With Moses and the children of Israel out of Egypt and safely in the wilderness, the time had come for the next phase of this Old Testament prophet’s mission—to lead the people out of spiritual bondage completely. Mormon scholar S. Kent Brown, professor of ancient scripture at Brigham Young University, wrote:

Having proved that he was the faithful God, the Lord was ready to make a covenant with the former slaves.

This was the only path to true freedom. The Lord God had carefully orchestrated a set of miracles and experiences to guide the children of Israel in a set direction. But He could not make them choose to follow Him and obey His commandments. That could only come from within.

The Abrahamic Covenant

Moses Calls Aaron to the Ministry, by Harry Anderson

The children of Israel were the posterity of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Thus, they were heirs to the Abrahamic covenant. Mormon scholar Rodney Turner explained:

Abraham was to lay the foundation of a great work. He was to be patriarch of a people chosen to carry the gospel to all mankind. His family was to be the [light unto the world] (Matthew 5:14). Following the birth of his twelve sons, Jacob, the grandson of Abraham, was given a new name: Israel, which means “ruling with God.” In its ultimate sense, it denotes those men and women who obtain exaltation….

Covenants have an important function to the people of God. Mormon historian David J. Whittaker, at the time a professor of Latter-day Saint Church history and doctrine at Brigham Young University, wrote:

Ancient Israel claimed a divine relationship identified as a covenant between the people and God. This covenant relationship, making Israel separate from her neighbors, demanded that ancient Israelites have yada for their God, as he had for them. The Hebrew verb yada (or da’ath) is usually translated “to know” or “to be acquainted with.” But the covenant context adds both a mental and an emotional act. …

 

Yada describes the covenant relationship of mutual obligation and concern between God and Israel, his people.

This was the relationship that God sought to renew with the children of Israel—to bring them into His presence. (See Doctrine & Covenants 84:23.)

The Preparatory Gospel

The gospel of Jesus Christ consists of both a lower and a higher law. The lower law prepares one to receive the higher law—and, ultimately, to enter the presence of God. The preparatory gospel consists of the gospel of repentance, baptism, remission of sins and the law of carnal commandments (such as the law of Moses). (See Doctrine & Covenants 84:26-27.)

Mormon scholar Bruce Satterfield, professor of religion at Brigham Young University—Idaho, explained:

The first step in becoming “an holy nation” (or Zion society) worthy of entering the presence of God was for the children of Israel to enter into the preparatory gospel by covenant. Exodus 19-24 gives an account of the children of Israel entering into the preparatory gospel by covenant. To prepare for the covenant, the children of Israel were sanctified and their clothes were washed (Exodus 19:10-11). The mountain was also prepared by establishing a border around the base between the people and the mountain with the injunction that no one was to touch the border or pass beyond it lest they should be put to death (Exodus 19:12-13). On the third day, the Lord descended on top of the mountain, his divine presence being represented by “fire and smoke” (Exodus 19:16-25). In the hearing of the Israelites, the Lord gave to Moses the 10 commandments (or “carnal commandments”) as part of the preparatory gospel (Exodus 20; Deuteronomy 5).

This, however, was a step below what the Lord had offered to the children of Israel. Mormon scholar Ellis T. Rasmussen explained:

If they had accepted all of the privileges offered them and followed the instructions which would have qualified them to receive the fulfillment of all God’s promises, they could have been accorded the grandest of all revelations: He offered to come down in the sight of all the people and let them hear when He spoke to Moses that they might know for themselves about His will and His law, and believe in Moses’ future revelations from God, and revere the Lord evermore (cf. Deuteronomy 4:10). Note the need of cleanliness and spiritual dedication in their preparation for this great spiritual experience.

 

At the prearranged signal, the sounding of the trumpet “exceeding long,” the people trembled in anticipation and awe, but apparently they were not fully ready to come up “in the sight” of the Lord on the mount where Moses was, for the Lord told him to go down and warn them not to come up. … But even though their hearts were not fully prepared to endure His presence, they did hear the voice and the words of God as the Ten Commandments were given…. (Rasmussen, Introduction to the Old Testament, 1:83.)

