Moses (-1528 to -1406)

Furthermore, it only mentions in the Bible that Moses was educated on the basis of "all the wisdom of the Egyptians" in his language and behavior. The Bible does not record the history of Moses' life between youth and adulthood. The Jewish historian of the late 3rd century BC and the author of the "Peri Iudaion", Artapanus, mentions four things about the history of Moses' youth, which are preserved in the writings of the Christian historian Eusebius, among others:

First, Prince Moses was adopted by the daughter of 'Merris', daughter of Pharaoh Palmanothes, who later married Pharaoh Khenephrês, "who was king over the land opposite Memphis, because in those days there were many kings in Egypt."

Second, when he grew up, Prince Moses ruled the land for Pharaoh Khenephrês and became famous among the Egyptian people.

Third, Prince Moses led a war against the Ethiopians who were invading Egypt, for 10 years. This event was also recorded by the Jewish-Roman historian Flavius ​​Josephus (AD 37-100).

Fourth, when he returned and brought victory, Pharaoh Khenephrês tried to kill him because he was jealous of Moses’ success, but Moses "fled to Arabia and lived with Raguel, the ruler of that area, and married his daughter."

When Moses was an adult, aged 40 according to the Bible, he met an Egyptian who was torturing an Israelite. Moses then killed the Egyptian. On the next occasion, Moses again saw two Israelites fighting. When Moses tried to warn him, one of the Israelites actually asked if Moses wanted to kill him as well as Moses had killed the Egyptians yesterday. The Bible says that by killing the Egyptians Moses thought the Israelites knew that God would save them through Moses, but the Israelites did not understand what Moses meant.

After knowing Moses' actions, Pharaoh intended to kill Moses. Moses then fled to Midian. When they arrived at the Midian water source, there were several women who had difficulty feeding their livestock and Moses helped them. Afterward, the father of the women asked his daughter to invite Moses to their residence. Moses then worked as a shepherd for the man and married his daughter.

Regarding the man in Midian who later became Moses’ father-in-law, the Bible says that he was a priest (pastor), his name was Reuel or Jethro. The Bible says that Reuel or Jethro had seven daughters. It is said that the daughter of Reuel or Jethro who was married to Moses was named Zipporah. They have two sons, named Gersom and Eliezer. Bible sources also mention that Pharaoh who wanted to kill Moses then died, so the next Pharaoh was a different person.

God spoke to Moses while he was on the mountain. God commanded Moses to take off his footwear because that place was a holy place, then ordered Moses to call on Pharaoh and led the Israelites out of Egypt. God gave Moses a miracle, namely that his staff can turn into a snake and his hands can turn white. However, Moses was still afraid, and Moses' brother, Aaron, was also sent by God to accompany Moses.

In the Bible, it is said that Moses lived 40 years in Midian. He tended his father-in-law's cattle near Mount Horeb. One time he was amazed to see fire emerging from a thorn bush, but the bush was not burning. God then spoke to Moses. Afterward, Moses returned to his father-in-law's residence to ask permission to return to Egypt, then he took his wife and children to Egypt with him.

It is told that when Moses and his family spent the night on their way to Egypt, God was about to kill Moses, but after Zipporah took a stone knife and circumcised Moses' son, Moses was left alive. However, Zipporah said that Moses was the "blood bride," then took Moses' two sons home to Midian.

The Bible states that God told Aaron to meet Moses in the wilderness, and the two met on Mount Horeb. After that, they both met the elders of the Israelites while performing their miracles. Knowing that it was a sign that God heard the prayers of those asking to be freed from the oppression of the Egyptians, the Israelites then knelt and worshiped.

The Bible says that Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and asked him to let the Israelites with them go into the wilderness as far as three days' journey to offer sacrifices to God. But Pharaoh refused their request and said that he did not know the God that Moses and Aaron were referring to. Not only did he forbid them to leave, but Pharaoh also even ordered them to make the work of the Israelites even harder. The Israelites were ordered to find their own hay before they received supplies, but still had to complete the number of bricks according to the target as before. Because of this, the Israelites blamed Moses and Aaron. The Bible also mentions that when Moses and Aaron faced Pharaoh again, Aaron threw down his staff and turned into a snake. Pharaoh then summoned sorcerers. They threw down their staff and turned into snakes, but Aaron's staff swallowed up the magicians' wands. Even so, Pharaoh remained stubborn. It is said that Moses was 80 years old and Aaron was 83 years old.

