bible characters

Bible Characters

Moses

Moses ( The Prince of Egypt )

Many years have passed after Joseph invited his people to Egypt. During this time they gradually became slaves.....

Nicolas Poussin. Baby Moses Saved from River. 1651. Oil on canvas. National Museum of Wales, Cardiff, UK

Moses was born in Egypt. The Pharaoh found out about the birth of a Hebrew savior and ordered the massacre of all newly born Jewish babies. Moses’ mother saved him, by putting him in a basket, which she floated down the Nile. The Pharaoh’s daughter found him and brought him to the palace

Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema. The Finding of Moses. 1904. Oil on canvas. Private Collection, UK

William Hogarth. Moses Brought to Pharoah's Daughter. 1746. Oil on canvas. Thomas Coram Foundation for Children, London,

Josephus Phlavius in his Antiquitatis Judaicae, tells that the Pharaohs daughter presented the child to her father.

Nicolas Poussin. Baby Moses Trampling on the Pharaoh's Crown. 1645. Oil on canvas. Duke of Bedford collection, Woburn Abbey

The Pharaoh, playing with him, placed his crown on the baby's head. Moses threw the crown to the ground, so that it broke. The high priest, recognized the boy as the one who had been prophesied to overthrow the Pharaoh, and rushed to kill him. But the appeal of women saved Moses. Moses was raised in the palace as an Egyptian prince.

Moses Turning the Aaron's Staff into a Serpent. 1647. Oil ovas. Louvre, Paris, Francen can

When he grew up Moses found out that he was a Jew, and he tried to defend his people. He killed an Egyptian, though unintentionally, but had to flee into the desert...... While Moses was guarding the flock God came to him as a Burning Bush and ordered him to return to Egypt and save his people.

The first thing to become a leader of Israelites was to convince his own people that he was chosen by God. Moses' elder brother, Aaron, came to his side and convinced the people that God had sent them a deliverer. Though not only the words of Aaron convinced the people, they were supported by some miracles: thus, Moses, by God's sign, turned Aaron's staff into a serpent and back.

Dieric Bouts the Elder. Gathering Manna (from the Eucharist Altar). c. 1464-1468. Oil on oak. Sankt Peter, Louvain, Belgium.

Moses came to Pharaoh and asked him to let his people go. The Pharaoh refused and God sent different punishments to the people of Egypt, known as the Ten Plagues of Egypt. Egypt suffered severely and the Pharaoh let them free.

Nicolas Poussin. Moses Striking the Rock for Water. 1649. Oil on canvas. The Hermitage, St. Petersburg, Russia.

After ten Plagues of Egypt .Egypt suffered severely, and the Pharaoh let them free. The Jews left Egypt in Exodus, crossing the Red Sea, which had divided by Moses plea and Gods will. Moses led his people; when it was intolerably difficult Moses asked for Gods help and He always helped: gave manna for food and fresh water from the rock to drink

Rembrandt. Moses Smashing the Tables of the Law. 1659. Oil on canvas. Gemäldegalerie, Berlin, Germany.

God also made himself known to Moses on the summit of Mount Sinai and spoke to him, and instructed him for a long time "When Lord had finished speaking with Moses on Mount sinai, the Lord gave him the two tablets of the Testimony, stone tablets written with the finger of God."

The people, however, had again rebelled and made a golden calf, and prayed to it. God wanted to put an end to these stubborn people and start a great nation from Moses, but Moses pleaded Him not to do this. As Moses " approached the camp, he saw the bull-calf and the dancing, and in a burst of anger he flung down the tablets and shattered them at the foot of the mountain." ...

So then, after Moses dead, following Moses was the young man named Joshua, who led the Hebrews into the great adventure involving the collapsing of the wall of Jericho. But the Hebrews' search for the Promised Land. doesn't end here. It continues on and on and on and on....

...which is why it would be impossible to narrate everything here. So for further readings, I recommend the Bible. The most comprehensive source ever. It will even tell you things which you never knew about and would be surprised to know about. Not to mention its divine origins.