fNames For The Pentateuch:
As explained in What is The Old Testament About, the Old Testament was divided into three divisions. The first division is known as The Torah. The name Torah is a Hebrew word that means Instruction, doctrine, and law. “Torah” was used for the Word of God, as it was in Psalm 1:2. The term “Torah” also referred to the Five Books Of Moses that were later named “The Pentateuch.” The name “Pentateuch” was derived from two Greek words – “pente”, which means “five”, and “teuchos”, which means “volume”. The Pentateuch, then, was the five volumes, or books, of Moses.
In numerous verses of the Old Testament the Torah, or Pentateuch, was called: the law, the book of the law, the book of the law of Moses, the book of Moses, the law of the Lord, the law of God, the book of the law of God, the book of the law of the Lord, and the law of Moses the servant of God.
The word “Torah”, or law, was used in more of a legal sense of the word, because of the legal elements of the books. The Torah, however, did include the narrative and historical parts of the books also, which made up the backdrop for the legal sections. The Book of Exodus addressed mostly the moral laws of God. The Book of Leviticus addressed mostly the ceremonial laws of worship. The Book of Numbers addressed chiefly the civil laws of the nation of Israel.
Originally the Torah, or the Pentateuch, was one book. The division of the Torah into the five separate books of the Pentateuch occurred in very ancient times. The Jews called the five books by their respective opening words: 1. Bereshith 2. Shemoth 3. Wajjikrah 4. Wajjedhabber 5 Debharim. In the Greek Septuagint the five books were called: 1. Genesis 2. Exodus 3. Leuitikon 4. Arithmoi 5. Deuteronomion.
Authorship:
Moses was the author of the Pentateuch. The Holy Spirit inspired him to write the first five books of the Bible. While Moses was the author, this does not mean that he could not have used another man as his secretary to write for him. He could also have made use of some available written records. And while Moses authored the Pentateuch, it is possible that a few verses, such as the conclusion of the Book of Deuteronomy, were added by another inspired man of God. There is internal evidence within the Pentateuch for Moses’ authorship. See Exodus 17:14; 24:3-7; 34:27; Numbers 33:2; Deuteronomy 31:19 & 22.
Moses’ authorship of the Pentateuch was indicated in other books of the Old Testament as well. For example: Joshua 23:6; 1 Kings 2:3; 2 Kings14:6. In 1 Chronicles 6:49 the offerings commanded by Moses refer to Exodus 27:1-8; 30:1-7; 30:10-16. 2 Chronicles 8:13 mentions various ceremonial laws commanded by Moses, which were written in the Books of Exodus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. The law of Moses was mentioned in 2 Chronicles 25:4; Ezra 3:2; Nehemiah 8:1; Daniel 9:11; Malachi 4:4.
Moses’ authorship of the Pentateuch was also upheld in the New Testament by Christ Jesus and his apostles. See Matthew 8:4; 10:7; Mark 10:3-5; 12:19 & 26; Luke 5:14; 24:44; John 1:17; 1:45; 7:19 &23; Acts 3:22; 13:39; 15:5; 28:23; 1 Corinthians 9:9; Hebrews 9:19; 10:28.
The biographical information on the life of Moses follows below.
Content:
The Pentateuch is the opening history of God’s plan of salvation.
Time Of Its Being Written:
During the exodus from Egypt to Canaan in 1440-1400 B. C.
The Life Of Moses:
What we know about Moses’ life for the most part has been provided to us by Moses himself in his first five books of the Bible, the Pentateuch. Key information about him, however, was also provided by Stephen in his address to the Jewish Sanhedrin before they stoned him to death, which Luke recorded in the seventh chapter of the Book of Acts. The writer of the Book of Hebrews also provided important information about Moses and his life in the eleventh chapter of Hebrews. The biographical information below is based on these biblical sources.
Moses was born about 1,520 B.C. He was a Levite, the son of his father Amram and his mother Jochebed, who was Amram’s aunt, the sister of Amram’s father Kohath (see Ex.6:18-20).
When Moses was born, his mother Jochebed saw that he was a beautiful child. Acts 7:20 says Moses was beautiful, or very fair, to God. His mother hid him for 3 months, unafraid of Pharaoh’s decree that every Hebrew infant son was to be cast to his death in the Nile River (Ex.1:15-22). When his mother could hide him no longer, she set him adrift in the reeds by the bank of the Nile in a basket made of reeds and covered with tar and pitch. Moses’ sister, Miriam (1 Chr.6:3), stood not far away to see what would become of him (ex.2:2-4).
At that time Pharaoh’s daughter went down to the Nile to bathe, attended by her maidens. She saw the basket among the reeds and sent one of her maids to get it for her. When she opened the basket, she found Moses inside. He was crying, and she was then overcome with pity for him. At that time Moses’ sister, Miriam, spoke up and offered to get a nurse from among the Hebrew women who could nurse him for her. Pharaoh’s daughter accepted the offer. Miriam then brought Moses’ mother. Pharaoh’s daughter hired Moses’ mother to take him and nurse him for her (Ex.2:5-9).
The loving, providential care of God was surely at work there. He saved Moses’ life from danger and death. He arranged to have the infant Moses cared for by his own mother during those early, informative years of Moses’ life. What is more, he blessed Moses’ mother with an income for taking care of her own dearly loved son. And during those early, informative years of Moses’ life, she was able to teach him about the one true God of heaven and earth, the God of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob, the God who had promised to send the Messiah, the Christ, to save them from sin, death, and the devil and to give them eternal life with him in heaven. Furthermore, she was able to teach Moses about his Hebrew heritage as a descendant of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
When Moses’ mother had cared for him until he was weaned, which in those days occurred at about 3 to 4 years of age, she brought him to Pharaoh’s daughter, who then took him and adopted him as her own son. Pharaoh’s daughter then named him “Moses”, which means “Drawn Out”, because she had drawn him out of the water (Ex.2:10).
In his Book of Exodus Moses passed over his own childhood and early life. However Stephen in his address to the Jewish Sanhedrin provided valuable information on that early life of Moses. In Acts 7:22 Luke wrote that Stephen stated, “Moses was educated in all the learning of the Egyptians, and he continued to be a powerful man in his words and deeds.” As a son of Pharaoh’s daughter, Moses was educated as a prince of Egypt in all the wisdom and learning of the Egyptians, whose education and knowledge was foremost in the world at that time. Some commentators have thought Moses’ Egyptian education would have included geometry, astronomy, music, painting, architecture, medicine, chemistry, history, poetry, religion, philosophy, and law. His education was likely to have included firsthand observation of the ways and affairs and protocol of the Egyptian court and business of government. While Moses’ education no doubt was intended to prepare him for a life’s work as a prince of Egypt in a high government position, in actuality the Lord was preparing Moses for his life as the leader and ruler and judge of God’s chosen nation, the Israelites.
Now when Moses grew up, he was a powerful man in word and deeds. He was well aware of his Hebrew heritage and the promises of God to his people. Therefore he refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter and chose to suffer mistreatment together with the Hebrew people of God rather than have the passing enjoyment of Egyptian sinful pleasures. He regarded being disgraced for Christ the Messiah a greater treasure than the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking forward to his reward from the Lord (Acts 7:22; Heb.11:24-26).
