Moses – The Lawgiver

There has never been another prophet in Israel like Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face. The Lord sent him to perform all the miraculous signs and wonders in the land of Egypt against Pharaoh, and all his servants, and his entire land. With mighty power, Moses performed terrifying acts in the sight of all Israel. (Deuteronomy 34:10-12)

He never wanted to be a leader. He was content to be a shepherd in the desert, taking care of sheep until one day he died. But then he came into contact with God.

At the age of forty, Moses had tried leadership. As a Hebrew raised by Egyptian royalty, he had tried to take charge over his people from a preferred viewpoint: that of being royalty himself. He killed a man who was abusing one of his people. But it backfired when he realized that his people didn’t like him nor want him to help them.

And he ran, fearing retribution. He ran until he had lost himself. He married, had children, worked for his father-in-law, completely submerged his desire for prominence and leadership.

But one day forty years later he found the bush that was burning without being consumed. And the voice of God came from the bush telling him that he was to be a leader after all.

He tried everything he could to tell God that he wasn’t cut out, that he didn’t want to, that he was not equipped. Finally he said, just get someone else to do it.

It didn’t work and he found himself as the leader of a reluctant group of people. Not only that, but he found himself against the Egyptian royalty he had been raised with, who remembered him.

After ten demonstrations of God’s power to the Egyptians, each stronger than the last, and a miracle still talked about – the parting of the Red Sea – he led his people out of bondage to – somewhere. He knew it was the Promised Land, but exactly where, he didn’t know.

The people he was leading griped from the beginning. They wanted to leave, yet they wanted to stay. Bad as it was, it was home and they knew what was there. And at every opportunity they complained. They complained because there was no water, no food, boring food, lack of variety. They complained that he thought he was better than they. They complained about everything.

They were also afraid of him. At Mount Sinai when God gave them the law, they were so afraid that they sent Moses to talk to God for them. While he was gone, they tried to reduce God to a golden calf. He punished them by grinding it up and making the assembly drink it in water.

Their fear was compounded when he came back shining from having seen God. They demanded he put a sack on his head to cover up what they did not have: the radiance of the glory of God’s presence.

When finally they reached the Promised Land after two years of travel,  they rebelled again claiming that they were not strong enough to take the land. God punished them by making them wander for 38 more years, until everyone that had rebelled were dead.

But because he had disobeyed God in an unfortunate bit of anger, he could not enter the Promised Land himself. He stood on the mountain overlooking it and died. After all this work, his assistant, Joshua, took the people into the Promised Land.

A reluctant leader who became, as Deuteronomy says, the greatest man who ever lived, the Lawgiver.