Moses Moses

destruction, they turned on their enemies and slew them. Mordecai and Esther sent letters to al l the Jews, saying that their deliverance should be commemo­rated every year w i t h the Feast o f Purim.

The king advanced Mordecai unt i l 'Mordecai the Jew was next in rank to King Ahasuerus, and he was great among the Jews . . . and spoke peace to all his people.' (Esther 10:3)

The story appears non-historical , since no Persian ruler is k n o w n to have had a queen called Esther, a chief minis­ter called H a m a n , or a Jewish counsellor called Mordecai . [Book of Esther]

Moses (Heb. ' to draw out') c. 13 cen­tury B C . The great Hebrew leader and lawgiver. Moses is the most majestic figure in the o l d Testament. H i s role was so central that the Pentateuch was called the Five Books of Moses, and the code of religious laws, the Law of Moses. T o Jews he has remained for all time Moshe Rabbenu - 'Moses our Teacher'. N o one else in the O l d Testa­ment had the same close relationship w i t h God. As i t was wr i t ten , 'the L o r d used to speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his fr iend' (Exod. 33:11).

The story opens in Egypt. Jacob and his family had settled as a pastoral clan in the land of Goshen in the north-east corner of the Ni le delta. Here their de­scendants lived and prospered for four centuries, t i l l 'there arose a new k ing over Egypt, w h o d id not know Joseph' (Exod. 1:8). (This was possibly the Phar­aoh Rameses I I , in the 13th century B C - the greatest builder in Egyptian his­tory.) He decided that the Children o f Israel had become too numerous and strong. He turned them into slave labour­ers, and put them to w o r k under Egyp­tian taskmasters on the construction o f t w o treasure cities, Pithom and Ram­eses, 'And made their lives bitter w i t h hard service, in mortar and brick, and in all kinds of w o r k in the field.' (Exod.

1:14) When this d id not reduce their numbers, Pharaoh ordered the Hebrew midwives to k i l l every male infant at b i r th . The midwives evaded this decree on the pretext that 'the Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian w o m e n ; for they are vigorous and are delivered be­fore the midwife comes to them. ' (Exod. 1:19) The frustrated ruler then charged his people to t h r o w the male babies into the river, and d r o w n them.

A m r a m and Jochebed, the parents of Moses, were o f the priestly house of Levi. When the child was born , his mother kept h i m hidden for three months. She then enclosed h i m in a basket woven of rushes and sealed w i t h pitch, and concealed h im among the reeds at the river's edge.

Pharaoh's daughter came to bathe at this spot and when she saw the basket she sent a maid to fetch i t . O n opening i t , the baby started crying and the pr in­cess felt p i ty for i t , realizing that i t was one of the Hebrew children her father had ordered k i l l ed . Moses's elder sister M i r i a m had been posted a l itt le distance away to watch. She approached the pr in­cess and offered to find a Hebrew nurse to suckle the chi ld . This was agreed, and she ran of f to fetch Moses's mother. When he was older, Pharaoh's daughter adopted h i m and gave h i m the name of Moses, 'Because I drew him out o f the water.' (Exod. 2:10) (The Hebrew form, Mosbe, means ' to draw out'.)

The boy grew up at the royal court but remained aware of his Hebrew origin. One day Moses, now a grown man, went of f alone to find out what was happening to his kinsmen. He saw an Egyptian overseer flogging an Israel­ite slave. T h i n k i n g himself unobserved, Moses slew the Egyptian and buried his body in the sand. Next day he inter­vened in a fight between t w o Israelites and was alarmed when one of them said pointedly: ' W h o made you a prince and a judge over us? D o you mean to k i l l me, as you ki l led the Egyptian ?' (Exod.

Moses Moses

1:14) Report o f his deed reached Phar­aoh, and he had to flee for his life eastward into the Sinai desert.

Pausing to rest at a wel l , Moses as­sisted some young women to water their flocks. When they to ld their father Jethro (or Reuel) about the helpful stranger at the we l l , he invited Moses to eat w i t h them. Jethro was the priest o f a tribe of desert nomads from M i d i a n . Moses remained w i t h h im and married one of his seven daughters, Z ipporah . She bore h i m a son w h o m he called Gershom, since Moses was a stranger (Heb. ger) in a strange land.

Moving deep into the desert in search o f pasture for his father-in-law's flocks, Moses came to the mountain of Horeb (or Sinai). He turned aside to examine a Itrange sight: a bush that was burning without being consumed. God's voice I 1 me out of the bush commanding h i m to halt and remove his shoes, as he was Oil holy ground. Moses was to ld that he had been chosen to lead his brethren OUt of their oppression and br ing them 10 the Promised Land. Moses shrank 110111 this task, saying: ' W h o am I that I should go to Pharaoh, and bring the sons of Israel out o f Egypt?' (Exod. \) T o reassure h i m , the name of the

I o r d ('Jehovah') was revealed to Moses, uul he was given certain magic signs to impress Pharaoh and the Israelites: t u r n -i i i ) ' , his staff into a snake, making his hand white w i t h leprosy and turn ing water into b lood. Stil l reluctant, Moses

B ted out that ' I am slow of speech uul of tongue'. (Exod. 4:10) The L o r d

lu , line impatient w i t h h i m , and replied 1I1.11 his brother Aaron could be his spokesman.

