The call of Moses took place on Mount Horeb. God's commission was very responsible. Moses tried to refuse, referring to the fact that he did not have the ability to speak. But after the Lord revealed His Name to him, after the blood of glorified ancestors jumped in him, Moses took over this ministry and went to Egypt.

Moses was not sure that the people would listen to him, remembering the hatred towards him as an Egyptian nobleman. Moses was not sure that his half-brother, the pharaoh of Egypt, would listen to him and let such a large people go. After all, over 430 years spent in Egypt, the descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob reached the number of 600 thousand men aged 20 to 60 years. In total there were more than 2 million of them. But only one family of Jacob out of seventy people moved to Egypt.

Torn apart by contradictions, but led by the Lord, Moses entered Thebes, the throne city of the pharaoh. At an audience with the pharaoh, he experienced ridicule from the Magi, the exasperation of the pharaoh and the hatred that followed from the people as a result of the tightening of oppression.

But be that as it may, the Hand of the Lord prevailed over Egypt. The first plague followed - all the water in Egypt turned into blood. It was followed by the second execution - toads. All the dwellings of the Egyptians were filled with croaking slippery abominations. Pharaoh asked Moses to take the punishment away from Egypt and promised to release the people of Israel to worship in the wilderness. But every time, as soon as the execution was over, he deceived Moses. Thus passed more disasters: dog flies, pestilence, boils on the bodies of the Egyptians and hail, the invasion of locusts and pitch darkness enveloping Egypt. The pharaoh persisted. Moses, guided by the Lord, did not give up.

And again Pharaoh bargains with Moses, again a stream of lies. The patience of the Lord has come to an end. Through Moses, the Lord commands that a lamb be slaughtered in every family and smeared with its blood on the door-sills. During the next night, none of the Israelis left their homes. The time has come for the tenth plague.

The angel of the Lord struck down the Egyptians, who were the firstborn in their families. Thousands of women were crying in the streets of Egypt. Weeping was heard in the palace of the pharaoh. His eldest son, heir to the throne, has died.

Frustrated with grief, Pharaoh calls Moses and orders all the Israelites to leave Egypt as quickly as possible. The descendants of Abraham are ready. They immediately leave the Egyptian cities and rush towards the Red Sea, through the desert.

A lot of Israelites gathered on a small patch of land. They are euphoric and confused at the same time. They are waiting for the full collection, waiting for the next action of Moses. Moses, by the command of God, delays. And so, in the distance appeared the vanguard of the army of the pharaoh.

Pharaoh changed his mind again. He could not accept the loss of so many slaves. He sent an army to return some of the slaves, and destroy some of them, along with his half-brother.

Seeing the vanguard, the Israelites were frightened and began to grumble against Moses. They found themselves between the sea and the Pharaoh's army. There seemed to be no escape. At that moment, Moses raised his staff and prayed to the Lord. He hit the water and the sea began to part, driven by a strong wind.

Only after the last Israelite, who entered the pit, did Moses go. Meanwhile, the army of the pharaoh approached the failure and began to pursue the fugitives. Moses was the last to reach safety and lowered his staff. The wind died down and the sea closed over the Pharaoh's army.

So the Lord brought his people out of slavery, which lasted 430 years. The people carried the remains of Jacob and Joseph to be buried in the Promised Land.

The Second Book of Moses, titled Exodus, tells how this great prophet organized the exodus of the Jews from Egypt, which took place in the second half of the 2nd century BC. e. The first five books of the Bible also belong to Moses and describe amazing stories and divine miracles for the salvation of the Jewish people.

How many years did Moses lead the Jews in the desert

The founder of the Jewish religion, a lawyer and the first Jewish prophet on earth was Moses. Many are not in vain interested in how many years Moses led the Jews in the desert. In order to understand the whole essence of what is happening, you first need to familiarize yourself with the plot of this story. Moses (biblical character) rallied all the tribes of the people of Israel and led them to the land of Canaan, promised by God to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. It was on him that God laid this unbearable burden.

Birth of Moses

With the question of how many years Moses led the Jews in the desert, it is worth understanding in great detail. The story of Moses begins with the fact that the new king of Egypt, who did not know the prophet Joseph and his services to Egypt, worried that the people of Israel are multiplying and becoming strong, begins to treat him with particular cruelty and forces him to excessive physical labor. But the people still grew stronger and increased. And then the pharaoh ordered all newborn Jewish boys to be thrown into the river.

At this time, in one family from the tribe of Levina, a woman gave birth to a baby, she put him in a basket with a bottom treated with resin and let him go along the river. And his sister began to observe what would happen to him next.

At this time, the Pharaoh's daughter was bathing in the river and suddenly, hearing a child crying in the reeds, she found a child in a basket. She took pity on him and took him to her. His sister immediately ran up to her and offered to find a nurse. Since then, his own mother became his breadwinner. Soon the boy got stronger and became the daughter of the pharaoh, like his own son. She named him Moses because she pulled him out of the water.

Moses grew up and saw how hard his brothers of Israel were working. Once he saw an Egyptian beating a poor Jew. Moses, looking around so that no one could see him, killed the Egyptian and buried his body in the sand. But soon Pharaoh found out about everything, and then Moses decided to flee from Egypt.

Escape from Egypt

So Moses ended up on the land of Midian, where he met the priest and his seven daughters, one of whom, Zipporah, became his wife. Soon their son Girsam was born.

After a while, the people of Israel dies, crying out in misfortune, and this cry was heard by God.

One day, when Moses was tending sheep, he saw a burning thorn bush, which for some reason did not burn down. And suddenly he heard the voice of God, which ordered Moses to go back to Egypt, save the sons of Israel from slavery and bring them out of Egypt. Moses was very frightened and began to pray to God that He would choose someone else.

He was afraid that they would not believe him, and then the Lord gave him signs. He asked to throw his rod on the ground, which immediately turned into a snake, and then forced Moses to take her by the tail so that the rod would become again. Then God made Moses put his hand in his bosom, and then it turned white and covered with leprosy. And when he again put her in her bosom, she became healthy.

Return to Egypt

God appoints brother Aaron as Moses' helper. They came to their people and showed signs so that they would believe that God wants them to serve him, and the people believed. Then Moses and his brother came to Pharaoh and asked him to let the people of Israel go, because God told them so. But Pharaoh was adamant and considered all the signs of God to be a cheap trick. His heart hardened even more.

Then God sends ten terrible plagues to Pharaoh one after another: either the water of lakes and rivers turned into blood, where the fish became dead and stinking, then the whole earth was covered with frogs, then midges flew, then dog flies, then a pestilence happened, then boils, then ice hail, then locusts, then darkness. Each time one of these plagues happened, Pharaoh relented and promised to release the people of Israel. But when he received forgiveness from God, he did not keep his promises.

The exodus of the Jews from Egypt becomes almost impossible, but not for God, who subjects his people to the most terrible punishment. At midnight, the Lord struck down all the Egyptian firstborn with death. And only then did Pharaoh let the Israelites go. So Moses leads the Jews out of Egypt. The Lord showed the way to Moses and Aaron day and night in the form of a pillar of fire.

Recovering from horror, the pharaoh goes after them, taking with him six hundred selected chariots. When they saw the Egyptian army approaching them, the children of Israel, who were stationed by the sea, were greatly afraid and screamed. They began to reproach Moses that it was better to be the slaves of the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness. Then Moses, at the command of the Lord, raised the rod, and the sea parted, dry land was formed. And the people of Israel went out of six hundred thousand, but the Egyptian chariots did not stop either, then the water closed again and drowned the entire enemy army.

The Israelites were on their way through the waterless desert. Gradually, the water supply dried up, and people began to suffer from thirst. And suddenly they found a source, but the water in it turned out to be bitter. Then Moses threw a tree at him, and it became sweet and drinkable.

