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What the Bible says about Moses as Israel's Human Governor
(From Forerunner Commentary)

Hebrews 3:1-5

Apart from Jesus, the quintessential biblical leader among men is Moses. The author of Hebrews chooses him from a fairly long list of possible candidates to compare most favorably to Jesus. It should be of great interest to us that the overall characteristic that the author chooses to encompass Moses' leadership is faithfulness.

As the author of Hebrews develops his theme of the greatness of Jesus Christ, he undoubtedly chose Moses as his human example because the people to whom he was writing already considered Moses to be the greatest leader in their more than 1,700 years of history, beginning with Abraham. Jesus Christ, though, is incomparably greater than even Moses.

The “house” to which the author refers is not a building but people within an institution, the nation of Israel that descended from the Patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. However, God used Moses, born into the family of Levi, son of Jacob, several generations later, as the human instrument through which the Patriarchs' descendants were formed into a nation.

In the record God gives us of Moses, how many situations do we see that are jam-packed with the need for clear and unambiguous leadership? Moses was God's prophet, giving the Word of God to those being formed into a nation. He also served them as priest, being the intermediary between them and God, establishing the functions of the Levitical priesthood. Moses delivered God's laws to the Israelites and led them into making what we call the Old Covenant with God.

It was also Moses who served as Israel's first political leader, the one to whom the nation looked for governance. He is nowhere called a king, but the Bible testifies that he functioned, under God, as Israel's human governor and judge both in its internal needs and in its dealings with other nations as it proceeded to the Promised Land. In addition, Moses was a military leader when hostilities called for his guidance.

In every area in which guidance is needed for a nation, Moses' example of greatness under God is superior. One of his greatest characteristics is often overlooked because his other more visible characteristics seem to overshadow it. But God did not pass over it, noting it for our guidance:

Then Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses because of the Ethiopian woman whom he had married; for he had married an Ethiopian woman. And they said, “Has the LORD indeed spoken only through Moses? Has He not spoken through us also?” And the LORD heard it. (Now the man Moses was very humble, more than all men who were on the face of the earth.) (Numbers 12:1-3)

None of his outstanding qualities, high-ranking positions in the nation, or obviously correct decisions in behalf of all concerned ever “went to his head.” He consistently remained kind, moderate, and even-handed toward those under him, and just and fair in his dealings. He was approachable.

With these excellencies in mind, we must not overlook Deuteronomy 18:15, which records of Moses: “The LORD your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from your midst, from your brethren. Him you shall hear.” In the inspired sermon that Peter delivered to those Jews listening on the Day of Pentecost when God gave of His Spirit to mankind, he drew on this verse to pointedly reveal that this verse applies directly to Jesus Christ. In this case, Jesus was “like Moses” but far greater because, as the apostle Paul later wrote, Moses was merely a servant in the house, while Christ is its Builder. The apostle chose well in naming Moses as his comparison to Christ. It would be very difficult, if not impossible, to find a human leader greater than he.

John W. Ritenbaugh
Leadership and Covenants (Part Two)

Hebrews 11:24-26

The importance of Pharaoh's daughter comes to the fore because Egyptian royal succession went, not through the male line, but through the female line. This historical oddity derives from Egyptian mythology, in which Isis, the sister of Osiris, marries her brother, and from them descends the royal line. The Pharaohs continued this incestuous practice of the crown prince marrying the Pharaoh's firstborn daughter, and the prince's claim to legitimacy as the future Pharaoh, hinged on his marriage to her. Their son, in turn, would be the new crown prince, also known as "the son of Pharaoh's daughter."

This makes God's manipulation of events when Pharaoh's daughter found Moses in the Nile very significant. He guided Moses' ark of bulrushes directly to the Egyptian kingmaker! As Pharaoh's daughter, it was in her power to name Moses as the next Pharaoh, because he was her son by adoption. She could say, "He was born of the Nile. He was a gift from the gods," and seal his legitimacy via his miraculous appearance to her.

Thus, Moses was in the position to rule all of Egypt. This makes his sacrifice of Hebrews 11:24, "refus[ing] to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter," all the more remarkable. As Egypt was the most powerful nation on earth at the time, he gave up the world's premier position of authority to lead God's people—a nation of a few million slaves—to the Promised Land.

What do we know about Pharaoh's daughter? It is evident that she was a woman of great spunk, defying her father's—the Pharaoh's—command to kill all Hebrew male babies. Does Egyptian history have a crown princess like this? Yes, indeed. In fact, she had so much initiative, intelligence, cunning, and political acumen, that she became Pharaoh herself! Her name was Hatshepsut, and she is known as Egypt's greatest queen or female Pharaoh.

She was the firstborn daughter of Thutmose I and married her brother, Thutmose II, who did not live very long. However, he lived long enough to sire a crown prince, Thutmose III, by a concubine. Since Thutmose II died while Thutmose III was a young child, Hatshepsut was proclaimed regent until he should come of age. She, however, had other ideas. She did not surrender the throne for about twenty years, proclaiming herself Pharaoh in the meantime.

Hatshepsut's reign is known for its internal peace and increase in trade. Egypt made advancements in art, architecture, and the natural sciences while she ruled. She personally conducted wars in Nubia and Syria, even leading her troops into battle on at least one occasion. She also enjoyed the support of the religious powers of her time. Some historians say that her manner of governance is unrivaled in Egyptian history.

If she (or someone very like her, as there are chronological difficulties) was the Pharaoh's daughter who raised Moses, Acts 7:22 now becomes clearer: "And Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and was mighty in words and deeds." Now we know how this could happen. Moses, as the son of a formidable Egyptian princess, had all the learning of Egypt at his disposal, and the wisdom of Egypt was unrivaled anciently (I Kings 4:30).

In his first forty years, Moses accomplished a great deal. The Jewish historian Josephus says that as its general, he led Egypt's army into Ethiopia, where he took an Ethiopian wife to secure peace with the Ethiopians rather than put them to the edge of the sword. As a prince, he received the best education available in governmental administration, arms, trade, religion, science, music, art, literature, architecture, and many other fields. In this way, God used the royal house of Egypt to prepare His chosen servant for the massive operation of leading stiff-necked Israel for forty years through the wilderness.

Richard T. Ritenbaugh
Moses, Prince of Egypt


 




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