Moses took leave of Jethro and set out with his wife, his eldest son Ger­shom and his newly-born second son I liezer. A long the way Moses became i l l , and Zipporah circumcised the infant with .1 sharp flint in the belief that her husband would die it the rite were Mpjlected.

L E T M Y P E O P L E G O

Aaron came to meet Moses and was to ld what the L o r d required o f them. They called together the Israelite elders, and in Moses's presence Aaron conveyed the Lord's message and performed the magic signs. The people were convinced that God was about to liberate them and sank d o w n in worship.

Moses and Aaron then gained an audi­ence w i t h the reigning Pharaoh (prob­ably the successor of the ruler f rom whom Moses had fled). In the name of the God o f Israel they requested h i m to 'Let my people go' (Exod. 5:1). They did not dare suggest that the Israelites would leave the country for good. I n ­stead, they claimed that sacrifices had to be made to their God at a place three days' journey into the wilderness.

Pharaoh blunt ly rejected the request. He charged the Israelites w i t h laziness, and issued instructions that they should no longer be supplied w i t h straw for making bricks. They would have to seek their o w n straw, wi thout lowering their daily output . The people reproached Moses for having added to their hard­ships, and Moses complained to the Lord that his mission had only done harm. 'For since I came to Pharaoh to speak in thy name, he has done evil to this people, and thou hast not delivered thy people at a l l . ' (Exod. 5:2.3) The L o r d declared that he had hardened Pharaoh's heart in order that 'the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord , when I stretch forth my hand upon Egypt and bring out the people of Israel f rom among them' (Exod. 7:5).

The whole o f Egypt now experienced a series of plagues, except for the land of Goshen where the Israelites l ived. As each plague became intolerable Pharaoh agreed to let Moses's people go, but changed his m i n d when the affliction stopped.

First, Aaron and Moses smote the water of the Ni le w i t h the rod and it turned t<> blood before the eyes of

Moses Moses

Pharaoh and his court . 'And the fish i n the Nile died; and the Nile became fou l , so that the Egyptians could not dr ink water from the N i l e ; and there was blood throughout all the land of Egypt. ' (Exod. 7:2.1)

When Pharaoh refused to give way, frogs came swarming out of the river and spread everywhere, as Moses had warned Pharaoh they would , crawling ' into your house, and into your bedcham­ber and on your bed, and into the house of your servants and o f your people, and into your ovens and your kneading bowls. ' (Exod. 8:3)

The th i rd plague was one of lice which sprang f rom the dust and infected man and beast alike. There fol lowed swarms of flies; cattle disease; an epi­demic of boils ; a fierce hailstorm that smashed the trees and flattened the crops; vast clouds of locusts that de­voured all growing things; and three days of pitch darkness.

The tenth calamity was the most dreadful of all - the slaying of the first­born. The Lord commanded Moses and Aaron that on the fourteenth day o f the month , at dusk, each Israelite family should slaughter a lamb or k i d and roast its flesh for a sacrificial meal. ' I n this manner you shall eat i t : your loins girded, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your h a n d ; and you shall eat i t in haste. I t is the Lord's passover.' (Exod. 12:11) Blood f rom the slaugh­tered animal was to be daubed on the lintel and doorposts so that the L o r d w o u l d recognize and pass over Hebrew homes, while smiting the Egyptians.

A t midnight the first-born died in every Egyptian family, and even among the domestic animals. There was grief and panic throughout the country. T h a t same night Pharaoh sent for Moses and Aaron and begged them to leave at once w i t h their people, together w i t h all their herds, flocks and possessions. The Egyp­tians handed over to them jewels and other valuables to speed their departure.

They set out at once from the city o f Rameses that their forced labour had helped to bui ld . I n fulfilment of an an­cient promise, the remains of Joseph were carried w i t h them for buria l in Canaan. 'Four hundred and th i r ty years', says the Bible (Exod. 12:41), had passed since their ancestor Jacob had first come to live i n Egypt. Forty years of wandering lay ahead of them before they would reach their journey's end. Moses was at this t ime eighty years old and his brother Aaron eighty-three.

Each year Jews commemorate the Exodus in the seven-day spring festival of Passover, as enjoined in Exod. 10. They eat 'matzot ' (flat cakes of unleav­ened bread) to recall the haste w i t h which their ancestors departed. A t the 'Seder' or ceremonial meal, bitter herbs are the symbol o f the bondage in Egypt, and a roasted shank-bone represents the paschal lamb eaten that fateful night.

I N T H E W I L D E R N E S S The great highway from Egypt to Canaan and beyond lay along the M e d i ­terranean coast o f the Sinai desert. From the edge of the Ni le delta to Gaza i t was but a week's march for armies or trading caravans. But that direct and well-travelled route was the most dangerous for the Israelites; and the coastal plain o f Canaan to which i t led was held by hostile inhabitants. A mob of runaway slaves would not have been able to fight its way through to the Promised Land, So Moses turned away from the coast.11 road 'lest the people repent when the) see war, and return to Egypt' (Exod. 13:17). Instead, they headed south-east, towards the open desert.

