Life of Moses in the History of Israelites - Dissertation Example

Significance of Moses’ Life in the History of Israelites Introduction Moses is considered as one of the popular prophets of Christianity, Judaism and Islam. He organized the Israelites and led them out of the slavery and bondage of Pharaoh. Though the historical presence and archaeological evidences of Moses’ existence have plunged into obscurity, most of the historians and the archaeologists have agreed that Moses might exist as a religious and communal leader. Also they argue that Moses’ life should be read more as a theological event than a historical reality. (Seters 34) Indeed these historians and archaeologists believe that Moses as well as the exodus story is essentially origin myths devised by later generation of the Israelites. In support of their position, they refer to the “logical inconsistencies, new archaeological evidence, historical evidence, and related origin myths in Canaanite culture” (Seters 45). Indeed Moses’ existence is greatly supported by most of the Abrahamic religions and their holy texts–the Quran, the Bible and the Torah. Though these holy texts provide some biographical details of Moses, they do not reveal much of the historical facts and figures of Moses’ age. Even these texts claim that Moses was assigned with the holy duty of setting the Israelites free from the communal slavery under an unnamed pharaoh King. By the time Moses was assigned with the duty of leading the Children of Israel out of Egypt from the slavery and bondage, modern Archaeologists believe that King Ramesses is supposed to rule Egypt during the late Moses period from 1391 to 1271 BCE. Though Rabbinical Judaism asserts Moses’ lifespan between 1391 to 1271 BCE, Christian Tradition refers Moses to an earlier date. Brief History of Moses and His Preaching Moses as a religious figure is supported only by some religious texts such as the Quran, the Bible, the Torah and few others. Though historical evidences rarely provide the details of Moses’ life, these holy texts reveal a good deal of his life and preaching. The contemporary popular narratives about Moses’ life mainly derive mainly from the Book of Exodus in the Torah. According this book, Moses was born in a Levite family which is supposed to be descended directly from Jacob. His parents, Amram and Jochebed, once immigrated to Egypt with their grandfather Kehath and other 70 Jacobean families (Genesis 46:11). Thus Moses belongs to the second generation of the Jacobean immigrants in Egypt. By the time Moses was born, the Israelites had lived about 450 years in Egypt and reached two millions in number. The particular number of the departing Israelites is often disputed. According to the BBC article, the Israelites were two millions. But Jacob Gebhart argues that the departing Israelites were about six million (6,000,000). In this regard he says, According to this passage 600,000 men descended from Yaacov left Egypt. If each man is married with the average of 5 children, this brings the entire population of Israel to 6,000,000. This is not including the mixed multitude that came out with them. (Gebhart pars.3) Being alarmed by the growth of these people, Pharaoh passed a decree that male babies of the Hebrew would be killed by drowning in the Nile. It is said in a BBC article “Moses”, “According to the Bible, the descendants of Jacob had lived in Egypt for more than 450 years, during which time they grew into a nation…The Egyptians began to see them as a threat…forcing them to work as slaves.” (Moses pars.3) According to the Book of Exodus, in his infancy he was fortunate enough to evade the Pharaoh-enforced infanticide. By luck, he was raised as Pharaoh’s daughter Bithiah’s son in the royal palace. The Book of Exodus (2:1) describes how Jochebed saved Moses from the anger of Pharaoh’s wrath: Now a man of the house of Levi married a Levite woman, and she became pregnant and gave birth to a son….But when she could hide him no longer, she got a papyrus basket for him and coated it with tar and pitch. Then she placed the child in it and put it among the reeds along the bank of the Nile. (Exodus 2:1) During his adulthood, Moses protested against the Egyptians’ discrimination and, in a quarrel, killed an Egyptian. Eventually he had to flee away Midian and lived there for about 40 years. But one day, he heard the voice of God from a ‘burning bush’ in the desert. There he was assigned with the sacred duty of leading his people to the Promised Land; he also received two miraculous powers as proof of his status as a prophet of God. Later, he claimed the Israelites’ freedom from slavery, telling him God’s message: “And you will say to Pharaoh, ?Thus says Yahweh, Israel is my firstborn son; and I say to you, Let my son go that he may serve me, but if you refuse to let him go, then I will surely kill your firstborn son” (Exodus 4:22-23). Though Pharaoh initially refused, he eventually consented to their freedom after being inflicted by ten plagues unleashed by God. But After the Israelites had departed from Egypt, Pharaoh changed his mind and chased them with 600 hundred chariots (Gebhart pars.2). Having the Red Sea ahead, Moses ordered the water to part away and walked through along with his people, as it is narrated in the Book of Exodus: [God tells Moses] “Raise your staff and stretch out your hand over the sea to divide the water so that the Israelites can go through the sea on dry ground.” (Exodus 14:16). Then again following Moses’ command, the parted water came back and drowned Pharaoh’s army. The Book of Exodus narrates the event as following: “Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and all that night the LORD drove the sea back with a strong east wind and turned it into dry land. The waters were divided, and the Israelites went through the sea on dry ground, with a wall of water on their right and on their left” (Verses 21-22). Afterward, when Moses and his people were wandering through the desert, God appeared to Moses before the Mount of Sinai and provided him with heavenly laws. Indeed, these laws were “the Ten Commandments which were given to Moses on two stone tablets, and they set out the basic principles that would govern the Israelites lives” (Moses pars.4). The Veracity of the Historical Reality of Exodus The life of Moses is indispensably related to the story of Exodus. In the Torah, the Book of Exodus contains the narrative about how Moses led the Children of Israel out of Egypt to achieve freedom from the slavery and bondage of Pharaoh’s people. At the