Although the children of Israel were not prepared to see God, they were faithful in making and keeping the preparatory commandments. Professor Satterfield continued:

Exodus 24 records the ritual the Israelites participated in when they entered into the covenant where they promised to obey the 10 commandments. After putting the covenant into writing, Moses built an altar at the base of the mountain and placed twelve stones representing the twelve tribes of Israel around the altar. Moses then read to the children of Israel the terms of the covenant. In response, the Israelites said, “All that the Lord hath said will we do, and be obedient.” Then Moses sprinkled the blood of sacrificed animals on the altar (representing God) and the children of Israel (most likely the twelve stones) suggesting the retributive nature of the covenant (the same as when the Lord passed between the pieces of the severed animals in Genesis 15). That is, if the children of Israel broke their covenant they would suffer death even as the sacrifices from whom the blood had come. Moses referred to this as the “blood covenant” in these terms: “Behold the blood of the covenant which the Lord hath made with you concerning all these words” (Exodus 24:8).

President James E. Faust explained the importance of these covenants:

Covenants are not simply outward rituals; they are real and effective means of change.

The children of Israel were now the covenant people of the Lord. But the Lord had greater blessings in store for them if they would remain faithful.

The Higher Law

After entering into the preparatory covenant with God, the children of Israel were ready to receive the higher law. Thus, God again summoned Moses up to Mount Sinai. Here, Moses received instructions on the higher law for 40 days and nights. Professor Satterfield wrote:

During this time, Moses received the higher law. Then the details of both the preparatory and higher gospel were written on the tables of stone “with the finger of God” (Exodus 31:18).

 

While on the mount, Moses not only received the tables of stone upon which the fullness of the gospel was written but he also received detailed instructions concerning the building of a portable temple commonly called the Tabernacle wherein the ordinances of both the preparatory gospel and the higher law could be performed (Exodus 25-31). The Hebrew name of the Tabernacle is ohel mo’ed, which is best translated “tent of meeting.” This is an appropriate name for this structure because the Tabernacle was the place where the Israelites were to prepare to meet God and live in his presence.

This tabernacle had a very distinct purpose for the children of Israel. Elder L. Tom Perry explained:

In order that they would have a centerpiece for their worship and activity, the Lord instructed Moses to build a tabernacle. The tabernacle was a forerunner of the temple, made portable so they could easily carry it with them.

Indeed, in this portable tabernacle the Lord intended for the children of Israel to pass through several areas symbolic of their covenants with Him. Professor Satterfield wrote:

It appears from Doctrine & Covenants 84:19-24, that the Lord initially intended that the children of Israel would pass through the ordinances of both the preparatory gospel (performed in the courtyard) and higher gospel (performed in the holy place) thus qualifying them to come into his presence symbolized by the passing through the veil into the most holy place (where God’s presence was represented by the ark).

These were to be the crowning blessings for the children of Israel.

The Tragedy of the Golden Calf

The Golden Calf, by James Tissot

While Moses was on the mount receiving instructions for the higher law, the children of Israel grew impatient. Exodus 32:1 explains:

And when the people saw that Moses delayed to come down out of the mount, the people gathered themselves together unto Aaron, and said unto him, Up, make us gods, which shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we wot not what is become of him.

To Mormon scholar Paul Y. Hoskisson, professor of ancient scripture at Brigham Young University, this reaction is understandably human. He wrote:

… The Israelites had passed from Egyptian slavery into one terrifying experience after another. By the time Aaron made the golden calf, Moses, who had visibly wrought miracles in their presence and who had more than once occasioned their physical safety, had been missing for almost forty days. Anyone who is a stranger to the Near Eastern deserts, as the Israelites must have been after more than one generation in Egypt, knows how frightening the absence of an individual for even one or two days can be. Thus, the demands of the people and Aaron’s acquiescence, though improper, seem all too human.

Elder Perry said:

Aaron succumbed to the will of the people and told them to gather all their gold and silver and precious things and melt them into a form that made a golden calf, an idol that they could worship and carry with them as they journeyed. In the meantime, Moses was receiving the two tablets of testimony containing God’s commandments to His people.

Professor Turner wrote:

Note that the people attributed their deliverance to Moses, not to God. These Israelites could not rid themselves of the slave mentality. When it is a bondage of the spirit, not even God can free an individual or a people if there is no will to be free.

 

The Israelites lacked the intelligence, the light, and truth either to become free or to remain free. They were so ignorant and naive that they ascribed their deliverance to the idol that they had fashioned with their own hands!

