Moses

Moses, son of Amram and Jochebed of the tribe of Levi, was the deliverer, lawgiver, and prophet through whom God redeemed Israel from Egypt and gave the covenant at Sinai — the towering human figure of the Old Testament. Born under Pharaoh’s edict to drown the Hebrew boys, he was hidden three months, set adrift on the Nile, and drawn out and adopted by Pharaoh’s daughter (Exodus 2:1-10), so raised in the Egyptian court. After killing an Egyptian taskmaster he fled to Midian, where he kept flocks for forty years.

At the burning bush on Horeb God revealed his name, “I AM WHO I AM,” and commissioned the reluctant shepherd to bring Israel out of bondage (Exodus 3:10-14). Through ten plagues and the blood of the Passover lamb, Moses led the Exodus, and Israel passed through the Red Sea on dry ground while Pharaoh’s army drowned (Exodus 14:21-31). This deliverance became the defining act of redemption in the Old Testament, celebrated ever after as the LORD’s mighty salvation.

At Sinai Moses became the mediator of the covenant, ascending the mountain to receive the Ten Commandments and the law (Exodus 19:20; Exodus 20:1-17), and overseeing the tabernacle where God would dwell among his people. The LORD spoke with him “face to face, as a man speaks to his friend” (Exodus 33:11). Through forty years of wilderness wandering he led and interceded for a rebellious nation — even offering himself to be blotted out for their sake (Exodus 32:31-32) — and rehearsed the covenant anew in Deuteronomy. Barred from the land for striking the rock at Meribah (Numbers 20:12), he died on Mount Nebo in sight of Canaan (Deuteronomy 34:1-5).

Scripture’s epitaph is unequalled: “there has not arisen a prophet since in Israel like Moses, whom the LORD knew face to face” (Deuteronomy 34:10). Yet Moses himself foretold a greater prophet: “The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me… it is to him you shall listen” (Deuteronomy 18:15). The New Testament presents Jesus as that Prophet — appearing with Moses at the Transfiguration, honoured as faithful in God’s house yet greater than the servant Moses (Hebrews 3:5-6), for “the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ” (John 1:17).