Life and Existing of Moses - Essay Example

Moses Moses was born to a Jewish family living in Egypt in about 1600 BCEat a period when that wasn’t a good thing to be or the place to be. Exodus 1 tells us that a new king took over in Egypt, one who saw the Jewish people as a threat. Exodus1 v 9, 10 :- Look,” he said to his people, “the Israelites have become far too numerous for us. Come, we must deal shrewdly with them or they will become even more numerous and, if war breaks out, will join our enemies, fight against us and leave the country.” The book goes on to tell how the people were oppressed and forced to undertake heavy manual labour. Then the pharaoh tried telling the midwives to kill all the Hebrew boys –Exodus 1 v 15 ff. Moses of course escaped when he was rescued by the pharoah’s daughter from his basket crib floating down the Nile. So, after the princess returned Moses to his own mother to care for him as a small child, eventually Moses returned to the court of the pharaoh. His name has two possible meanings – ‘Saviour’ and ‘ drawn out of the water.’ Later Moses had to flee the court when he came across a slave master ill treating his fellow Hebrews and killed the man. He escaped all the way across the Red Sea to Midian where he became a shepherd working for his father –in –law, a priest, on the lower slopes of Mount Hebron,. Exodus 2 v 15 ff. One day, in a seemingly miraculous way God spoke to him from the middle of a burning bush. ( Exodus 3 v 2) It should be noted that the writer of Exodus linked this period with God’s earlier promise to Abraham. Exodus 2 v 25 ‘So God looked on the Israelites and was concerned about them’ .That the bush, possibly Euonymus alata, was alight wasn’t so miraculous, it exuded volatile oil which presumably reached a flammable temperature and ignited. Moses was at first very reluctant to return to Egypt, even though a considerable time had passed. Eventually he was persuaded. Moses took his miracles to Pharaoh, but God had already told him ( Exodus 4 v 21) that the king would not listen. How the so called miracles and magic tricks were done is not known. Any ideas would be mere speculation. What is important is that Moses challenged the king in the name of God. It is not speculation that the ten plagues came to Egypt. It has been suggested that it was most like the result of a series of natural events, each of which naturally followed on one from the other. It is the timing of all the related events makes this story more noteworthy. Perhaps Moses and his people were the most fortunate people to survive a natural disaster, or perhaps it was the nature of God secured their future for them by His coincidences in the timing of events. The first plague to occur was when the water turned to 'blood' and the fish died. This can be attributed to, and has occurred in many other areas of the world during history, a red toxic algal bloom, an overgrowth of a normal algae, Karenia brevis, sometimes known as Red Tide which can produce large quantities of toxins which often kills fish. The second plague of frogs would have been caused by their mass departure from a poisoned river and without a viable habitat. The air by the river side would have been full of toxins released by the algae. The third and fourth plagues consisted of flies and insects, caused by rotting lack of life in the river and the lack of frogs to keep their numbers down. The fifth plague is described as ‘pestilence’ and refers to an epidemic disease. The people would be unsure of the cause so this one word was used for many cattle diseases. Disease would have been spread by the large number of insects. This caused the boils of the 6th plague. It could be that the Hebrews did not suffer because they lived apart from the majority , but also because of their hygiene rituals, although they did not have at this time the many laws later given. The seventh plague was a shower of hail, fire and brimstone. These appear to be descriptions of volcanic activity that was visible to the observers of the time. A possible volcano that could be identified with these events and era would be Thera, now known as Santorini, located approximately 1000kms north west of Egypt near Greece, and erupted some time around 1610 BCE This significance of a volcano and its eruptions is relevant when Moses and the believers “follow the pillar of smoke by day and fire by night.” ( Exodus 13 v 21) once they leave to Egypt and set off to reach Mount Sinai. Volcanic activity can affect weather conditions, so it would not be unreasonable to experience storm activity as a result of these eruptions, receive hail and see lightning through volcanic ash along with expulsion of hot molten debris and brimstone. The eighth plague of locusts would have been brought about by the lack of remaining crops which would have been destroyed by hail and ash fallout. What ever crops were left would have been targeted by the increased number of insects due to the lack of other predators, and quickly wiped out. Such locust plagues are not uncommon today. The ninth plague of darkness was most likely due to floating volcanic ash in the atmosphere, similar to the darkened sky after the eruption of Tambora and 1816's ‘Year Without a Summer’. The Thera eruption was enormous with global impact and ash deposits were later found from the Nile Delta to the Greenland ice caps, dated to the same time period and chemical fingerprint. The tenth plague announced the death of the first born child for Egyptians which eventually convince Pharaoh to let Moses leave. As with many cultures, the first born to the family, or heir, is often given greater priority and attention than the other siblings. Explainable reasons for these deaths vary widely from feeding the child tainted food, or an increase in the mould Cladosporium caused by the other plagues and often found in certain foods such as coconuts as described by Kinderlerer in 1984.. The people of Moses at this time practiced greater hygiene than the Egyptians, prepared and consumed their food differently, and may have averted many illnesses. Another theory put forward by Simcha Jacobovici, in his 2006 film documentary Exodus Decoded, an attempt to prove the facts of the Exodus, was that the circumstances in Exodus were similar to the tragic events of Lake Nyos in 1986. According to Simcha, as described by Bryant Wood in September 2006, the eruption sets off a chain of events resulting in the plagues and eventually the killing of the first born. Jacobovici suggests that the firstborns in ancient Egypt had the privilege to sleep close to the floor while other children slept on higher ground or even on roofs. As in the Lake Nyos incident, when carbon dioxide or other toxic gases escape the surface tension of a nearby waterbody, either due to geological activity or over saturation, the gas being