One day when he was nearly 40 years old it entered his mind to visit his Hebrew brothers. He watched them at work in their hard labor. He saw one of them being treated unjustly by an Egyptian. He defended the Hebrew man and carried out vengeance for him by killing the Egyptian and burying him in the sand. In some manner Moses must have previously learned that he was to be the deliverer and ruler of the Israelite people, for when he visited his Hebrew brothers he supposed that they would understand that God was giving them deliverance by his hand. They, however, did not understand. The next day he went out to them again and saw two Hebrew men fighting with each other. Moses tried to reconcile them and stop their fighting. The man who was hitting the other asked Moses who had made him ruler and judge over them, and he wanted to know if Moses was going to kill him like Moses had killed the Egyptian the day before. Moses then became afraid that his killing the Egyptian had become known. When Pharaoh heard that Moses had killed the Egyptian, Pharaoh wanted to kill Mosses. Moses was not afraid of Pharaoh’s anger, but he left Egypt and fled to Midian (Ex.2:11-15; Acts 7:22-29; Heb.11:24-27).
When Moses arrived in Midian, he helped the 7 daughters of Jethro, the priest of Midian, whose name was also Reuel (Ex. 2:18; Nu.10:29). Jethro’s daughters tended their father’s flock and brought the sheep to the well to water them. But some shepherds drove them away from the well. Moses stood up to the shepherds, saved the women from the oppression of the shepherds, and drew the water for their father’s flock. When they told their father how Moses had saved them from the oppressive shepherds and drew the water for the flock. Jethro invited Moses to dwell with him. He gave his daughter Zipporah to Moses for a wife. Moses fathered 2 sons by Zipporah, Gershom and Eliezer (Ex.18:2-4; Ex. 2:16-22).
When Moses was 80 years old, and 40 years had passed since he fled from Egypt and had started living in Midian, he was tending Jethro’s flock. He led the sheep to the far side of the wilderness into the area of Mount Horeb, the mountain of God. There from a distance he saw a bush burning that did not burn up. He went to investigate this strange sight. The angel of the Lord (an Old testament designation that was used a number of times for Christ, the Son of God) appeared to Moses from within the burning bush. He told Moses to take off his sandals because he was standing on holy ground. The angel of the Lord identified himself to Moses as the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob. God also told Moses that he had seen the terrible oppression and enslavement of his Israelite people and had come to deliver them from the Egyptian bondage. The same Moses whom the Israelites had rejected 40 years earlier God commissioned at the burning bush to go to Pharaoh to bring the children of Israel out of Egypt (Ex.3:1-10;Acts 7:30-35).
But Moses did not want to go to Egypt to deliver the Israelite people. He began to make excuses for why he could not go to Egypt. The matured, 80 year old Moses, who 40 years earlier had been ambitious and had tried to assert himself as ruler and judge over the Israelites, 40 years later by the burning bush made excuses for himself of why he could not go to speak to Pharaoh and lead the Israelites out of Egypt. But the Lord did not accept Moses’ excuses; rather, he disarmed them. Moses pointed out to God that he was a “Nobody”; who was he to go and stand before Pharaoh? The Lord assured Moses that he would be with him. Moses argued that when he told the people that the God of their fathers had appeared to him, the people of Israel would ask him what was God’s name, and he would not know what to say to them. The Lord told him his name is, “I AM WHO I AM”, “The Lord” and Moses should say that “I AM” had sent him. Moses inquired what should he say if the people did not believe him or listen to him. The Lord gave Moses the miraculous signs of changing his staff into a serpent and making his hand leprous. Moses then made the excuse that he had never been a good man with words who could speak to others; he was slow of speech and tongue. The Lord responded he would be Moses’ mouth and teach Moses what to say. Finally, Moses simply suggested that the Lord should send someone else. The Lord’s anger then burned against Moses. The Lord told him that he would give him his brother Aaron; the Lord would speak to Moses, and Moses in turn would tell his brother Aaron what to say, and then Aaron would speak for him. (Ex.3:11-4:23).
So Moses departed for Egypt. During the journey at a place where he had his family stay to rest, the Lord became very angry with Moses and sought to kill him, for Moses had failed to fulfill the sign of God’s covenant of circumcision by circumcising one of his sons. So Moses’ wife Zipporah took a flint knife and circumcised their son, which satisfied the Lord (Ex.4:24-26).
The Lord then sent Aaron to Moses. He met Moses, who told him everything that the Lord had said. Together they went to Egypt and assembled the Israelite people. Aaron spoke the words of the Lord to the people and performed the miraculous signs before the people. The people believed them and worshipped the Lord who was concerned about them (Ex.4:27-31).
At that tine Moses was 80 years old and Aaron was 83 (Ex.7:7) when they went to speak to Pharaoh. Pharaoh refused to listen to them. Rather he increased the Israelites’ bitter bondage by decreeing that the straw for making bricks would not be provided to them any longer. They themselves would have to forage for the straw needed to make their daily quota of bricks. Pharaoh’s taskmasters beat the Hebrew foremen for not accomplishing their daily quota of bricks. The Hebrew foremen complained to Moses that he had made them a stench to Pharaoh and his taskmasters, who were about to kill them. Moses in turn asked the Lord why he had ever sent him to Pharaoh and why be had brought trouble upon his people. The Lord told Moses that he would see what the Lord would do to Pharaoh to make him let his people go (Ex. 5:1-21).
During the days that followed the Lord struck Egypt with 10 plagues, which he did through his servant Moses. The plagues took place over a period of about 10 months. The plagues utterly devastated the land of Egypt and carried out judgment against the gods of Egypt as well (Ex.12:12). After the last plague that killed the firstborn of Egypt, Pharaoh and the people of Egypt urged the Israelites to leave Egypt quickly. The first time that Moses went to tell Pharaoh that the Lord said to let his people go, Pharaoh insulted the Lord by saying the Lord was no one that he should obey, for he did not know the Lord (Ex.5:1,2). But the Lord told Moses that Pharaoh and the Egyptians would come to know that he was the Lord when he stretched out his hand against Egypt (Ex.7:5 & 15-17). And after the last plague that killed all the firstborn of Egypt, when Pharaoh summoned Moses, Pharaoh told Moses to take the people of Israel and go out of Egypt and worship the Lord. Pharaoh had indeed come to know who the Lord of the Hebrews was (Ex.6:1-12:36).
Before the last plague the Lord had Moses institute the Passover in what became for the Israelites their first month of a new calendar year. They were to slaughter a 1year old lamb from the sheep or the goats at twilight. Its blood was to be smeared upon the doorposts and the lintel of the door of every Israelite home. The lamb was to be roasted with fire and eaten with unleavened bread. On that night the Lord would go through the land of Egypt and strike down the firstborn of the Egyptians, but when he saw the blood on the doors of the Israelites homes, he would pass over their houses and not harm the firstborn of the Israelites. The Passover was to be an annual celebration for the Israelites throughout their generations. In connection with the Passover the Lord had Moses institute the Feast of Unleavened Bread. For 7 days the Israelites were to eat bread made without yeast in memory of their leaving their affliction in Egypt in haste (Ex.12:1-28).
When Pharaoh let the people of Israel go, the people of Israel had 603,550 men of military age who were 20 years old or older (Nu.2:44-46). That being the case, the population of Israel was very likely to have been about 2,000,000. When the exodus began the Lord did not immediately lead the Israelites to the Promised Land of Canaan by way of the land of the Philistines (Canaanites), which was the short, direct route, because the Lord knew that the people would have returned to Egypt when having to face war. Therefore the Lord led the Israelites around by way of the Red Sea. With Moses leading the Israelites the Lord went before them in a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night that gave them light so that they might travel at night as well as by day (Ex.13:17-22).