heart of the Exodus story there lies a nation’s deliverance from pains and sufferings as a reward of their devotion and adherence to the teachings and guidance of the prophet of God. The Israelites journey under the leadership of Moses through the hardships and wilderness of the Sinai desert essentially signify a nation’s unity and consolidation to face any threat. Moreover, the theological aspect of the Exodus, indeed, emphasizes the sacredness of a social as well as political issue. Such sacredness in the long run rather buttresses the Israelites’ existence as a nation. Moses’ law and instructions, called as Torah, can be assumed as a national leader’s guidance for a nation in the wrapping of holiness. The goal of reaching the Promised Land by following the law and guidance of Moses and God was essentially the projection of a national as well as religious leader. But due to the lack of historical and archaeological evidences experts believe that the exodus story is more of an origin-myth than a historical reality in Canaanite culture, as in this regard, Professor Redmount comments, “Presumably an original Exodus story lies hidden somewhere inside all the later revisions and alterations, but centuries of transmission have long obscured its presence, and its substance, accuracy and date are now difficult to determine.” (78) Evidences show that the Book of Exodus was written in the 7th century to 8th century BCE. But the story survived mostly throughout the preceding one or two millenniums in oral tradition. It is remarkable that the story has been written in theological accent, not in a historical narrative. As a result, the experts claim that the story of Exodus should be read as a theological assertion of God’s help for people in sufferings against the oppressors. Even if the original Exodus once existed, the present exodus story holds the least of its true essence because of heavy transmittal transformation and decay through thousands of years. Meyer claims that no historical or archeological evidence attests the historical reality of the Exodus captivity and escape under the leadership of Moses. (45-46) For most of the modern archaeologists have agreed that search for archaeological evidences of Exodus are a “fruitless pursuit.” (Dever 99) It is commented in the BBC Article in this regard, The story goes that Moses led two million Hebrews out of Egypt and they lived for 40 years in the Sinai desert - but a century of archaeology in the Sinai has turned up no evidence of it. If the Hebrews were never in Egypt then perhaps the whole issue was fiction, made up to give their people an exotic history and destiny. (Moses pars.67) Significance of Moses’ Teachings in the Monotheistic Theology Moses’ life and his religious instruction for the Children of Israel have a profound impact on the polytheistic societies in late Bronze Age. After meeting God as ‘bush burning’ on Mount Sinai, Moses’ advocacy for the existence of one God and his religious preaching were considered as a direct rebellion against the existing pantheistic and natural belief of the Egyptian in innumerous gods and goddesses. Reminding his people about the existence of one God was essentially a sequel to monotheistic Abrahimic religious tradition. When the Egyptian religious tradition of depicting their Kings or the Pharaohs in the image of god was corrupting the monotheistic religious practices of the Israelites, Moses appeared before them with the ten commandments including the essential instructions of worshipping singular God and the instructions of maintain justice and communal peace among the people. His teaching was, on one hand, the direct rebellion against the Egyptian polytheistic religious. On the other hand, it was the reassertion of Abrahamic monotheistic practice and was a means of increasing survival capability by ensuring the communal peace and harmony. The theological essence of Moses’ teaching lies in the following commandments, “You shall have no other gods before me” (Exodus 20:1-17) and “You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth” (Exodus 20:1-17). The social dimension of Moses’ teaching is supported by six out of ten commandments, such as “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the LORD your God is giving you”, “You shall not murder”, “You shall not commit adultery”, “You shall not steal” (Exodus 20:1-17), “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor” (Exodus 20:1-17), “You shall not covet your neighbor's house; you shall not covet your neighbor's wife, or his male servant, or his female servant, or his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor's.” (Exodus 20:1-17) Indeed the Ten Commandments had hugely impacted the build-up of the Israelites as a nation under the religious guidance of Moses. No matter whether the history of Moses was the origin-myth of the Canaanite culture or not, Moses’ teachings could save the Children of Israel from further destruction. As a result, Moses is often called as the lawgiver in rabbinical tradition. Conclusion Holy texts of all the Abrhamic religion gives a detailed account Moses account. In some way or other, Moses’ story sounds the same. But archaeological evidences are not strong enough to prove Moses as a historical figure. Yet his teachings quite successfully could inspire the Israelites to be consolidated under a leader in religious apparel. Obviously the religious essence of his teachings could motivate strongly them strongly to follow his guidance which ultimately united them to stand up as the nation of the Israelites. Whether Moses is a historical figure or a fictive character, his life-story has a huge impact on the history of the Israelites. Works Cited Dever, William. Who Were the Early Israelites and Where Did They Come From? Eerdmans. 2003 Exodus: multiple versions and languages. Studybible.info. Retrieved 2012-12-09. Gebhart, Jacob. “How many came out of the exodus of Egypt.” Ancient Hebrew Research Center. n.d. wed. 24 December 2012. Available at http://www.ancient-hebrew.org/39_exodus.html Meyers, Carol. Exodus. Cambridge University Press. 2005. “Moses.” The British Broadcasting Corporation. 6 July 2009. Web. 24 December 2012. Available at http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/judaism/history/moses_1.shtml  Redmount, Carol. “Bitter Lives: Israel In And Out of Egypt”. In Coogan, Michael D.. The Oxford History of the Biblical World. OUP. 1998 Seters, John. “The Geography of the Exodus”. In Silberman, Neil Ash. The land that I will show you. Sheffield Academic Press. 1997. Read More