“But since then there has not arisen in Israel a prophet like Moses,
whom the LORD knew face to face.”

Deuteronomy 34:10

Of all the characters in the Bible, there is no doubt that the two most prominent people are Moses of the Old Testament and Jesus of Nazareth of the New Testament. There is far more written about them than any other individuals in the word of God. The life and times of Moses begins in the very first chapter of Exodus, goes though the books of Leviticus, Numbers, and ends in the very last verse of Deuteronomy. These accounts go into incredible detail. Truly, other than the life of Jesus, Moses has to be the most remarkable human being to ever live.

A feature in the October 12, 2009 issue of Time Magazine had a revealing story on how Moses, to this day, influences us as a society and what we can all learn from his story. The biblical Moses has even had an influence on our pop culture. For example, the writers of the comic book story of “Superman” were said to have been partly based on the life of Moses. If you are familiar with Superman, you can see similarities between Moses’ escape as an infant and that of Superman. Superman’s parents placed him in a tiny space capsule and launched him off of their dying planet to save him from annihilation. Moses' mother placed him in a basket and sent him floating down the Nile River to save him from being killed by the Egyptians.

MOSES EVEN INFLUENCES POP CULTURE

The reader may recall the Disney movie from the 1990’s called “The Lion King.” Several internet articles that the writer has come across points out similarities between this story and that of Moses. In the film, “Simba” was the son of one of the mightiest lions of the jungle. His father, Mufasa, was the king of his pride. He was therefore the king of the entire jungle. Mufasa was a wise and just king. Lesser and more sinister lions plotted to overthrow Mufasa. Later in the story, Mufasa was killed in a stampede of wild beasts that were put up to it by Mufasa’s enemies. Simba, grief stricken, ran away to a far off land. It is there that he lived a life of leisure. He had everything a slacker could ever want. Plenty of food, water, good friends, including this very funny wart hog. Meanwhile, back where Simba came from, an evil lion who hated Mufasa took over the pride. Most of the other lions in the pride were abused by their new king. In this story the stars in the sky were said to be all of the great kings of the past now up in the heavens. On one care free night, the late Mufasa spoke to Simba from the heavens, telling him that he had to go back and liberate his fellow lions. Many years later, Simba and his friends returned and overthrew the evil king and liberated all of his family and friends. As a result of this, the story concludes by proclaiming Simba the greatest lion king of all. This story, “The Lion King" also became a very successful Broadway musical.

AS WELL AS LATTER DAY POLITICAL LEADERS

Moses was also an inspiration to many of the world’s political leaders. President Abraham Lincoln was said to look to the story of Moses for strength and inspiration during his trials in carrying out the civil war.

The night before he was assassinated in 1968, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., in a speech, compared his struggle for civil rights in America to the struggles of Moses. Dr. King did not think he would live to enter his idea of The Promised Land. That being, a nation without racism. King then 38 years old, must have had a premonition of his own death when he said to his people that night, “I have been to the mountaintop, and I have looked over. And I’ve seen the Promised Land. I may not get there with you, but I want you to know tonight that we as a people will get to the Promised Land.”

JESUS AND MOSES A PROPHETIC REFLECTION

Starting with the events surrounding his birth, it is clear that Moses was a most obvious type of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. The type is the original event or person. The anti-type is a later event or person that offers an even greater meaning. Moses leading the Jewish people to the Promised Land is a picture of Jesus leading the whole world into the greater Promised Land, God’s kingdom on the earth.

Moses was born at a time in Egypt when the Hebrew captives were growing in numbers and in prosperity. The Egyptians began to feel threatened by them. Following the death of Joseph, a new king said to the people, as recorded in Exodus 1:9, “Behold, the people of the children of Israel are more and mightier than we are.” We have all have heard it said “The more things change, the more they stay the same.” This reminds us of how people today become threatened when people different than they are move into their cities, and neighborhoods. The Egyptians were saying something to the effect of, “You see, those Jews are taking over.”

Just like our politicians of today are known to do, that king of Egypt probably used these foreigners as scapegoats for everything ailing his nation. It probably made him more popular with the people. One of Satan, the devil’s, greatest tools all through history is to encourage scapegoating. Especially when there are people of Jewish descent around. Adolph Hitler is a more recent example of this when he rose to power in Germany by laying all of the nation’s problems at the feet of the Jews in the 1920’s and 1930’s.