It is important to note that not all of the children of Israel were involved in this idol worship, but many of them were. That any were involved is a tragedy. Cecil B. DeMille, producer of the movie The Ten Commandments, said:

Some, who do not know either the Bible or human nature, may see in the orgy of the Golden Calf only a riot of Hollywood’s imaginations—but those who have eyes to see will see in it the awful lesson of how quickly a nation or a man can fall, without God’s law.

 

If man will not be ruled by God, he will certainly be ruled by tyrants—and there is no tyranny more imperious or more devastating than man’s own selfishness, without the law.

 

We cannot break the Ten Commandments. We can only break ourselves against them—or else, by keeping them, rise through them to the fulness of freedom under God. God means us to be free. With divine daring, He gave us the power of choice. (Commencement Address, Brigham Young University Speeches of the Year, Provo, 31 May 1957.)

And with that power of choice, some of the children of Israel were turning against the God who had delivered them.

Aaron and the Idol

It is curious that Aaron would give in to the people’s demand for an idol. It is equally curious that the people would demand an idol. But Professor Hoskisson explained that the children of Israel had a difficult time letting go of their “considerable Egyptian cultural baggage.” This, however, does not explain Aaron’s actions. Professor Hoskisson wrote:

I suggest that the golden calf or young bull (the Hebrew word means “a young ox or bull”) was not a pagan god. Rather, it was a symbol of the God of Israel. …

 

When the calf was completed, the people spoke of the calf as being the “elohim, O Israel,” that brought them out of Egypt. While it is true that elohim can be used in the Hebrew Bible to refer to pagan gods, its predominant use is for the God of Israel. Almost as a confirmation of the Israelite nature of the calf, Aaron then declared, “Tomorrow is a feast to Jehovah.” If the calf had been a pagan god or pagan symbol, Aaron would not have proclaimed a feast to “Jehovah” nor would the people have said with reference to the calf, “These be thy elohim.” And when God told Moses what was happening, he made no mention of a pagan god, just that the Israelites “have made them a molten calf, and have worshipped it, and have sacrificed thereunto, and said, These be thy elohim, O Israel.” …

 

I need to point out specifically, however, that the calf was not a representation of the God of Israel—it was merely a symbol of Jehovah, perhaps even of his pedestal.

Thus, Aaron did not make a pagan god for the people to worship. What, then, was the nature of his sin? Professor Hoskisson explained:

Aaron’s sin … was not so much in making a likeness of a calf but, rather, in allowing the image of a calf, even if it was a symbol of Jehovah and not of a pagan god, to be used in a significant way in the “feast to Jehovah.” After the construction of the calf, Aaron allowed the people to declare, “These be thy elohim, O Israel, which have brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.” He then built an altar in front of the calf, and the people offered sacrifices to the calf during a “feast to Jehovah.” The calf had been allowed to become a central figure in the Israelite religious services.

Of Aaron, Bible scholar Adam Clarke wrote:

Possibly he only intended to make them some symbolical representation of the Divine power and energy, that might be as evident to them as the pillar of cloud and fire had been, and to which God might attach an always present energy and influence; or in requiring them to sacrifice their ornaments, he might have supposed they would have desisted from urging their request: but all this is mere conjecture, with very little probability to support it. It must however be granted that Aaron does not appear to have even designed a worship that should supersede the worship of the Most High … and we find farther that some of the proper rites of the true worship were observed on this occasion, for they brought burnt-offerings and peace-offerings, verses 6, 7: hence it is evident he intended that the true God should be the object of their worship, though he permitted and even encouraged them to offer this worship through an idolatrous medium, the molten calf.” (Clarke, Bible Commentary, 1:463–64.)