heavier than air, "flooded" the nearby area displacing oxygen and killing those who were in its path. Jewish households escaped the fate because they were told to observe their first Passover rituals, or perhaps because their homes were higher up. None of these explanations (aside of Jacobovici's) fully account for the selectiveness of the plagues: according to the Hebrew Bible the plagues affected only the Egyptians, while the Hebrews remained untouched. Typically, modern writers, and particularly skeptics, account for such details of the account as being pious exaggerations, or literary devices, intended to encourage faith. Following the assumption that at least some of the details are accurately reported, many modern Jews believe that some of the plagues were indeed natural disasters, but argue for the fact that, since they followed one another with such uncommon rapidity, "God's hand was behind them". Professor Roger Wotten ( 2007) points out how important nature was in Egyptian religion. They must have really felt that the gods were against them. It was at this time that God laid down the rules for the Passover ( The Passing Over of the Angel of Death) ( Exodus 12) Pharaoh eventually conceded and allowed Moses and the Israelites to leave. However, he then changed his mind again and decided to pursue them with his army. Moses and his people have already reached the point of crossing the water, often referred to as the Red Sea, which is now generally acknowledged as a mis-translation and the correct location was the Reed Sea, an area that would be quite easy to cross under the right conditions, as described by Mario Seiglie, 1997. Seismic activity from an erupting Thera ( Santorini) may have caused a tsunami that Moses required. To the faithful it isn’t so much what happened, but the timing that is of God. The common lull or recession of water draining back would have allowed Moses and the Israelites enough time to cross the Reed Sea prior to the rapid return of the water as a tsunami. A wall of water either side of them could be the result water drainage over an uneven bed. The story for Pharaoh and his army being drowned was the result of being in the wrong place at the wrong time for an event that had always been calculated from the beginning of the universe to occur when it did. The Qu’ran mentions that Pharaoh’s body would be preserved as a sign, ( Sura 10 v 92) This it says was in response to Pharaoh’s declaration that the God of the Hebrews was the one true God. In August 2009 a report was released by the British Museum to say the body presumed to be of a pharaoh, discovered in 1989, was in fact that of Rameses II and had died by drowning in salt water. There followed 40 years of travels, troubles and triumphs for Moses and his people. They reach Mount Sinai. It is here that Moses receives the 10 Commandments from God and they are inscribed on the stone tablets. It is during this time of inscribing the commandments that Moses most likely discovers something of piezoelectricity, due to electricity being generated by any impacts on the tablets. He was up the mountain a long time and the people gave him up for lost. Upon his return, he finds the people worshipping a calf and throws the tablets down in anger, breaking them, and perhaps realises that although the tablets possess piezoelectric power, smashing them on the ground doesn’t release any power of punishment or create any devastating effect on these people. He gets replacement tablet(s) from Mount Sinai, and builds the Ark of the Covenant to hold the 10 Commandments written on the tablets. The Ark was a major part of Jewish history from ceremonies to wars until it disappeared from biblical history sometime around the invasion of Jerusalem. The scale model of the Ark and the results achieved in Chapter* appeared as some reasonable proof that the knowledge of the Messengers had more to do with modern science than it had to do with any exaggerated religious stories. Moses was able to demonstrate by using natural materials and knowledge provided by his Creator, that useful science was available to mankind from the One who had already created science, the universe and all things in it. Eventually he led the people to within sight of the Promised Land. (Deuteronomy 34 v1-5) The book of Joshua continues the story. Moses was the person under whom the monotheism of the Jewish people was established in their laws. When he appeared in the New Testament ( Mark 9) it is as the representative of the Law and the writer of Hebrews rightly includes him , despite his early misgivings, as a great man of faith. References Adam D., Volcanic eruptions and ash clouds explained, guardian.co.uk, 15th April 2010 , retrieved 16th December 2010 from http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/apr/15/volcanic-eruptions-ash-clouds-explained Holy Qu’ran and the story of Pharaoh Ramses II (Firaun Mummy), Gateway of Islamic Knowledge , 2009, retrieved 17th December 2010 from http://www.ezsoftech.com/giknowledge/firaun.mummy.asp Jones, P. Information on Burning Bush plants, eHow, retrieved 15th December 2010 from http://www.ehow.com/about_5086860_information-burning-bush-plants.html Kinderlerer, J., Fungi in Desiccated Coconut, Food Microbiology, Volume 1 , issue 3 , July 1984, pages 205-207, Science Direct, retrieved 17th December 2010 from http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6WFP-4DMP85V-9&_user=10&_coverDate=07%2F31%2F1984&_rdoc=1&_fmt=high&_orig=search&_origin=search&_sort=d&_docanchor=&view=c&_acct=C000050221&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=10&md5=15a6365eb371a79a5b22323ddf2d9e8a&searchtype=a Lake Nyos, 1986, How Volcanoes Work, retrieved 16th December 2010 from http://www.geology.sdsu.edu/how_volcanoes_work/Nyos.html Qu’ran, 10-92—10-96, retrieved 17th December 2010 from http://www.answering-christianity.com/cgi-bin/quran/quran_search1.cgi?search_text=10%3A92-96&yusuf_ali=1&arberry=1&mohsin_khan=1&palmer=1&shakir=1&sale=1&sher_ali=1&pickthall=1&khalifa=1&rodwell=1&transliteration=1&arabic=1&all=1&B1=Search Red Tide Algae,About.com, retrieved 16th December 2010 from http://asthma.about.com/od/asthmaprevention/p/redtide.htm Santorini, Global Volcanism Program retrieved 17th December 2010 from http://www.volcano.si.edu/world/volcano.cfm?vnum=0102-04=&volpage=erupt Seiglie,M., The Red Sea or the Reed Sea, 1997, retrieved 17th December 2010 from http://www.gnmagazine.org/issues/gn10/redsea_archaeology.htm Wood ,B., Debunking “The Exodus Decoded” Associates fro Biblical Research, September 2006, retrieved 17th December 2001 from http://www.biblearchaeology.org/post/2006/09/debunking-the-exodus-decoded.aspx#Article Wotton, R., The Ten Plagues of Egypt, 2007, retrieved 17th December 2010 from http://www.ucl.ac.uk/opticon1826/archive/issue3/RfP_Art_LIFE_Wotton_Plagues.pdf Read More