The wrath of the people

After a while, the people of Israel attacked Moses with anger because they did not have enough bread and meat. Moses reassured them, assured them that in the evening they would eat meat, and in the morning they would be satisfied with bread. By evening, quails flew in, which could be caught with hands. And in the morning it fell like frost, she lay on the surface of the earth. It tasted like a cake with honey. Manna became their constant food, sent by the Lord, which they ate until the very end of their long journey.

At the next test stage, they did not have water, and again they fell upon Moses with angry speeches. And Moses, by the will of God, struck the rock with his rod, and water came out of it.

A few days later, the Israelites were attacked by the Amalekites. Moses told his loyal servant Jesus to choose strong men and fight, and he himself began to pray on a high hill, raising his hands to heaven, as soon as his hands fell, the enemies began to win. Then two Israelites began to support the hands of Moses, and the Amalekites were defeated.

Mount Sinai. Commandments

The people of Israel continued on their way and stopped near Mount Sinai. It was the third month of his wanderings. God sent Moses to the top of the mountain and told His people to get ready to meet Him, to be clean and wash their clothes. On the third day there were lightnings and thunders, and a great sound of trumpets was heard. Moses and the people received the Ten Commandments from the mouth of God, and now they had to live by them.

The first says: Serve the one True God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt.

Second: do not create an idol for yourself.

Third: do not take the name of the Lord in vain.

Fourth: do not work on Saturdays, but glorify the name of the Lord.

Fifth: Honor your parents, so that you may be well and your days on earth will be long.

Sixth: don't kill.

Seventh commandment: do not commit adultery.

Eighth: do not steal.

Ninth: Do not bear false witness against your neighbor.

Tenth: Thou shalt not covet anything of thy neighbor, neither his house, nor his wife, nor his fields, nor his male or female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey.

The Lord called Moses to Mount Sinai and talked with him for a long time, at the end of the conversation he handed him two stone tablets with commandments. Moses spent forty days on the mountain, and God taught him how to correctly carry out His orders, how to build a camp tabernacle and serve his God in it.

Golden calf

Moses was gone for a long time, and the Israelites could not stand it, and doubted that God was favorable to Moses. And then they began to ask Aaron to return to the pagan gods. Then he ordered all the women to remove their gold jewelry and bring it to him. From this gold he poured a calf, and, like a god, they offered him sacrifices, and then they arranged a feast and sacred dances.

When Moses saw with his own eyes all this impious feast, he became very angry, threw down the tablets with revelations. And they crashed against the rock. Then he ground the golden calf into powder and poured it into the river. Many repented that day, and those who did not do so were killed, and there were three thousand of them.

Then Moses returned again to Mount Sinai to appear before God and ask Him to forgive the people of Israel. The magnanimous God had mercy and again gave Moses the tablets of revelation and the ten commandments. Moses spent a whole year with the Israelites at Mount Sinai. Having built the tabernacle, they began to serve their God. But now God commands to go on a journey to the land of Canaan, but already without Him, and places an Angel before them.

Curse of God

After a long journey, they finally saw the promised land. And then Moses ordered to gather twelve people to send them to reconnaissance. Forty days later they returned and told that the land of Canaan is fertile and densely populated, but also has a strong army and powerful fortifications, so it is simply impossible to conquer it, and for the people of Israel it will be certain death. Hearing this, the people almost stoned Moses and decided to look for a new leader instead of him, and then they even wanted to return to Egypt.

And the Lord became more angry than ever with the people of Israel, who did not believe him with all his signs. Of those twelve spies, he left only Joshua, Nun and Caleb, who were ready to do the will of the Lord at any moment, and the rest died.

At first, the Lord of Israel wanted to destroy the people with a plague, but then, through the intercession of Moses, he forced them to wander for forty years in the deserts, until those who grumbled, from twenty years old and above, died out, and allowed only their children to see the land promised to their fathers.

Canaan land

Moses led the Jewish people in the desert for 40 years. Throughout the years of hardship and hardship, the Israelites repeatedly reproached and scolded Moses and murmured against the Lord himself. Forty years later, a new generation grew up, more adapted to wandering and harsh life.

And then the day came when Moses led them to conquer her. Having reached its borders, they settled down near Moses was at that time one hundred and twenty years old, he felt that his end was near. Rising to the very top of the mountain, he saw the promised land, and in complete solitude he reposed before God. Now the duty to lead the people to the promised land, God laid on Joshua - the son of Nun.

Israel no longer had a prophet like Moses. And it didn’t matter to everyone how many years Moses led the Jews in the desert. Now they mourned the death of the prophet for thirty days, and then, having crossed the Jordan, they began to fight for the land of Canaan and, in the end, conquered it after a few years. Their dreams of the promised land came true.

The Exodus is a biblical tradition about the enslavement of the Israelites in Egypt, their mass exodus from Egypt by the will of God under the leadership of Moses, the theophany at Mount Sinai, the conclusion of a covenant between God and the chosen people, and also about the wanderings of the Jews before the conquest of Canaan.

According to the Scriptures, the shepherd family of Jacob-Israel left Canaan due to a famine and moved to Egypt. After the resettlement, the Israeli settlers quickly got used to the new places. Jacob's family grew rapidly and soon turned into a whole nation, which began to be called Israeli, after the patriarch of Israel, and Jewish, after the patriarch Eber. All of them lived in the land of Goshen (the northeastern part of the Nile Delta, suitable for pastures) and were engaged in cattle breeding. The Egyptian pharaoh, fearing betrayal in the event of an attack by enemies, decided to exterminate the Jewish people. By order of the pharaoh, Jews were herded in droves to construction sites and forced to knead clay and make bricks. Then the pharaoh ordered the Jewish midwives to kill all male babies during childbirth, and when these women did not follow the order of the pharaoh, he ordered the executioners to take away newborn boys from their mothers and throw them into the Nile.

Moses was born in the tribe of Levi. To save the child from the hands of Pharaoh, the parents of Moses put the three-month-old baby in a basket and placed it in a reed by the river. Pharaoh's daughter, having come to the river, saw a basket and took it out of the water. Seeing a child in her and taking pity on him, she decided to take him under her protection, and while he was growing up, she entrusted him to the care of a Jewish nurse, who became the mother of Moses herself. When the boy was already grown up, his mother took him to the palace, and the Pharaoh's daughter adopted a little Israelite, naming him Moses. Once, in a fit of indignation, Moses killed an Egyptian overseer who severely punished an Israelite slave. He was forced to flee from Egypt to the Sinai Peninsula, to the land of Midian, where he led a quiet shepherd's life.

Forty years of Moses' life in exile passed. He is already eighty years old. One day he was tending sheep at the foot of Mount Horeb (Sinai). Not far from where he was, Moses saw a miraculous phenomenon: a bush of thorns caught fire and did not burn. Wanting to take a closer look at this mysterious phenomenon, he decided to approach the thorn bush, but suddenly from the flaming bush he heard the voice of God: “Moses! Moses... don't come here; take off your sandals from off your feet, for the place where you stand is holy ground” (Exodus 3:4-5). At the command of the Lord, Moses was to appear in Egypt to his fellow tribesmen and announce to the elders the Divine decree on the liberation of the people from Egyptian slavery and their resettlement in the promised land. Then Moses, together with the elders, had to come to the pharaoh and ask him for permission to let the Jewish people go into the wilderness to offer sacrifice to God. When Pharaoh permits the people of Israel to retire into the wilderness for three days, then they can take advantage of this opportunity to leave the land of slavery forever.

The Lord warned Moses that Pharaoh would not let them go voluntarily, but only after terrible punishing miracles that would take place over Egypt. In order for the children of Israel to believe Moses, the Lord gave him the power to work miracles: from that moment on, Moses could turn a rod into a snake at will, cause and heal leprosy of his hand, and turn water into blood. And although the Lord endowed Moses with the power of miracles, he still continued to refuse such an extremely difficult mission, referring to his tongue-tied tongue and lack of eloquence, which is so necessary for the leader of a large people. The Lord was angry with Moses for his disobedience and said that he would give Moses to help his older brother, Aaron, who is very eloquent and will speak on his behalf. Finally, Moses obeyed the will of God and went to Egypt.