The Broken Covenant

When the Israelites made their golden calf, they violated the Ten Commandments. Moses was still on the mount with God. The scriptures state:

And the Lord said unto Moses, Go, get thee down; for thy people, which thou broughtest out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves:

 

They have turned aside quickly out of the way which I commanded them…. I have seen this people, and, behold, it is a stiffnecked people:  Now therefore let me alone, that my wrath may wax hot against them, and that I may consume them: and I will make of thee a great nation. (Exodus 32:7-10)

Professor Satterfield wrote:

Hence, the covenant was broken, forcing God into the position of executing the demands of the broken covenant: Israel must be destroyed! At the moment God was going to satisfy justice, Moses interceded in behalf of his people, reminding God of the covenant he made with Abraham, saying, “Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, thy servants, to whom thou swarest by thine own self, and saidst unto them, I will multiply your seed as the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have spoken of will I give unto your seed, and they shall inherit it for ever” (Exodus 32:13). In response, the Lord said: “If they will repent of the evil which they have done, I will spare them, and turn away my fierce wrath; but, behold, thou shalt execute judgment upon all that will not repent of this evil this day” (JST Exodus 32:14). We find within this story Moses as a type of Christ wherein he demonstrates the mediatorial role of Christ. Further, this story illustrates the powerful role of the Abrahamic covenant in the salvation of Israel.

 

When Moses came off the mount he found the children of Israel participating in the … cult worship. He threw down the tables of stone breaking them as a sign of the broken covenant and the loss of the higher law they would have received (Exodus 32:19). He then stood outside of the camp and cried, “Who is on the LORD’s side?” (Exodus 32:26). Those repenting of their actions came to where Moses was standing while the rest were executed by the tribe of Levi (Exodus 32:27-29).

The Ten Commandments

Moses and the Tablets, by Jerry Harston

In His mercy, the Lord allowed the children of Israel to repent of the evil they had done. Moses returned to Mount Sinai, where he again spoke with God. Professor Satterfield wrote:

The Lord then commanded Moses to “hew two other tables of stone” whereon the terms and conditions of a new covenant was written. This included everything that was written on the first set of tables “save the words of the everlasting covenant of the holy priesthood” or the higher ordinances of the temple (JST Deuteronomy 10:2; JST Exodus 34:1,2; Doctrine & Covenants 84:23-27). In other words, the higher gospel … was removed thus denying the children of Israel the ordinances that would enable them to come into the presence of the Lord.

 

In place of the higher gospel, Moses received what became known as the “law of Moses” (much of which is found in the Books of Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy). The prophet Abinadi said that the law of Moses was “a law of performances and ordinances, a law which they [Israel] were to observe strictly from day to day, to keep them in remembrance of God and their duty towards him” (Mosiah 13:30). The Apostle Paul taught that it was intended to be a “schoolmaster” that would “bring [Israel] unto Christ” and the higher law (Galatians 3:24). Essentially, the law of Moses was a set of laws that were given to the Israelites that might be thought of as object lessons that illustrated the importance of the preparatory gospel and explain how it functioned. Hense, the preparatory gospel was the focus of the law of Moses. This law was not only to be the religous code of the Israelites but also their civil code.

 

After returning from the mount with the new set of stone tablets, Moses explained the new law and covenant to the children of Israel (Ex. 34:29-35:19). Then the children of Israel entered into a covenant to keep the law of Moses (Ex. 34:27-28). This covenant replaced the covenant the children of Israel had made in Exodus 24.

And, it would appear, many renewed their faithfulness and received great blessings. One of the ways in which they showed this faith was in the building of the tabernacle. The Latter-day Saint Old Testament Student Manual explains:

It is significant that, before revealing the pattern of the tabernacle itself, the Lord told Moses that Israel had to demonstrate a willingness to sacrifice to build His sanctuary (see Exodus 25:2). Mormon taught that if a gift of sacrifice is offered to the Lord with a grudging attitude, not only is it not acceptable to the Lord, but it becomes an evil act (see Moroni 7:6–10). Unless Israel had the right attitude about the sacrifice of their materials, it would do them no good. Modern readers should remember that despite their other faults and failings (the golden calf episode took place while Moses was on the mount receiving this revelation), when Israel heard what the Lord asked, they responded with joyous liberality. Their hearts were indeed touched (see Exodus 35:20–22, 25–26, 29), and finally Moses had to restrain them, for they gave far more than was needed for the tabernacle (see Exodus 36:5–7).

 

In Exodus 25:8 the Lord clearly revealed the purpose for the tabernacle—it was to be the house of the Lord. The Hebrew word which is translated “tabernacle” actually means “tent” or “dwelling” (Wilson, Old Testament Word Studies, s.v. “tabernacle,” p. 434).