In order to ensnare and destroy Pharaoh with all his chariots, the Lord had Moses lead the people of Israel back to encamp by the shore of the Red Sea. Then the Lord once again hardened Pharaoh’s heart, this time to chase after the Israelites. When it appeared that Pharaoh had entrapped the Israelites and pinned them against the Red Sea, the people of Israel became extremely frightened. But Moses encouraged them not to be afraid but to stand firm and watch the Lord fight for them and save them from Pharaoh and his army. Then the Lord commanded Moses to lift up his staff and stretch it out over the Red Sea. The almighty power of the Lord then parted the Red Sea by a strong east wind that also dried the seabed during the night. Moses then led the people through the Red Sea on dry ground with walls of water standing on both sides of them. Then Pharaoh led his chariots and chased the Israelites into the Red Sea. But the Lord caused the wheels of Pharaoh’s chariots to come off so they could not drive them. With the Israelites safely on the other side of the Red Sea, the Lord had Moses again stretch out his staff over the Red Sea, at which time the Lord caused the walls of water to collapse upon Pharaoh and all his chariots, destroying them all. Not one survived. (Ex.14:1-31).
As the leader of the Israelites Moses had to endure numerous trails during the 40 years in the wilderness. The Lord had Moses lead the people of Israel from the Red Sea into the wilderness of Shur. There the people took out their complaints upon Moses when they could not drink the bitter, brackish water of Marah, which name means “bitterness”. When Moses cried out to the Lord at Marah, the Lord showed him a tree to throw into the water. That sweetened the water and made it drinkable. Next in the wilderness of Sin Moses had to endure the grumbling of the people that they had no food to eat and wished that they had died by the Lord’s hand in Egypt. There the Lord gave the people quail and manna to eat. They ate the manna for 40 years until they came to the border of Canaan. In Rephidim when the people again grumbled against Moses because they had no water to drink and they were near to stoning him, the Lord had Moses strike a rock and make water come out of it for the people. That place was then called Massah, which means “test”, and Meribah, which means “quarrel”, because there they tested the Lord and quarreled with Moses. Then at Rephidim the Amalekites attacked the Israelites. Joshua led the Israelites in battle but it was the Lord who gave Israel the victory as Moses held up the staff of God. When his arms became so tired he could not hold up the staff any longer, Aaron and Hur held up his hands until sunset and the battle was won (Ex.15:22-18:27).
Moses then led the Israelites into the wilderness of Sinai and camped at the mountain of God. The glory of the Lord came upon the mountain with thunder and lightning flashes and a thick cloud and a loud trumpet and smoke and fire. Then the Lord gave his people his Ten Commandments and laws and gave Moses the instructions for building the tabernacle. Afterwards he gave Moses the two tablets of stone on which the finger of God had written his Ten Commandments. Now while Moses was up on the mountain for forty days with the Lord, the Israelites below the mountain prompted Aaron to make them a golden calf to worship. The people then indulged themselves in idolatrous and sinful revelry. On the mountain Moses interceded for the people with the Lord, who in response did not carry out his wrath against the people. Moses went down the mountain and as soon as he drew near the Israelite encampment, he threw down the two stone tablets, smashing them to pieces at the bottom of the mountain. He confronted Aaron with his sinful making of the golden calf, and he had the Levites put the idolatrous revelers to death with their swords. Three thousand were killed. Moses then went back up the mountain and pleaded for the Lord’s forgiveness of the people. The Lord sent Moses back to lead the people. Then the Lord struck the people with a plague for what they had done with the golden calf (Ex.19:1-32:35).
The Lord continued to speak to Moses face to face like a friend as the Lord spoke to no other prophet after him (Ex.33:11 & Dt.34:10). The Lord commanded Moses to cut 2 new tablets out of stone and bring them up to the mountain, which Moses then did. While on the mountain, Moses asked the Lord to show him his glory. The Lord hid him in a cleft of a rock and covered him with his hand. As the Lord passed by Moses the Lord proclaimed the meaning of his name “The Lord”. Then the Lord commanded Moses to write on the new tablets of stone the covenant of the Ten Commandments. Moses was then on the mountain for 40 days and nights a second time. When Moses came down from the mountain, his face shone with the glory of the Lord. And whenever Moses spoke with the Lord, his face would afterwards shine while he was telling the Israelites what the Lord had said. Moses would then cover his face with a veil so the people could not see the glory of the Lord fading from his face (Ex.33:1-34:35; 2 Cor.3:7-13).
Moses gathered all the people together. He then explained to them that the Lord had commanded an offering be taken of the various materials that would be needed to build the tabernacle with its courtyard, all of its utensils, and the robes for the priests. He urged everyone whose heart was willing to bring his gift. The people brought more than enough, so Moses restrained them from bringing more. The work of building the tabernacle with its courtyard and all its utensils was undertaken until everything had been made according to the Lord’s design and plan. Then according to the Lord’s command the tabernacle and its courtyard were set up almost exactly 1 year after the last plague and the Passover and the Israelites’ exodus from Egypt began. And in the tabernacle Moses put the Ark of the Covenant as the Lord had directed him. When everything was erected and put into its proper place as the Lord had directed Moses, the cloud covered the courtyard and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle (Ex.35:1-40:38).
As the Lord’s servant, Moses led the Israelites for 40 years in the wilderness. He endured their complaints and rebellious ways. Not long after they were in the wilderness the people complained about the adversities of their life in the desert. The anger of the Lord was aroused and the fire of the Lord burned among them and burned some of the Israelites. Then the ungodly foreigners among them lusted after different food and Israelites also wept over their diet of manna and their lack of meat and the foods that they had eaten in Egypt. Moses lamented to the Lord about the extreme burden the Israelites were upon him, and the Lord became very angry with them again. The Lord raised up a wind that brought millions of quail from the sea. There were so many quail that the ground was covered with them for a day’s journey in every direction and about a yard deep. Then while the meat was between the people’s teeth and before they could eat the meat the Lord struck them with a severe plague that killed the people who had craved and wept for the meat. After that Moses had to suffer the complaint of his sister Miriam and brother Aaron because he had married a Cushite woman. Nothing is recorded about what happened to Moses’ wife Zipporah, but it would seem that she had died. And Miriam and Aaron complained that they were leaders just as much as Moses and that the Lord had spoken through them as well as through Moses. The Lord rebuked them and struck Miriam with leprosy. Moses interceded for her, so the Lord limited her leprosy to only 7 days outside the Israelite encampment (Nu.1:1-12:16).
At the Lord’s command Moses sent 12spies to spy out the land of Canaan and bring back a report about it and its military strength. When the spies returned, only Joshua and Caleb urged the Israelites to go in and take possession of the land; the other 10 spies told the people they could not stand up to the strong nations with their fortified cities. The people believed the report of the 10 spies and refused to go in to possess the Promised Land. They lamented that they would be better off dying in the wilderness than to go in to take possession of the land of Canaan. So the Lord decreed to give them what they wanted. The Lord had Moses tell the people that all those who were 20 years old or older would die in the wilderness and never enter the Promised Land. They would wander about in the wilderness for 40 years until they all had died. Only their children would enter the Promised Land. And it happened that of the adults who had left Egypt, only Joshua and Caleb entered the Promised Land of Canaan. The other 10 spies, who had spread a bad report about Canaan that incited the people against the Lord to refuse to enter the Promised Land, were struck with a plague, so that they died before the Lord. The next morning the sons of Israel decided to go up and fight the Amalekites and Canaanites without the Lord’s going with them, even though Moses warned them not to do that. But they went anyway and were badly beaten, (Nu.13:1-14:45).
