Who Was Moses? He Was Called Friend of God

Moses, Friend of God:  "And the LORD spake unto Moses face to face, as a man speaketh unto his friend."

Moses - the name means "drawn from the water" ~ he was the son of Amram and Jochebed (Exo 2: 10-21)

Image credit: Moses On The Nile Spiritual and Religious Bible Wall Decor Art Print Poster (16x20) by Impact Posters Gallery  

“Moses lived for 120 years, a period divided into three sections of forty years each:

The first forty years – from his birth until the flight into Midian. As Pharoah's son, Moses learned to be SOMEBODY.

The second forty years – from the flight into Midian to the Exodus. In desert places he learned how to become a NOBODY.

The third forty years – from the Exodus to his own exodus. As the leader of God's hosts he learned that GOD WAS EVERYBODY – the One he could speak to face to face as a man speaks to his friends”

QUOTE SOURCE: Lockyer, Herbert. "Moses." All the Men of the Bible: A Portrait Gallery and Reference Library of More than 3000 Biblical Characters. Grand Rapids: Zondervan Pub. House, 1958. 

Important People in the Life of Moses

Faithful Christians almost never have to walk alone. Besides the fact that Jesus is always with us, in this life we often have faithful companions. It was the same for Moses, who was a faithful servant of God. Three men were there at times when Moses needed encouragement.

Aaron was the brother of Moses. Because he could speak well, God allowed him to go with Moses before Pharoah and ask for the people to be set free. Even though he held an important position as a leader, he was weakened by the murmuring and complaining of the people. He made a golden calf for the Israelites to worship in the desert. This was a terrible sin of idolatry. They were all punished. Despite this he was Moses' faithful speaker, and the first high priest of Israel.

Jethro was a shepherd and priest who lived in Midian. Moses married one of his daughters, Zipporah, and so he became his father in law. Jethro is also called Reuel. He gave Moses wise counsel on how to properly judge God's people. He told him to judge the hard matters and leave the less difficult cases to able men.

Joshua was a faithful servant to Moses and the son of Nun. He was born as a slave under the bondage of Pharaoh in Egypt. He was one of the 12 spies sent to bring back a report on the land of Canaan. Joshua reported that the land was good. He was a soldier, brave in battle, and a man who prayed and had faith in God. He was chosen to lead the people after the death of Moses. Moses changed his name from Oshea to Hoshea which means “help” to Joshua, which means “God's help” or “salvation”. 

 

Image credit:  Wikimedia Commons ~ Moses and the Ten Commandments, c. 1896-1902, by James Jacques Joseph Tissot (French, 1836-1902), gouache on board, 10 11/16 x 5 5/8 in. (27.3 x 14.5 cm), at the Jewish Museum, New York  c. 1896-1902

The Death of Moses, God's Chosen Prophet, God's Lawgiver, and God's Friend

Moses is honored by many today as a holy man of God, a prophet, the one who gave God's laws to Israel, and the man called God's Friend. Yet unlike many other men who built great tombs so that they would not be forgotten, there is no monument or tombstone to mark his grave. To this day nobody has ever discovered the burial place of Moses. All that is known is that he climbed Mount Nebo, viewed the Promised Land (Canaan) from a distance, and died. The nation of Israel mourned his death for thirty (30) days. His passing is recorded in Deuteronomy 34: 1 – 8.

Image credit: Wikimedia Commons, Public Domain, The Death of Moses, as in Deuteronomy 34:1-12, Bible card published 1907 by the Providence Lithograph Company, 1907

Bible Study: Book of Deuteronomy

The Book of Deuteronomy is the fifth book of the Old Testament, and focused on certain events that were recorded in chapters 31 through 34.

Deuteronomy means “second law”. It ends with Moses' death at the age of 120 years old. This book contains the final teachings he gives to the people. Before Moses dies he sings a song recorded in Deuteronomy 32 and blesses the Israelite tribes. Because he sinned, he never entered the Promised Land. He only viewed it from a distance before his death, but that will never change the fact that Moses is a highly respected man in Judaism and Christianity today.

My favorite verse is Deuteronomy 33:3.

• Yea, he loved the people; all his saints are in thy hand: and they sat down at thy feet; every one shall receive of thy words.

This is my favorite verse because the thought of everyone receiving the LORD'S words and worshiping at His feet makes me happy. Also,whenever I stumble in my Christian walk I can always remember the LORD loves people and that all His saints are in His hands. I always have the chance to receive His words and study His words.