2 Egyptian plagues

On the border of Egypt, Moses met Aaron, whom the Lord had sent to meet him. Moses revealed to his brother the will of God and showed signs. When they came to the land of Goshen, they first of all gathered the elders of Israel and revealed to them the will of God concerning the Jewish people, backing up their words with miracles. The Jewish elders, having heard that the Lord had visited them and would grant them freedom, accepted this news with joy.

Moses went in with his brother to Pharaoh and said to him, "Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: Let my people go, that they may celebrate a feast for me in the wilderness." But the king of Egypt rejected Moses' request: “Who is the Lord that I should listen to His voice and let the children of Israel go? I do not know the Lord, and I will not let Israel go” (Ex. 5:1-2). With these words, the pharaoh drove the brothers away, and told his officials that the Jews had such idle thoughts from idleness, so they should be given even more work. And the Israelis were ordered not only to produce the previously established norm of bricks, but, moreover, to deliver the straw themselves for their dressing.

Then Moses and Aaron, at the command of God, again appeared to Pharaoh. To convince him that they were indeed messengers of God, Aaron threw his rod on the floor, and it turned into a crawling serpent. But Pharaoh ordered his sorcerers to be brought, and they did the same as Aaron. And although the serpent of Aaron devoured the serpents of the Egyptian magi, Pharaoh's heart was hardened, and he again did not listen to his brothers.

Then Moses, at the command of God, sent ten plagues to Egypt: first, the water of the Nile turned into blood, then toads, midges and dog flies appeared in turn in a huge number, then a plague of cattle happened, the bodies of people were covered with festering sores, a strong hail beat everything that was in field: from man to cattle, and grass, and trees, and what else was left, locusts ate, then for three days there was darkness throughout Egypt. These executions struck only those places where the Egyptians lived; but the land of Goshen, where the Jews lived, they did not touch. Moreover, each execution began and ended according to the word of Moses. The Egyptian magicians tried to perform the same miracles with their art, but at the third execution they themselves confessed to the pharaoh that the finger of God was visible in the deeds of Moses. Each new execution terrified the pharaoh, and he agreed to let the Israelites go into the wilderness, but soon took back his promise.

Then the Lord brought the last, tenth, and most disastrous plague on Egypt - the killing of all Egyptian firstborn. The spring month of Aviv has arrived. The Lord revealed to Moses that on the night of the fifteenth day of the month He would slay all the firstborn of Egypt, execute judgment on all their gods, and lead the descendants of Abraham out of the land of slavery. But the Jews had to celebrate their liberation that night in a worthy way. By the command of God, every family must choose from their flock a one-year-old lamb, male, without physical defects. On the evening of the fourteenth day, each family should kill a lamb, and anoint the doorposts of their houses with its blood. They should not boil the sacrificial meat of the lamb, but bake it on fire, and the lamb had to be baked whole, with the head, legs and entrails. Meat should be eaten with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. The bones of the lamb were not allowed to be broken, and the remains of it had to be burned on fire. The Israelites were to eat the lamb standing up, wearing travel clothes, ready to leave Egypt at any moment. The Lord called this event Easter. “But this very night I will pass through the land of Egypt,” says the Lord, “and I will strike every firstborn in the land of Egypt, from man to livestock ... And your blood will be a banner on the houses where you are, and I will see the blood, and I will pass over you and there will be no destructive plague among you when I strike the land of Egypt. And let this day be a memorial to you, and celebrate on this feast to the Lord in all your generations ... ”(Ex. 12.12-14). Together with Easter, the Lord commanded to unite the feast of unleavened bread. For seven days, the Jews must eat only unleavened bread and not have anything leavened in their homes.

The Lord's prediction has come true. On the night of the fifteenth day of the month of Aviv, when the Jews were celebrating the Passover of the Lord at their hearths, the Angel of Death passed through all of Egypt and struck down all the Egyptian firstborn. Horror fell on the Egyptians, for there was no house where there would not be a dead man. “And Pharaoh called Moses and Aaron at night and said to them: Get up, get out of the midst of my people, both you and the children of Israel, and go, do the service of the Lord your God, as you said ... And the Egyptians urged the people to quickly send him from that land; for they said: we shall all die” (Ex. 12:31,33)

3 Exodus from Egypt

The Israelites left Egypt early in the morning, heading east towards the Red Sea (commonly associated with the Red Sea). There were six hundred thousand armed men, not counting women and children. They carried with them the remains of Patriarch Joseph, as he bequeathed to them. In the desert, the fugitives, to their joy, were convinced that the Lord was leading them: during the day He went ahead of them in a pillar of cloud, and at night in a pillar of fire.

4 Crossing the sea

Meanwhile, having learned that the Jews were leaving Egypt, the enraged Pharaoh, at the head of six hundred war chariots, rushed in pursuit of the fugitives. Frightened, the Jews began to murmur against Moses: “Isn’t this the same thing we said to you in Egypt, saying: leave us, let us work for the Egyptians? For it is better for us to be in bondage to the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness” (Ex. 14:12). But Moses said to the people: “Do not be afraid, stand still, and you will see the salvation of the Lord, which He will work out for you today, for the Egyptians whom you see today, you will not see again forever; The Lord will fight for you, and you be calm” (Ex. 14:13-14).

And so the pillar of cloud that led the Israelites to the sea stood between Pharaoh's cavalry and the Jews, so that the Egyptians could not approach the fugitives in any way. The Jews, on the other hand, stopped at the very shore, further on their way was blocked by the waters of the Red Sea. But at the command of God, “Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and the Lord drove the sea with a strong east wind all night and made the sea dry land, and the waters parted” (Ex. 14.21). As soon as the sea parted, the Israelites hastened to cross over to the other side. They were already on the opposite shore when the Egyptian army, led by the pharaoh, rushed after the fugitives into the sea. While the Egyptians were in the midst of the sea, Moses once again stretched out his hand over the sea, and at his sign the waters fell upon the pursuers. Thus, miraculously, the people of Israel forever left the land of slavery.

5 The sending down of manna from heaven

Having celebrated their miraculous transition, the people of Israel, under the leadership of Moses, moved to Mount Sinai (Horeb) to offer God a sacrifice of thanksgiving there, as the Lord commanded Moses to do. But there was no water on the road, and the Israelites were thirsty. Finally they came to the place of Merra, where there was enough water, but it turned out to be bitter. The people murmured again. And then Moses, at the command of God, threw a tree into the spring, and the water became drinkable.

Exactly six weeks after the exodus from Egypt, the Israelites stopped in the wilderness of Sin, between Elim and Sinai. The stocks of bread were exhausted, and the Jews, as before, began to grumble. Moses reassured them, saying that the Lord would not leave them and feed them to their full before they expected. And in the evening, countless flocks of quails flew in and in an instant covered the ground of the camp. There were so many birds that you could catch them with your hands.

And in the morning the whole area around the camp was covered with something gritty and white, like hoarfrost. The Israelites were surprised and asked each other: what is this? And Moses said to them, “This is the bread that the Lord has given you to eat” (Ex. 16:15). “And the house of Israel called the name of that bread: manna” (Ex. 16.31), since the word “manna” is translated from Hebrew as “what is this?”. After tasting the manna, the Israelites were convinced that it tasted like bread with honey, and began to collect it. But it turned out that the manna needed to be collected only early in the morning, because later, when the sun began to bake, the manna melted. In addition, it could only be collected as much as was necessary for food for one day. If they left the collected manna the next day, then it deteriorated. Only on the day before the Sabbath, manna could be collected in such quantity that it was enough for that day and for the Sabbath, and then the manna did not spoil. During the forty years of the Jews wandering in the desert, manna was their main food.

6 Rephidim. Battle with the Amalekites

From the desert of Sin, Moses led the people deep into the Sinai Peninsula to Mount Sinai. The last stop before Sinai was the place of Rephidim. And again the Jews had no water to drink, and again murmuring began. And Moses prayed to God: “What shall I do with this people? a little more, and they will stone me” (Ex. 17:4). And then the Lord commanded him to take his staff and strike it at the rock. Moses did as God told him, water came out of the rock, and the people quenched their thirst.