Then Moses and Aaron were opposed in a rebellion led by Korah and 250 leaders of the tribe of Levi. The complaint was made against Moses and Aaron that they were not the only ones who were holy and had the Lord with them. No, the whole congregation of Israel was holy and had the Lord with them. The Lord put an end to their rebellion when he opened up the earth and it swallowed Korah alive and those with him as well as their households and then closed up the earth over them again. The next day the congregation of the sons of Israel again rebelled against Moses and Aaron, blaming them for causing the deaths of Korah and those with him. The Lord’s wrath incited a plague upon the people and 14,700 died. To silence the rebellion against him and his choice of Aaron as high priest, the Lord had the Israelites gather a staff from each of the leaders of their respective tribe. The staffs were placed for the night in the tent of the testimony in front of the Ark of the Covenant. The Lord made Aaron’s staff blossom and produce ripe almonds to show he had selected Aaron of the tribe of Levi to serve as high priest. (Nu.16:1-17:13).
Moses led the Israelites to Kadesh in the wilderness of Zin. There the people again quarreled with Moses because there was no water in that place. The Lord told Moses that he and Aaron should take the staff and speak to the rock in front of the people and the rock would bring forth water for the people and their animals, But Moses and Aaron did not honor the Lord as being holy when Moses struck the rock. Water flowed out abundantly, but the Lord was angry with them for not honoring him as being holy. For their sin against him the Lord said they could not bring the Israelites into the Promised Land of Canaan That place was called the waters of Meribah, which means “quarrel” because there the people quarreled with Moses and Aaron. From Kadesh Moses led them to Mount Hor where the Lord had Aaron die for not honoring him as holy. Aaron’s son Eleazar became high priest in Aaron’s place. (Nu.20:1-29).
While at Mount Hor the Canaanite king of Arad came and fought against Israel. Israel vowed it would destroy those Canaanites with all their cities if the Lord would deliver them up to Israel. The Lord listened to them and delivered up the Canaanites into Israel’s hands. Israel then destroyed them and their cities. Then, because the nation of Edom would not allow Israel to pass through its land, the Israelites had to go around Edom. The people of Israel then complained against the Lord and Moses because of having to make the journey around Edom. The Lord then punished them with fiery serpents that bit many of them so they died. When the people appealed to Moses to intercede for them, the Lord told Moses to make a bronze serpent and mount it on a pole for the people to see. All who became bitten and looked at the bronze serpent then lived and did not die. In the following days Israel defeated Sihon, king of the Amorites, and took possession of his land with its cities in which Israel began to live. When Og, king of Bashan, came out against Israel, the Lord gave him and his people and his land into the hands of the Israelites, who killed him and his sons and all his people. Then Israel possessed his land as well (Nu.21:1-35).
Afterwards the Israelites moved on and camped in the plains of Moab along the Jordan River and across from Jericho. The Moabite people became terrified of the Israelites. Balak, king of Moab, together with the elders of Midian hired Balaam, a diviner, to come and curse the Israelites. The Lord, however, made Balaam bless the Israelite people. Balaam did so but then advised Balak to entice the men of Israel into participating in the sacrifices of the Moabite gods and its sexual immorality with the daughters of Moab, in order to move the Lord to curse his people of Israel. This was done. Men of Israel did engage in the idolatry and evil sexual customs of Moab. The Lord commanded Moses to have the leaders of the Israelites kill those wicked Israelite men in broad daylight, so that the intense wrath of the Lord would be turned away from Israel. Moses carried out the Lord’s command and 24,000 were killed. (Nu.22:1-25:1-18)
In the plains of Moab at the Jordan River across from Jericho the Lord told Moses and Eleazar the high priest to take a second census of the men of military age who were 20 years old and older. The men numbered 601,730. None of them had been numbered in the first census that was taken nearly 40 years earlier. Then the Lord said to Moses that the Promised Land would be divided up among those men as their inheritance. Now the Levites, one month or older, who would serve the Lord in the service of the Tent of Meeting and the Tabernacle, numbered 23,000. The Levites would not receive an inheritance of land among the Israelites (Nu.26:1-65) but would have designated cities and lands to live in among the 12 tribes of Israel.
After the Lord gave Moses instructions for carrying out his various ceremonial laws, he commanded Moses to take vengeance on the Midianites before he would die. Moses obeyed the Lord and sent an army of 12,000 armed men of Israel to make war against Midian. The army of Israel killed every Midianite male, including the kings of Midian and the diviner Balaam, who advised that the Israelite men should be enticed into the idolatrous and sexual sins of the Moabites. All the cities of Midian were burned and the women and children and flocks and possessions of Midian were taken as the spoils of war. But Moses afterwards became angry with the Israelite officers and captains of the army that they had spared the women and male children of Midian. He commanded that every Midianite woman who had had relations with a man be killed, for the Midianite women were the cause for the Israelite men to sin against the Lord. Moses also ordered every Midianite male child to be killed. And so Moses carried out the vengeance of the Lord (Nu.28:1-31:54).
The Israelite tribes of Reuben and Gad owned a great deal of livestock. When they saw that the land of Jezer and of Gilead were very suitable for raising livestock, they asked Moses and Eleazar if they could dwell in those lands on that east side of the Jordan River. When the men of Reuben and Gad promised that they would go to war on the west side of the Jordan with the other tribes to help those tribes obtain and possess their inheritances, Moses gave them permission to take possession of the land of Jezer and Gilead as their inheritance from the Lord.(Nu.32:1-42)
Then Moses spoke to the people of Israel on the plains of Moab at the Jordan River across from Jericho. There he delivered his last addresses to the people of Israel, a total of 3 of addresses that repeated and explained in a hortatory manner the Law of God. His first address recounted the 40-year history of the Israelites in the wilderness (Dt.1:1-3:29) . His second address repeated the Law of God – the moral law and the ceremonial law and the civil law (Dt.4:1-26:19). His third address urged the people to keep the Law of God (Dt.27:1-30:20).
And it was there on the plains of Moab also that Moses spoke his final words and performed his last acts. He informed the people of Israel that he was 120 years old and that the Lord had forbidden him to cross the Jordan River into the Promised Land of Canaan. He assured them that the Lord would go before them and destroy the nations so that they may occupy the land as their inheritance from the Lord. Then Moses appointed Joshua as the next leader of Israel who would lead them into Canaan. At that time the Lord told Moses it was time for him to die. Moses then commissioned Joshua as his successor. He also commanded the Levites to place the words of the Law that he had written into the Ark of the Covenant. Afterwards Moses spoke the words of his song, “The Song of Moses,” and pronounced his blessing upon the people. When Moses had finished his song and blessing, he went up Mount Nebo where the Lord showed him all the land that he was giving to the Israelites. So Moses died there on Mount Nebo in the land of Moab by the Jordan River and was gathered to his people, which was an Old Testament manner of speaking that he was taken into heaven. As evidence that he did enter into heaven, about 1,400 years later he appeared with the prophet Elijah before Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration. He died in good health – his eyes were not dim and his bodily strength had not failed. The Lord buried him in the valley in the land of Moab, but no one ever knew where the Lord buried him. The nation of Israel then mourned 30 days for Moses (Dt.31:1-34:12).