In the Bible, it is written that God hardened the heart of Pharaoh and his servants so that He could show miracles to the Egyptians and the Israelites could tell from generation to generation how God played with the Egyptians so that God's power was known to all.

In the Bible, it is stated that God inflicted ten plagues or punishments on the Egyptians. The first plague, blood. Aaron took a staff and stretched his hand over the rivers, ditches, ponds, and all the water sources of Egypt, and all the water turned to blood. But Pharaoh's magicians were also able to make the same thing so that Pharaoh still refused Moses’ request. The second plague, frogs. Aaron stretched out his hand with a staff to the waters of Egypt and out of the frogs were large and filled Egypt. Pharaoh then asked Moses and Aaron to pray to God to remove the frogs with a promise to let the Israelites go. However, Pharaoh broke his promise after the frogs were gone. The third plague, mosquitoes. Aaron struck his stick on the dust and a mosquito appeared, which attacked both humans and animals. The fourth plague, flies. Horseflies swarmed the land of Egypt, including the palace of Pharaoh and his servants, but not the residence of the Israelites. Pharaoh asked Moses and Aaron to pray to God to remove the frogs with the promise to let the Israelites go, but then Pharaoh broke his promise again.

The fifth plague, pestilence. The livestock of the Egyptians died of the plague, but not those of the Israelites. The sixth plague, boils or ulcers. Moses took a handful of ashes from the kiln and scattered them in the air. The ashes affected humans and animals with festering boils, including the sorcerer Pharaoh. The seventh plague, hail. Moses raised his staff to the sky, then fell a great rain of ice accompanied by lightning striking. The whole country of Egypt was hit by hail, except for the residential areas of the Israelites. Pharaoh asked Moses and Aaron to pray to God to remove the plague with the promise to let the Israelites go, but then Pharaoh broke his promise again. The eighth plague, grasshopper. Moses raised his staff up into the sky and an east wind blew with a large number of locusts and filled Egypt. Pharaoh again begged to eliminate the disaster that arose, but again broke his promise after the plague was gone. The ninth plague, darkness. Egypt was plagued by darkness for three days, but not the Israeli settlements.

The tenth plague, the death of the firstborn. Unlike the previous plague which only hit the Egyptians and did not affect the Israelites without taking special protection measures, this last plague was evenly distributed and could affect anyone. Before the plague fell, God instructed Moses to ask the Israelites for gold and silver jewelry from their Egyptian neighbors. The Egyptians then gave it. The Israelites were commanded by God to slaughter, roast, and eat a lamb or a male goat, and the blood of the animal was inscribed on the two doorposts and on the lintels of every house of the Israelites that ate it. That night, all the firstborn of the Egyptians died, from the king's son to the prisoner's son. All the cattle that were first born also died. That very night, Pharaoh called Moses and Aaron and told them to leave Egypt with the Israelites.

In the Bible it is stated that on the eve of Passover (15 Abib or 15 Nisan) after God sent the plague of the death of the firstborn to the Egyptians, the Israelites went out of Egypt carrying bread dough before it could be leavened because they were driven out of Egypt and could not stay long. a long time and did not have time to provide supplies. Moses led the nation of Israel (about 600,000 men, not counting children), along with many livestock, away from Rameses. Moses also carried Joseph's bones, according to Joseph's will. God led in the form of a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night which went before the Israelites to guide their way.

God ordered Moses to take a detour and camp by the sea so that Pharaoh thought the group of the Israelites was lost. When Pharaoh and his troops were seen following, the Israelites became very scared and blamed Moses. But God ordered the angel who was walking in front of the Israelites to move behind them so that it caused darkness between the Egyptian army and the Israelites throughout the night and Pharaoh's army could not get near the Israelites that night. Then Moses was ordered to stretch out his hand over the sea and the wind from the east blew all night so that it split the seawater and created a dry road in the middle. The Israelites crossed the sea through this dry route, while the seawater formed a wall on their left and right. Pharaoh's army followed and when they reached the middle of the sea, the wheels of their horse-drawn carriage became tilted making it difficult to advance. Moses then stretched his hand back into the sea and the sea reunited, drowned Pharaoh and his troops, and their bodies were stranded on the beach. Afterward, the group of the Israelites sang a song of thanksgiving to God led by Moses and Miriam.

The Bible records that when the Israelites left Egypt many people from various nations also went with them. It is said that the Israelites lived in Egypt for 430 years.