Thus, many of the children of Israel had fully turned themselves back to their God. Mormon scholar Sidney B. Sperry wrote:

The Israelites were taught the fundamentals of religion when they were given the Ten Commandments and other teachings. Some of them doubtless joined the church, but it is also clear that many didn’t or were considered unworthy. (See 1 Corinthians 10:1–8; Doctrine & Covenants 84:24.) In time, even the higher ordinances of the gospel were revealed by Moses, at least to some.

The extent to which the children of Israel found complete freedom from the chains of spiritual bondage depended upon how completely the came to rely upon God. Those who gave themselves fully to Him found complete freedom. Elder H. Ross Workman said:

How, then, does one “shake off the awful chains” of spiritual captivity? As we purify our hearts through repentance and turn to the Savior with a firm determination to obey His commandments, He will enlarge our strength through the power of His grace. Each righteous choice we make can then lead to future righteous choices. The struggle to escape spiritual captivity and regain our freedom is not always an easy process; indeed, it may lead us through the refiner’s fire. But because of the Atonement and the great gift of repentance, “though [our] sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow” (Isaiah 1:18).

1. Moses & the Exodus: The Lord Prepares a People and a Prophet

2. Moses and the Exodus: Pharaoh and the Plagues

3. Moses and the Exodus: Leading the Children of Israel out of Bondage

4. Moses and the Exodus: The Quest to Become a Covenant People

Moses Parting the Red Sea, by Robert Theodore Barrett

Moses’ mission was to lead the children of Israel out of bondage. It was not enough to take the Israelites out of Egypt—he had to take Egypt out of the Israelites. Mormon scholar Rodney Turner explained:

Act one of the drama of Israel ended with the death of Joseph. Between that event and the coming of Moses there was a silent intermission of several centuries. When the curtain rose again, Israel was a slave people both temporally and spiritually. It was the mission of Moses to deliver them from this double bondage.

The Exodus Begins

The Exodus of the Israelites from Egypt, by David Roberts

When Pharaoh told the children of Israel to go, he meant immediately— “Take your flocks and … herds … and be gone” (Exodus 12:32). The Egyptians, also, “were urgent upon the people, that they might send them out of the land in haste; for they said, We be all dead men” (Exodus 12:33). Their flight, therefore, was hurried. Exodus 12:34-36 says:

And the people took their dough before it was leavened, their kneading troughs being bound up in their clothes upon their shoulders.

 

And the children of Israel did according to the word of Moses; and they borrowed of the Egyptians jewels of silver, and jewels of gold, and raiment:

 

And the Lord gave the people favour in the sight of the Egyptians, so that they lent unto them such things as they required. And they spoiled the Egyptians.

But did the Israelites really borrow from the Egyptians? Bible scholar Adam Clarke commented on the translation of the Hebrew word sha’al as “borrow.”

This is certainly not a very correct translation: the original word … shaal signifies simply to ask, request, demand, require, inquire, [etc.]; but it does not signify to borrow in the proper sense of that word, though in a very few places of Scripture it is thus used. In this … the word signifies to ask or demand, and not to borrow, which is a gross mistake. … God commanded the Israelites to ask or demand a certain recompense for their past services, and he inclined the hearts of the Egyptians to give liberally; and this, far from a matter of oppression, wrong, or even charity, was no more than a very partial recompense for the long and painful services which we may say six hundred thousand Israelites had rendered to Egypt, during a considerable number of years. And there can be no doubt that while their heaviest oppression lasted, they were permitted to accumulate no kind of property, as all their gains went to their oppressors. (Adam Clarke, The Holy Bible … with a Commentary and Critical Notes, 6 vols. New York: Abingdon-Cokesbury Press, n.d., 1:307.)

Mormon scholar S. Kent Brown, professor of ancient scripture at Brigham Young University, wrote:

With the passing of the plagues, the Israelites doubtlessly departed Egypt in a spirit of joy and euphoria, happy to be free of Pharaoh’s chains. And at their departure, they hastily prepared provisions for their journey into the desert (see Exodus 12:39). But they could neither have carried much nor did they apparently take many weapons for defense.

These circumstances set the stage for the next test of faith—and subsequent miracle— for the children of Israel.

