Old Testament is the collection of religious writings from ancient Israel. It forms a major part of the Bible. The holy book of the Christians is what Bible is. The Old Testament was written in Hebrew.
There is also a new testament that basically deals with first century Christianity. We will now discuss about one of the Old Testament characters. There are many characters in the Old Testament. It is not possible to discuss all so we have decided to discuss one of them and that is Moses.
Moses mediates between god and the people of Israel. His teachings transform Israel. The people of Israel transform from a group of oppressed group they become a nation that is formed on strong religious basis and believes. His leadership transformed Israel. This is exactly why he is considered as the hero of the Old Testament. He was the one who knew god face to face. He performed many miracles that were beyond imagination.
The Bible gives a detailed account of the life of Moses. We will discuss a brief about his life now. Moses was born in Egypt. He was an orphan so he was brought up by the daughter of the pharaoh. When he grew a little big he was involved in an impulsive murder. After that he leaves for the west and starts to live the life of a shepherd. He met a man named Jethro and married his daughter named Zipporah. He had a son named Gershom. Moses was not quite happy with his life and the job of shepherd that he was doing for his father in law.
One day he meets god in the form of a burning bush. When god tells him Moses agrees to return to the Egypt. He goes to Egypt and demands that the Israelis should be set free. He promises god that he will do the role of a prophet, priest, ruler and savoir of Israel and set it free from Egypt.
Moses shows complete faith in god and exactly does what god tells him to do. He knows that the task is impossible still he never loses the faith. This is exactly why god helps him. Moses directly goes to the court of the Pharaoh and tells him to set the Israelis free.
As expected the ruler of Egypt disagrees. After this Moses performs many miracles. He with the help of his heavenly shaft parts the waters of the red sea. After this he defeats the huge and mighty army of Egypt with the army of Israeli men who were in very weak condition physically. During the war Moses holds his arms towards the sky. Moses was told the Ten Commandments by god which he communicated to the people of Israel. He wrote the five books of Bible under divine inspiration.
Moses was a common man and had common flaws. He was selected by god as a mediator between god and the men of Israel. He just followed what god told him. He conveyed the message of god to the people of Israel. Moses had passion and would also lose patience at time. If the people of Israel would do a mistake he would ask god to punish him. He was also quite impulsive. He could see god and talk to him face to face. One day god tells Moses that speaking to a rock he can get water from it.
Moses follows the instruction but in between he gets irritated by the complaints of the people and he loses his temper. He hits the rock with the shaft and as a result god gets angry with Moses and forbids him from entering Israel.
The character of Moses showed great qualities of patience and humility. This is exactly why god chose him for the task that was almost impossible. These simple qualities made him a larger than life character in the Old Testament there is no doubts about that. It is said that for forty years god tested him and ensured that we would be able to do the job. Only when god was assured he met him and told him what needs to be done.
The story of Moses has a very deep learning. It clearly states that when one completely has faith in god.
God comes and help them. God never lets them down. We all should have such unquestionable devotion in god like Moses had. With the simple strength of faith Moses could do the impossible. He defeated the army of Egypt and later made Israel a successful a flourishing nation. Perhaps we all can learn something from the character of Moses. This is the story of Moses from Bible. In the next few days we will be discussing a few more Old Testament characters so that you can understand the importance and the significance of these characters more.