As explained in What is The Old Testament About, the Old Testament was divided into three divisions. The first division is known as The Torah. The name Torah is a Hebrew word that means Instruction, doctrine, and law. “Torah” was used for the Word of God, as it was in Psalm 1:2. The term “Torah” also referred to the Five Books Of Moses that were later named “The Pentateuch.” The name “Pentateuch” was derived from two Greek words – “pente”, which means “five”, and “teuchos”, which means “volume”. The Pentateuch, then, was the five volumes, or books, of Moses.
In numerous verses of the Old Testament the Torah, or Pentateuch, was called: the law, the book of the law, the book of the law of Moses, the book of Moses, the law of the Lord, the law of God, the book of the law of God, the book of the law of the Lord, and the law of Moses the servant of God.
The word “Torah”, or law, was used in more of a legal sense of the word, because of the legal elements of the books. The Torah, however, did include the narrative and historical parts of the books also, which made up the backdrop for the legal sections. The Book of Exodus addressed mostly the moral laws of God. The Book of Leviticus addressed mostly the ceremonial laws of worship. The Book of Numbers addressed chiefly the civil laws of the nation of Israel.
Originally the Torah, or the Pentateuch, was one book. The division of the Torah into the five separate books of the Pentateuch occurred in very ancient times. The Jews called the five books by their respective opening words: 1. Bereshith 2. Shemoth 3. Wajjikrah 4. Wajjedhabber 5 Debharim. In the Greek Septuagint the five books were called: 1. Genesis 2. Exodus 3. Leuitikon 4. Arithmoi 5. Deuteronomion.
Authorship:
Moses was the author of the Pentateuch. The Holy Spirit inspired him to write the first five books of the Bible. While Moses was the author, this does not mean that he could not have used another man as his secretary to write for him. He could also have made use of some available written records. And while Moses authored the Pentateuch, it is possible that a few verses, such as the conclusion of the Book of Deuteronomy, were added by another inspired man of God. There is internal evidence within the Pentateuch for Moses’ authorship. See Exodus 17:14; 24:3-7; 34:27; Numbers 33:2; Deuteronomy 31:19 & 22.
Moses’ authorship of the Pentateuch was indicated in other books of the Old Testament as well. For example: Joshua 23:6; 1 Kings 2:3; 2 Kings14:6. In 1 Chronicles 6:49 the offerings commanded by Moses refer to Exodus 27:1-8; 30:1-7; 30:10-16. 2 Chronicles 8:13 mentions various ceremonial laws commanded by Moses, which were written in the Books of Exodus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. The law of Moses was mentioned in 2 Chronicles 25:4; Ezra 3:2; Nehemiah 8:1; Daniel 9:11; Malachi 4:4.
Moses’ authorship of the Pentateuch was also upheld in the New Testament by Christ Jesus and his apostles. See Matthew 8:4; 10:7; Mark 10:3-5; 12:19 & 26; Luke 5:14; 24:44; John 1:17; 1:45; 7:19 &23; Acts 3:22; 13:39; 15:5; 28:23; 1 Corinthians 9:9; Hebrews 9:19; 10:28.
The biographical information on the life of Moses follows below.
Content:
The Pentateuch is the opening history of God’s plan of salvation.
Time Of Its Being Written:
During the exodus from Egypt to Canaan in 1440-1400 B. C.
The Life Of Moses:
What we know about Moses’ life for the most part has been provided to us by Moses himself in his first five books of the Bible, the Pentateuch. Key information about him, however, was also provided by Stephen in his address to the Jewish Sanhedrin before they stoned him to death, which Luke recorded in the seventh chapter of the Book of Acts. The writer of the Book of Hebrews also provided important information about Moses and his life in the eleventh chapter of Hebrews. The biographical information below is based on these biblical sources.
Moses was born about 1,520 B.C. He was a Levite, the son of his father Amram and his mother Jochebed, who was Amram’s aunt, the sister of Amram’s father Kohath (see Ex.6:18-20).
When Moses was born, his mother Jochebed saw that he was a beautiful child. Acts 7:20 says Moses was beautiful, or very fair, to God. His mother hid him for 3 months, unafraid of Pharaoh’s decree that every Hebrew infant son was to be cast to his death in the Nile River (Ex.1:15-22). When his mother could hide him no longer, she set him adrift in the reeds by the bank of the Nile in a basket made of reeds and covered with tar and pitch. Moses’ sister, Miriam (1 Chr.6:3), stood not far away to see what would become of him (ex.2:2-4).
At that time Pharaoh’s daughter went down to the Nile to bathe, attended by her maidens. She saw the basket among the reeds and sent one of her maids to get it for her. When she opened the basket, she found Moses inside. He was crying, and she was then overcome with pity for him. At that time Moses’ sister, Miriam, spoke up and offered to get a nurse from among the Hebrew women who could nurse him for her. Pharaoh’s daughter accepted the offer. Miriam then brought Moses’ mother. Pharaoh’s daughter hired Moses’ mother to take him and nurse him for her (Ex.2:5-9).
The loving, providential care of God was surely at work there. He saved Moses’ life from danger and death. He arranged to have the infant Moses cared for by his own mother during those early, informative years of Moses’ life. What is more, he blessed Moses’ mother with an income for taking care of her own dearly loved son. And during those early, informative years of Moses’ life, she was able to teach him about the one true God of heaven and earth, the God of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob, the God who had promised to send the Messiah, the Christ, to save them from sin, death, and the devil and to give them eternal life with him in heaven. Furthermore, she was able to teach Moses about his Hebrew heritage as a descendant of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
When Moses’ mother had cared for him until he was weaned, which in those days occurred at about 3 to 4 years of age, she brought him to Pharaoh’s daughter, who then took him and adopted him as her own son. Pharaoh’s daughter then named him “Moses”, which means “Drawn Out”, because she had drawn him out of the water (Ex.2:10).
In his Book of Exodus Moses passed over his own childhood and early life. However Stephen in his address to the Jewish Sanhedrin provided valuable information on that early life of Moses. In Acts 7:22 Luke wrote that Stephen stated, “Moses was educated in all the learning of the Egyptians, and he continued to be a powerful man in his words and deeds.” As a son of Pharaoh’s daughter, Moses was educated as a prince of Egypt in all the wisdom and learning of the Egyptians, whose education and knowledge was foremost in the world at that time. Some commentators have thought Moses’ Egyptian education would have included geometry, astronomy, music, painting, architecture, medicine, chemistry, history, poetry, religion, philosophy, and law. His education was likely to have included firsthand observation of the ways and affairs and protocol of the Egyptian court and business of government. While Moses’ education no doubt was intended to prepare him for a life’s work as a prince of Egypt in a high government position, in actuality the Lord was preparing Moses for his life as the leader and ruler and judge of God’s chosen nation, the Israelites.
Now when Moses grew up, he was a powerful man in word and deeds. He was well aware of his Hebrew heritage and the promises of God to his people. Therefore he refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter and chose to suffer mistreatment together with the Hebrew people of God rather than have the passing enjoyment of Egyptian sinful pleasures. He regarded being disgraced for Christ the Messiah a greater treasure than the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking forward to his reward from the Lord (Acts 7:22; Heb.11:24-26).