The first halt was at Succoth, t h i r t j t w o miles from the city of Rameses, and the next at Etham on the edge o f the desert. They were t ry ing to move as fast as they could, fearing that Pharaoh would pursue them. ' A n d the Lord went before them by day in a pillar of a ( loud to lead them along the way, and b) night in a pil lar of (ire to give t h e m

Moses Moses

l ight, that they might travel by day and night. ' (Exod. 13:21)

Their haste was warranted. Pharaoh's courtiers said to h i m , 'What is this we have done, that we have let Israel go from serving us?' (Exod. 14:5) He set out in pursuit w i t h a mobile force that included six hundred chariots. When the Israelites saw them coming, they trem­bled w i t h fear and cried out to Moses, 'Is i t because there are no graves i n Egypt that you have taken us away to die in the wilderness?' (Exod. 14:11) They were at this t ime at the edge of the Reed Sea (incorrectly translated into Eng­lish as the 'Red Sea'). Noth ing but a miracle could save them. A t the Lord's behest, Moses stretched out his hand over the sea and a strong east w i n d pushed the water aside, so that the Ch i l ­dren of I s rae lwere able to cross dry-shod to the other side. Dashing after them, Pharaoh's chariots were engulfed for 'the waters returned' (Exod. 14:28), and men and horses were drowned. (This may have happened in the area of the Bitter Lakes, through which the Suez Canal now passes.)

When the Israelites 'saw the Egyptians dead upon the sea shore' (Exod. 14:30), they sang a song o f thankfulness to the Lord, while Moses's sister M i r i a m played on a t imbre l (tambourine) and led the women in dance.

The elation o f their new-found free­dom was short-lived. They now entered the wilderness o f Shur in the Sinai penin­sula - a wasteland of sand and gravel, intersected w i t h limestone ridges and dry watercourses, in the beds of which a little sparse scrub could be found for the flocks. The sun scorched them by day • n d the cold was sharp at night.

The chief problem was water. After i n k king for three days, they reached a spring of brackish water at M a r a h (which means 'b i t te r ' ) . Moses threw a Certain bush into the water which made 11 d r i n k a b l e . A day's march f u r t h e r o n they were able t o c a m p in the o . t s t s of

El im, 'where there were twelve springs of water and seventy palm trees' (Exod. 15:27). Soon they ran out of food and railed at Moses and Aaron for taking them away f r o m the 'flesh pots' (Exod. 16:3) of Egypt. The Lord would come to the rescue, Moses promised, and w o u l d provide ' i n the evening flesh to eat and in the morning bread to the f u l l ' (Exod. 16:8). Flocks o f migrating quails sank down to rest among the scrub at night and could easily be snared (as the desert Arabs do today).

In the early morning , when the dew vanished, the ground was strewn w i t h manna, and ' i t was like coriander seed, white , and the taste of it was like wafers made w i t h honey.' (Exod. 16:31) Moses to ld them the manna was bread f rom the Lord . They were to gather and pre­pare just enough to satisfy their hunger, for what was not eaten would go bad in the heat of the day. O n the sixth day a double por t ion could be gathered, and would remain fresh over the Sabbath. (It has been suggested that the manna may have been the resin-like substance that is exuded by the tamarisk trees in the desert, and drops on the ground when dry.)

The Israelites moved deeper into the southern part o f the Sinai desert and came to Rephidim. Once more they were wi thout water, and complained loudly . Moses was t o l d by the Lord to gather the elders together and in their presence smite a rock. He d id so and fresh water gushed out. Moses called the place 'Massah and M e r i b a h ' ('testing and contention') (Exod. 17:7).

They now faced a human threat, being attacked by a party of Amalekites, fierce desert raiders. The Israelites were not yet organized or trained to fight. Moses sent for Joshua the son of N u n , a young Ephraimite, and told h i m to select and lead a group of Israelite defenders. Moses himself climbed to the top of a hi l l together w i t h Aaron and H u r (tradi­tionally M o s e s ' s b r o t h e r - i n - l a w ) ; a n d

Moses Moses

f rom here they witnessed the battle. Whi le Moses held up his hands w i t h the sacred rod, the Israelites gained, but they were pushed back when his arms dropped from weariness. His t w o com­panions seated h i m on a stone and, standing on either side of h i m , held his arms raised in the air unt i l nightfal l , when the battle was w o n and the Amale-kites routed. Moses bui l t an altar to the L o r d .

In the th i rd month after leaving Egypt, the Israelites reached the w i l d and rugged terrain of the wilderness of Sinai. I n its centre a cluster of gaunt granite peaks of a dark-red colour rose to a height of eight thousand feet, w i t h deep canyons around them. The Israelites camped on the open ground before a peak called M o u n t Sinai or M o u n t Horeb . It was here that Moses had heard the voice of the L o r d f rom the burning bush many years before. Jethro n o w came to see Moses, bringing Z ipporah and their t w o sons, w h o had been on a visit to her family. Moses welcomed the o l d man warmly , and they sat for a long t ime in the tent ta lk ing about all the wondrous things that had happened since Moses had gone back to Egypt. The Midiani te priest exclaimed: ' N o w I k n o w that the L o r d is greater than al l gods.' (Exod. 18:11) Jethro offered a sacrifice on the Hebrew altar and Moses invited the elders to a feast in his honour.