In the same Rephidim, the Israelites had to measure their weapons with the warlike tribes of the desert - the Amalekites, who decided to block the way for the Israelites and profit from booty. Moses entrusted the command of his troops to the brave and talented warrior Joshua, who quickly led his troops against the enemy. The battle continued from morning to evening with varying success. Moses, accompanied by Aaron and Hur, ascended the mountain and earnestly prayed to the Lord for the victory of the Israelite army. When Moses raised his hands and fervently prayed, the Israelites prevailed, and when he lowered his hands from fatigue, the victory passed to the Amalekites. Then Aaron and Hor began to help Moses, supporting his hands, and by the setting of the sun, Joshua defeated the Amalekites. At the place where the battle took place, Moses erected an altar of thanksgiving.

7 Bestowal of Sinai legislation

On the first day of the third month after the exodus from Egypt, the Israelites encamped in the wilderness opposite Mount Sinai. Moses ascended the mountain to offer a prayer of thanksgiving to God, who had chosen him from this mountain to save the people of Israel. During prayer, the Lord appeared to Moses and said that he wanted to make a covenant with the people of Israel: “So say to the house of Jacob: you saw what I did to the Egyptians, and how I carried you as on eagle wings, and brought you to myself; Therefore, if you will obey my voice and keep my covenant, then you will be my inheritance out of all peoples, for all the earth is mine, and you will be with me a kingdom of priests and a holy people ... ”(Ex. 19.3-6).

Moses, descending, told the people all the words of the Lord, “And all the people answered with one voice, saying: All that the Lord has said we will do and be obedient” (Ex. 19.8). After Moses communicated Israel's decision to God, the Lord said to Moses: "Behold, I will come to you in a thick cloud, so that the people will hear how I will speak to you, and believe you forever" (Ex. 19.9). And on the third day, Moses led the people out of the camp to meet God and commanded them to stand at the foot of the mountain. Thunder rumbled over the mountain, lightning flashed, a strong sound of a trumpet was heard, and the mountain disappeared in thick clouds of smoke and fire. And the people listened with great trepidation as the Lord spoke to Moses.

No matter how beautiful the words of the Lord were, the people of Israel were weak, frightened and could not bear the special presence of God to the end. The Jews asked Moses to mediate between them and God. Then Moses dismissed the entire assembly into tents, and he himself once again climbed to the top of the holy mountain, where, in addition to the ten commandments, the Lord gave him other laws concerning both civil and religious life.

Coming down from the mountain, Moses wrote down all the commandments in the Book of the Covenant at night. In the morning, at the command of God, he built an altar of twelve stones at Mount Sinai and called all the people together for a sacrifice. During the sacrifice, Moses read the Book of the Covenant to the people. All the people unanimously promised to zealously fulfill the will of God. Then Moses poured blood into the cup and sprinkled it on the altar, the Book of the Covenant, and all the people.

After the sacrifice, having entrusted Aaron with the management of the people, Moses and Joshua, at the command of God, ascended the holy mountain, where they stayed for forty days and nights. During this time the Lord appeared to Moses and gave him detailed plan building a camp temple - the tabernacle. On the fortieth day, the Lord handed Moses two stone tablets (boards), on which the ten commandments of the Covenant were written with the Divine finger.

8 Golden calf

While Moses and Joshua were on the mountain, a commotion began among the Jews. “When the people saw that Moses did not come down from the mountain for a long time, they gathered to Aaron and said to him: Get up and make us a god who would go before us, for with this man, with Moses, who brought us out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become” (Ex. 32:1). Under pressure from the demands of the people, Aaron made him a golden calf. “And they said, Behold your God, O Israel, who brought you out of the land of Egypt!” (Ex. 32.4), and they began to offer sacrifices to him and celebrate.

“And the Lord said to Moses: I see this people, and, behold, they are a stiff-necked people; leave me therefore, that my wrath be kindled against them, and I will destroy them, and I will make a great nation out of you” (Ex. 32:9-10). But Moses begged God to reverse His sentence and hurried down to the people with the tablets of the Law in his hands. However, when he saw the calf and the dancing, Moses smashed the tablets in anger. And having destroyed the calf, Moses, standing at the gate of the camp, said: “Whoever is the Lord, come to me! And all the sons of Levi gathered to him” (Ex. 32:26). And Moses ordered the sons of Levi to kill those who continued to celebrate, and about 3 thousand people were killed.

The next day, Moses returned to the mountain to make amends before God for the sin of the people. Out of love for his brothers, he asks God for forgiveness, not even caring about himself: “Forgive them their sin, and if not, then blot me out of Your book in which You wrote” (Ex. 32.32). “And the Lord said to Moses, Go, go away from here, you and the people that you brought out of the land of Egypt, to the land about which I swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, saying, I will give it to your offspring; and I will send my angel before you, and I will drive out the Canaanites, the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Gergesites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, and he will bring you into a land flowing with milk and honey; for I myself will not go among you, lest I destroy you on the way, because you are a stiff-necked people” (Exodus 33:1-3). Then Moses set up a tent for himself far from the camp, and there the Lord spoke to Moses “face to face, as a man speaks to his friend” (Exodus 33:11). And Moses begged God not to leave Israel and Himself to lead them to the land that He commanded them, because Moses had acquired favor in the sight of God. Again Moses ascended the mountain and was there for forty days and nights, and the Lord gave him new tablets with the written commandments and confirmed His covenant with Israel. And when Moses came down from the mountain, “his face began to shine with rays because God spoke to him” (Ex. 34.29), so that people were afraid to approach him, and he put his veil on his face.

9 Construction of the tabernacle

After this, Moses began to build a tabernacle in the middle of the camp, as the Lord showed him on the mountain. This was the work of all the people of Israel. They set up the tabernacle on the first day of the first month, that is, exactly one year after the exit from Egypt.

The tabernacle consisted of three parts: the Holy of Holies, the Sanctuary, and the courtyard. The Holy of Holies was the most important part of the temple. It contained the Ark of the Covenant, which was a box made of shittim wood, lined inside and out with forged gold sheets. The ark was considered the largest and main shrine of the temple. Moses, at the command of God, put the tablets into the Ark, and placed a vessel with manna in front of the Ark.

When the Tabernacle was completed, Moses consecrated it by anointing all its sacred objects with oil. At the same time, Aaron and his sons from the tribe of Levi were chosen to perform divine services at the Tabernacle. If before the giving of the law among the Jews, any head of the family could perform priestly duties, that is, make sacrifices to God, now only the descendants of Aaron could be priests. The high priest was at the head of the priests. The first high priest was Aaron, who was anointed by Moses. To help in the service of the priests at the tabernacle, the rest of the representatives of the tribe of Levi (not the descendants of Aaron) were placed - the Levites.

When the tabernacle was built, then a cloud covered it, "and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle" (Ex. 40.34). The cloud above the tabernacle was a symbol of the Lord's presence among Israel.

10 At the borders of Canaan. Sending spies

As once a pillar of cloud and fire led the Jews out of Egypt, so now the cloud of the Lord over the tabernacle indicated when the people of Israel had to set off. “When the cloud was taken up from the tabernacle, then the children of Israel set out on their journey all their journey; but if the cloud did not rise, then they did not set out until it was raised, for the cloud of the Lord stood over the tabernacle by day, and the fire was in it at night before the eyes of all the house of Israel throughout their journey ”(Ex. 40.36-38)

And finally, after severe trials and tribulations, the Israelites reached the southern border of Canaan and stopped in the desert of Paran, not far from the city of Kadesh. In order to cross the border and start military operations against the Canaanite principalities, Moses had to have accurate information about the military power of the country. To this end, he sends twelve spies (scouts) to Canaan, selecting one from each tribe. “Go to this southern country and go up to the mountain and look at the land, what is it like, and the people that live on it, is it strong or weak, is it few or many?” (Num. 13.19). The scouts, without encountering any obstacles, successfully completed the task entrusted to them. According to the scouts, Canaan abounded in natural resources, but its conquest was out of the question, since the country's borders were protected by powerful fortresses, the garrisons of which consisted of strong and tall warriors.