Parting the Red Sea

The Egyptians Are Destroyed, by James Tissot

Pharaoh let the children of Israel leave, but again, he wavered. Mormon scholar Bruce Satterfield, professor of religion at Brigham Young University—Idaho, explained:

God, represented by a pillar of fire and smoke, led the children of Israel out of Egypt (Exodus 13:20-22).

 

The scriptural account tells us that God did not lead the Israelites out of Egypt by way of the nearest or quickest route which was “through the way of the land of the Philistines,” but instead “God led the people about, through the way of the wilderness of the Red sea” (Exodus 13:17-18). After releasing Israel from bondage, Pharaoh hardened his heart again, and led his army to recapture the Israelites. With Pharaoh’s army to their back and the Red Sea to their front, Israel found themselves hemmed in.

Camped on the edge of the Red Sea, without sufficient weapons to defend themselves, the children of Israel panicked. Professor Brown wrote:

Quite rightly, the Israelites feared for their lives and said so in these words: “Is not this the word that we did tell thee in Egypt, saying, Let us alone, that we may serve the Egyptians? For it had been better for us to serve the Egyptians, than that we should die in the wilderness” (Exodus 14:12).

But Moses said to them, “Fear not, stand still and see the salvation of the Lord” (Exodus 14:13). Moses lifted his rod and the Red Sea parted, allowing the children of Israel to pass on dry ground. But this is not all. The angel of God, which had been leading them, “removed and went behind them… and it came between the camp of the Egyptians and the camp of Israel.” (See Exodus 14:16-20.) Of this, Mormon scholar Todd B. Parker, professor of ancient scripture at Brigham Young University, said:

When Israel got to the borders of the Red Sea, the pillar of fire came around behind them. There was first a separation of light and darkness. It was light to the Israelites going through the Red Sea, but it was darkness to the Egyptians.

What happened next was a miracle for the Israelites, but a tragedy for the Egyptians. Jewish tradition illustrates that this dichotomy was not lost on a loving God. Elder Marion D. Hanks explained:

Through Moses, God divided the waters, “And the children of Israel went into the midst of the sea upon the dry ground” (Exodus 14:22). The Egyptians went in after them. Then Moses stretched his hand again over the sea, and the waters returned. The Israelites were safe, and the Egyptian armies were drowning. Triumphantly the people began to sing hymns of praise to the Lord. But the Almighty stopped them and said, “How can you sing hymns of praise and jubilation when so many of my children are drowning in the sea?”

The Lord saved His people through the parting of the Red Sea, but He could not celebrate the loss of Egyptian lives. Pharaoh, also, could not celebrate. Sister Sara Lee Gibb, at the time an instructor at Brigham Young University, said:

In the riveting story … portrayed in Cecil B. DeMille’s great film The Ten Commandments, Egypt’s pharaoh, Ramses II, stood on an elevated vantage point and witnessed the parting of the Red Sea as the children of Israel crossed on dry land. Subsequently, he watched his prized soldiers and chariots follow in pursuit as the waters closed in upon them and washed them away to perish in the sea. In the movie version, he returned to his palace, where his queen taunted him about the lack of response from the Egyptian gods, and Ramses spoke this great line: “Moses’ god is God.”

 

Pharaoh’s very trying experiences had finally led him to a previously denied perspective. Perspective is how we see things from where we are. But perspectives may change, depending upon our experiences and circumstances.

And, interestingly, despite the many miracles God had performed in their behalf, perspective is what the children of Israel seemed to continually lose when faced with trials.

Physical & Spiritual Emancipation

The Israelites had been crying for relief from their years in slavery, and the long-awaited time had come. Mormon scholar Sidney B. Sperry explained:

… Only after the destruction of the Egyptian army in the Red Sea were the Israelites completely free to move. We are told that Israel then “believed the Lord, and his servant Moses” (Exodus 14:31).

Moses’ mission, however, was just beginning. Professor Sperry wrote:

Once in the wilderness, Moses realized that the Israelites’ spiritual image needed a radical change. Because they had been exposed so long to the Egyptians and heathen religious practices, they had become corrupted.

Professor Turner wrote:

Physical emancipation was accomplished by the power of God…. Even so, the Israelites were a faithless people. In spite of the miracles wrought in their behalf, they were quick to complain when they saw the armies of Pharaoh approaching, and upon their arrival in the wilderness of Sin about a month after the miracle of the divided waters, they murmured again.

