Moses was born a Hebrew but brought up as an Egyptian. Hidden by his mother among the reeds of the River Nile to protect him from Pharaohs slaughter of new born Israelite sons. Moses was found by Pharaohs daughter who was out on a walk, and she adopted him. Over the years Moses learnt all the attributes that would prove useful in the leadership of Gods people. Writing, Law, Administration, Warfare and Leadership skills but he had also grown up worshiping the Egyptian Gods of which there were many. This however was about to change, at the age of 40 he killed an Egyptian to protect a Hebrew slave and fled to escape punishment and ended up in Midian where he spent the next 40 years learning the skills of the dessert life that would later prove so useful.
His life changed however when he encountered God in a burning bush on Mount Sinai in exactly the place where he was later to receive the ten-commandments. The bush itself was not consumed in the fire. God revealed himself as the God of his ancestors Abraham and Issac and told Moses that he would use him to fulfill his promises to them and free his people from slavery. Feeling inadequate and overwhelmed he said that he could not do it but in the end relented. With the passing of the years aged 80 Moses felt it safe to return to Egypt and when he did he found Pharaoh reluctant to allow the Israelite slave workforce to go and rejected Moses’s demands for their release on Gods behalf.
God then visited ten plagues on the nation of Egypt each a natural consequence of the previous one and each one challenging an Egyptian God. Only at the final plague when the first born Egyptian sons were taken did Pharaoh relent and free the Israelite slaves from captivity. This escape is known as the Exodus. The Israelite's still celebrate their freedom from captivity in Egypt to this day at the Passover festival. Once they had left the land led by Moses they were pursued by the Egyptian army and as they approached the Reed sea at a marshy area in the Nile delta a strong wind drove back the waters so that Moses and the Israelite's could cross on foot and Pharaohs army with heavy chariots were quickly swamped when the waters rushed back.
The journey from Egypt to Canaan (the Promised land) would normally have taken ten days on foot but the journey lasted forty years wandering around in the dessert because of their unfaithfulness and complaining. The Exodus led by Moses was massive including 600,000 men plus women and children a total estimated at 2 Million people in all. God provided Manna and quail for them on route and Moses was commanded to strike the rock from which water miraculously erupted. After three months into the journey they arrived at Mount Sinai the place where Moses had first encountered God.
It is here that God makes a covenant not with an individual as he did with Abraham but with a nation who were to be holy and a kingdom of priests. God promised to bless and protect them and they agreed to serve and obey him. Moses then received the Ten Commandments as well as the ceremonial and moral laws which we read about in Leviticus. Many are aimed at the practical aspects of the nomadic and dessert life and which made the Jews distinct from all the surrounding tribes. The Ten Commandments were carved on two tablets of stone and kept in the ark of the covenant in the tabernacle (large tent) It was the task of Moses to encourage the Israelite's to become righteous and Holy (a people set apart) and maintain their relationship with God through the various rituals, offerings and sacrifices. The Israelite's were forced to wander for forty years in the wilderness due to their lack of faith.
Nearing the end of their Journey on the plain of Moab Moses commissioned Joshua to be Israel’s future leader and reminded the people of the covenant God had made with them. Moses died aged 120 within sight of Canaan, unable to enter into it because of his own anger at Gods people. It was Joshua who ultimately led the twelve tribes into the Promised land. The whole story of Moses and the exodus is to do with redemption through the struggle from sin. The story of the twelve tribes can mirror our own personal troubles and trials. Through our obedience and repentance and Gods grace we too can be brought home to the promised land of the heavenly kingdom.