Jethro was present next day while Moses gave judgment in the disputes and claims brought before h im. In the evening Jethro offered his son-in-law some sage advice. I t was too burden­some for Moses to deal personally w i t h every tr iv ia l matter, while scores o f people stood around await ing their t u r n . W h y should Moses not delegate auth­or i ty to able men, and put each in charge of a fixed number o f persons ? Moses agreed, and appointed 'rulers of thou­sands, of hundreds, of fifties, and o f tens. And they judged the people at all

t imes; hard cases they brought to Moses.' (Exod. 18:2,5, 2 ^ ) Moses charged them to 'judge righteously between a man and his brother or the alien that is w i t h h im. Y o u shall not be partial in judgment; you shall hear the small and the great a l ike ; you shall not be afraid o f the face of man, for the judgment is God's. ' (Deut. 1:16-17)

Having instigated this system o f ad­ministrat ion, Jethro took his leave and returned to his o w n land.

T H E T E N C O M M A N D M E N T S

I t was timely for Moses to be relieved of routine duties, for the Lord was about to call on h im to fulf i l a loftier purpose. The stage was set for one of the most awesome moments in human history : the handing d o w n of the Law on M o u n t Sinai.

God called Moses up to the mountain and instructed h i m to tell the Children o f Israel that i f they would keep his covenant 'you shall be to me a k ingdom of priests and an holy nation' (Exod, 19:6). They were ordered to wash and purify themselves for t w o days, and on the th i rd day they gathered before the mountain that was covered w i t h a thick cloud. Out of i t came thunder, l ightning and the loud blasts of a trumpet. 'And M o u n t Sinai was wrapped in smoke, because the L o r d descended upon it in fire; and the smoke o f i t went up like the smoke of a k i l n , and the whole mountain quaked greatly.' (Exod. 19:18) Then the voice o f God rolled for th , solemnly pronouncing the Ten Commandments:

' I am the L o r d your God, who brought you out o f the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.

'You shall have no other gods b e f o r e

me. You shall not make for yourself a graven image . . .

'You shall not take the name ol tin L o r d your God in vain . . .

'Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labour, i n , I do all your w o r k ; but the seventh da) 1 a sabbath to the Lord your God . . .

Moses Moses

' H o n o u r your father and your mother . . .

'You shall not k i l l . ' You shall not commit adultery. 'You shall not steal. 'You shall not bear false witness

against your neighbour. 'You shall not covet your neighbour's

house . . . or anything that is your neigh­bour's. ' (Exod. 20:2—17)

A number of other laws were then made known to Moses. He built a stone altar w i t h twelve pillars representing the twelve tribes of Israel, and instructed young men to sacrifice oxen on i t . Moses read out 'the book of the covenant' (Kxod. 24:7) and sprinkled the blood of the sacrifices on the people as 'the blood of the covenant which the Lord has made w i t h you in accordance w i t h al l these words' (Exod. 24:8).

He then left Aaron and H u r in charge of the encampment and disappeared into the cloud that sti l l covered the moun­tain. There he remained for forty days and forty nights, communing w i t h the Lord. A t the end of that time God gave him ' two tables of the testimony, tables of stone, wr i t ten w i t h the finger of G o d ' I s o d . 31:18).

D o w n in the camp, the Israelites had l o s t faith when Moses failed to reappear. I hey came in a body to Aaron and said, I lp, make us gods, w h o shall go before

1 1 . , . is for this Moses, the man who I ' i ought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not k n o w what has become of linn ' (Exod. 32:1) Aaron felt obliged to ippease them. He asked for all the gold ,11 iings w o r n by the men and women, melted them d o w n , and moulded a •olden calf. The people made burnt-of-I, n i i ) ' , s t o i t , and they sang, feasted and I i n , ed naked around i t .

1 i n 1 lu- mountain the Lord to ld Moses u l i 11 his 'stiff-necked people' (Exod.

9) w e n - doing, and threatened to de-HfO) ' I n 111. Moses pleaded for them, I I I . I the Lord relented. But when Moses

t down and saw the spectacle w i t h

his own eyes, he was seized w i t h rage and dashed the t w o stone tablets to the ground, breaking them. Moses threw the golden calf into the fire, ground it up, mixed i t w i t h water and made the Israelites swallow i t . He upbraided Aaron, who tried to defend himself, saying, 'you k n o w the people, that they are set on evil ' (Exod. 32:22). Moses felt a drastic purge was needed. He rallied round him the men from the priestly tribe of Levi (to which he and Aaron belonged) and ordered them to put to the sword a large number of the i d o l -worshippers.

This painful experience left Moses w i t h a sense of failure, and he asked the L o r d to relieve h i m of the leadership. The reply was that the journey to the Promised Land should continue as before. Moses again ascended the sacred mountain, carrying t w o stone tablets he had hewed to replace those smashed. Once more he stayed there forty days and nights w i t h o u t food or water. When he returned w i t h 'the words of the coven­ant, the ten commandments' (Exod. 34:28) engraved on the tablets for the second time, Aaron and the Israelites observed that his face shone w i t h such light that 'they were afraid to come near h i m ' (Exod. 34:30).

