Moses Essays - Book Of Exodus, Moses, Exodus Gods And Kings, Bo

Moses Moses There have been many individuals who could be considered leaders, but some stand out among the others. An example of a superb leader is Moses. Moses is viewed as a righteous man in Gods eyes and is chosen to lead the Hebrews out of oppression in Egypt. Contained in the story of Exodus are many examples of Moses sacrifices and the hardships he endured while freeing the Hebrews. The faith of Moses was tested numerous times throughout the story, and, in some instances, it seemed that Moses had lost faith, however, being the righteous man that he was, he stuck it out until the end. Moses is a pillar of faith for surviving his tests and for being the perfect tool for Gods plans. The Old Testament, model of a great patriarch, is one who possesses faith coupled with voluntary obedience to Gods wishes and gratitude. These things combine to make up Gods standard of moral goodness. If the person obeys Gods laws and meets His standards, the individual may obtain happiness. The ultimate model of a great patriarch is Moses. The book of Exodus, begins with the Egyptians decision to oppress the Hebrews who lived in the land of Egypt for 400 years. (The descendants of Joseph and his brothers) Although Moses was born a Hebrew, Moses grew up in the Pharaohs court and the Hebrews were jealous of him. The Egyptians didnt trust him as well. This is one of the main reasons why Moses was such a great leader. He didnt really have any strong ties to either the Hebrews of the Egyptians. This is why he can be harsh and use force to make the people understand what God wants. He has the guts to order his own people to their death for freedom. Moses was willing to risk his life for his people and one day Moses saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew in the work-yard, and hastily killed the Egyptian with his bare hands. He then fled from Egypt to Midian, and found a wife with whom he had a son. Yet, Moses knew he would not settle down until he returned to Egypt to fulfill A Gods prophecy. Important to Moses development into a great leader was the time he was tending his father-in-laws flock up on the mountain of Horeb. Here, at the mountain of God, he came across a burning bush. Moses was amazed by the phenomenon and God spoke to him through this medium. Moses was commanded to go to the Pharaoh and request that the Hebrews be set free to worship their God. Now, Moses was not well liked by either the Egyptians or the Hebrews at the time, so he was in no position to tell anyone what to do. When Moses, through Aaron, proposes to the Pharaoh to let the Hebrews go free, the Pharaoh gets mad and just makes the workload for the Hebrews more demanding than it ever was before. This made the Pharaoh furious and the Hebrew labor force despised Moses for burdening them with more work. Moses was discouraged because the people he was commanded to free did not want to be freed, and, even if they did, Moses is the last person that they wanted to be freed by. As slaves, the Hebrews accept themselves to be powerless. At this point Moses had to be rather confused. He has no friends to turn to; all he has is a burning bush up on a mountain, and faith. On his conscience are the hardships of an entire people and a huge sense of failure. Moses returns to the bush and says to God, O Lord, why did You bring harm upon this people? Why did You send me? Ever since I came to Pharaoh to speak in Your name, he has dealt worse with this people, and still You have not delivered Your people (Exodus 5:22). This is an example of Moses doubt and confusion about his mission. God supplies Moses with many different tricks, and supernatural powers, yet the first few times Moses went ba ck to Pharaoh, his magicians could match Moses illusions. As a result, the Pharaoh thought nothing of it