Soon the Israelites, who once had life pretty good in Egypt under Joseph, were now slaves to the Egyptians. Exodus 1:11 says that, “They set task masters over them to afflict them with their burdens. And they built for Pharaoh Supply cities.“

Pharaoh became so threatened by the Hebrews that in Exodus 1:22, he ordered that all Hebrew sons born, be cast into the river and drowned. This is where we begin to see the typical pattern between the lives of Moses and the life of Jesus. Moses was born to the daughter of Levi, by the name of Jochebed. Being aware of Pharaoh’s order, she hid the baby until she could no longer hide him. She placed the baby in a basket and allowed it to float down the river. The basket was found by one of Pharaoh’s daughters who took him and raised him as her own child. One might wonder how Pharaoh never got wind of this and had the baby killed? It is likely that Pharaoh did not know his daughter all that well. Historians believe that this Pharaoh and others, sired children like it was going out of style. Some of them fathered hundreds of children in a lifetime.

In an exciting example of a type verses the anti-type, just like with Moses, the survival of Jesus after his birth was difficult. Pharaoh ordered the death of all Hebrew male babies at the time of Moses’ birth. King Herod, in the New Testament, ordered the death of all male babies born at the time of Jesus birth. Moses survived inside of Egypt through a miraculous escape, Jesus survived by being taken into Egypt through a miraculous escape. The writer believes that both of these events were made possible by God’s overruling providence. What were the chances of a baby in a straw basket floating to safety? What a perilous and dangerous journey it must have been for Joseph and Mary, when they escaped with Jesus.

We know from scripture that Jesus, as the Logos, left the splendors of Heaven to become a man and to die on behalf of all mankind. Our Lord did not have to do this. He gave up that existence as a spirit being in a desire to please the Heavenly Father and to do his will. Jesus chose to liberate the human race from the curse of sin and all of the misery that comes as a result of it.

Moses fled Egypt after he killed an Egyptian that he saw abusing one of his Hebrew brethren. For a time he lived in comfort in the land of Midian. He even married a woman by the name of Zipporah from this land, who gave him a son. He no doubt could have lived the rest of his days in relative comfort. Moses, like our Lord Jesus, gave up his comfortable life for a higher purpose. Moses felt in his heart a need to please the Heavenly Father. He no doubt got word of just how brutally Pharaoh and the Egyptians were treating his people. Yet, he did not return until after God asked him to. Like Jesus, he “delighted” to the will of the Father in Heaven.

Many years prior, God made a solemn promise to Abraham. Exodus 2:24 tells us, “And God heard their groaning and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob.“

In the case of the anti-type, Jesus, God heard and still hears the groaning of the entire human race. Romans 8:22 tells us, “For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now.” Verse 23 says, “And not only they, but ourselves also which have the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves grown within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to will the redemption of our bodies.”

GOD'S SON HEARS THE WORLD'S GROANING

Just as Moses once demanded of Pharaoh, “LET MY PEOPLE GO,” our now present Lord and Savior, Jesus, is demanding now of Satan to “Let HIS people go.” Clearly, the Pharaoh in the Exodus story is a type of Satan, just as Moses is a type of Christ. Pharaoh’s increasing burdens upon the Israelites, as mentioned in Exodus 5:14, is a picture of Satan increasing the burdens of sin, death, and suffering on mankind at the end of this gospel age.

God promised the Hebrews in Exodus 6:7, “I will take you as My people, and I will be your God. Then you shall know that I am the LORD your God who brings you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians.” We know from scriptures that the God of the universe kept his promise to the Hebrew people, just as he will keep his promise to us.

God has promised the entire world of mankind that there will be an even greater fulfillment of the type of Moses and the Exodus when we read verses from the end of the Book of Revelation, 21 verse 3 “And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, 'Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God.'” This of course is when the anti-typical Moses, Jesus, leads the entire world into a much greater promised land, the Kingdom of God upon the earth promised so long ago.