The Israelites murmured again. “Oh, that we would die in the land of Egypt, or die in this wilderness! And why does the Lord lead us into this land, so that we fall by the sword? Our wives and our children will be the prey of the enemies. Wouldn't it be better for us to return to Egypt?" (Num. 14:2-3). Joshua and Caleb, who participated in the reconnaissance, tried to calm the rebellious people and, tearing their clothes, convinced the unbelievers that with God's help it was possible to take possession of Canaan, for this the Jews only need to have strong faith in the One Who so miraculously brought them out of Egypt. The Israelites attacked Joshua and Caleb, about to stone them. But they hid in the courtyard of the tabernacle, and the angry crowd, surrounding the tabernacle, wanted to stone not only Jesus and Caleb, but also Moses and Aaron. Suddenly the cloud of the Lord overshadowed the tabernacle, and the Lord, turning to Moses, said: “How long will this people annoy Me? And how long will he disbelieve me in spite of all the signs that I have done in his midst? I will smite him with a plague and destroy him, and I will make from you and from your father's house a nation more numerous and stronger than he” (Numbers 14:11-12).

Again Moses prayed to God for mercy on Israel. And again, the prayer of the leader saved the Jews from inevitable death. And although, through the prayers of Moses, the Israelites were delivered from the wrath of God, the Lord commands Moses to inform the people that not a single Israelite over twenty years old will enter the promised land: “all who have seen My glory and My signs that I have done in Egypt and in the wilderness and they tempted me already ten times, and they did not listen to my voice, they will not see the land which I swore to their fathers; only to their children who are here with Me, who do not know what is good and what is evil, to all the young, who understand nothing, I will give them the land, and all who provoke Me will not see it ”(Numbers 14.22-23). As a punishment for disobedience, the Israelites were to wander in the wilderness for forty years (according to the number of forty days the spies spent in the promised land), and the entire older generation ended their lives in the wilderness.

11 Entry into Canaan

After 40 years, Moses led his people to the borders of Canaan, but the Israelites entered this country already under the leadership of Joshua. There were many petty kingdoms and fortified cities in Canaan at that time. The Israelites first took possession of Jericho, and then began to move south and north, gradually establishing their control over the country. The Philistines, however, held five key cities, and many other Canaan cities were not conquered.

After the entry of the Israelites into Canaan, each tribe (tribe) received a special territory for its settlement; in the main these lands lay west of the Jordan River.

Moses is the greatest Old Testament prophet, the founder of Judaism, who brought the Jews out of Egypt, where they were in slavery, received the Ten Commandments from God on Mount Sinai and rallied the Israelite tribes into one people.

In Christianity, Moses is considered one of the most important prototypes of Christ: just as through Moses the Old Testament was revealed to the world, so through Christ - the New Testament.

The name "Moses" (in Hebrew - Moshe), presumably of Egyptian origin and means "child". According to other indications - “extracted or saved from the water” (this name was given to him by the Egyptian princess who found him on the river bank).

Four books of the Pentateuch (Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy) are devoted to his life and work, which make up the epic of the Exodus of the Jews from Egypt.

Birth of Moses

According to the biblical account, Moses was born in Egypt to a Jewish family at a time when the Jews were in bondage to the Egyptians, about 1570 B.C. (according to other estimates, about 1250 B.C.). Moses' parents belonged to the tribe of Levi 1 (Ex. 2:1). His older sister was Miriam and his older brother was Aaron (the first of the Jewish high priests, the founder of the priestly caste).

1 Levi- the third son of Jacob (Israel) from his wife Leah (Gen.29:34). The descendants of the tribe of Levi are the Levites, who were responsible for the priesthood. Because of all the tribes of Israel, the Levites were the only tribe not endowed with land, they were dependent on their brethren.

As you know, the Israelites moved to Egypt during the lifetime of Jacob-Israel 2 himself (XVII century BC), fleeing from famine. They lived in the eastern Egyptian region of Goshen, bordering the Sinai Peninsula and irrigated by a tributary of the Nile River. Here they had extensive pastures for their flocks and could freely roam the country.

2 Jacob,orJacob (Israel) - the third of the biblical patriarchs, the youngest of the twin sons of the patriarch Isaac and Rebekah. From his sons came 12 tribes of the people of Israel. In rabbinical literature, Jacob is seen as a symbol of the Jewish people.

Over time, the Israelites multiplied more and more, and the more they multiplied, the more hostile the Egyptians were towards them. In the end, there were so many Jews that it began to inspire fear in the new pharaoh. He said to his people: "Here the tribe of Israel is multiplying and can become stronger than us. If we have a war with another state, then the Israelis can unite with our enemies." So that the tribe of Israel would not grow stronger, it was decided to turn it into slavery. The pharaohs and their officials began to oppress the Israelites like strangers, and then they began to treat them like a subjugated tribe, like masters with slaves. The Egyptians began to force the Israelis to the most hard work in favor of the state: they were forced to dig the earth, build cities, palaces and monuments for the kings, prepare clay and brick for these buildings. Special overseers were appointed who strictly monitored the execution of all these forced labors.

But no matter how oppressed the Israelites, they still continued to multiply. Then the pharaoh ordered that all newborn Israelite boys be drowned in the river, and only girls were left alive. This order was carried out with merciless severity. The people of Israel were threatened with total extermination.

In this troubled time, a son was born to Amram and Jochebed, from the tribe of Levi. He was so beautiful that light emanated from him. The father of the holy prophet Amram had a vision that spoke of the great mission of this infant and of God's favor towards him. Moses' mother Jochebed managed to hide the baby in her home for three months. However, no longer able to hide him, she left the baby in a tarred reed basket in a thicket on the banks of the Nile.

Moses being lowered by his mother into the waters of the Nile. A.V. Tyranov. 1839-42

At this time, the Pharaoh's daughter went to the river to bathe, accompanied by her attendants. Seeing a basket in the reeds, she ordered to open it. There was a tiny boy in the basket, crying. Pharaoh's daughter said, "It must be from the Hebrew children." She took pity on the crying baby and, on the advice of Moses' sister Miriam, who approached her, who watched what was happening from afar, agreed to call the Israelite nurse. Miriam brought her mother Jochebed. Thus, Moses was given to his mother, who nursed him. When the boy grew up, he was brought to Pharaoh's daughter, and she brought him up as her own son (Ex. 2:10). The daughter of the pharaoh gave him the name Moses, which means "taken out of the water."

There are suggestions that this good princess was Hatshepsut, the daughter of Thotmes I, later the famous and the only female pharaoh in the history of Egypt.

Childhood and youth of Moses. Escape to the desert.

Moses spent the first 40 years of his life in Egypt, raised in the palace as the son of Pharaoh's daughter. Here he received an excellent education and was initiated "into all the wisdom of Egypt", that is, into all the secrets of the religious and political worldview of Egypt. Tradition tells that he served as commander of the Egyptian army and helped the pharaoh defeat the Ethiopians who attacked him.

Although Moses grew up freely, he still never forgot his Jewish roots. Once he wished to see how his fellow tribesmen live. Seeing how the Egyptian overseer beats one of the Israelite slaves, Moses stood up for the defenseless and in a fit of rage accidentally killed the overseer. Pharaoh found out about this and wanted to punish Moses. Escape was the only way to escape. And Moses fled from Egypt to the wilderness of Sinai, which is near the Red Sea, between Egypt and Canaan. He settled in the land of Midian (Ex. 2:15), located on the Sinai Peninsula, with the priest Jethro (another name is Raguel), where he became a shepherd. Moses soon married Jethro's daughter, Zipporah, and became a member of this peaceful shepherd family. So another 40 years passed.

Calling Moses

One day Moses was tending a flock and went far into the wilderness. He approached Mount Horeb (Sinai), and there a wondrous vision appeared to him. He saw a thick thorn bush that was engulfed bright flame and burned, but still did not burn.

