Moses was born under a death sentence and raised in Pharaoh's house. At forty he tried to fix injustice with his own hands and ended up a fugitive. He spent the next forty years keeping sheep in Midian. When God called him from a burning bush, he gave every excuse he could think of.
He was not a natural speaker or a natural leader. He was tired, often alone, and sometimes angry. Yet God spoke with him as a friend, and he stood between a stubborn people and judgment again and again. He died in sight of the land he had walked toward for forty years.
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Thus the LORD used to speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend.
Name means
Drawn out (Pharaoh's daughter named him for drawing him from the water, )
Home
Egypt, then Midian, then the wilderness
Role
Prophet, deliverer, lawgiver
Read in
Exodus through Deuteronomy
Moses's story
Looking into the land from Mount Nebo
Beginning
Drawn from the water
Hidden by his mother and found by Pharaoh's daughter, he grows up an Israelite in an Egyptian palace.
Low point
A killing and a long exile
He kills an Egyptian and flees. He becomes a shepherd in Midian, a sojourner in a foreign land.
Turning point
The burning bush
God calls him by name and reveals himself as I AM. Moses objects five times before he goes.
High point
Through the sea
He tells the people to stand firm and watch the LORD save. The sea opens and Israel walks through on dry ground.
Low point
Striking the rock
Worn down and angry, he strikes the rock instead of speaking to it. God tells him he will not bring the people into the land.
Ending
Mount Nebo
God shows him the whole land from the mountain. He dies there and the LORD buries him.
Starts as a man who tried to save his people by his own strength. Ends as a servant who knew God face to face and trusted him with what he could not finish.
Where Moses lived and went
Only places Scripture records. Softer, dotted pins are traditional or uncertain sites. Tap a pin for the passage.
HomeMinistryKey momentTraditional or uncertainPinch or use + to zoom. Tap a cluster to spread it out.
How Moses is wired
The Reformer
Enneagram 1, Peacemaker wing
He wants things to be right, and he feels the weight of every wrong as his to fix.
This one is debated. Here's why we land here.
At their best, toward 7 Under stress, toward 4
Why we think so
1
Burns at injustice. He killed an Egyptian who was beating a Hebrew, then stepped in when two Hebrews fought. ()
2
Carries it all himself. He sat as judge from morning till evening until Jethro told him the load was too heavy. ()
3
Anger at wrong. When he saw the calf and the dancing, he threw down the tablets and broke them. ()
His reluctance and meekness soften the edge. At the bush his first wish was for God to send someone else, and Scripture calls him very meek. ()
The Enthusiast. When he took Jethro's advice and shared the work, the burden lifted and the people went home in peace. ()
The Individualist. Under the people's complaining he sank into despair and asked God to kill him rather than let him see his wretchedness. ()
The case for 9
His first instinct was to avoid the call, and he often absorbed complaint without pushing back. But his sharp moral anger and his drive to set things in order fit a 1 better.
Other lenses
Big Five. Read from what is recorded in Exodus through Joshua.
ReservedOutgoing
SteadyReactive
ChallengingAccommodating
SpontaneousDisciplined
TraditionalCurious
DISC style: Reluctant, then resolute.
Strengths & struggles
What's good in Moses
Deep sense of right and wrong. Persistent in prayer for others. Humble about himself (). Faithful over a very long haul.
Where Moses struggles
Quick anger when he sees wrong (; ). Tried to carry the whole people alone (). Slow to trust God's call on his life ().
What Moses wanted most
To see God's glory and to know that God would go with his people ().
What Moses feared most
Being inadequate for the task, and the people being destroyed or abandoned ().
Moses points to a greater prophet who does more than carry God's word down the mountain.
Moses told Israel that God would raise up a prophet like him (). Moses offered himself for a guilty people, but Jesus actually bore their sin. “For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.” ()
Questions to sit with
1
Where are you trying to fix things by your own strength, as Moses did in Egypt?
2
What excuses do you give God when he calls you to something you feel unfit for?
Study Moses with your group
Ready-to-lead group studies with discussion questions and a leader's note are on the way.