The Lord could free the children of Israel from physical bondage. But only the children of Israel could free themselves from the spiritual chains. Elder H. Ross Workman explained:

Many think of captivity only in terms of imprisonment by other people. Physical captivity is abhorrent, but the effects may not endure eternally. The greater bondage is to the father of lies—a form of captivity that is far more devastating and potentially longer lasting. …

 

A particularly powerful source of captivity is tradition. … Even individual and family traditions can lead to spiritual captivity. Traditions that are contrary to gospel principles offend the Spirit and, if followed, obscure one’s ability to be guided by the Spirit to recognize righteous choices that would expand freedom.

This is what happened to the children of Israel. Little by little, over the years and then centuries, they forgot the religion of their fathers. It became corrupted and enmeshed in the idolatry of the Egyptians. Elder Workman continued:

Freedom to choose all that is “expedient” is a gift given by God to His children. … It is often said that we are free to choose whatever course we desire, but we are not free to avoid the consequences of that choice.

 

Spiritual captivity rarely results from a single choice or event. More often, freedom is surrendered one small step at a time until the way to regain that freedom is obscured. …

 

Some seek to explain spiritual captivity as something out of their control. Is it really out of their control? Typically, freedom to make righteous choices is measured by a willingness to sacrifice that which is the object of desire or passion. Hence, sacrifice is a guiding principle and is the key to setting oneself free from captivity.

Freedom is not free. It requires sacrifice. But the children of Israel either didn’t realize this or weren’t prepared for it. Thus, freeing the Israelites from the bonds of slavery was an easier task than freeing them from the spiritual chains that had corrupted their religion and faith.

Manna in the Wilderness

The Gathering of the Manna, by James Tissot

With the miracles such as the parting of the Red Sea, the Lord was trying to show the children of Israel that He was in charge and He would not let them down. Professor Brown wrote:

When the Israelites miraculously survived this rather difficult circumstance, it should have been signal enough to them that, if they would only ask and have faith, God would succor them.

Soon after, the children of Israel came to a place in the wilderness of Shur called Marah, which means bitterness. (See Exodus 15:22-26). Of this time, Professor Brown wrote:

… We all know that when people travel in the desert, the most critical necessity for life is water. It is moreover the most burdensome to transport. In the case of the Israelites, by the time they reached Marah, they had spent their water, both for themselves and for their animals, and found themselves in dire need. But the water at Marah was unpotable, and this led to a questioning complaint: “What shall we drink?” (Exodus 15:24). Once again, the Lord, through Moses His prophet, mercifully demonstrated to the Israelites that He could be trusted. And when the bitter waters were wonderfully healed, the children of Israel would have learned that God would and could also heal them.

But, it appears that it was difficult for the people to have continued faith. Professor Brown continued:

It was diminished provisions which brought a further crisis, this time in the wilderness of Sin. In chapter 16 we are told that six weeks after their departure from Egypt, the Israelites had run out of food: “the whole congregation of the children of Israel murmured against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness: And the children of Israel said unto them, Would to God we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the flesh pots, and when we did eat bread to the full; for ye have brought us forth into this wilderness, to kill this whole assembly with hunger” (Exodus 16:2–3).

At this point, of course, there was no turning back out of the desert. God had led them into a place where they would have to depend wholly on Him for their daily needs. And once more the Lord did not abandon them, proving to be trustworthy. Compassionately, the Lord came to their aid and provided them with manna, not for that day only but for the entire period of their stay in the desert. (See Exodus 16:1–35.)

The Lord also provided quail in the desert for the children of Israel (Exodus 16:13). Miracle after miracle, the Lord was teaching the children of Israel that they could rely on Him.

The Purpose in Their Afflictions

Some of the children of Israel lacked perspective and faith, and could not see the reason behind their suffering and afflictions. This is as true for the Israelites as it is for us today. Elder Paul V. Johnson said:

Many have wondered why we must face difficult challenges. We know that one reason is to provide a trial of our faith to see if we will do all the Lord has commanded. Fortunately this earth life is the perfect setting to face—and pass—these tests.

 

But these trials are not just to test us. They are vitally important to the process of putting on the divine nature. If we handle these afflictions properly, they will be consecrated for our gain.