The Lord had given Moses precise instructions for the construction of an A r k of acacia w o o d covered w i t h gold, and a tabernacle w i t h an open-air altar. They were to form a portable temple for the Israelites' wandering life.

The A r k containing the tablets of the Law was placed i n the Tabernacle, which was consecrated by Moses in the presence of all the people. As long as the pillar of cloud or of fire stood sti l l over the Tabernacle, it was a sign that the Israelites should remain at that spot unt i l the pil lar moved forward again.

Before the Israelites set out once more, Moses adopted two measures to increase their cohesion and their self-de-fence: .1 military census and a marching

Moses Moses

order. The census covered men of m i l i ­tary age from twenty upwards, ' a l l in Israel who are able to go forth to war ' ( N u m . 1:3), except for the Levites w h o were exempted because of their religious duties. The order in which Moses organ­ized the tribes for travel gave each family clan its fixed posit ion. The Levites were in the centre o f a square, carrying the A r k , the Tabernacle and other sacred objects. O n each of the four sides a group of three tribes formed up around a standard. The start of the march was marked by a series of trumpet blasts.

Moses prevailed on his M i d i a n i t e brother-in-law H o b a b to come w i t h the Israelites as guide, since he was born and bred in the desert and familiar w i t h i t : 'for you k n o w how we are to encamp in the wilderness, and you w i l l serve as eyes for us.' ( N u m . 10:31)

F R O M S I N A I T O K A D E S H In the second m o n t h o f the second year the Children o f Israel moved nor thward from M o u n t Sinai towards the wilder­ness of Paran, in the central plateau of the Sinai peninsula. Soon trouble broke out again, this t ime over the monoto­nous diet of manna. As refugees are apt to do, they became nostalgic for the land they had fled. Tearfully they asked, ' O that we had meat to eat! We remem­ber the fish we ate in Egypt for nothing, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the g a r l i c ' ( N u m . 11:4, 5)

Moses felt weary o f leading the discon­tented community he had brought out of slavery. He said to the L o r d : ' I am not able to carry al l this people along, the burden is too heavy for me. I f thou w i l l deal thus w i t h me, k i l l me at once . . . ' ( N u m . 11:14, x 5) A t this cry o f distress, the L o r d saw that Moses needed help in carrying the burden. He had Moses summon seventy elders to the Tabernacle, and inspired them, so that they w o u l d serve as a council to share responsibility w i t h h im. As for the people's demand for flesh, the L o r d

taught them a lesson. Huge flocks o f quail were b l o w n inland from the sea and piled up all round the camp. For t w o days the Israelites gorged them­selves on the meat o f the birds u n t i l they fell violently i l l and a number of them died.

A t their next camping place Aaron and M i r i a m started speaking against Moses, of w h o m they had become jeal­ous. The L o r d was angry at this attack, and M i r i a m was stricken w i t h leprosy. Moses prayed that she be forgiven, and she recovered after seven days o f isola­t ion in the desert outside the camp. Oddly enough Aaron was not punished - perhaps because of his priestly role.

The Israelites resumed their journey northward , and came to rest at Kadesh-barnea, a green and well-watered oasis some fifty miles south of Beersheba. They were now nearing the southern r im of Canaan, but i t was for them unknown country. Moses decided to send into i t a scouting party o f twelve picked men, one from each tribe to ' set what the land is, and whether the people who dwell in i t are strong or weak, whether they are few or many' ( N u m . 13:18) - also, whether the inhabitant! lived in fortified towns or in tents, and whether the soil was fertile.

The spies crossed the Negev, p . I S M J Arad on the plateau above the I V . n l Sea, and travelled through the central h i l l country o f Canaan. The part) reached Kadesh safely after a forty da) tr ip and reported that Canaan was trul) a land f lowing w i t h mi lk and hone) Nevertheless 'the people who dwell in the land are strong and the cities a t e fortified and very large; and besides, \saw the descendants of Anak there (Num. 13:28) {Anak is Hebrew I ' " 'giant'.) They also reported o n i l " Amalekites w h o dwelt in the u u l south of Canaan, and the Hittites, |ebusiti Amorites and other peoples in the settled areas further n o r t h . As Moses had n quested, they brought back spc< im< Itl

Moses Moses

of the fruit they had seen: figs, pome­granates and a bunch of grapes so large that it had to be carried on a pole slung between t w o men. They had picked i t near Hebron at the brook of Eshcol, a name which means 'grape-cluster'.

One of the scouts, Caleb of the tribe of Judah, proposed that in spite o f the dangers they should advance into the country wi thout delay and trust the L o r d to help them overcome resistance. H e was supported only by Joshua f rom the tribe of Ephraim. The other ten were much more discouraging. They submit­ted 'an evil report of the land . . . that devours its inhabitants ; all the people that we saw i n i t are men of great stature . . . and we seemed to ourselves like grasshoppers.' ( N u m . 13:32, 33) The gathering that listened to the report was cast into g loom. W h a t was the good o f bringing them to the Promised Land, they said, in order to be slain in it? I t would be better to find a new leader who would take them back to Egypt. A wrathful Lord decreed that for their lack of belief in H i m , they w o u l d stay wander­ing in the desert for forty years, t i l l that generation had died out, except for |i isluta and Caleb.