The Bible states that on the first day of the 3rd month after leaving Egypt, the Israelites set up camp in front of Mount Sinai, and Moses climbed the mountain to talk with God. God commanded the Israelites to purify, bathe, and wash their clothes to prepare for the third day. On the morning of the third day, the entire mountain was covered in smoke and a loud trumpet sounded. God commanded Moses to go up to the top of the mountain. Other Israelites, as well as livestock, were prohibited from approaching the mountain. God then gave Moses several commandments, which are known as the Ten Commandments. God also conveyed commands and laws related to the building of altars, slaves, various acts of violence, responsibility of livestock owners, compensation, morality and worship, justice and honesty, the seventh year and seventh day, and holidays. The next morning, Moses erected an altar (altar of offerings) with twelve pillars at the foot of the mountain, then ordered the young men to slaughter some cows for sacrifice.

The Bible explains that God then commanded Moses to go up the mountain for forty days and forty nights. While Moses was gone, Aaron and Hur were entrusted to take care of the Israelites. On the mountain, God wrote His laws on two tablets or pieces of stone. It is said that at that time God gave laws and commands related to the Tabernacle and its court, covenant chest, table for the showbread, lampstand, altar, lamp management, priest (pastor) clothes, the ordination of Aaron and his descendants as priests, daily sacrifices, like bronze, ceremonial oil, and the Sabbath.

Elsewhere, the Israelites felt that Moses was too long on the mountain. The gold jewels that were brought by the Israelites were then thrown into the fire and a golden cow was made and it was declared that the idol was a god. Many of the Israelites later worshiped him. When he came down from the mountain, Moses was so angry with the Israelites' actions that he threw down the pieces of stone and then destroyed the cow statue. Moses also scolded Aaron because he was considered negligent in looking after the Israelites.

The Bible says that Aaron himself made the image. The tribe of Levi then surrounded Moses and they were then ordered to draw their swords, then walked from one gate of the camp to another, killing their brothers, friends, and neighbors. About three thousand people died. Moses then went back up the mountain to ask God to forgive what the Israelites had done.

The Bible explains that after the worship of the cow image, Moses set up a tent of meeting far outside the camp of the Israelites, so that anyone who sought God could go there. Moses then made a new piece of stone because he had broken the old one.

On the first of the first month of the second year after leaving Egypt, the Holy Tabernacle was officially erected, consisting of the plinth, pillar, roof of the tent, the Ark of the Covenant containing the tablets of God's law, the veil, the table of showbread, the chandelier, the incense altar, the curtain of the tent door. , the altar for the burnt offering, the vessels for washing between the tabernacle of meeting and the altar for burnt offerings, the court posts around the tabernacle and the altar, and the curtain at the gate of the court. When it was finished, the pillar of God's cloud covered the tabernacle and Moses could not enter the tabernacle, as long as the cloud was above the tabernacle. The cloud was over the tabernacle by day and there was a fire in it by night. When the cloud rose from above the tabernacle, the group of the Israelites departed from the place where they had camped, but as long as the cloud did not rise, they stayed there until the day the cloud rose.

After establishing the Tabernacle, Moses ordained Aaron and his four sons to become priests to serve the people's sacrifices to God and lead the worship of the people. Because Nadab and Abihu, the two eldest sons of Aaron, broke the rules of making incense, they were put to death by God. Next, we detail the rules of life and worship for all Israelites.

The Bible states that when God announced that Moses would also die first before entering the promised land like Aaron, Moses asked God to appoint his successor in leading the Israelites. God then appointed Joshua bin Nun. Joshua was then ordered to stand in front of the priest Eleazar son of Aaron and Moses put his hands on Joshua's head, then Moses announced that Joshua would be his successor.

It is recorded in the Bible that on the 1st day of the 11th month of the 40th year when the Israelites had camped in the land of Moab towards the end of their 40th year of wandering and were ready to cross into the land of Canaan, Moses was commanded by God to speak to all the Israelites and describe once again (and the last time) the law which he recorded in the Book of Deuteronomy.

It is narrated in a hadith that when the time for Moses’ death came, the angel of death came to him openly, but Moses immediately slapped him blind. The angel of death returned and complained to God. God returned the sight of the angel of death, commanded him to tell Moses to put his hands on the cowhide, so that every hair he covered was an additional one year for Moses' life. After the message was delivered, Moses asked what happened after that extra period. The angel of death replied that Moses would die. After that Moses chose to die right away.

The Bible tells us that Moses died in Moab and was buried in a valley in Moab opposite the city of Beth Peor. Moses died at the age of 120 years with excellent strength and clear vision. The Israelites mourned in Moab for Moses' death for thirty days.