One day when he was nearly 40 years old it entered his mind to visit his Hebrew brothers. He watched them at work in their hard labor. He saw one of them being treated unjustly by an Egyptian. He defended the Hebrew man and carried out vengeance for him by killing the Egyptian and burying him in the sand. In some manner Moses must have previously learned that he was to be the deliverer and ruler of the Israelite people, for when he visited his Hebrew brothers he supposed that they would understand that God was giving them deliverance by his hand. They, however, did not understand. The next day he went out to them again and saw two Hebrew men fighting with each other. Moses tried to reconcile them and stop their fighting. The man who was hitting the other asked Moses who had made him ruler and judge over them, and he wanted to know if Moses was going to kill him like Moses had killed the Egyptian the day before. Moses then became afraid that his killing the Egyptian had become known. When Pharaoh heard that Moses had killed the Egyptian, Pharaoh wanted to kill Mosses. Moses was not afraid of Pharaoh’s anger, but he left Egypt and fled to Midian (Ex.2:11-15; Acts 7:22-29; Heb.11:24-27).
When Moses arrived in Midian, he helped the 7 daughters of Jethro, the priest of Midian, whose name was also Reuel (Ex. 2:18; Nu.10:29). Jethro’s daughters tended their father’s flock and brought the sheep to the well to water them. But some shepherds drove them away from the well. Moses stood up to the shepherds, saved the women from the oppression of the shepherds, and drew the water for their father’s flock. When they told their father how Moses had saved them from the oppressive shepherds and drew the water for the flock. Jethro invited Moses to dwell with him. He gave his daughter Zipporah to Moses for a wife. Moses fathered 2 sons by Zipporah, Gershom and Eliezer (Ex.18:2-4; Ex. 2:16-22).
When Moses was 80 years old, and 40 years had passed since he fled from Egypt and had started living in Midian, he was tending Jethro’s flock. He led the sheep to the far side of the wilderness into the area of Mount Horeb, the mountain of God. There from a distance he saw a bush burning that did not burn up. He went to investigate this strange sight. The angel of the Lord (an Old testament designation that was used a number of times for Christ, the Son of God) appeared to Moses from within the burning bush. He told Moses to take off his sandals because he was standing on holy ground. The angel of the Lord identified himself to Moses as the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob. God also told Moses that he had seen the terrible oppression and enslavement of his Israelite people and had come to deliver them from the Egyptian bondage. The same Moses whom the Israelites had rejected 40 years earlier God commissioned at the burning bush to go to Pharaoh to bring the children of Israel out of Egypt (Ex.3:1-10;Acts 7:30-35).
But Moses did not want to go to Egypt to deliver the Israelite people. He began to make excuses for why he could not go to Egypt. The matured, 80 year old Moses, who 40 years earlier had been ambitious and had tried to assert himself as ruler and judge over the Israelites, 40 years later by the burning bush made excuses for himself of why he could not go to speak to Pharaoh and lead the Israelites out of Egypt. But the Lord did not accept Moses’ excuses; rather, he disarmed them. Moses pointed out to God that he was a “Nobody”; who was he to go and stand before Pharaoh? The Lord assured Moses that he would be with him. Moses argued that when he told the people that the God of their fathers had appeared to him, the people of Israel would ask him what was God’s name, and he would not know what to say to them. The Lord told him his name is, “I AM WHO I AM”, “The Lord” and Moses should say that “I AM” had sent him. Moses inquired what should he say if the people did not believe him or listen to him. The Lord gave Moses the miraculous signs of changing his staff into a serpent and making his hand leprous. Moses then made the excuse that he had never been a good man with words who could speak to others; he was slow of speech and tongue. The Lord responded he would be Moses’ mouth and teach Moses what to say. Finally, Moses simply suggested that the Lord should send someone else. The Lord’s anger then burned against Moses. The Lord told him that he would give him his brother Aaron; the Lord would speak to Moses, and Moses in turn would tell his brother Aaron what to say, and then Aaron would speak for him. (Ex.3:11-4:23).
So Moses departed for Egypt. During the journey at a place where he had his family stay to rest, the Lord became very angry with Moses and sought to kill him, for Moses had failed to fulfill the sign of God’s covenant of circumcision by circumcising one of his sons. So Moses’ wife Zipporah took a flint knife and circumcised their son, which satisfied the Lord (Ex.4:24-26).
The Lord then sent Aaron to Moses. He met Moses, who told him everything that the Lord had said. Together they went to Egypt and assembled the Israelite people. Aaron spoke the words of the Lord to the people and performed the miraculous signs before the people. The people believed them and worshipped the Lord who was concerned about them (Ex.4:27-31).
At that tine Moses was 80 years old and Aaron was 83 (Ex.7:7) when they went to speak to Pharaoh. Pharaoh refused to listen to them. Rather he increased the Israelites’ bitter bondage by decreeing that the straw for making bricks would not be provided to them any longer. They themselves would have to forage for the straw needed to make their daily quota of bricks. Pharaoh’s taskmasters beat the Hebrew foremen for not accomplishing their daily quota of bricks. The Hebrew foremen complained to Moses that he had made them a stench to Pharaoh and his taskmasters, who were about to kill them. Moses in turn asked the Lord why he had ever sent him to Pharaoh and why be had brought trouble upon his people. The Lord told Moses that he would see what the Lord would do to Pharaoh to make him let his people go (Ex. 5:1-21).
During the days that followed the Lord struck Egypt with 10 plagues, which he did through his servant Moses. The plagues took place over a period of about 10 months. The plagues utterly devastated the land of Egypt and carried out judgment against the gods of Egypt as well (Ex.12:12). After the last plague that killed the firstborn of Egypt, Pharaoh and the people of Egypt urged the Israelites to leave Egypt quickly. The first time that Moses went to tell Pharaoh that the Lord said to let his people go, Pharaoh insulted the Lord by saying the Lord was no one that he should obey, for he did not know the Lord (Ex.5:1,2). But the Lord told Moses that Pharaoh and the Egyptians would come to know that he was the Lord when he stretched out his hand against Egypt (Ex.7:5 & 15-17). And after the last plague that killed all the firstborn of Egypt, when Pharaoh summoned Moses, Pharaoh told Moses to take the people of Israel and go out of Egypt and worship the Lord. Pharaoh had indeed come to know who the Lord of the Hebrews was (Ex.6:1-12:36).
Before the last plague the Lord had Moses institute the Passover in what became for the Israelites their first month of a new calendar year. They were to slaughter a 1year old lamb from the sheep or the goats at twilight. Its blood was to be smeared upon the doorposts and the lintel of the door of every Israelite home. The lamb was to be roasted with fire and eaten with unleavened bread. On that night the Lord would go through the land of Egypt and strike down the firstborn of the Egyptians, but when he saw the blood on the doors of the Israelites homes, he would pass over their houses and not harm the firstborn of the Israelites. The Passover was to be an annual celebration for the Israelites throughout their generations. In connection with the Passover the Lord had Moses institute the Feast of Unleavened Bread. For 7 days the Israelites were to eat bread made without yeast in memory of their leaving their affliction in Egypt in haste (Ex.12:1-28).
When Pharaoh let the people of Israel go, the people of Israel had 603,550 men of military age who were 20 years old or older (Nu.2:44-46). That being the case, the population of Israel was very likely to have been about 2,000,000. When the exodus began the Lord did not immediately lead the Israelites to the Promised Land of Canaan by way of the land of the Philistines (Canaanites), which was the short, direct route, because the Lord knew that the people would have returned to Egypt when having to face war. Therefore the Lord led the Israelites around by way of the Red Sea. With Moses leading the Israelites the Lord went before them in a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night that gave them light so that they might travel at night as well as by day (Ex.13:17-22).