The Children o f Israel now settled down for some decades to the life o f nomad shepherds and cattle-herders 10. iming the wilderness of Z i n , w i t h 1 l i e u base at the oasis. 'So you remained at Kadesh many days.' (Deut. 1:46) I taring this period Moses developed the re l ig ious code and the rituals of worship. I I n - stern discipline w i t h which observ-111. <• was enforced was illustrated by the

case of the man w h o gathered sticks for UCWOod on the Sabbath and was or-dered to be stoned to death.

I In leadersh ip of Moses and Aaron was challenged by a revolt - all the

Serious because it started w i t h ' I \ v n tribe of Levi, which was dedi-. i n (I 10 pr ies t ly duties. It was led by the I • v 11« K o r a h the son of I/.har, together with two Keubenite brothers, Dathan

and A b i r a m , and they were supported by t w o hundred and fifty respected men. Punishment was swift. The earth split open and swallowed up the three rebel leaders w i t h their households. The t w o hundred and fifty supporters were con­sumed by fire f rom the Lord . Moses felt the need of some act to bolster the status of Aaron and the priests. He collected and placed in the Tabernacle a stave from each of the tribes, w i t h the Levites represented by Aaron's own rod. When they were taken out and shown to the people next m o r n i n g , i t was seen that Aaron's stave had sprouted w i t h blossom and borne almonds.

M i r i a m , the sister o f Moses and Aaron, died at Kadesh and was buried there.

O N W A R D T O C A N A A N After nearly forty years had gone by, most of them spent at Kadesh, the time-had come to resume the march towards the Promised Land. Unable to penetrate Canaan f rom the south, the Israelites now set out on a lengthy detour in order to enter f rom the east, a c r o s s tin-Jordan river. The route northward into Transjordan lay along the ancient cara­van route k n o w n as the King's Highway . Moses sent messengers to the king o l Edom, to say, ' N o w let us pass through your land. We w i l l not pass through field or vineyard, neither w i l l we dr ink water from a w e l l ; we w i l l go along 1 he-King's Highway , we w i l l not turn a s ide to the right hand or to the left, unt i l we have passed through your terr i tory . ' ( N u m . 20:17) The king refused, and Moses thought it prudent to b y p a s s Edom from the west, travelling up the great rift of W a d i Araba towards t he-Dead Sea. O n the way, A a r e i n died o n top of M o u n t H o r where he had b e e n taken by Moses and by Aaron's s o n Eleazar, who succeeded him as high priest.

The Israelites now had a taste o l t h e warfare that l a y ahead. I I n \e at taikcd a n d a n u n i h e i o l them k i l l e d a n d

Moses Moses

captured by Canaanites f rom Arad, that lies on the plateau west of the Dead Sea. Further on, they passed through a region infested w i t h venomous snakes and some of them were bitten. Moses stuck a brass serpent on a pole, and looking at i t served as a magic cure for snake bite.

From the southern end of the Dead Sea, they turned eastward into the moun­tains, through the precipitous valley o f Zered that divided Edom from M o a b . They emerged on the plateau and skirted round M o a b to the deep gorge of the river Arnon that entered the Dead Sea f r o m the east.

The country nor th o f the Arnon had recently been conquered by the Amorites under King Sihon. He also refused the Israelites passage and attacked them. He was defeated and his capital Heshbon occupied. The advance continued north­ward into the fertile land of Gilead, up to the Yarmuk river. O g , the giant k ing o f Bashan (the Golan Heights) gave them battle and was repulsed. Thus ended the first phase of the Israelite inva­sion.

The Israelites started to cohabit w i t h Moabite women, and were drawn into the cult of the local deity, the Baal of Peor. The Lord smote them w i t h a plague but was moll i f ied by the act o f an outraged priest called Phinehas, son of Eleazar and grandson of Aaron. He seized a javelin, rushed into a tent where an Israelite was ly ing w i t h a Midiani te woman and w i t h one b low transfixed them both.

The camel-riding Midianites in the region seem to have been involved in this Israelite immoral i ty . A n Israelite expedi­t ion was sent against them, w i t h a thou­sand men from each tribe. They wiped out the Midiani te encampments w i t h rel i­gious zeal, sparing only the young girls. Moses ruled on the division of the cap­tured livestock: half to the fighting men and half to the rest o f the community , w i t h special shares for the priesthood.

Another census was taken and showed that none of the men of the Exodus was left alive, except for Joshua, Caleb and Moses himself. A new breed of Israelites had grown up as free men, hardened by the rigours o f desert life and disciplined by the laws Moses had taught them. O u t o f the craven and unruly bondsmen that had emerged f rom Egypt, Moses had in forty years moulded a small but stalwart nat ion, ready to meet its destiny in the Promised Land. He was not to share that destiny; his own task was nearly done.

T H E D E A T H O F M O S E S

In three farewell addresses, recorded in the Book of Deuteronomy, Moses re­called for the Israelites the story of their wandering; expanded their religious and legal code; and instructed them about their coming settlement in Canaan. He climaxed his religious exhortations w i t h the 'Shema Yisrael' - 'Hear, O'Israel ' -which has remained to this day the most celebrated prayer i n the Jewish l i turgy.

