Midian where he again displayed his knack for taking responsibility for the underprivileged and oppressed. His penchant for being the “hero” gained him the daughter of Jethro (Zipporah) with whom he had a son (Gershom) and becomes a herdsman for his father-in-law. It was during this time that Moses received his call to ministry in the burning bush experience. Through the help of his brother Aaron and Joshua, Moses became a leader that secured the deliverance of Israel from Egypt even though he died before making it to Canaan.
ReplyDeleteMoses was a fugitive from the law, an advocate for the oppressed and a keeper of sheep who was because of being inquisitive about the burning bush was called by God to lead the people of Israel out of Egypt. Even after God had explained many times to Moses what he wanted him to do, Moses lack of confidence in his abilities and in God’s promise to be with him made God get angry with his questioning. After God had promises that he would send Aaron with him to speak to Pharaoh, Moses relented and asked permission of his father-in-law Jethro to go back to Egypt and take care of the business God had given him to do. After many plagues and a miraculous escape via the Red Sea, Moses position as a deliver was secured through God’s hardening of Pharaoh’s heart. In spite having the help of Aaron and other leaders of Israel to help, Moses continued to act like the loner he felt when living in the house of Pharaoh Egypt, being a one-man show hearing the complaints of the people daily. Thankfully he was a good listener and respected the advice of his father-in-law Jethro who advised him to split the work load and learn how to delegate to the other capable persons around him. His encounter with God and having to lead the people out of Egypt, listening to their complaining and seeing them constantly falling away from the instructions God gave matured Moses into a better minister even though his temper in breaking the tablets with the commandments caused him to forfeit entry into Canaan. Looking at these characteristics of Moses serves to highlight his humanness and how humans continue to be caught in a struggle of wills between God and humankind.
Moses was a conflicted character, born of a Levite mother, set adrift to be found and raised within an Egyption household, after being weaned from his Levite mother. There was a potential identity crisis, as evidenced by his forceful murder of an Egyption for harassing a Hebrew, and a compassionate man as evidenced by his assistance of Jethro's daughters at the well. He was unsure of himself as evidenced by his stammer, and the need for someone to speak for him.
ReplyDeleteThe Character of Moses
ReplyDeleteFor forty years Moses was educated in all wisdom of the Egyptian. He was proficient in reading, writing and the wisdom of the Egyptians which included the sciences and government and legal system that was well structured. At age forty, after seeing a Hebrew being oppressed by an Egyptian, he defended the man who was being oppressed by killing the Egyptian. Moses was a man of compassion.
Moses was an exile from Egypt. After forty years, Moses had an encounter with God. God told him to go to the Pharaoh about releasing the Hebrew. Here we see Moses cagey character when he said to god in Exodus 3:11,…..But who am I that I should go to Pharaoh. Moses was also a man that questioned God when he said….but they may say that you did not appear to me (Ex 4:1).
Moses was a great leader. He led the Hebrews out of Egypt and through the wilderness to the Mountain of God (Sinai). Moses was an intercessor for the Hebrews in Exodus 32:11-13 and a man of prayer in Exodus 32:32 when he prayed for God for forgiveness on behalf of the Hebrews.
After God shaped Moses of forty years in Egypt, forty years in exile, and forty years in the wilderness, Moses was a man of faith, a man of prayer, a man of obedience, a great leader and became a great man of God.
Moses is a complex character, flawed, yet obedient to God; angry, but with a compassionate heart for his people; a reluctant speaker, yet bold enough to negotiate with God. Moses is a wonderful example of how God can take people, imperfect, with many shortcomings, and use them, by His divine power, for great things. Moses is not remmebered for being a hot-headed murderer. Rather, he is remembered as the liberator of the Israelites from bondage.
ReplyDelete