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Saint Moses
Prophet of the Old Testament
Moses and Abraham are the two most famous figures in the Old Testament. The two greatest friends of God in ancient times.
Moses was the liberator of the people of Israel.
The story of Moses is found in the second book of the Holy Bible, the Book of Exodus, one of the most beautiful and moving books in all of world literature. No good Christian should miss reading Exodus not just once but many times. Reading it will do great good for their soul.
The Book of Exodus tells of a pharaoh who disliked the Israelites who began to rule Egypt and issued a law ordering that every male child born must be killed. And one day, a beautiful boy was born from the tribe of Levi. His parents hid him so that the Pharaoh’s soldiers wouldn’t kill him, but since the child was crying and they could hear him from the street, his mother decided to put him in a basket, which she had lined with tar on the outside, and let it float on the waters of the Nile River.
And it happened that the Pharaoh’s daughter went to bathe in the Nile River, and when she saw the basket above the water, she sent a swimmer to pull him out. And there she found the beautiful crying child. She took pity on him, and at that moment the child’s little sister, who was hiding in the bushes on the bank, watching, arrived and suggested that she find a woman to raise the child. The king’s daughter agreed, and the mother was called the child, whom the princess paid to raise the little one, whom she named Moses, which means «saved from the waters.» Pharaoh’s daughter adopted Moses as a prince and had him educated in the king’s palace, where those who would become rulers of the nation were educated. This careful education served him well later in governing the people of Israel.
When Moses grew up, one day he saw an Egyptian tormenting an Israelite, and in defending the Israelite, he seriously wounded the Egyptian. The king found out and was about to have him killed, so Moses fled into the desert.
In the desert, he found some shepherdesses who couldn’t water their flocks because some ruthless shepherds were preventing them. Since he was a good fighter, he defended them and allowed them to water their sheep. The girls told their father about this, and the good man summoned Moses and put him in charge of tending his flocks in the desert. He stayed there for seven years, dedicated to meditation and prayer, and that time was very useful to him because he was able to get to know the desert very well through which he would later lead the people of Israel.
Moses married Zipporah, the daughter of the owner of the sheep, and by her he had two sons: Eliezer and Gerson.
One day while tending the sheep in the desert, Moses saw a pile of thorns burning in flames but not burning. Filled with curiosity, he approached to see what was happening, and a voice said to him: «Moses, Moses, take off your sandals, for the place you are standing on is sacred.»
Moses asked him: «Who are you, Lord?»
he voice answered him, «I am the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. I have heard the lamentations of my people Israel and have decided to come down to help them. I have decided to free them from slavery in Egypt and bring them to a land flowing with milk and honey. I will send you to Pharaoh to set them free.»
Moses asked, «Lord, if they ask me what your name is, what shall I say?»
The Lord answered, «I am Yahweh. I am who I am. You will go to the Israelites and say, ‘Yahweh, who is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, has sent me to you.’ Then you will gather the elders of Israel together and go with them to Pharaoh to ask him to let the people go free.» Pharaoh will refuse, but I will perform all kinds of miracles to get them to leave.»
Moses said to the Lord, «And what demonstration shall I give them so they will know that I am indeed from God?»
The Lord replied, «Throw your shepherd’s staff to the ground.» Moses threw his staff to the ground, and it turned into a snake.
God said to him, «Take the snake by the tail.»
He grabbed it, and it turned back into a staff.
God said to him, «This will be one of the signs with which I will support you so that they will believe you.»
Moses said to Our Lord, «I have difficulty speaking. Why don’t you send someone else?» The Lord said to him, «Your brother Aaron, who is a good speaker, will help you.»
Moses returned to Egypt and, together with his brother Aaron, gathered the elders of Israel and told them what the Lord God had commanded him. He turned the staff into a serpent to show them that it had indeed come from God.
They went to Pharaoh to ask him to let the people of Israel go free, but Pharaoh refused. Instead, he further enslaved the Israelites and gave them heavier work, such as making bricks. The people cried out to God, and God listened and sent the terrible ten plagues of Egypt.
The first plague consisted of the waters of the Nile turning to blood when touched by Moses’ staff. The second plague was a terrifying invasion of frogs in every house. Pharaoh was frightened, but as soon as Moses got the plague over, he didn’t let the people go. The third plague was a huge cloud of Mosquitoes that bothered everyone. The fourth, horseflies or bumblebees that bit very hard. The fifth plague, a pestilence that killed livestock. The sixth, ulcers all over people’s bodies. The seventh plague, a terrible hailstorm that destroyed crops. The eighth, locusts that arrived by the millions and devastated everything. The ninth, three days of darkness. And the tenth and most terrible, the death of all the eldest or firstborn sons of the families of Egypt. Faced with this calamity, Pharaoh became frightened and allowed the people of Israel to leave.
When the frightened Pharaoh gave the order that the Israelites could leave Egypt, where they were held as slaves, they all hurried to abandon the country with their animals and everything they owned, led by Moses. But when they reached the Red Sea, they saw the Egyptian army coming to pursue them. Frightened, they cried out to God, and then the Lord commanded Moses to touch the sea with his staff. Immediately, the waters parted in two great walls, and the people crossed on foot across dry ground to the other side. Pharaoh’s army also tried to cross, but at God’s command, Moses touched the waters again with his staff, and they closed in and drowned the entire pursuing army. On that day, the people grew in faith in God and believed in Moses, their prophet.
In the desert, water failed, and the people were dying of thirst. Moses, at the Lord’s command, struck a rock with his staff, and a spring of water gushed out, from which all the people drank, and their livestock drank.
The people began to suffer hunger and complain. Then God rained down white, pleasant bread from the sky. When the people saw it, they said, «Manna?» (which in their language means, «What is this?»). God said to Moses, «This is the bread with which I will feed you while you are in the desert.» And so for 40 years, manna was the miraculous food that kept them from dying of hunger.
Moses climbed Mount Sinai, and there God gave him the Ten Commandments, written on two stone tablets. And he promised that whoever keeps them will always have his blessings and help.
Moses had to suffer greatly because the people were rebellious and very inclined to evil, but God appeared to him and spoke to him like a trusted friend. Inspired by Our Lord, Moses gave the people extremely wise laws that were later very useful in keeping them in good morals and preserving them in the faith.
When the people sinned and God intended to punish them, Moses prayed for the sinful people and God forgave them. When enemies came to attack them, Moses went to the mountain to pray. While he prayed with his hands raised, the army of Israel triumphed. But when Moses stopped praying, the people of God were defeated. That is why two men held his arms raised to protect him.