Exodus Encyclopedia:

Moses

     Moses was the leader of the Israelites in the exodus from Egypt.
     Moses was a Levite, a son of Amram and Jochebed. He had a brother named Aaron. (6:20) Aaron was three years older than he. (7:7) Moses also had a sister named Miriam. (15:20)
     The pharaoh of Egypt saw that the Israelites were to numerous. So he made a new law: "All Hebrew male babies will be drowned in the river." Jochebed couldn't bring herself to kill her child, then three months old. So she put the baby into a basket and sent it floating down a river. The baby's older sister watched the basket float down the river. (1:22-2:4)
     The basket floated to where the pharaoh's daughter was bathing. The pharaoh's daughter recognized the baby as a Hebrew male baby, but she had compassion for him. She took the child, and decided to raise it as her own. The baby's older sister asked the pharaoh's daughter "Shall I get a nurse of the Hebrew women to be the baby's nurse for you?" The pharaoh's daughter agreed. The sister got Jochebed to be the nurse! (2:5-9)
     The pharaoh's daughter raised the baby as her own. She named him Moses. But Moses knew that he was secretly from a Hebrew family.
     Moses grew up. As an adult, he saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew slave. Moses killed the Egyptian, and was branded an outlaw. He fled to the land of Midian.
     In Midian, Moses met seven women who were the daughters of the priest of Midian. He helped them water their father's flock. They introduced him to their father, the priest of Midian. (There is a discrepancy as to the name of the priest. In most passages, he is called Jethro. But 2:18 gives his name as Reuel.)
     Moses married one of Jethro's daughters, named Zipporah. She bore Moses a son named Gershom (also called Gershon). (chapter 2)
     One day, Moses tended Jethro's flock. He led the flock to the west side of the wilderness, to Mt. Horeb, the mountain of God. He saw a burning bush, one that was not being consumed by the flames. From the bush, God told Moses "I am the god of your fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. I have heard the cry of my people, the Israelites, who are slaves in Egypt. I want you to deliver them out of Egypt and into the land of Canaan. Go back to Egypt, and tell them 'The god of your fathers has sent me. He will lead you to freedom.'" (3:1-12)