The thorn bush or the "Burning bush" is a prototype of God-manhood and the Mother of God and symbolizes the contact of God with a created being.

God said that he chose Moses to save the Jewish people from slavery in Egypt. Moses was to go to Pharaoh and demand that he release the Jews. As a sign that the time has come for a new, more complete Revelation, He proclaims His Name to Moses: "I am who I am"(Ex. 3:14) . He sends Moses to demand, on behalf of the God of Israel, that the people be released from the "house of bondage." But Moses is aware of his weakness: he is not ready for a feat, he is deprived of the gift of words, he is sure that neither Pharaoh nor the people will believe him. Only after persistently repeating the call and signs does he agree. God said that Moses had a brother in Egypt, Aaron, who, if necessary, would speak for him, and God himself would teach both of them what to do. To convince unbelievers, God gives Moses the ability to perform miracles. Immediately, by His command, Moses threw his rod (shepherd's stick) on the ground - and suddenly this rod turned into a snake. Moses caught the snake by the tail - and again he had a stick in his hand. Another miracle: when Moses put his hand in his bosom and took it out, it became white from leprosy like snow, when he again put his hand in his bosom and took it out, she became healthy. “If they don’t believe this miracle,- said the Lord, - then you shall take water from the river and pour it out on dry land, and the water shall become blood on the dry land.”

Moses and Aaron go to Pharaoh

In obedience to God, Moses set out on the road. Along the way, he met his brother Aaron, whom God ordered to go out into the wilderness to meet Moses, and together they went to Egypt. Moses was already 80 years old, no one remembered him. The daughter of the former pharaoh, the adoptive mother of Moses, also died long ago.

First of all, Moses and Aaron came to the people of Israel. Aaron told his fellow tribesmen that God would lead the Jews out of slavery and give them a country flowing with milk and honey. However, they did not immediately believe him. They were afraid of the revenge of the pharaoh, they were afraid of the way through the waterless desert. Moses performed several miracles, and the people of Israel believed in him and in the fact that the hour of liberation from slavery had come. Nevertheless, the murmuring against the prophet, which began even before the exodus, broke out then repeatedly. Like Adam, who was free to submit to or reject a higher Will, the newly created people of God experienced temptations and falls.

After that, Moses and Aron appeared to Pharaoh and announced to him the will of the God of Israel, so that he would let the Jews go into the wilderness to serve this God: "Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: Let my people go, that they may celebrate a feast for me in the wilderness." But the pharaoh answered angrily: “Who is the Lord that I should listen to him? I don’t know the Lord and I won’t let the Israelites go”(Ex. 5:1-2)

Then Moses announced to Pharaoh that if he did not let the Israelites go, then God would send various "executions" (misfortunes, disasters) to Egypt. The king did not listen - and the threats of the messenger of God came true.

The Ten Plagues and the Establishment of the Feast of Passover

Pharaoh's refusal to obey God's command entails 10 plagues of Egypt , a series of terrible natural disasters:

However, executions only further harden the pharaoh.

Then the angry Moses came to Pharaoh for the last time and warned: “Thus says the Lord: At midnight I will pass through the midst of Egypt. And every firstborn in the land of Egypt will die, from the firstborn of Pharaoh ... to the firstborn of the slave ... and all the firstborn of cattle. It was the last most fierce 10th plague (Ex. 11:1-10 - Ex. 12:1-36).

Then Moses warned the Jews to slaughter a one-year-old lamb in each family and anoint the doorposts and the door frame with its blood: according to this blood, God will distinguish the dwellings of the Jews and will not touch them. Lamb meat had to be baked on fire and eaten with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. The Jews must be ready to set off immediately.

During the night, Egypt suffered a terrible disaster. “And Pharaoh arose in the night, himself and all his servants, and all Egypt; and there was a great cry in the land of Egypt; for there was not a house where there was not a dead man.

The shocked Pharaoh immediately summoned Moses and Aaron to him and ordered them, along with all their people, to go into the wilderness and perform worship so that God would have mercy on the Egyptians.

Since then, the Jews every year on the 14th day of the month of Nisan (the day that falls on the full moon of the vernal equinox) make Easter holiday . The word "Passover" means "to pass by," because the Angel that struck down the firstborn passed by the Jewish houses.

From now on, Easter will mark the liberation of the People of God and their unity in the sacred meal - a prototype of the Eucharistic meal.

Exodus. Crossing the Red Sea.

That same night, all the people of Israel left Egypt forever. The Bible indicates the number of departed "600 thousand Jews" (not counting women, children and livestock). The Jews did not leave empty-handed: before fleeing, Moses ordered them to ask their Egyptian neighbors for gold and silver items, as well as rich clothes. They also brought with them the mummy of Joseph, which Moses searched for three days while his tribesmen collected property from the Egyptians. God himself led them, being by day in a pillar of cloud, and by night in a pillar of fire, so that the fugitives walked day and night until they came to the seashore.

Meanwhile, the pharaoh realized that the Jews had deceived him, and rushed after them in pursuit. Six hundred war chariots and selected Egyptian cavalry quickly overtook the fugitives. There seemed to be no escape. Jews - men, women, children, old people - crowded on the seashore, preparing for inevitable death. Only Moses was calm. At the command of God, he stretched out his hand to the sea, hit the water with his rod, and the sea parted, clearing the way. The Israelites went along the seabed, and the waters of the sea stood like a wall to their right and left.

Seeing this, the Egyptians chased the Jews along the bottom of the sea. The pharaoh's chariots were already in the middle of the sea, when the bottom suddenly became so viscous that they could hardly move. Meanwhile, the Israelis got to the opposite bank. The Egyptian soldiers realized that things were bad and decided to turn back, but it was too late: Moses again extended his hand to the sea, and it closed over the Pharaoh's army...

The passage through the Red (now Red) Sea, which took place in the face of imminent mortal danger, becomes the culmination of a saving miracle. The waters separated the saved from the "house of bondage." Therefore, the transition became a type of the sacrament of baptism. A new passage through the water is also the way to freedom, but to freedom in Christ. On the seashore, Moses and all the people, including his sister Miriam, solemnly sang a song of thanksgiving to God. “I will sing to the Lord, for He is highly exalted; he threw his horse and rider into the sea…” This solemn song of the Israelites to the Lord is the basis of the first of the nine sacred songs that make up the song canon, sung daily Orthodox Church at worship.

According to biblical tradition, the Israelites lived in Egypt for 430 years. And the Exodus of the Jews from Egypt took place, according to the calculations of Egyptologists, around 1250 BC. However, according to the traditional view, the Exodus took place in the 15th century. BC e., 480 years (~5 centuries) before the construction of the Temple of Solomon in Jerusalem (1 Kings 6: 1). There are a significant number of alternative theories of the chronology of the Exodus, consistent to varying degrees with both religious and modern archaeological points of view.

Miracles of Moses

The road to the Promised Land ran through the harsh and vast Arabian desert. At first, for 3 days they walked through the Shur desert and did not find water, except bitter (Merah) (Ex. 15: 22-26), but God sweetened this water by commanding Moses to throw a piece of some special tree into the water.

Soon, when they reached the desert of Sin, the people began to grumble from hunger, remembering Egypt, when they "sat by the boilers with meat and ate their fill of bread!" And God heard them and sent them from heaven manna from heaven (Ex. 16).

One morning, when they woke up, they saw that the whole desert was covered with something white, like frost. They began to look: the white coating turned out to be small grains, similar to hail or grass seeds. In response to the astonished exclamations, Moses said: "This is the bread that the Lord has given you to eat." Adults and children rushed to rake manna and bake bread. Since then, every morning for 40 years, they found manna from heaven and ate from it.

Manna from heaven

The collection of manna took place in the morning, as by noon it melted under the rays of the sun. “The manna was like coriander seed, looking like bdolakh”(Num. 11:7). According to Talmudic literature, when eating manna, young men felt the taste of bread, old people - the taste of honey, children - the taste of butter.