Bible Study: The Book of Numbers

This is a brief overview of the Book of Numbers, the fourth book of the Old Testament, and focuses on certain events that were recorded in chapters 10 through 14, and 20 – 14. For example, the people being fed quail and Moses fetching water from the rock. This was done because they said they were brought out of Egypt to die from lack of food and water.

Numbers centers on God's faithfulness to His people and how disobedience will not be tolerated in His eyes. As the tribes set out from the Desert of Sinai the Israelites turn to complaining which provokes the LORD to anger. Even the brother and sister of Moses, Aaron and Miriam, made God angry because they spoke harshly to Moses about his Cushite wife. Miriam was infected with leprosy and had to be confined outside the camp for seven days. 

After leaving Hazeroth, the Israelites camped at the Desert of Paran while Moses sent 12 men to explore Canaan and bring back a report. Ten of the men who brought back a bad report claiming their size compared to the people that lived there was like grasshoppers to giants. The remaining two, Joshua and Caleb, gave Moses a good report. Those who brought back a bad report died by a plague from the LORD.

The Israelites complained often about not having water. The first time Moses miraculously brought water from a rock, God told him to strike it. But the second time, God instructed Moses to speak to the rock. But Moses let his won anger get the better of him and disobeyed God by striking the rock. This sin was the reason Moses was not allowed to enter the Promised Land.

The lesson for Christians through the Book of Numbers is God is faithful and always fulfills our necessary needs even though we may have petty complaints about what we need, but He does not tolerate disobedience.

My favorite verse from this book of the Bible is Number 12: 3.

• “Now the man Moses was very humble,more than all men who were on the face of all earth.”

This is my favorite verse in Numbers because it gives me a figure of modesty that I can follow in my Christian walk. Modesty or humbleness in Christian teachings is the fruit of the spirit.



Image Credit: Wikimedia commons, Public Domain  - Miriam stricken with leprosy

Bible Study: The Book of Exodus

The Book of EXODUS focuses on Israelites multiplying and spreading in the land of Egypt resulting in the Egyptians oppressing them with harsh labor due to Pharaoh’s fears of the tribes attempting to oppose him because of their increasing number of people. Pharaoh was so scared that he made an order to throw every Hebrew baby boy in the Nile River,but he allowed girls to live.

Moses was born a Hebrew and because of Pharaoh's order, his mother, Jochebed hid Moses for three months. When she could no longer do this, she then placed him in a papyrus basket and set it in the Nile River. Moses' sister, Miriam, carefully watched to see what would happen to him when Pharaoh's daughter saw him. Although he was identified as a Hebrew baby, Pharaoh's daughter took him to be her own son. Miriam suggested that she could find a Hebrew woman to nurse the child and she went and got Moses' mother.

Moses was raised as a part of Pharoah's family and lived in Egypt for 40 years. One day, he murdered an Egyptian who was mistreating one of the Hebrew slaves. The next day he discovered that his act was not a secret, so he ran away to Midian. There he lived as a shepherd, married, and had children. A life changing pivotal point in Moses' life occurs on Mount Horeb where Moses encounters a flaming bush that was not being burned by the fire. God spoke to Moses from the bush. God said He has heard their cries of agony from His people and Moses would be sent to deliver them. Moses was chosen to lead the Israelites out of Egypt to a land flowing with milk and honey called Canaan.

Listen to the Book of Exodus online free.

* Important Events in the Book of Exodus

1. Moses drawn from the river by Pharoah's daughter
2. God speaks to Moses through the Burning Bush
3. Egyptians were afflicted with Ten Plagues
4. Moses parting the Red Sea
5. Moses receives the Ten Commandments
6. Tribes of Israel worship the Golden Calf
7. God's people gather manna, the bread from heaven
8. Moses' arms held up to win the battle of Amalekites

Bible Study: The Major Themes of Genesis

Probably an excellent way to study the Bible is to start at the beginning. That's what the word "Genesis" means. If you are a new student of biblical studies these notes should get you started.

THE MAJOR THEMES OF GENESIS

1. God had a plan to redeem all of humanity.

2. The beginning of God’s creation.

3. Temptation by Satan to sin.

4. Sin against the Lord; mankind’s disobedience.

5. God’s promise to Abram (Abraham)

6. Lives of holy men like Noah, Abraham, Jacob, and Joseph and how they walked before God.

7. God keeps His promises.



IMPORTANT EVENTS

• God created the heavens, the earth, and man; and made the Sabbath Day holy.

