Moses

Moses (Hebrew מֹשֶׁה) was according to the Bible the leader of the Israelites who led them out of Egypt to Israel as in God commanded. This story is recorded in the book of the Bible, Exodus. Moses is viewed a the greatest prophet in Judaism and as a major prophet in Christianity and Islam.

Childhood

Moses was the son of Amram of the tribe of Levi and his wife Jochebed. After the reigning pharaod had ordered all the Hebrew male babies to be drowned in the Nile, Jochebed gave birth to Moses and kept him concealed. After a few months it was no longer practical to conceal Moses and so set him adrift in a small ark on the Nile. While Miriam, Moses's sister watched from afar, one of the pharaoh's daughter's came to the river and seeing the child took him from the river and brought him to be raised in the pharoah's house.

Life

Adolescent and Flight

At some point, Moses learned that he was an Israelite. Later, when defending an Israelite slave, Moses killed an Egyptian and was forced to flee Egypt to Midian where he met and later married Zipporah. Later, God appeared to Moses in a bush that burned but was not consumed and commanded Moses to return to Egypt to lead the Israelites out of Egypt.

Exodus =

Moses confronted pharaoh and demanded that pharaoh release the Israelite slaves. Pharaoh refused and consequently God brought about 10 plagues on the Egyptians. Finally, pharaoh let the Israelites go. However, shortly thereafter, pharaoh changed his mind and chased the Israelites to the sea. In the ensuing confrontation, God split the sea and the Israelites walked through on dry land. Shortly after, the Egyptian army attempted to follow and they were drowned in the returning waters.

Sina

After these events, Moses brought the Israelites to Mount Sinai where the entire people experience a national theophany where God spoke to the entire nation. God then gave his commandments to the Israelites, a long with 10 of them written out on stone tablets.

Later events and death

Shortly after the giving of the 10 commandments, the incident of the Golden calf occured. Moses then smashed the tablets and aided by the Levites slaughtered those who had worshipped the calf. Moses then convinced God not to desstroy the people and to give another set of commandments. As a result of these events, the Israelites spent forty years in the desert and had to wait a generation before entering Israel. Moses himself did not end up entering Israel.