In order to ensnare and destroy Pharaoh with all his chariots, the Lord had Moses lead the people of Israel back to encamp by the shore of the Red Sea. Then the Lord once again hardened Pharaoh’s heart, this time to chase after the Israelites. When it appeared that Pharaoh had entrapped the Israelites and pinned them against the Red Sea, the people of Israel became extremely frightened. But Moses encouraged them not to be afraid but to stand firm and watch the Lord fight for them and save them from Pharaoh and his army. Then the Lord commanded Moses to lift up his staff and stretch it out over the Red Sea. The almighty power of the Lord then parted the Red Sea by a strong east wind that also dried the seabed during the night. Moses then led the people through the Red Sea on dry ground with walls of water standing on both sides of them. Then Pharaoh led his chariots and chased the Israelites into the Red Sea. But the Lord caused the wheels of Pharaoh’s chariots to come off so they could not drive them. With the Israelites safely on the other side of the Red Sea, the Lord had Moses again stretch out his staff over the Red Sea, at which time the Lord caused the walls of water to collapse upon Pharaoh and all his chariots, destroying them all. Not one survived. (Ex.14:1-31).
As the leader of the Israelites Moses had to endure numerous trails during the 40 years in the wilderness. The Lord had Moses lead the people of Israel from the Red Sea into the wilderness of Shur. There the people took out their complaints upon Moses when they could not drink the bitter, brackish water of Marah, which name means “bitterness”. When Moses cried out to the Lord at Marah, the Lord showed him a tree to throw into the water. That sweetened the water and made it drinkable. Next in the wilderness of Sin Moses had to endure the grumbling of the people that they had no food to eat and wished that they had died by the Lord’s hand in Egypt. There the Lord gave the people quail and manna to eat. They ate the manna for 40 years until they came to the border of Canaan. In Rephidim when the people again grumbled against Moses because they had no water to drink and they were near to stoning him, the Lord had Moses strike a rock and make water come out of it for the people. That place was then called Massah, which means “test”, and Meribah, which means “quarrel”, because there they tested the Lord and quarreled with Moses. Then at Rephidim the Amalekites attacked the Israelites. Joshua led the Israelites in battle but it was the Lord who gave Israel the victory as Moses held up the staff of God. When his arms became so tired he could not hold up the staff any longer, Aaron and Hur held up his hands until sunset and the battle was won (Ex.15:22-18:27).
Moses then led the Israelites into the wilderness of Sinai and camped at the mountain of God. The glory of the Lord came upon the mountain with thunder and lightning flashes and a thick cloud and a loud trumpet and smoke and fire. Then the Lord gave his people his Ten Commandments and laws and gave Moses the instructions for building the tabernacle. Afterwards he gave Moses the two tablets of stone on which the finger of God had written his Ten Commandments. Now while Moses was up on the mountain for forty days with the Lord, the Israelites below the mountain prompted Aaron to make them a golden calf to worship. The people then indulged themselves in idolatrous and sinful revelry. On the mountain Moses interceded for the people with the Lord, who in response did not carry out his wrath against the people. Moses went down the mountain and as soon as he drew near the Israelite encampment, he threw down the two stone tablets, smashing them to pieces at the bottom of the mountain. He confronted Aaron with his sinful making of the golden calf, and he had the Levites put the idolatrous revelers to death with their swords. Three thousand were killed. Moses then went back up the mountain and pleaded for the Lord’s forgiveness of the people. The Lord sent Moses back to lead the people. Then the Lord struck the people with a plague for what they had done with the golden calf (Ex.19:1-32:35).
The Lord continued to speak to Moses face to face like a friend as the Lord spoke to no other prophet after him (Ex.33:11 & Dt.34:10). The Lord commanded Moses to cut 2 new tablets out of stone and bring them up to the mountain, which Moses then did. While on the mountain, Moses asked the Lord to show him his glory. The Lord hid him in a cleft of a rock and covered him with his hand. As the Lord passed by Moses the Lord proclaimed the meaning of his name “The Lord”. Then the Lord commanded Moses to write on the new tablets of stone the covenant of the Ten Commandments. Moses was then on the mountain for 40 days and nights a second time. When Moses came down from the mountain, his face shone with the glory of the Lord. And whenever Moses spoke with the Lord, his face would afterwards shine while he was telling the Israelites what the Lord had said. Moses would then cover his face with a veil so the people could not see the glory of the Lord fading from his face (Ex.33:1-34:35; 2 Cor.3:7-13).
Moses gathered all the people together. He then explained to them that the Lord had commanded an offering be taken of the various materials that would be needed to build the tabernacle with its courtyard, all of its utensils, and the robes for the priests. He urged everyone whose heart was willing to bring his gift. The people brought more than enough, so Moses restrained them from bringing more. The work of building the tabernacle with its courtyard and all its utensils was undertaken until everything had been made according to the Lord’s design and plan. Then according to the Lord’s command the tabernacle and its courtyard were set up almost exactly 1 year after the last plague and the Passover and the Israelites’ exodus from Egypt began. And in the tabernacle Moses put the Ark of the Covenant as the Lord had directed him. When everything was erected and put into its proper place as the Lord had directed Moses, the cloud covered the courtyard and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle (Ex.35:1-40:38).
As the Lord’s servant, Moses led the Israelites for 40 years in the wilderness. He endured their complaints and rebellious ways. Not long after they were in the wilderness the people complained about the adversities of their life in the desert. The anger of the Lord was aroused and the fire of the Lord burned among them and burned some of the Israelites. Then the ungodly foreigners among them lusted after different food and Israelites also wept over their diet of manna and their lack of meat and the foods that they had eaten in Egypt. Moses lamented to the Lord about the extreme burden the Israelites were upon him, and the Lord became very angry with them again. The Lord raised up a wind that brought millions of quail from the sea. There were so many quail that the ground was covered with them for a day’s journey in every direction and about a yard deep. Then while the meat was between the people’s teeth and before they could eat the meat the Lord struck them with a severe plague that killed the people who had craved and wept for the meat. After that Moses had to suffer the complaint of his sister Miriam and brother Aaron because he had married a Cushite woman. Nothing is recorded about what happened to Moses’ wife Zipporah, but it would seem that she had died. And Miriam and Aaron complained that they were leaders just as much as Moses and that the Lord had spoken through them as well as through Moses. The Lord rebuked them and struck Miriam with leprosy. Moses interceded for her, so the Lord limited her leprosy to only 7 days outside the Israelite encampment (Nu.1:1-12:16).
At the Lord’s command Moses sent 12spies to spy out the land of Canaan and bring back a report about it and its military strength. When the spies returned, only Joshua and Caleb urged the Israelites to go in and take possession of the land; the other 10 spies told the people they could not stand up to the strong nations with their fortified cities. The people believed the report of the 10 spies and refused to go in to possess the Promised Land. They lamented that they would be better off dying in the wilderness than to go in to take possession of the land of Canaan. So the Lord decreed to give them what they wanted. The Lord had Moses tell the people that all those who were 20 years old or older would die in the wilderness and never enter the Promised Land. They would wander about in the wilderness for 40 years until they all had died. Only their children would enter the Promised Land. And it happened that of the adults who had left Egypt, only Joshua and Caleb entered the Promised Land of Canaan. The other 10 spies, who had spread a bad report about Canaan that incited the people against the Lord to refuse to enter the Promised Land, were struck with a plague, so that they died before the Lord. The next morning the sons of Israel decided to go up and fight the Amalekites and Canaanites without the Lord’s going with them, even though Moses warned them not to do that. But they went anyway and were badly beaten, (Nu.13:1-14:45).
