Research paper on manifestation of gods great power through moses

Moses was destined for a great future from the moment of his birth. It was through Moses that God could manifest his power and glory to the Israelites, the Egyptians and the whole world at large presently through the written word of the Bible. Moses miraculously survived the infanticide ordered by the King of Egypt due to the high rate of reproduction of the Israelites. The Egyptian King saw this as a future threat. Moses’ mother put him on a basket and placed it on river Nile when she could no longer keep him secretly. Some servants later spotted the basket and took it to the Egyptian King’s daughter. The Egyptian King’s daughter adopted the child although she knew that he was an Israelite and called the boy Moses, which means drawn from water (Nelson 93). It was God’s plan that Moses grows as a prince at the Egyptian palace since it would have been harder to free the Israelites using a slave. As a prince in Egypt, Moses got a lot of experience as a leader and he witnessed how his people suffered. Moses cared for the Israelites although he ruled with the Egyptians; this is evident when he killed an Egyptian for killing an Israelite. He later fled to Midian after the King of Egypt discovered his crime and stayed with the priest of Midian called Jethro, who later became his father in-law after marrying Jethro’s daughter. God’s greatness and mysterious way of doing things portrayed by the fact that Moses survived an infanticide, he grew as an Egyptian prince, and he escaped from Egypt after killing an Egyptian.
God chooses people who are humble to work for him such as Moses (Schaff 322). Moses’ humility is unmistakable when he becomes a herder prior to living as a prince in Egypt. The humility of Moses made him to follow God’s instructions without compromise. The calling of Moses also coincides with the death of King Thutmose 111 of Egypt, which meant that his pending criminal charges are dropped (Nelson 93). On a certain day, Moses was herding Jethro’s goats and sheep he led the animals to the Mount Sinai. An angel suddenly appeared to Moses in the form of a flame burning a bush, but the fire did not burn up the bush. This anomaly caused Moses to go closer to the bush to out of curiosity. When he got close to the bush, God called unto him by name (Exodus chapter 3: 1-4)i, and told him,
Not to get too close to the burning bush, that he takes off his sandals because he is on holy ground. God also identified himself to Moses as the God of Moses’ ancestors; he is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. (Exodus chapter 3: 5)
Mount Sinai is significant in the calling of Moses since it is a high place. Many cultures have the belief that God resides at a high place, therefore when addressing God, they refer to the sky or high physical features such as mountains. The reference of God in a high place is also evident in the prayer that Jesus taught his disciples which starts with the words, “ Our father who at in heaven” (Matthew 6: 9-13). After Moses guided the Israelites out of Egypt, they headed to Mount Sinai, where they resided under Gods protection until God saw that the time was right for them to head to the Promised Land. To date Mount Sinai is a pilgrimage site where people of various denominations go to reflect on the activities that took place at the site many years ago (Coleman et al. 211). It is on Mount Sinai that God gave Moses the Ten Commandments, which are the basis of morality for several Christian denominations (Rooker et al. 3).
God used the burning bush, since it would trigger curiosity in Moses. God also had to choose a form that Moses could identify with and not harm him. While at Mount Sinai after freeing the Israelites Moses asked to see God but God told him that, No one can see God and stay alive (Exodus 33: 20). As the Israelites were trekking in the desert he used the form of a fiery pillar to guide the Israelites through the night (Exodus 13: 21-22). Therefore, fire is a sign that signifies God’s presence. When Moses got close to the burning bush, he received instruction to take off his shoes since he was on holy ground. God deserves respect and to be approached with humility since he is almighty, omnipresent, omniscient, and eternal (Templeton 165-166). Humility and respect for God is in practice to date, since people go to places of worship in clean clothes and act with humility in the places of worship.
God then told Moses of how he was unhappy with the mistreatment of the Israelites by the Egyptians and that he heard their call for redemption and so he had come to rescue them. God said that he would salvage the Israelites from the Egyptians and take them to productive land. God finally informed Moses that he was sending him to King of Egypt, so that he could guide the Israelites out of Egypt (Exodus 3: 7-10). Moses immediately pointed out his shortcomings to God and said that,
He is insignificant, and could not be able to guide the Israelites out of Egypt. He is even unsure of what to tell the Egyptians, if they asked him who had sent him. (Exodus 3: 11-13)
God assured Moses that he would be with him, and he would assist Moses in delivering the Israelites. God continued to tell Moses that he answers that he has been sent by, “ I am who I am” (Exodus 3: 14), incase the Egyptians asked him who had sent him. Moses is also to inform the Israelites that the God of Israelites ancestors had sent him and that he, had heard their cry for freedom and had decided to free them from the ruthless rule of the Egyptians (Exodus 3: 15-17). God also assured Moses, that the Israelites would listen to him. God warned Moses that the king of Egypt would not free the Israelites easily, and that use of force had was an option. Therefore, God would use his powers to pressurize the king of Egypt (Exodus 3: 18-20).
