The life of Moses was one of ups and downs, peaks and troughs, mountain-tops and valleys. His life began among slaves in Egypt with the threat of being drowned in the River Nile yet within a few months he was living under the protection of the royal court. Eventually he enjoyed one of the highest places in the ancient kingdom of Egypt. At forty he cut his ties with the Egyptian court to become a nomadic exile. Forty years further on he became the leader of Israel and acted as their mediator before God and Pharaoh.. As he led them through the desert there was constant discontent that sometimes erupted into rebellion when they wanted to kill him. The Israelites treated Moses as many of their descendants were to treat other great men who had been sent by God. That is how they treated their ultimate Deliverer. Moses was a very great man but at times he was openly disobedient to God. He seemed to have little confidence or courage when God spoke to him at the 'burning bush' yet this man more than anyone else among the heroes of the Old Testament enjoyed the very presence of God more than they all. Moses conferred upon Aaron his brother, by God's grace, the great honour of the High Priestly office yet it was Aaron and their sister Miriam who grossly insulted Moses and his wife and were jealous of his position. As a result Miriam suffered the terrible indignity of leprosy but Moses interceded for the restoration of her health in a most forgiving way. It was this man's meekness and compassion that contributed to his being the greatest man on Earth in Old Testament times.

The keeping power of God is best seen in the 'troughs' of Moses' life but it was just as important through the heady days of high rank and honour in Israel and mystic glory on the mountain.

Moses was a survivor. At the time of his birth, Pharaoh, ruler of all Egypt had decreed that Israeli baby boys should be drowned in the River Nile. He was afraid that the massive increase of the Hebrew population might put his own people at risk should there be war. From the days of the Patriarchs, Israel had been a peaceful, rural community. They had hardly known war and possibly had no weapons. Now they were faced with a desperate situation whereby the Egyptians were making slaves of them.

Moses mother, Jochebed, was a resourceful woman. Somehow she kept that baby quiet through his first three months. Then she made a little boat in which he safely floated until he was 'found' by Pharaoh's daughter. This lady is known to archaeologists as Hatshetsup. She was wise enough to know that a Hebrew wet nurse would give him his best chance of survival. Jochebed became the first mother to be paid by royalty for nursing her own offspring; so David Kossoff describes the event. Eventually Moses was transferred to the royal palace but who would have planned such an escape from the King's edict to destroy Hebrew boys. So it was overruled by God that Moses should spend those first formative years with his Hebrew parents learning basic skills and attitudes. Then he was trained in the wisdom of Egypt, educated to take a place of highest rank. God saved Moses from what might have seemed certain death and provided him with training and development that would fit him to become the leader of His people. The way in which God plans and overrules the details of the lives of His people is quite wonderful and every child of God in Christ has that same planning and providential care directing their lives.

Moses spent his life in the Royal Palace or on missions for the royal family. He did not share the harsh existence of his relatives as a slave. Yet he voluntarily gave up the life of luxury and safety and returned to his own oppressed people. But if that was not enough he was soon in the desert running away to escape an angry Pharaoh. For him it was a hazardous journey. There is no mention that he knew where he was going. Maybe in former times royal duties had led him out into the Sinai desert - perhaps to the Eygptian copper mines and other industrial pursuits. But Scripture records none of this nor that he knew his destination. But God did, for he was to spend the next forty years with a man who had some knowledge of the one true God. He may have been responsible for coaching Moses in the ethics and rationale of leading God's people. And it all happened through a 'chance' meeting at a well. Wells are interesting meeting places and those familiar with Scripture will know the value of those wells.

It is fascinating to think that God met with Moses twice in this area, which is geographically outside the Promised Land that was to become Israel. It was not made a point of special pilgrimage by the Israelites nor was its location exactly known. An older theory of Sinai being in Arabia has been resuscitated more recently but there is little proof about any of the possible sites. Whatever is eventually discovered about the location of Sinai, its geographical exactness is not to be compared with what actually happened.

On the first occasion of their meeting, forever linked with the 'burning bush', Moses received from God his first commission to take God's people out of Egypt. Moses must have looked back at that event in his life and realised that it was here that he came of age spiritually, where God prepared his faith and courage by a revelation of just who He was. The sacred name of Yahweh was revealed here and helped Moses to understand that this was the only true God and there was none like Him. 'He was, and is and is to come' the only one in the Universe for whom there was no beginning and no end. This was a mountain top experience that would help Moses to realise that the Eternal God was by his side through every day of his life. It is clear from Exodus 2.25 that God cares about Israel too and by imparting this information Moses at once became their great teacher.

Many a child of God wonders why He plans for them to have years in the 'wilderness'. They might wonder why He doesn't give some cherished work for Him much earlier in life in the flood of energy and enthusiasm. A glance at the life of Moses might answer those questionings. Moses' years of exile were not wasted but a time of preparation for one of the greatest tasks ever given to a man. Lessons learned in the years in the royal palace were also of value when he had to confront Egypt's rulers with the demand to release Israel from bondage. He had to stand in the royal palace amid the wealthy courtiers and learned advisers to tell the king of Egypt what the God of Heaven had to say. By the wisdom and power of the Creator of the Universe, Moses declared what was about to happen. Soon the ancient magic of Egypt could not withstand the power of God. Little by little the Egyptians saw the erosion of their might and majesty, the destruction of their wonderful land and the complete failure of the Egyptians to withstand the word conveyed through Moses. Of all the tests of faith that this son of Levi endured, the period through the great disasters that befell Egypt must have been one of the most difficult. Yet there is no record that his faith faltered or his courage failed. In fact it was this experience before leaving Egypt, that brought commendation from the writer to the Hebrews in the New Testament. Yet to a man who had lived half a life-time in the Palace and who demonstrated enormous compassion, this time when Egypt became so devastated could not have been pleasant for Moses. Good men don't enjoy their fellow men and women suffering, even if it is for their own folly. But Moses never failed, His God was with Him and his trust remained firm and strong.

Moses learned his skills well as a shepherd among the Midianites and so was capable to lead the people of Israel from Goshen to the edge of the Land of the Promise. Lesser men would have given up in despair. Their nagging for better conditions and their refusal to give up their stupid idolatry of pagan gods must have been hard to wear. Organising two million people who had been deprived of their social rights for several generations was a mammoth task. However, he faced each problem and difficulty and set back with renewed courage; not in his own strength or wisdom but because God had set His seal upon this man. God was literally with him all the way until he reached his resting place in Moab. There he would await the prophet whom the Lord would send and who in so many ways was mirrored by his own life. God was with him in the ups and downs of life and each step of the way, upward or downward, was made by the Lord to be one of safe keeping.

Few men and women have crossed the human stage who could even begin to match the qualities of Moses. Looking through history till this present day, he stands head and shoulders above leaders of intellect and politics. Above all, his integrity of character and the growth of his spiritual life are unknown to this world's 'great' men and women. But God does sometimes use those who are 'giants' among us for he did not give them mental and ethical qualities for nothing.

But Moses achieved his greatness because he was willing to submit to the will and purpose of God. Moses enjoyed his outstanding success because he was a willing tool in the hand of God. It was because of that, nothing could stand in the way of this son of Levi and so He was kept till the journey's end. We cannot all have Moses' qualities, few have, nor can we achieve what he did in those far off days, but we can, if we will, enjoy the wonder of God's keeping power.

DN