T o a desert-weary people Moses painted a pleasant picture of the country they were about to enter:

'For the L o r d your God is bringing you into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and springs flow­ing forth in valleys and hills, a land of wheat and barley, o f vines and fig trees and pomegranates, a land of olive trees and honey, a land in which you w i l l eat bread wi thout scarcity, in which you w i l l lack nothing, a land whose stones are i ron , and out o f whose hills you can dig copper.' (Deut. 8:7-9)

Moses composed a song of praise to God, w h o m he had served so humhh and faithfully, and gave his blessing to each of the tribes in t u r n .

He asked the L o r d to appoint a n e w leader to w h o m he could hand over h i s charge 'that the congregation ol tin L o r d may not be as sheep which h a v e

no shepherd' ( N u m . 27:17). I t was irtdl cated that Moses's successor would be Joshua the son o f N u n , 'a man in w h o m

is the spirit ' ( N u m . 27:18).

Moses Moses

A t a solemn ceremony in the Taber­nacle before Eleazar the H i g h Priest and all the congregation, w i t h the presence of the L o r d in a pi l lar o f cloud over the door, Moses laid his hands upon Joshua and said, 'Be strong and of good cour­age; for you shall go w i t h this people into the land which the L o r d has sworn to their fathers to give t h e m ; and you shall put them in possession of i t . ' (Deut. 31:7)

The men of Reuben and Gad asked whether they could remain in the terr i ­tory east of the river. They were herds­men, and these ro l l ing uplands w o u l d give good grazing for their cattle and sheep. Moses rebuked t h e m : 'Shall your brethren go to the war while you sit here ? W h y w i l l you discourage the heart of the people of Israel f rom going over into the land which the L o r d has given them? Thus did your fathers, when I sent them from Kadesh-barnea to see the land. ' ( N u m . 32:6—8) A compromise was reached. They w o u l d establish their families and herds in Transjordan, cross the river w i t h the other tribes to fight their way into Canaan, and return when it had been subdued. Part of the tribe of Manasseh joined in this arrangement, as they were attracted by the wooded ridges and fertile dales o f Gilead, and wanted to settle there.

Before he died, Moses was given a d i s t a n t view of the Promised Land f rom ' M o u n t Nebo, to the top of Pisgah, which is opposite Jericho' (Deut. 34:1). O n a height jut t ing out from the great escarpment, Moses stood w i t h his back to the Moab plateau, stretching away to the empty desert beyond the eastern hor i ­z o n . Before h im a tremendous panorama U n f o l d e d . Thousands of feet below gl i t-leieil the Dead Sea, the lowest body o f water on the earth's surface. Beyond i t rose the dun-coloured rampart of the |lldean desert, w i t h Jerusalem and Hebron and other Canaanite cities hidden behind its r i m . T o the right, the I o n i a n river looped snake like through

lush green banks. A n d the Lord said: ' I have let you see i t w i t h your eyes, but you shall not go over there.' (Deut. 34:4)

After this single view Moses died and was buried by the L o r d ' i n the valley i n the land of M o a b , opposite Beth-peor; but no man knows the place of his bur ia l to this day' (Deut. 34:6). A t his death he was a hundred and twenty years o ld , but 'his eye was not d i m , nor his natural force abated' (Deut. 34:7). For thir ty days the Children of Israel wept and mourned for the great leader and teacher they had lost, ' A n d there has not arisen a prophet since in Israel l ike Moses, w h o m the L o r d knew face to face.' (Deut. 34:10).

[There are references to Moses throughout the O l d Testament. His his­tory is given: Exod. 2—40; Book o f Numbers ; Deut. 1-34.]

T H E L A W O F M O S E S

The body of Hebrew legislation in the Pentateuch was developed over many centuries from many sources, and consti­tuted a unique code. Whatever s imilari­ties o f detail there might have been w i t h other ancient codes, such as that of H a m ­murabi in Babylon, the Law of Moses had nothing in common w i t h them in its religious beliefs or in its humanism.

The central message is the monothe­ism which the Hebrew people were the first to expound — the worship of one single, invisible and just God, and the rejection of every form of idolatry and paganism. The first and most important o f the Ten commandments was:

' Y o u shall have no other gods before me.' (Exod. 20:3)

But the Mosaic Code goes far beyond religious observance in the narrow sense. It deals w i t h pol i t ica l , social and family affairs in a progressive spirit wel l i n advance of its period. For example: there must be no arbitrary exercise o f power ; even a k ing must fear God and obey the law, 'that his heart may not be lifted up above his brethren, and that he

Moses M u s h i

may not turn aside f rom the command­ment, either to the right hand or to the left' (Deut. 17:20).

Justice must be impartial ly adminis­tered, for rich and poor al ike:

'You shall appoint judges and officers in all your towns which the Lord your G o d gives you, according to your tr ibes; and they shall judge the people w i t h righteous judgment.