• Satan tempts God’s children, Adam and Eve, and they sin against the Lord, and are cast out of their first home.

• Noah preaches and warns people about the flood; builds the ark, the flood happens, and only eight souls survive (Noah’s family).

• Nimrod builds the Tower of Babel to reach the heavens and God confuses the language of the people to stop the work and they scatter upon the face of the earth.

• God calls Abram out of his homeland, the Ur of the Chaldees, promises to make of his seed a holy nation. 

Abraham's Seed:  God's Plan ~ God's Promise ~ God's Providence

BRIEF OUTLINE OF GENESIS

• Chapters 1 - 5:  Creation and the fall of man  
• Chapters 6-11 : 9:  Noah, the flood; Tower of Babel, and confusion of languages  
• Chapter 11: 10 – Chapter 36:  Lives of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. 
• Chapter 37 – 50:  The story of Joseph and how God brought His people out of bondage to fulfill His promise to Abraham.
  
  

READ or LISTEN to the Book of Genesis Online

There are many sites on the Internet where you can read or listen to the books of the Bible free.

• If you want to read Genesis online, click here.
• If you want to listen, click audio.

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Related JDV Posts:

And God Said to the Woman "Thou Shalt Not Be Equal" : Did God Really Say That?

Ten Commandments in Christianity - INTRO (Post Series)

Some think or believe that these Divine edicts were done away with via Christianity. This is false. In Christian Scriptures, these Commandments are restated in the gospels by Jesus Christ and in the epistles by His Apostles.

This is a somewhat complicated study which hopefully is presented in a simplified, easy-to-read and understand format. Blessings!

Scriptural references for the Ten Commandments are found in the Jewish scriptures: Exodus 20: 1 -17 and also Deuteronomy 5: 1 - 21.

Some think or believe that these Divine edicts were done away with via Christianity. This is false. In Christian Scriptures, these Commandments are restated in the gospels by Jesus Christ and in the epistles by His Apostles.

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THE TEN COMMANDMENTS Summarily Restated by Jesus Christ as the 1st and 2nd Greatest Commandments:

MATT 22: 36 - 40 * * * * * 36) Master, which is the great commandment in the law?37) Jesus said unto him, THOU SHALT LOVE THE LORD THY GOD WITH ALL THY HEART, AND WITH ALL THY, AND WITH ALL THY SOUL, AND WITH ALL THY MIND. 38) This is the first and great commandment. 39) And the second is like unto it, THOU SHALT LOVE THY NEIGHBOR AS THYSELF. 40) On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.

THE 2nd COMMANDMENT Also Summarily Restated by Apostle Paul:

ROM 13: 8 - 10 * * * * * 8) Owe no man any thing but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law. 9) For this, THOU SHALT NOT COMMIT ADULTERY, THOU SHALT NOT KILL, THOU SHALT NOT STEAL, THOU SHALT NOT BEAR FALSE WITNESS, THOU SHALT NOT COVET; and if there be any other commandment , it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, THOU SHALT LOVE THY NEIGHBOR AS THYSELF. 10) Love worketh no ill to his neighbor: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.

JESUS DID NOT COME TO DESTROY THE LAW OF MOSES:

MATT 5: 17 - 18 * * * * * 17) Think not that I am come to destroy the law and the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill. 18) For verily I say unto you, Til heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, til all be fulfilled. MATT 16: 16 - 17 * * * * * 16) The law and the prophets were until John: since that time the kingdom of heaven and preached, and every man presseth into it. 17) It is easier for heaven and earth to pass, than one tittle of the law to fail.

Jesus (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

* Original Source for content:  My Blog Stop!

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Continue the Series:

Ten Commandments in Christianity - 1st

Ten Commandments in Christianity - 2nd

Ten Commandments in Christianity - 3rd

Ten Commandments in Christianity - 4th

Ten Commandments in Christianity - 5th

Ten Commandments in Christianity - 6th

Ten Commandments in Christianity - 7th

Ten Commandments in Christianity - 8th

Ten Commandments in Christianity - 9th

Ten Commandments in Christianity - 10th

Ten Commandments in Christianity - Final Post