     Moses said "If I tell them that, then they will ask me who you are. They will say to me 'If it is the god of our fathers, then what is his name?' What will I say to them?" God said "I AM WHO I AM. Tell them that I AM has sent you." (3:13-22)
     Moses said "The Israelites won't believe me." God showed him a few magical signs to convince them that this was for real. Moses said "I am not eloquent. I am slow of speech." God said "Your brother Aaron can speak well He will help you. Go back to Egypt. And don't worry about having been an outlaw. The people who wanted you dead are now dead themselves." (4:1-19)
     Moses got his wife and son, and said goodbye to Jethro. Moses, Zipporah, and Gershom went back to Egypt. On the way, Zipporah circumcised Gershom. For this, she called Moses "a bridegroom of blood". (4:20-26)
     Moses met his brother Aaron in Egypt. He told Aaron what God had told him. Aaron told the Israelites that God would lead them to freedom. The Israelites believed it. (4:27-31)
     Moses went to the pharaoh of Egypt, and said "The Lord commands you to release the Israelites." The pharaoh refused. As a punishment, he made the Israelites work even harder. The Israelites were mad at Moses. (chapter 5)
     God spoke to Moses again: "I appeared to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. I established a covenant that I would give them the land of Canaan. Tell the Israelites again that God will lead them out of Egypt." Moses did so, but the people didn't believe him. (6:1-9)
     By now, Moses was 80 years old. (7:7) God told Moses and Aaron to talk to the pharaoh again. They went back and said "Release the Israelites." When the pharaoh refused, Moses and Aaron wielded staffs, and God caused nine plagues. But still the pharaoh refused. (chapters 7-10)
     Finally God had Moses threaten the pharaoh. "Pharaoh, if you don't release the Israelites, then every first-born child in Egypt shall die, except for those among the Israelites." But the pharaoh still refused. (chapter 11)
     God told Moses to tell the Israelites: "During the night, I will pass through Egypt, and smite all the first-born, both man and beast. But put lamb's blood around your doors. This will be a sign. When I see the blood around your doors, I will pass over your house, and no harm will come to you." Moses tells the Israelites this. They do as God says. (12:1-28)
     That night at midnight, God smote all the first-born in the land of Egypt, both man and beast. There was a great cry in the land. In the middle of the night, the pharaoh got up and discovered what has happened. He sent for Moses and Aaron. He said "All right. The Israelites are released. Take your flocks and your herds, and go, and serve your own god." (12:29-32)
     Finally the Israelites left Egypt. They left in haste, because they were afraid that the Egyptians will kill them for revenge. They traveled from Raamses to Succoth, then to Etham, and finally to the western shore of the Red Sea.
     The pharaoh changed his mind. He and some soldiers chased the Israelites, intending to bring them back to Egypt. They caught up to the Israelites at the Red Sea. The Israelites were trapped by the Egyptian soldiers on one side and by the Red Sea on the other.
     God had Moses stretch his hand over the sea. The waters of the sea divide, and form a strip of land in the middle. The Israelites walk through the sea. The Egyptians chase them. When the Israelites reach the other side of the sea, the waters came back, and drowned the Egyptians. (chapters 12-14)
     The Israelites continued on to Shur, then Marah, then Elim, then the wilderness of Sin, and then Rephidim. At Rephidim, soldiers from Amalek fought with the Israelites. During the battle, every time Moses raised his hands, the Israelites were winning. So he had Aaron and Hur hold up his hands. God helped Israel win. Moses predicted that they will have more trouble with Amalek. (chapter 14-17)
     Jethro joined the Israelites, along with Moses' wife and children. (Moses' wife and children had gone back to Jethro at some point.) Jethro noticed how Moses was the judge when there was a dispute. He told Moses "You and the people with you will wear yourselves out. You can't do it alone." He helped Moses arrange a council of judges to decide matters. Then Jethro went home. (chapter 18)
     The Israelites came to the wilderness of Sinai, and to a mountain called Mt. Sinai. Moses goes up the mountain, and spoke with God. God tells him "You shall be a kingdom of priests and a holy nation." (chapter 19)
     Moses went up the mountain several times, and God gave him instructions on forming the nation, rules, and building a moveable tabernacle for worship. At one point, Aaron, Nadab, Abihu, and 70 of the elders of Israel went up Mt. Sinai and met God. Later God gave Moses two tablets of stone, on which were written the instructions. (chapters 20-31)
     Moses was up on the mountain for a long time. The Israelites told Aaron "We don't know what happened to Moses. Create a god for us." Aaron made a statue of a golden calf. The Israelites worshiped it.
     God told Moses what the Israelites were doing. "Leave me alone, so that my wrath will burn against them. I will consume them. But of you I will make a great nation. Moses pleaded "Don't. The Egyptians will say that you brought them out of Egypt to kill them. Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. You promised to multiply their descendants and give them the land of Canaan." God agreed.
     Moses went down the mountain, carrying the tablets God had given him. He saw what the Israelites were doing, and got angry. In a fury of anger, he accidentally broke the tablets. He destroyed the golden calf. He asked "Who is on the Lord's side? Come to me." The Levites came to him. They were made priests. Moses made them kill 3000 of the Israelites. God sent a plague to punish the people. (chapter 32)
     Moses made two new stone tablets, and went up Mt. Sinai with them. God wrote words on them. He told Moses "The Israelites shall have the land of Canaan. The people who live in the land now will be driven out. Don't make any deals with them. Tear down their altars and pillars." When Moses went back to the Israelites, his face shone. (chapter 34)
     Moses told the Israelites all of God's rules and instructions.

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