Then Moses and Aaron were opposed in a rebellion led by Korah and 250 leaders of the tribe of Levi. The complaint was made against Moses and Aaron that they were not the only ones who were holy and had the Lord with them. No, the whole congregation of Israel was holy and had the Lord with them. The Lord put an end to their rebellion when he opened up the earth and it swallowed Korah alive and those with him as well as their households and then closed up the earth over them again. The next day the congregation of the sons of Israel again rebelled against Moses and Aaron, blaming them for causing the deaths of Korah and those with him. The Lord’s wrath incited a plague upon the people and 14,700 died. To silence the rebellion against him and his choice of Aaron as high priest, the Lord had the Israelites gather a staff from each of the leaders of their respective tribe. The staffs were placed for the night in the tent of the testimony in front of the Ark of the Covenant. The Lord made Aaron’s staff blossom and produce ripe almonds to show he had selected Aaron of the tribe of Levi to serve as high priest. (Nu.16:1-17:13).
Moses led the Israelites to Kadesh in the wilderness of Zin. There the people again quarreled with Moses because there was no water in that place. The Lord told Moses that he and Aaron should take the staff and speak to the rock in front of the people and the rock would bring forth water for the people and their animals, But Moses and Aaron did not honor the Lord as being holy when Moses struck the rock. Water flowed out abundantly, but the Lord was angry with them for not honoring him as being holy. For their sin against him the Lord said they could not bring the Israelites into the Promised Land of Canaan That place was called the waters of Meribah, which means “quarrel” because there the people quarreled with Moses and Aaron. From Kadesh Moses led them to Mount Hor where the Lord had Aaron die for not honoring him as holy. Aaron’s son Eleazar became high priest in Aaron’s place. (Nu.20:1-29).
While at Mount Hor the Canaanite king of Arad came and fought against Israel. Israel vowed it would destroy those Canaanites with all their cities if the Lord would deliver them up to Israel. The Lord listened to them and delivered up the Canaanites into Israel’s hands. Israel then destroyed them and their cities. Then, because the nation of Edom would not allow Israel to pass through its land, the Israelites had to go around Edom. The people of Israel then complained against the Lord and Moses because of having to make the journey around Edom. The Lord then punished them with fiery serpents that bit many of them so they died. When the people appealed to Moses to intercede for them, the Lord told Moses to make a bronze serpent and mount it on a pole for the people to see. All who became bitten and looked at the bronze serpent then lived and did not die. In the following days Israel defeated Sihon, king of the Amorites, and took possession of his land with its cities in which Israel began to live. When Og, king of Bashan, came out against Israel, the Lord gave him and his people and his land into the hands of the Israelites, who killed him and his sons and all his people. Then Israel possessed his land as well (Nu.21:1-35).
Afterwards the Israelites moved on and camped in the plains of Moab along the Jordan River and across from Jericho. The Moabite people became terrified of the Israelites. Balak, king of Moab, together with the elders of Midian hired Balaam, a diviner, to come and curse the Israelites. The Lord, however, made Balaam bless the Israelite people. Balaam did so but then advised Balak to entice the men of Israel into participating in the sacrifices of the Moabite gods and its sexual immorality with the daughters of Moab, in order to move the Lord to curse his people of Israel. This was done. Men of Israel did engage in the idolatry and evil sexual customs of Moab. The Lord commanded Moses to have the leaders of the Israelites kill those wicked Israelite men in broad daylight, so that the intense wrath of the Lord would be turned away from Israel. Moses carried out the Lord’s command and 24,000 were killed. (Nu.22:1-25:1-18)
In the plains of Moab at the Jordan River across from Jericho the Lord told Moses and Eleazar the high priest to take a second census of the men of military age who were 20 years old and older. The men numbered 601,730. None of them had been numbered in the first census that was taken nearly 40 years earlier. Then the Lord said to Moses that the Promised Land would be divided up among those men as their inheritance. Now the Levites, one month or older, who would serve the Lord in the service of the Tent of Meeting and the Tabernacle, numbered 23,000. The Levites would not receive an inheritance of land among the Israelites (Nu.26:1-65) but would have designated cities and lands to live in among the 12 tribes of Israel.
After the Lord gave Moses instructions for carrying out his various ceremonial laws, he commanded Moses to take vengeance on the Midianites before he would die. Moses obeyed the Lord and sent an army of 12,000 armed men of Israel to make war against Midian. The army of Israel killed every Midianite male, including the kings of Midian and the diviner Balaam, who advised that the Israelite men should be enticed into the idolatrous and sexual sins of the Moabites. All the cities of Midian were burned and the women and children and flocks and possessions of Midian were taken as the spoils of war. But Moses afterwards became angry with the Israelite officers and captains of the army that they had spared the women and male children of Midian. He commanded that every Midianite woman who had had relations with a man be killed, for the Midianite women were the cause for the Israelite men to sin against the Lord. Moses also ordered every Midianite male child to be killed. And so Moses carried out the vengeance of the Lord (Nu.28:1-31:54).
The Israelite tribes of Reuben and Gad owned a great deal of livestock. When they saw that the land of Jezer and of Gilead were very suitable for raising livestock, they asked Moses and Eleazar if they could dwell in those lands on that east side of the Jordan River. When the men of Reuben and Gad promised that they would go to war on the west side of the Jordan with the other tribes to help those tribes obtain and possess their inheritances, Moses gave them permission to take possession of the land of Jezer and Gilead as their inheritance from the Lord.(Nu.32:1-42)
Then Moses spoke to the people of Israel on the plains of Moab at the Jordan River across from Jericho. There he delivered his last addresses to the people of Israel, a total of 3 of addresses that repeated and explained in a hortatory manner the Law of God. His first address recounted the 40-year history of the Israelites in the wilderness (Dt.1:1-3:29) . His second address repeated the Law of God – the moral law and the ceremonial law and the civil law (Dt.4:1-26:19). His third address urged the people to keep the Law of God (Dt.27:1-30:20).
And it was there on the plains of Moab also that Moses spoke his final words and performed his last acts. He informed the people of Israel that he was 120 years old and that the Lord had forbidden him to cross the Jordan River into the Promised Land of Canaan. He assured them that the Lord would go before them and destroy the nations so that they may occupy the land as their inheritance from the Lord. Then Moses appointed Joshua as the next leader of Israel who would lead them into Canaan. At that time the Lord told Moses it was time for him to die. Moses then commissioned Joshua as his successor. He also commanded the Levites to place the words of the Law that he had written into the Ark of the Covenant. Afterwards Moses spoke the words of his song, “The Song of Moses,” and pronounced his blessing upon the people. When Moses had finished his song and blessing, he went up Mount Nebo where the Lord showed him all the land that he was giving to the Israelites. So Moses died there on Mount Nebo in the land of Moab by the Jordan River and was gathered to his people, which was an Old Testament manner of speaking that he was taken into heaven. As evidence that he did enter into heaven, about 1,400 years later he appeared with the prophet Elijah before Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration. He died in good health – his eyes were not dim and his bodily strength had not failed. The Lord buried him in the valley in the land of Moab, but no one ever knew where the Lord buried him. The nation of Israel then mourned 30 days for Moses (Dt.31:1-34:12).
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