Moses: the harbinger of Jesus


I've now finished reading Genesis and Exodus and it took nearly a year! Like so much of Genesis, Exodus is amazing and contains little gems of truth that show, from the Fall of Adam and Eve, how God has been constantly speaking about the Savior to come. The life of the main character in Exodus is Moses who was called by God to lead the Israelites out of bondage and into freedom. What is surprising to see is how Moses' life was a harbinger of the ministry of Jesus and the parallels between their lives.

Moses and Jesus - Mt of Transfguration
Moses with Jesus at the Mount of Transfiguration*


The Parallels of Moses' and Jesus' Lives

Both were divinely saved from death as a baby: 
  • Moses was saved from death at a time when the Pharaoh of Egypt had declared all Hebrew baby boys were to be killed at birth. (Exodus 1:15-22).  Ironically, Moses was rescued by the daughter of Pharaoh and was part of her household until Moses was 40 years of age (Exodus 2:1-11).
  • Jesus was saved from being killed by King Herod as a baby. Jesus' earthly father, Joseph, was warned by an angel to immediately flee from Bethlehem to Egypt because King Herod was going to kill all the children under the age of two years living in the town of Bethlehem. Herod had become angry after hearing that the Wise Men who were seeking the new-born king of Israel (Matthew 2:1-23) had slipped out of the country and not informed him of the child's whereabouts. 
Both were called into leadership while living in obscurity:
  • After killing an Egyptian man, Moses fled from Pharaoh courts (Exodus 2:11-15) and disappeared into the deserts of Midian hundreds of miles from Egypt to lead a remote nomadic lifestyle tending sheep and goats. After forty years living in this obscurity Moses was called by God to help free His people at the age of eighty (Exodus 3:1-22)!
  • Little is known of Jesus' formative years and nothing of His adult life until He started His ministry in Galilee at approximately thirty years of age. From the time of His baptism by John the Baptist it quickly became obvious that Jesus was called of God (Mark 1:9-14).
Both were empowered by God: 
  • In Exodus 4:1-7 God gave Moses power over serpents, leprosy, and to perform miracles to show Pharaoh that the God of Israel was God Almighty and Moses was God's envoy. This power was manifest during the plagues that were unleashed on Pharaoh when he hardened his heart against God.
  • It was obvious from the moment Jesus started His Galilean ministry that Jesus was empowered by God to proclaim the Good News of the Gospel. Jesus performed miracles, healed the sick, cast out demons from possessed people, and raised people from the dead (Matthew 4:23-25).
Both led groups of dysfunctional people:
  • Throughout Exodus (Exodus 15:24 and 17:3) we see how the Israelites constantly rebelled against God and constantly complained about their situation despite their supernatural deliverance from Egypt and the obvious close relationship between Moses and God (Exodus 33:11).
  • Similarly, Jesus' disciples constantly sought preeminence amongst each other (Mark 9:33-35), doubted Jesus (Matthew 8:24-26) and in the end even denied they knew Him despite of all the miracles they had seen Jesus do and the closeness Jesus had with them (Matthew 26:62-75).
Both spent long periods of time alone with God:
  • Moses spent long periods of time in God's presence fasting and interceding before God on behalf of the Israelites (Exodus 34:28-29). His relationship with God became very close and God openly said of Moses that he was a friend (Exodus 33:11)
  • Jesus spent much time in prayer (Luke 6:12). He regularly got up early to spend time with His Father (Mark 1:35) . Jesus knew that His relationship with His Father was the most important aspect of His ministry and He knew that constant prayer was a key to maintaining this relationship (John 5:19).
Both became mediators between God and man:
  • In Exodus 19 we see the picture of Moses being the one who became Israel's representative before God. Israel was scared of God but Moses became a friend of God (Exodus 33:11) and brought the Israelites needs before God. He also became the one who God trusted to clearly instruct the Israelites about what God wanted them to do.
  • Similarly Jesus through His atoning sacrifice made a mediator between God and all humankind (1 Timothy 2:5) ever standing before God interceding for us (Hebrews 7:25).
Both finished what God asked them to do:
  • Exodus ends with the statement that "So Moses finished the work" (Ex 40:33) and as a testimony to God's divine approval with what Moses and the Israelites had done, God's presence came down and dwelt in the Most Holy Place in the Tabernacle. 

  • When Jesus was being crucified on the cross He cried out "It is finished" (John 19:30) and He bowed His head and gave up His spirit. This was not a cry of defeat but a declaration of victory and the completion of the work that Jesus had been called to complete as both Ephesians 1:7 and 1 Corinthians15:55-57 declare. In John 17:4-5  Jesus actually tells the Father He has completed the task that was set for Him and asks the Father to glorify Him with the glory Jesus once knew with the Father before Jesus became a man. The Father's response to was to raise Jesus from the dead and thereby bring the power of sin and death to and end (1 Corinthians15:55-57).

*Painting: Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration, located at Saint Michael Archangel church in Baku, Azerbaijan, photographed by Urek Meniashvili. 

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