Whether or not the secular world cares to admit it, the laws of God handed down to Moses, particularly the Ten Commandments, are the basis for the laws adopted by men in most of the world’s civilizations that came after Moses. When you read through the laws of Moses it is astounding to see the minute detail and it further opens one’s eyes as to the exact justice demanded of our creator. God even made provisions against animal cruelty. He also demanded that farmers not harvest their entire fields. They were to leave the corners for the poor(Leviticus 19:9-10). The Mosaic Law called for seasons of Jubilee. Leviticus 25:1-15, required that they let the land rest on the seventh year. This coincides with the idea of the Sabbath, that man rest on the seventh day. On the fiftieth year, they were to have a grand jubilee to proclaim liberty through the land. In this fiftieth year, they were to forgive each other of their debts and return to every man any possessions that they might be holding as collateral to secure debt.

We know that the Jews were often unwilling, and as fallen humans, incapable of keeping all of the law. Just like with most of the fallen human race, they were victims of their own selfishness. Because they did not keep the jubilees, as well as other acts of disobedience, God decimated their land and led them once again away into captivity.

It is claimed that modern day bankruptcy laws established in civilized countries were based upon the idea of the jubilees. Bankruptcy is designed to forgive debtors and allow them a financial fresh start. In the United States, the law allows one to declare bankruptcy every seven years. Not that we recommend it.

Even more importantly, we as Bible Students know that the Jubilees mentioned in the Law of Moses are typical of a far grander Jubilee. That being the 1,000 year “Times of restitution of all things” as mentioned in Acts 3:21. It will be at this time that God will forgive men of their debts to him. For this is when men will benefit from the great ransom sacrifice of Jesus Christ. Men and women, who were once debt ridden by sin, will be truly offered a fresh start.

It will be following the 1,000 years of restitution that we will enter the 50,000th year since creation. By this time, at the end of the millennial age, Christ and his saints will have guided the earth back to perfection. This is when Jesus will hand, “All things back to the Father” (1 Cor 15:24-28). Notice the Apostle Paul says that when Jesus hands it all back to the Father, that the “Son (himself) shall also be subjected to him” (the Father). This kind of undermines the concept of the “Trinity.” For if Jesus is God, why will he still be subjected to his Father's rule?

The Jubilees, just as all things related to Moses, offer far greater meaning to those truly searching the scriptures in their efforts to “rightly divide the word of truth.” This anti-type of the 50 year jubilee will be far grander than anything in Leviticus. For in the 50,000th year, mankind will be returned to perfection. This is when former things will have passed away (Revelation 21:4).

Another thing to consider is the type and anti-type picture of the Biblical plagues. These terrible calamities directed at Egypt were indeed terrible. 1- Blood polluting the Nile. 2-Frogs. 3- Gnats. 4- Flies. 5– Pestilence. 6-Incurable boils. 7- Hail. 8- Locust. 9- Darkness. And lastly, the death of Egypt’s first born.

These terrible plagues, as dreadful as they were, offer a greater picture. The catastrophic events in Egypt represent the peril that is hitting the world as we near the end of the gospel age. It is clear to many Bible Students that mankind can no longer solve its problems. Even in these times of great technological advances, we cannot stop God’s plagues. We still have wars; we can’t stop world hunger, prevent terrible natural disasters, or totally eradicate disease.

WAR AND FAMINE ARE AMONG CURRENT WORLD'S PLAGUES

Our political leaders can put in temporary measures to make us feel better for a while but they are unable to find a permanent solution to the world’s current economic crisis. Mankind’s greed has simply gone too far. We are now mired in the plague of worldwide unemployment. Among man's dilemma is that businesses simply do not need as many employees as they once did. Machinery, technology, and other “innovations” have created chronic joblessness all around the world, just as Pastor Charles Taze Russell forecast in the 4th volume of “Studies in the Scriptures.

Pharaoh, in spite of his promises, would not let Moses people go. His pride convinced him to try and fight God one more time even after all of those plagues. It seems he was a true glutton for punishment. As Moses led the Hebrews away, Pharaoh sent his army after them. Just when it looked like they were going to be chased down by the Egyptians, God opened up the sea to offer them safe passage. As soon as the last one of Moses’ people crossed over, Pharaoh’s army and all of their chariots tried to do the same. We all know what occurred next. Exodus 14:28 says, “Then the waters returned and covered the chariots, the horsemen, and all the army of Pharaoh that came into the sea after them. Not so much as one of them remained.”

