The Life of Moses

by Nate

Moses is considered by many to be the most important prophet of Judaism. He was born in Egypt to a Hebrew family, but when the Egyptian pharaoh ordered all male Hebrew infants to be killed, his mother hid him and he was found by the Egyptian royal family, who adopted and raised him. Thus he grew up among those who enslaved and abused the people to whom he would later become a savior.

After he had reached adulthood, Moses witnessed the murder of a Hebrew at the hands of an Egyptian taskmaster. His eyes were opened to the cruelty and oppression of the Egyptians, and he killed the taskmaster. He was forced to flee to Median, where God appeared to him and told him that he must return to Egypt and free the Hebrews. He was instructed to warn the Egyptians that if they did not comply and set the Hebrews free, they would suffer ten plagues. These were as follows:

1. (Exodus 7:14-25) Water would turn to blood
2. (Exodus 7:26-8:11) Frogs
3. (Exodus 8:12-15) Gnats
4. (Exodus 8:16-28) Flies or wild beasts
5. (Exodus 9:1-7) Disease of livestock
6. (Exodus 9:8-12) Boils
7. (Exodus 9:13-35) A storm of hail and fire
8. (Exodus 10:1-20) Locusts
9. (Exodus 10:21-29) Darkness
10. (Exodus 11:1-12:36) Death of the first-born

Finally, after the tenth plague had passed, the Pharaoh conceded and released the Hebrews. Moses led them triumphantly from Egypt, but the Pharaoh soon changed his mind and sent his army after them. To help the Hebrews escape the Egyptian army, God parted the Red Sea so that they could pass, and released his grasp on the sea when the army began to follow, so that they were all drowned.

During his lifetime, Moses would continue to teach the Hebrews the knowledge that was given to him by God. One of the most important things that Moses taught the Hebrews was the Ten Commandments, a list of principles that God gave to him and required his followers to live by. They are listed below:

1. You shall have no other gods before me.

2. You shall not make for yourself any carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate me, but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.

3. You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain.

4. Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your manservant, nor your maidservant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it.

5. Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long upon the land which the Lord your God is giving you.

6. You shall not murder.

7. You shall not commit adultery.

8. You shall not steal.

9. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

10. You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor’s.”

Works Cited
"Judaism - ReligionFacts." Religion, World Religions, Comparative Religion - Just the
Facts on the World's Religions. Web. 10 Dec. 2010. http://www.religionfacts.com/judaism/index.htm

"The Land of Israel." Judaism 101. Web. 13 Dec. 2010. http://www.jewfaq.org/israel.htm#Promised

"Prophets and Prophecy." Judaism 101. Web. 13 Dec. 2010. http://www.jewfaq.org/prophet.htm