Moses still had doubts on convincing the Israelites that he was under the instructions of God to rescue them (Exodus 4: 1). God instructed Moses to drop the stick he was holding to the ground and immediately he did so, the stick turned into a snake and Moses was scared. God instructed him to pick the snakes tail, after which the snake turned back into a stick. Moses was to do this in case the Israelites doubted him (Exodus 4: 2-5). God also told Moses to put his hand in his robe. When Moses took his hand out of the robe, it was ill. Then God instructed Moses to put his hand back in his rob, and when he took out his hand, it was healthy once again (Exodus 4: 6-7). After that, God said to Moses if the Israelites still doubted him, he was to fetch water from river Nile and pour it on the ground after which the water would turn into blood. The three miracles that God initially disclosed to Moses were to prove to Moses that God is powerful and that Moses needed not be afraid since he would use miracles to prove to the Israelites that God had not forgotten them and that he was to rescue them from the Egyptians as God had promised.
Moses still had doubts even after the miracles that God had revealed to him. Moses said to God that he is not a good speaker, and that God sends another person. God replied to Moses that he is to go to Egypt in the company by his brother Aaron, who would do speeches for him under his instructions. God gave Moses a stick, which he was to use to perform miracles as he left (Phipps et al. 11). The stick that Moses had was a staff and is symbolic of leadership. The followers of God are sheep and a shepherd who should wield a staff as he/she herds sheep (An Highway Ministries 1). A staff used by many Christian leaders as a symbol of leadership over Christian followers. Therefore, Moses became the leader of the Israelites after God released him and on receiving the staff.
Moses went to the king of Egypt in the company of Aaron and tried to negotiate with for the Israelite’s freedom, but the King of Egypt was adamant just as God had mentioned to Moses. Moses showed God’s might by performing various miracles, some with his staff, but the King of Egypt would not let the Israelite go. The stubbornness of the king of Egypt caused Egypt to suffer the ten plagues simultaneously (Bayliss 1). The king of Egypt released the Israelites after the tenth plague whereby an angel of God killed all human and animal male first-borns. The miracles that Moses displayed to the pharaoh demonstrated God’s power and mercy; this is why the initial plagues were less catastrophic than the later ones. The king of Egypt had a lot of work force to loose in releasing the Israelites and therefore he did not take the plagues seriously until the death of all Egyptian first-borns took place.
Before the tenth plague, God had given the Israelites instructions on what to do, so that they are immune to the tenth plague. The preparation they did led to the Passover, since the angel of death passed over the Israelites houses while killing the Egyptian’s first-borns. The following day the King of Egypt set the Israelites free. The stubbornness of the Egyptian king persisted even after the release of the Israelites and later decided to go after the Israelites. When Moses and the Israelites got to the Red sea, Moses held his hands over the Red sea and God sent a strong wind that created a path through the Red sea for them to pass. Once they had finished crossing, the Egyptians were still pursuing them and they perished after the two sides of the sea got back together covering the path (Exodus 14: 26-29). After the Israelites witnessed what had happened they appreciated God’s might and they gained faith in Moses as God’s servant. God saved the Israelite when the situation seemed impossible to tackle. God gave a supernatural solution, which was to split the Red sea onto two to create a path for them to cross. The crossing of the Red sea is symbolic of the transition from captivity to freedom and it marked the fulfillment of God’s promise to free the Israelites from the captivity of the Egyptians (Ward 1).
God did not select Moses randomly as the leader of Israel. God had chosen Moses to be the leader and redeemer of Israel since he was a child that is why he survived many instances of murder, arrest, and criminal charges by the Egyptians. Moses was also a humble and obedient person who would follow God’s instructions without compromise. When God released Moses to go to Egypt, Moses went back to Jethro to ask for permission to head to Egypt. This indicates the high level of humility that Moses possessed. God even assigned Aaron to go with him since Moses was not comfortable with his ability to make speech. Moses headed to Egypt as instructed by God, where he displayed God’s might and greatness through the several miracles that he performed till the king of Egypt released the Israelites and they was able to cross the Red sea safely. It is after all the miracles that were performed through Moses that the Israelites appreciated God’s might and they accepted Moses as the servant of God, since they were Egyptian captives for a very long time and they were always in the fear of being captured and being sent back to Egypt.

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