The picture of Pharaoh’s army being destroyed offers us a number of lessons to be applied later. Satan, like Pharaoh, is not going to give up easily. He will continue to place as much misery and sorrow upon God’s creation as he possibly can. He is following, what we might call, a “scorched earth policy.” Often when an army knows they are going to lose a war, they are ordered by their superiors to kill and destroy as much as possible as they retreat. This is what we see Satan doing now. Thankfully we know that he will soon be out of the picture for 1,000 years. (Revelation 20:1)

MOSES'ANTI-TYPE JESUS WILL LEAD THE WORLD OUT OF SEA OF TROUBLE

After Satan is bound at the end of the gospel age, Jesus and the church will lead the entire world out of the symbolic sea which represents worldwide trouble, and during the millennial age will show them the ways that lead to life. In the anti-type, we know from the book of Revelation that Satan will be released for a “Little season” at the end of the 1000 years. Revelation 20:8 reads that he will attempt to “deceive the nations,” one final time. It is at this point that he will be totally destroyed, as will all who choose to follow him. Verse 9 tells us, “They went up on the breadth of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city. And fire came down from God out of heaven and devoured them.”

Just like Pharaoh could no longer harm Moses’ people, the Jews, when Jesus Christ and his church destroy Satan and his empire, He will no more be able to harm God’s people, that being the entire human race. This will be when God’s promise that he will, “wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away,” as mentioned in Revelation 21:4 will come to pass.

HISTORY CHANNEL'S "EXODUS DECODED."

We recently watched a very exciting television special on the History Channel. It was titled “Exodus Decoded.” I would recommend it to all Bible Students. This program, through scientific research, as well as archaeological discoveries, offered proof that the Exodus really happened. They were even able to explain how the plagues occurred from a scientific standpoint. As you know, the higher critics of the Bible have often expressed doubts that the Exodus really happened. The proofs offered in this program were nearly indisputable.

MOSES' DOUBTERS ARE A REFLECTION OF ALL OF US

What we take from the story of Moses is that in addition to how remarkably inspiring he was, human beings have not changed all that much over thousands of years. God calls the Jewish people, “A stiff necked (stubborn) people.” Oh, and they were! At every point of difficulty, many of them grumbled against Moses. When things got rough, some expressed that it would have been better to remain in Egypt. Even after seeing God’s miracles on their behalf, Satan was able to get them to worship a GOLDEN CALF! Like people in our world today, they were desirous of instant gratification.

You even see base human nature from Moses brother, Aaron and his sister, Miriam. Numbers 12:1 shows that they were angry with their brother because he married an "Ethiopian women." In other words, they were likely upset because their brother had married someone who was not their kind.

Like with all heroes of the scriptures, Moses was far from perfect. One of the unique things about the Bible is that it never attempts to hide the personal failings of the people that God used as his servants. Moses was not allowed to enter the Promised Land even after all he had done because he disobeyed God in what would appear to be a very small thing. In spite of this, Moses remained faithful unto death.

What must he have thought when the Lord showed him that “land of milk and honey” from a distance, but he knew he could not enter in? It is doubtful that he grumbled in any way. More than likely, just like Jesus before he was to be arrested and crucified, Moses said in his own way, “Lord, thy will be done.”

As with other characters of the Old Testament, God has a far greater reward to give to Moses and the prophets than just some awesome land. I am reminded what God told Daniel in Daniel 12:13, “Go thy way till the end be. For you shall rest, and stand up for your allotted portion at the end of the days.” Like Daniel, Moses was to rest, or sleep in death, until he gets his allotted portion as a ruler in the entire earth during God’s kingdom.

Numbers 12:3 tells us that Moses was, “Very meek, above all men who were upon the face of the earth.” It is doubtful Moses was anything like he has been portrayed in the movies. The most famous Moses movie, “The Ten Commandments,” portrayed him as sort of a macho tough guy and a bit if a ladies man. This does not seem in line with the meekness mentioned in the Bible.

Like Moses before him, we see our Lord, Jesus, during his time upon the earth as likely the meekest of men. Could this be what the Savior was referring to when he said, “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth?” The meek Moses will surely inherit his portion in God’s true land of “milk and honey,” His glorious kingdom.