Character of Moses

A mother cries as she sets her little baby boy into a basket. She tenderly lowers the basket into the river. Watching for a few moments, she then turns and walks away. The man's heart burns red watching the scene. He can no longer stand still, he must do something. Rushing at the Egyptian who is beating a helpless man, Moses kills him. "Take off your sandals, for the ground on which you are standing is holy." Moses does as the voice coming from the bush tells him. He is in awe to see the flames gushing forth from the bush, and yet it is not consumed. Moses was a man chosen by God for a very special purpose. He was to lead God's chosen people out of slavery into a land flowing with milk and honey. 

But Moses was not perfect. He had some character flaws that eventually led into acts that kept him out of the Promised Land. When God asked Moses to go to Pharaoh, Moses made all sorts of excuses why he should not go. Yet God had patience with him, and granted Moses someone to do the talking for him. Even though Moses was raised as Pharaoh's grandson, he probably lost all favor with the Pharaoh. It must have taken quite a bit of nerve to approach Pharaoh and ask for the release of a good portion of Pharaoh's slaves. Moses obeyed God, albeit reluctantly. 

He had a clear understanding of who the Lord was, and that God was to be obeyed. And after this, Moses continued to go before Pharaoh, risking his own life, and even those of his fellow countrymen. Moses continued to obey God, even when the Israelites groaned against him. When Moses asked for their release, Pharaoh had only increased their workload. Pharaoh even made the Israelites find their own straw for making bricks, instead of supplying them with it as had been done before. Moses was able to calm over 2 million Israelites on many occasions when they were wandering through the wilderness. He settled arguments between them until he delegated elders over the people as his father-in-law suggested. Moses went before God in an extremely intimate way. 

God showed Moses his backside, but that is not what we think of. Moses touched and held tablets of stone that had God's handwriting on them. Moses conveyed messages to the people from God because they did not want to hear God for themselves. The face of Moses shown after he had been talking with God. It was so bright, he wore a veil to hide it. Some people, however, say that Moses wore the veil to hide the fact that his face was not as bright as it once was. 

 But Moses had some character flaws. He had a problem with angry. At one point when the Israelites cried out against Moses asking for water, Moses disobeyed God. God had told Moses to speak to a rock, and water would come forth. Instead, Moses struck the rock with his staff. Because of this act of disobedience, Moses was not allowed to enter the Promised Land. Even after Moses knew that his life-long dream of living in the Promised Land would not come true, he still served God faithfully. Instead of giving up and falling away from God, he went forward. He trained a successor to him, who lead the people as successfully as Moses did himself. We can learn a lot from Moses. But the thing that stands out to me the most about his life and character, is that he never wavered in his trust of God, nor His guidance or judgment.