The first plague to occur was when the water turned to 'blood' and the fish died. This can be attributed to, and has occurred in many other areas of the world during history, a red toxic algal bloom, an overgrowth of a normal algae, Karenia brevis, sometimes known as Red Tide which can produce large quantities of toxins which often kills fish. The second plague of frogs would have been caused by their mass departure from a poisoned river and without a viable habitat. The air by the river side would have been full of toxins released by the algae.

The third and fourth plagues consisted of flies and insects, caused by rotting lack of life in the river and the lack of frogs to keep their numbers down. The fifth plague is described as ‘pestilence’ and refers to an epidemic disease. The people would be unsure of the cause so this one word was used for many cattle diseases. Disease would have been spread by the large number of insects. This caused the boils of the 6th plague. It could be that the Hebrews did not suffer because they lived apart from the majority , but also because of their hygiene rituals, although they did not have at this time the many laws later given.

The seventh plague was a shower of hail, fire and brimstone. These appear to be descriptions of volcanic activity that was visible to the observers of the time. A possible volcano that could be identified with these events and era would be Thera, now known as Santorini, located approximately 1000kms north west of Egypt near Greece, and erupted some time around 1610 BCE This significance of a volcano and its eruptions is relevant when Moses and the believers “follow the pillar of smoke by day and fire by night.

” ( Exodus 13 v 21) once they leave to Egypt and set off to reach Mount Sinai. Volcanic activity can affect weather conditions, so it would not be unreasonable to experience storm activity as a result of these eruptions, receive hail and see lightning through volcanic ash along with expulsion of hot molten debris and brimstone. The eighth plague of locusts would have been brought about by the lack of remaining crops which would have been destroyed by hail and ash fallout. What ever crops were left would have been targeted by the increased number of insects due to the lack of other predators, and quickly wiped out.

Such locust plagues are not uncommon today. The ninth plague of darkness was most likely due to floating volcanic ash in the atmosphere, similar to the darkened sky after the eruption of Tambora and 1816's ‘Year Without a Summer’. The Thera eruption was enormous with global impact and ash deposits were later found from the Nile Delta to the Greenland ice caps, dated to the same time period and chemical fingerprint. The tenth plague announced the death of the first born child for Egyptians which eventually convince Pharaoh to let Moses leave.

As with many cultures, the first born to the family, or heir, is often given greater priority and attention than the other siblings. Explainable reasons for these deaths vary widely from feeding the child tainted food, or an increase in the mould Cladosporium caused by the other plagues and often found in certain foods such as coconuts as described by Kinderlerer in 1984.. The people of Moses at this time practiced greater hygiene than the Egyptians, prepared and consumed their food differently, and may have averted many illnesses.

Another theory put forward by Simcha Jacobovici, in his 2006 film documentary Exodus Decoded, an attempt to prove the facts of the Exodus, was that the circumstances in Exodus were similar to the tragic events of Lake Nyos in 1986. According to Simcha, as described by Bryant Wood in September 2006, the eruption sets off a chain of events resulting in the plagues and eventually the killing of the first born. Jacobovici suggests that the firstborns in ancient Egypt had the privilege to sleep close to the floor while other children slept on higher ground or even on roofs.

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