Moses was a key figure in the Bible, not because he had special skills or intelligence, but because God chose him.
It’s that way with many people in the Bible; God has something to accomplish through humans in a way that will glorify Him, but they rarely volunteer for the task and are always flawed. Think of Abraham, Jacob, Noah, Moses, Job, Esther, Gideon, and so many more. Never can they take credit for what God does through them. It’s often quite the opposite; they are in awe of what God has accomplished in their weakness.
When you think about the life of Moses from the end to the beginning, it’s fascinating to see how God wove a plan for saving His people, involving a man who would have to be moved from race to race and place to place.
Born to a Hebrew woman enslaved in Egypt, Moses’ life was in danger due to a Pharaoh bent on killing Hebrew children. He feared they would grow in number, overthrow him, conquering Egypt. But the irony (God’s plan) was that Pharaoh’s daughter pulled Moses from the river. She took him to be nursed by his birth mother.
According to Associates for Biblical Research, Moses may have lived with his natural Hebrew family for more than three years before he was returned to Pharaoh’s daughter and adopted as her own.
How Old Was Moses When He Fled Egypt?
Acts 7:23 says, “One day when Moses was 40 years old, he decided to visit his relatives, the people of Israel.” While there, he saw an Egyptian mistreating a Hebrew slave and took vengeance and killed the Egyptian.
Later, Moses discovered two Hebrew slaves fighting and intervened. One of them said, “Are you going to kill me as you killed that Egyptian yesterday?” (Acts 7:28)
Knowing his crime was no secret, Moses fled Egypt. He wandered in the wilderness until he came upon a group of shepherdesses whose flocks were harassed by thieves. Moses jumped into action and chased away the marauders. He earned that he was in the camp of Jethro, the priest of Midian. He was welcomed into their home and began work for Jethro. Soon Jethro gave Moses his daughter, Zipporah, to be his wife.
Moses worked for Jethro in the foothills of Mount Sinai for another 40 years. By this point, he would have been 80 years old. But God wasn’t finished with him yet.
How Old Was Moses When He Returned to Egypt?
Moses seemed settled in his life with the Midianites and likely never had plans to return to Egypt.
But one day, he was tending flocks on Mount Sinai, and suddenly, “there the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a blazing fire from the middle of a bush” (Exodus 3:1). God tells him to take off his sandals for he is on holy ground. Then He identifies Himself as “the God of your father–the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob” (Exodus 3:6).
God instructs him to return to Egypt and challenge Pharaoh to free the enslaved Israelites. Moses tried to argue that he was not the right guy for the job,
It took much persuasion and 10 plagues from the Lord before Pharaoh let them go. The final straw was when God took the life of every firstborn in Egypt, while the Israelites were protected by God’s instruction to paint the blood of a young lamb or goat on their doorposts so that they would be “passed over” and the plague will not touch them (Exodus 12:12-13).
How Long Did Moses Lead People in the Desert?
The night that Pharoah let the Israelites go, about 600,000 men plus women and children left Egypt, where their people had lived for 430 years.
Moses followed God’s instructions of which way to go, but it led them to the shores of the Red Sea. But God wasn’t through with showing His power: He parted the Red Sea to let the Israelites pass by on the dry ground. The water then came crashing in on the Egyptian soldiers coming to slaughter the Israelites (Exodus 14:15).
What followed wasn’t easy. Moses spent 40 years wandering in the wilderness with people who complained, didn’t follow God’s rules (the Ten Commandments), sinned, repented, rebelled again, and finally built a Tabernacle to the Lord. The goal was to get to the land of milk of honey that God promised them.
Why Wasn’t Moses Allowed to Enter the Promised Land?
But Moses wasn’t going to go with them into the Promised Land.
After all those years of wilderness wandering with people who gave God grief time and again–doing something he never wanted to do–God withheld his promise from Moses. It would be Joshua who would lead them into the land they had dreamed of for 40 years.
Why not Moses (and Aaron)? Deuteronomy 32:51-52 tells us why: “This is because both of you broke faith with me in the presence of the Israelites at the waters of Meribah Kadesh in the Desert of Zin and because you did not uphold my holiness among the Israelites. Therefore, you will see the land only from a distance; you will not enter the land I am giving to the people of Israel.”
The Meribah Kadesh story is what we read in Numbers 20, close to the end of the 40 years of wandering. The people were dying of thirst, and there was no water. Moses and Aaron prayed to God in the Tent of Meeting. God said to speak to the rock, and water would gush forth. But in anger (“Listen, you rebels, must we bring you water out of this rock?”), Moses didn’t follow the instructions. Instead of speaking to the rock as God said, he struck the rock twice, and water came forth in abundance.
Then Moses hears what must have sounded incredulous to him after 40 years. God said in Numbers 20:12: “Because you did not trust in me enough to honor me as holy in the sight of the Israelites, you will not bring this community into the land I give them.”
Before his death, God showed Moses the land his descendants would inherit. Moses then died and was buried there at the age of 120.
It’s interesting that the Bible says in Deuteronomy 34:7 that Moses’ “eyes were not weak or his strength gone.” God kept him strong long after he’d reached old age, using his strength for something important.
What Happened After Moses Died?
“After the death of Moses the Lord’s servant, the Lord spoke to Joshua, son of Nun, Moses’ assistant.” (Joshua 1:1)
The message: Joshua was God’s chosen one to lead the people across the Jordan River into the promised land. Joshua made a name for himself years prior when he went with 11 other spies to check out the enemy living in the land and see if they could be conquered (Numbers 14:6-9).
Only Joshua and his fellow spy Caleb tried to convince the people, saying they knew God would give them victory. But the people were afraid, and Moses didn’t speak up. Now it was brave Joshua who God would bless with His presence wherever he went. “I will not fail you or abandon you. Be strong and courageous . . .” (Joshua 1:5-6).
Is Moses’ story one of failed faith? After all, He didn’t believe that God could work through him when God called Him on Mount Sinai. He said he was a stutterer and Aaron should speak for him, so God gave in to that request. Then there was the rock-striking incident.
Moses wasn’t perfect, and that’s the point. God accomplished His will through flawed people–some of whom tried to be faithful to Him, like Moses, and even people who rebelled against him. In Hebrews 11, the writer presents a “Hall of Fame” that mentions five times that Moses operated “in faith” throughout his relationship with the Lord. I would say that makes him hardly a failure!
Mary Oelerich-Meyer is a Chicago-area freelance writer and copy editor who prayed for years for a way to write about and for the Lord. She spent 20 years writing for area healthcare organizations, interviewing doctors and clinical professionals and writing more than 1,500 articles in addition to marketing collateral materials. Important work, but not what she felt called to do. She is grateful for any opportunity to share the Lord in her writing and editing, believing that life is too short to write about anything else. Previously she served as Marketing Communications Director for a large healthcare system. She holds a B.A. in International Business and Marketing from Cornell College (the original Cornell!) When not researching or writing, she loves to spend time with her writer daughter, granddaughter, rescue doggie and husband (not always in that order).
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