MOSES, THE VOICE OF GOD

 

“The Lord’s concern for His chosen people can be seen in the call of Moses. So great was Moses that forever after the Lord and His people have used him as a standard, or model, of a prophet. Even Jesus Christ was called a prophet like unto Moses (see Acts 3:22; 7:37; Deuteronomy 18:15, 18-19; 1 Nephi 22:20-21; 3 Nephi 20:23-24). Indeed, Moses was a similitude or living symbol of Jesus Christ (see Moses 1:6).”

-          The Old Testament Student Manual Genesis 2 – Samuel p 103

“The true Moses was one of the mightiest men of God in all time….. He walked and talked with God, received of divine glory while yet in mortality, was called a son of God, and was in the similitude of the Only Begotten. He saw the mysteries of the heavens and much of creation, and received laws from God beyond any other ancient man of whom we have record.”

-          Elder Mark E. Petersen, “Moses”, p 49)

“He had few equals as a general and none as a prophet, to the extend that in all his pronouncements, one seemed to hear the voice of God himself.”

-          Flavius Josephus, “The New Complete Works of Josephus” p 119

As mighty and exemplary as Moses was, he was not perfect. It seems he made a crucial mistake which cost him entrance into the promised land (Numbers 20:12; Deuteronomy 32:51-52). Some sources say, however, that other factors might have contributed also (see the Old Testament Student Manual 1 p 208).

The children of Israel certainly were a whining lot and one can see how easy it was for Moses to be led to the mistake he made being driven by the frustration of their complaints. The story unfolds when they arrived to the desert of Zin and found there was no water there. They immediately accused Moses and Aaron of taking them out of Egypt and bringing them to ‘this evil place’ that they might die (Numbers 20:1-5).

The Lord told Moses to “speak” to a rock at Meribah and to strike it with a rod to bring forth water for the children of Israel. The instructions were, however, not adhered to properly. Gathering the people to witness the miracle, Moses never spoke to the rock and instead struck it in anger and suggested to the congregation that he and Aaron were responsible for the saving water that issued in response to their accusations (v 8-11).

Think for a moment what this could have meant to a people who were exposed to the idolatry and sorcery of Egypt for 430 years. Now think about it in the context of Jehovah being the living water and how this incident could have impressed this on their minds. Every miracle, every answered prayer, every conquest had to be attributed to the God who would make them “a peculiar people” that would carry the banner of the one true and living God into the land of Canaan to conquer the unbelievers and claim their inheritance.

And Moses? The merciful Jehovah took him to Mount Nebo in the land of Moab and showed him the promised land before He took him unto himself (Deuteronomy 32:49) and that in itself was a far greater land of promise (Alma 45:19).

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Art: Be Still My Soul by Mark Missman)