In Rephidim, Moses, at the command of God, brought water out of the rock of Mount Horeb, striking it with his rod.

Here the Jews were attacked by a wild tribe of Amalekites, but they were defeated at the prayer of Moses, who during the battle prayed on the mountain, raising his hands to God (Ex. 17).

Sinai Covenant and 10 Commandments

In the 3rd month after leaving Egypt, the Israelites approached Mount Sinai and encamped against the mountain. Moses went up the mountain first, and God warned him that he would appear before the people on the third day.

And then this day came. Terrible phenomena accompanied the phenomenon in Sinai: clouds, smoke, lightning, thunder, flames, earthquakes, trumpets. This fellowship lasted 40 days, and God gave Moses two tablets - stone tables on which the Law was written.

1. I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage; Thou shalt have no other gods before Me.

2. Do not make for yourself an idol or any image of what is in heaven above, and what is on the earth below, and what is in the water below the earth; do not worship them and do not serve them, for I am the Lord your God. God is jealous, punishing the children for the guilt of the fathers to the third and fourth generation, who hate me, and showing mercy to a thousand generations to those who love Me and keep My commandments.

3. Do not pronounce the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not leave without punishment the one who pronounces His name in vain.

4. Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy; six days you shall work and do (in them) all your works, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God: on it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your servant, nor your maidservant, nor (the ox yours, not your donkey, not any) your livestock, nor the stranger that is in your dwellings; for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day; wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it.

5. Honor your father and your mother (that you may be well and) that your days may be long in the land which the Lord your God is giving you.

6. Don't kill.

7. Do not commit adultery.

8. Don't steal.

9. Do not bear false witness against your neighbor.

10. Do not covet your neighbor's house; Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife, (neither his field), nor his male servant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, (nor any of his cattle) anything that is with your neighbor.

The law that was given to ancient Israel by God had several purposes. First, he asserted public order and justice. Secondly, he singled out the Jewish people as a special religious community professing monotheism. Thirdly, he had to make an internal change in a person, morally improve a person, bring a person closer to God through instilling in a person love for God. Finally, the law of the Old Testament prepared mankind for the adoption of the Christian faith in the future.

The Decalogue (ten commandments) formed the basis of the moral code of all cultural humanity.

In addition to the Ten Commandments, God dictated laws to Moses that spoke about how the people of Israel should live. Thus the Children of Israel became a people, Jews .

Moses' wrath. The establishment of the tabernacle of the covenant.

Moses climbed Mount Sinai twice, staying there for 40 days. During his first absence, the people sinned terribly. The wait seemed too long to them and they demanded that Aaron make them a god who brought them out of Egypt. Frightened by their wildness, he collected golden earrings and made a golden calf, in front of which the Jews began to serve and have fun.

Descending from the mountain, Moses in anger broke the Tablets and destroyed the calf.

Moses Breaks the Tablets of the Law

Moses severely punished the people for apostasy, killing about 3 thousand people, but asked God not to punish them. God had mercy and revealed His glory to him, showing him a cleft in which he could see God from behind, because it is impossible for a man to see His face.

After that, again for 40 days, he returned to the mountain and prayed to God for the forgiveness of the people. Here, on the mountain, he received instructions on the construction of the Tabernacle, the laws of worship and the establishment of the priesthood.It is believed that in the book of Exodus the commandments are listed, on the first broken tablets, and in Deuteronomy - what was inscribed a second time. From there he returned with God's face shone with the light and was forced to hide his face under a veil so that the people would not be blinded.

Six months later, the Tabernacle was built and consecrated - a large, richly decorated tent. Inside the tabernacle stood the ark of the covenant, a wooden chest overlaid with gold with images of cherubim on top. In the ark lay the tablets of the covenant brought by Moses, the golden stave with manna, and the prosperous rod of Aaron.

Tabernacle

To prevent disputes about who should have the right to the priesthood, God commanded that a rod be taken from each of the twelve leaders of the tribes of Israel and placed in the tabernacle, promising that the rod would blossom in the one chosen by Him. The next day Moses found that Aaron's rod gave flowers and brought almonds. Then Moses laid the rod of Aaron before the ark of the covenant for preservation, as a testimony to future generations about the Divine election of Aaron and his descendants to the priesthood.

Moses' brother, Aaron, was ordained as a high priest, and other members of the tribe of Levi were ordained as priests and "Levites" (we call them deacons). Since that time, the Jews began to perform regular worship and animal sacrifices.

End of wandering. Death of Moses.

For another 40 years Moses led his people to the promised land - Canaan. At the end of the wandering, the people again became cowardly and grumbled. In punishment, God sent poisonous snakes, and when they repented, he ordered Moses to erect a copper image of a snake on a pole so that everyone who looked at him with faith would remain unharmed. The serpent ascended in the wilderness, - in the words of St. Gregory of Nyssa, is the sign of the sacrament of the cross.

Despite great difficulties, the prophet Moses remained a faithful servant of the Lord God until the end of his life. He led, taught and instructed his people. He arranged their future, but he did not enter the Promised Land because of the lack of faith shown by him and his brother Aaron at the waters of Meribah in Kadesh. Moses struck the rock twice with his rod, and water flowed from the stone, although once was enough - and God, angry, announced that neither he nor his brother Aaron would enter the Promised Land.

By nature, Moses was impatient and prone to anger, but through divine training he became so humble that he became "the meekest of all people on earth." In all his deeds and thoughts he was guided by faith in the Almighty. In a sense, the fate of Moses is similar to the fate of the Old Testament itself, which through the wilderness of paganism brought the people of Israel to the New Testament and froze on its threshold. Moses died at the end of forty years of wandering on the top of Mount Nebo, from which he could see from a distance the promised land - Palestine. God told him: “This is the land that I swore to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob... I made you see it with your eyes, but you will not enter it.”

He was 120 years old, but neither his eyesight was dulled, nor his strength was exhausted. He spent 40 years in the palace of the Egyptian pharaoh, the other 40 with flocks of sheep in the land of Midian, and the last 40 in wandering at the head of the Israelite people in the Sinai desert. The Israelites honored the death of Moses with 30 days of lamentation. His grave was hidden by God, so that the people of Israel, inclined at that time to paganism, would not make a cult out of it.

After Moses, the Jewish people, spiritually renewed in the desert, were led by his disciple, who led the Jews to the Promised Land. For forty years of wandering, not a single person remained alive who left Egypt with Moses, and who doubted God and bowed to the golden calf at Horeb. Thus, a truly new people was created, living according to the law given by God at Sinai.

Moses was also the first inspired writer. According to legend, he is the author of the books of the Bible - the Pentateuch as part of the Old Testament. Psalm 89 "The Prayer of Moses, the Man of God" is also attributed to Moses.

Svetlana Finogenova

God sends us all to each other!
And, thank God, God has many of us...
Boris Pasternak

old world

The Old Testament history, in addition to a literal reading, also implies a special understanding and interpretation, for it is literally filled with symbols, types, and predictions.

When Moses was born, the Israelites lived in Egypt - they moved there during the life of Jacob-Israel himself, fleeing from hunger.

Nevertheless, the Israelites remained strangers among the Egyptians. And after some time, after the change of the dynasty of the pharaohs, the local rulers began to suspect a hidden danger in the presence of the Israelis in the country. Moreover, the people of Israel not only increased in numbers, but also its share in the life of Egypt was constantly increasing. And then the moment came when the fears and fears of the Egyptians regarding the aliens grew into actions corresponding to such an understanding.

The pharaohs began to oppress the people of Israel, dooming them to hard labor in quarries, building pyramids and cities. One of the Egyptian rulers issued a cruel decree: to kill all male babies born in Jewish families in order to wipe out the tribe of Abraham.

All this created world belongs to God. But after the fall, man began to live by his own mind, his feelings, moving further and further away from God, replacing Him with various idols. But God chooses one of all the peoples of the earth in order to show by his example how the relationship between God and man develops. After all, it was the Israelites who had to keep faith in the one God and prepare themselves and the world for the coming of the Savior.