'You shall not pervert justice; you shall not show par t ia l i t y ; and you shall not take a bribe, for a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise, and subverts the cause o f the righteous.' (Deut. 16:18-19)

Special protection is extended to the needy and the under-privileged, to fugi­tive slaves, debtors, hired servants, or­phans, widows and foreigners. Women must be respected, and a slander against the chastity o f a wife is a crime. Even the ox may not be muzzled while it is treading the grain on the threshing floor, and the mother-bird must be spared i f eggs are collected f rom her nest. There must be fair practices i n commerce - 'a full and just weight you shall have, a ful l and just measure you shall have' (Deut. 25:15). M e n shall be exempted f rom mil itary service i f they have re­cently built a house, planted a vineyard or betrothed a wife, or are faint-hearted. Always, in his dealings w i t h others, the Hebrew must say to himself: 'Love the sojourner therefore; for you were so­journers in the land o f Egypt.' (Deut. 10:19)

For century after century, the Jewish rabbis and sages discussed and refined the Laws of Moses. Their commentaries were gathered together in the huge tomes of the T a l m u d , which a learned man might study al l his life w i t h o u t exhausting them. In this fashion was shaped the distinctive outlook and way of life which the Jewish people carried w i t h them to all the countries o f their dispersion. T h r o u g h Christianity, the Hebrew code profoundly influenced the civi l ization of the Western w o r l d .

M o z a (Heb. 'departing') /. date un­k n o w n . A son o f Caleb of the tribe of Judah, and his concubine Ephah. [1 Chr. 2:46] 2. date u n k n o w n . Son o f Z i m r i o f the tribe of Benjamin and a descendant o f K i n g Saul. [1 Chr. 8:36, 37; 9:42]

M u p p i m (Heb. 'serpent') c. 16 century B C . One of the ten sons of Benjamin and a grandson o f Jacob, he went d o w n to Egypt at the same time as Jacob. He is also known as Shephupham and Shep-huphan. [Gen. 46:21 ; N u m . 26:39; 1 Chr. 8:5]

M u s h i (Heb. 'deserted') date unknown. Younger son o f M e r a r i and a grandson of Levi, his descendants were assigned special duties i n the Tabernacle in the wilderness in the days of Moses. [Exod. 6:19; N u m . 3:20; 4:29-31 ; 1 Chr. 6:47; 23:21, 23; 24:30]

N N a a m (Heb. 'pleasant') c. 13 century B C . Son of Caleb the son o f Jephunneh and a leader o f the tr ibe of Judah. [1 Chr. 4:15]

Naamah (Heb. 'pleasing') /. date un­k n o w n . Daughter o f Lamech and Z i l l a h , and the sister of Tubal-cain. [Gen. 4:22] 2. c. 10 century BC . A princess o f A m m o n who was the wife o f King Solo­mon and the mother o f Rehoboam w h o succeeded him as k ing o f Israel. [1 Kgs. 14:21, 3 1 ; 2 Chr. 12:13]

Naaman (Heb. 'pleasantness') /. c. 16 century B C . A son of Benjamin and a grandson o f Jacob and Rachel, he went d o w n to Egypt at the same time as Jacob. In the Book o f Numbers and in the First Book of Chronicles, Naaman is described as a grandson o f Benjamin the son o f Bela. [Gen. 46:21 ; N u m . 26:40; 1 Chr . 8:4] 2. date unknown. Son o f Ehud and a leader o f the tribe o f Benjamin, he was head of a family in Geba carried off in exile to Manahath. [1 Chr . 8:7] ) . c. 9 century B C . Commander of the Syrian army in the t ime o f King Ben-h.idad I I , he contracted the dread disease o l leprosy. His wife had an Israelite slave who had been taken captive on o n e of the Syrian incursions into Israel. T h e g ir l said there was a prophet called 1 lisha in Samaria w h o could cure h i m . ( . i rrying lavish presents and a letter from his k ing to Jehoram, k ing of Israel, Naaman set out for Samaria w i t h a m i l i -1.11 y escort. Jehoram was very distressed .u this unwelcome visiti fearing that the Syrians were making an impossible

demand on him as a pretext to attack h i m . Elisha, hearing the story, sent w o r d that the Syrian commander should be brought round to his house. The prophet d i d not come out to receive the foreign dignitary nor invite h i m i n , but sent a messenger out to tell h i m that he should bathe seven times i n the river Jordan. Naaman was enraged at this curt treat­ment and snorted that the rivers o f Da­mascus were better than all the waters of Israel and why should he not wash in them. But his staff persuaded h im to fo l low Elisha's advice and he was cured.

Naaman came back to Elisha and of­fered h im a reward which the prophet declined. N o w convinced that the Hebrew God was the only true one, Naaman asked leave to take two mule-loads of earth back to Damascus w i t h h i m so that he could worship the Lord on Israelite soil. H e also asked Elisha i l the Lord would forgive h im if, in tin-course of his duties to his master lin­k ing , he accompanied h i m to worship at the temple to R i m m o n . Elisha told him to go in peace.

Elisha's servant Gehazi was o v e r c o m e w i t h greed at the thought of the r i c h gifts his master had spurned. He hurried after Naaman and w i t h a concocted story about a couple o f needy p r i e s t s visiting Elisha, obtained from him t w o bags of silver and t w o changes of c l o t h

ing. When he returned he hid t h e s e

things in his house, but through h i s occult powers Elisha knew what had happened. He to ld Gehazi he may have enriched himself but at the c o s t o l c o n t r a c t i n g the leprosy o l w h i c h Naaman had been cured. |2 K g s . 5|