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By
SRI SWAMI SIVANANDA
The rapidly increasing population in Egypt caused much concern amongst
the Egyptians, so the pharaoh ordered that all male children born to Hebrew
women be slain at birth. A Levite woman, fearing for the life of her newborn
son, hid him for three months, and when no longer able to do so, made
a cradle out of bullrushes, wherein she laid her baby. She then placed
the cradle by the banks of the river. While bathing, the pharaoh's daughter
found the baby and feeling compassion, she decided to adopt him and called
him Moses.
Moses grew up in the pharaoh' s household, but his loyalty
to his own people was unshakable. One day, while out watching the Hebrews
labouring for their Egyptian masters, he saw an Egyptian cruelly beating
one of the Hebrews. Moses killed the Egyptian and buried his body in the
sand, but the pharaoh heard of this and so Moses was forced to flee. He
went to the land of Midian where he lived as a humble shepherd and married
Zipporah, one of the priest's daughters. It was in this land, at the foot
of a rugged, forbidding mountain, that the Lord spoke to Moses from a
flame of fire out of the midst of a bush. Moses was commanded to lead
the children of Israel out of their bondage in Egypt. He therefore, returned
to Egypt where, joined by his brother, Aaron, they pleaded with the pharaoh
to let their people go. But the pharaoh refused, and so God, to prove
their divine purpose, manifested himself in many miraculous ways, and
pharaoh finally relented.
They had not been gone very long, when pharaoh changed
his mind and decided to pursue them, but God told Moses to stretch out
his hand, which he did, and the waters of the Red Sea parted allowing
the Israelites to cross over, after which, Moses caused the waters to
return thus drowning the pursuing Egyptian armies.
Three months after their escape, they arrived at mount
Sinai, and it was here, on the slopes of the mountain where Moses went
to meditate, that God gave to him the ten commandments which were inscribed
on two tablets of stone, and which tenets of the faith have been followed
ever since by the children of Israel. According to the Lord's instructions,
Moses and the people built an Ark of the Covenant made of acacia wood
and overlaid with gold, containing the two tablets of stone. They carried
this Ark with them on their journey.
Moses and the children of Israel wandered for forty years
in the wilderness before settling in the Promised Land. Moses, now old
in years, but not in spirit and ability, was not to enter this land himself.
After giving his people final instructions which make
up the major part of the book of Deuteronomy found in the Old Testament
of the Bible, Moses gave them his final blessing, made his way to the
summit of a mountain about ten miles east of the mouth of the Jordan,
and with his eyes gazing at the panoramic view of the land of Israel,
this great prophet and servant of God, died.
Moses is known in the history of Israel as the law-giver
and as an ideal and faithful leader.
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