Rescued from the water

Once a boy was born in a Jewish family of the descendants of Levi (one of Joseph's brothers), and his mother hid him for a long time, fearing that the baby would be killed. But when it became impossible to hide it further, she wove a basket of reeds, pitched it, put her baby in it, and let the basket float on the waters of the Nile.

Not far from that place, the daughter of the pharaoh was bathing. Seeing the basket, she ordered to fish it out of the water and, opening it, found a baby in it. The daughter of Pharaoh took this baby to her and began to raise him, giving him the name Moses, which means “taken out of the water” (Ex. 2:10).

People often ask: why does God allow so much evil in this world? Theologians usually answer: He respects human freedom too much to prevent man from doing evil. Could He make Jewish babies unsinkable? Could. But then the pharaoh would have ordered them to be executed in a different way... No, God acts more subtly and better: he can even turn evil into good. If Moses had not gone on his voyage, he would have remained an obscure slave. But he grew up at the court, acquired the skills and knowledge that will be useful to him later, when he frees and leads his people, delivering many thousands of unborn babies from slavery.

Moses was brought up at the court of the pharaoh as an Egyptian aristocrat, but his own mother fed him with milk, who was invited to the house of the pharaoh's daughter as a nurse, because the sister of Moses, seeing that the Egyptian princess had taken him out of the water in a basket, offered the princess services to care for the child his mother.

Moses grew up in Pharaoh's house, but he knew that he belonged to the people of Israel. Once, when he was already an adult and strong, an event occurred that had very significant consequences.

Seeing how the overseer beats one of his fellow tribesmen, Moses stood up for the defenseless and, as a result, killed the Egyptian. And thus placed himself outside society and outside the law. Escape was the only way to escape. And Moses leaves Egypt. He settled in the Sinai desert, and there, on Mount Horeb, he met with God.

Voice from the thorn bush

God said that he chose Moses to save the Jewish people from slavery in Egypt. Moses was to go to Pharaoh and demand that he release the Jews. From a burning and unburned bush, a burning bush, Moses is commanded to return to Egypt and lead the people of Israel out of captivity. Hearing this, Moses asked: “I will come to the children of Israel and say to them: “The God of your fathers has sent me to you.” And they will say to me: “What is His name? What should I tell them?"

And, then, for the first time, God revealed his name, saying that his name is Yahweh (“Existing”, “He Who Is”). God also said that in order to convince unbelievers, He gave Moses the ability to perform miracles. Immediately, by His order, Moses threw his rod (shepherd's stick) on the ground - and suddenly this rod turned into a snake. Moses caught the snake by the tail - and again a stick was in his hand.

Moses returns to Egypt and appears before Pharaoh, asking him to let the people go. But the pharaoh does not agree, because he does not want to lose his numerous slaves. And then God brings plagues upon Egypt. The country either plunges into the darkness of a solar eclipse, or it is struck by a terrible epidemic, or it becomes the prey of insects, which in the Bible are called "dog flies" (Ex. 8. 21)

But none of these trials was able to frighten the pharaoh.

And then God punishes Pharaoh and the Egyptians in a special way. He punishes every firstborn baby in Egyptian families. But, so that the babies of Israel, who were supposed to leave Egypt, would not perish, God commanded that in every Jewish family a lamb should be slaughtered and the jambs and crossbars of the doors in the houses should be marked with its blood.

The Bible tells how the angel of God, repaying vengeance, passed through the cities and villages of Egypt, bringing death to the firstborn in dwellings, the walls of which were not sprinkled with the blood of lambs. This Egyptian plague so shocked Pharaoh that he let the people of Israel go.

This event began to be called the Hebrew word "Pesach", which means "passage", for the wrath of God bypassed the marked houses. The Jewish Pesach, or Passover, is the celebration of the deliverance of Israel from Egyptian captivity.

God's Covenant with Moses

The historical experience of peoples has shown that internal law alone is not enough to improve human morality.

And in Israel, the voice of the inner human law was drowned out by the cry of human passions, therefore the Lord corrects the people and adds an external law to the inner law, which we call positive, or revealed.

At the foot of Sinai, Moses revealed to the people that God freed Israel for this purpose and brought them out of the land of Egypt in order to conclude an eternal alliance, or Covenant, with them. However, this time the Covenant is not made with one person, or with a small group of believers, but with a whole nation.

“If you obey my voice and keep my covenant, then you will be my inheritance among all peoples, for all the earth is mine, and you will be with me a kingdom of priests and a holy people.” (Ex. 19:5-6)

This is how the people of God are born.

From the seed of Abraham come the first sprouts of the Old Testament Church, which is the progenitor of the Universal Church. From now on, the history of religion will no longer be only the history of anguish, languor, search, but it will become the history of the Testament, i.e. union between Creator and man

God does not reveal what the calling of the people will consist of, through which, as He promised Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, all the peoples of the earth will be blessed, but requires faith, fidelity and truth from the people.

Terrible phenomena accompanied the phenomenon in Sinai: clouds, smoke, lightning, thunder, flames, earthquakes, trumpets. This fellowship lasted forty days, and God handed over to Moses two tablets - stone tables on which the Law was written.

“And Moses said to the people: Do not be afraid; God (to you) has come to test you and to have his fear before your face, so that you do not sin. (Ex. 19, 22)
And God spoke (to Moses) all these words, saying:

1. I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage; Thou shalt have no other gods before Me.
2. You shall not make for yourself an idol or any image of what is in heaven above, and what is on the earth below, and what is in the water below the earth; do not worship them and do not serve them, for I am the Lord your God. God is jealous, punishing the children for the guilt of the fathers to the third and fourth generation, who hate me, and showing mercy to a thousand generations to those who love Me and keep My commandments.
3. Do not pronounce the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not leave without punishment the one who pronounces His name in vain.
4. Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy; six days you shall work and do (in them) all your works, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God: on it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your servant, nor your maidservant, nor (the ox yours, not your donkey, not any) your livestock, nor the stranger that is in your dwellings; for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day; wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it.
5. Honor your father and your mother (that you may be well and) that your days may be long in the land which the Lord your God is giving you.
6. Dont kill.
7. Don't commit adultery.
8. Don't steal.
9. Do not bear false witness against your neighbor.
10. Do not covet your neighbor's house; Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife, (neither his field), nor his male servant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, (nor any of his cattle), anything that is with your neighbor. (Ex. 20, 1-17).

The law that was given to ancient Israel by God had several purposes. Firstly, he asserted public order and justice. Secondly, he singled out the Jewish people as a special religious community professing monotheism. Thirdly, he had to make an internal change in a person, morally improve a person, bring a person closer to God through instilling in a person love for God. Finally, the law of the Old Testament prepared mankind for the adoption of the Christian faith in the future.

The fate of Moses

Despite the great difficulties of the prophet Moses, He remained a faithful servant of the Lord God (Yahweh) until the end of his life. He led, taught and instructed his people. He arranged their future, but did not enter the Promised Land. Aaron, the brother of the prophet Moses, also did not enter these lands because of the sins he had committed. By nature, Moses was impatient and prone to anger, but through divine training he became so humble that he became "the meekest of all people on earth" (Numbers 12:3).

In all his deeds and thoughts he was guided by faith in the Almighty. In a sense, the fate of Moses is similar to the fate of the Old Testament itself, which through the wilderness of paganism brought the people of Israel to the New Testament and froze on its threshold. Moses died at the end of forty years of wandering on the top of Mount Nebo, from which he could see the promised land, Palestine.

And the Lord said to Moses:

“This is the land that I swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, saying, “I will give it to your seed”; I let you see it with your eyes, but you will not enter it.” And Moses, the servant of the Lord, died there in the land of Moab, according to the word of the Lord.” (Deut. 34:1–5). The vision of the 120-year-old Moses "was not dulled, and the strength in him was not exhausted" (Deut. 34:7). The body of Moses is forever hidden from people, "no one knows the place of his burial even to this day," says the Holy Scripture (Deut. 34:6).

Alexander A.Sokolovsky