 

Elder Orson F. Whitney said: “No pain that we suffer, no trial that we experience is wasted. …”

The Lord was not punishing the children of Israel, nor had He forgotten them. Rather, He was refining them and preparing them to become His covenant people and receive the blessings of the gospel. Professor Brown wrote:

Part of the Lord’s program for the Israelites was to force them to come to trust and rely upon Him for all of their needs. This process took place over time, beginning with the first interview of Moses and Aaron with Pharaoh and ending several weeks after they had left Egypt. The point of the growing lesson was that the Lord could be trusted and, indeed, had to be trusted. In effect, He left the Israelites without any resource upon which to call except Himself. It is my own view that the Israelites had to be brought to this state of mind and heart to become fully free. …

The children of Israel were on the road to becoming fully free. Professor Satterfield wrote:

It was the Lord’s intent to establish the descendants of Abraham as a unified people with one God and one religion. To the Israelites, the Lord said: “Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar [Hebrew, valued property] treasure unto me above all people . . . and ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation” (Exodus 19:5, 6). It was also the Lord’s design to get the Israelites ready to “behold the face of God” or bring them into his presence (Doctrine & Covenants 84:23).

1. Moses & the Exodus: The Lord Prepares a People and a Prophet

2. Moses and the Exodus: Pharaoh and the Plagues

3. Moses and the Exodus: Leading the Children of Israel out of Bondage

4. Moses and the Exodus: The Quest to Become a Covenant People

Pharaoh and His Dead Son, by James Tissot

Moses’ life can be divided into three 40-year time spans: his early years in Egypt, his sojourn in Midian and his mission as a prophet of God. The first article discussed his early years in Egypt and his sojourn in Midian. Now the time had come for Moses to begin the third phase. Moses returned to Egypt with his wife and sons. On the way, they met Aaron, Moses’ brother, who had been told by God to meet them. The stage was now set for one of the most magnificent displays of God’s power, patience and love for all of His children. Mormon scholar Kent S. Brown, professor of ancient scripture and director of ancient studies at Brigham Young University, wrote:

… The experience of the Israelites both before and during the Exodus formed a major focus for their faith in God from the age of Moses until our own day. For it was in this series of events that God revealed His mighty arm—and profound mercy—on behalf of an obscure, enslaved people whom He chose and then freed in order to bear His covenant of life and salvation to the nations of the earth. … In terms of Jehovah’s dealings with His people, the one act that characterized Him in the minds of ancient Israelites was His engineering their Exodus from Egypt. …

 

Notwithstanding the enormous emphasis and wide thematic treatment of the Exodus in scripture as a foremost focus of faith, it should also be recognized that the book of Exodus itself reveals an effort made by God to engender within the Israelites an absolutely firm trust in Himself.

But the road would not be without challenges. The extent of the efforts that God had to exert to gain the trust of the Israelites as well as the Egyptians underscores the enormity of the task at hand.

Spiritual Bondage

Perhaps the greatest challenges for the children of Israel were spiritual. Their spiritual chains ran deep. During their 400 years in slavery in the land of Egypt, the children of Israel had forgotten the God of their fathers. Mormon scholar Bruce Satterfield, professor of religion at Brigham Young University—Idaho, explained:

During this period of time, the Israelites gradually began to believe in and worship the Egyptian gods. Like most peoples of the ancient Near East, the Egyptians were polytheistic; that is, they believed in many gods. To the Egyptians, these gods controlled all the elements that allow men to live. They believed that by performing various rituals the gods would look kindly upon them and control the elements in such a way that mankind could survive and be happy. These rituals often involved immoral acts performed during the ritual action in the presence of the idols of the various gods located in temples or sanctuaries. As the Israelites began to follow Egyptian religious practices, they lost the knowledge of the gospel, the religion of the God their fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

 

However, the Lord was not going to allow this situation to continue. According to the promise that he had made with Abraham (that he would bless Abraham’s posterity with the gospel), the Lord now set his hand to restore Israel to the knowledge of the gospel.

Emphasizing the importance of choice, Elder Quentin L. Cook emphasized:

God intended that men and women would be free to make choices between good and evil. When evil choices become the dominant characteristic of a culture or nation, there are serious consequences both in this life and the life to come. People can become enslaved or put themselves in bondage not only to harmful, addictive substances but also to harmful, addictive philosophies that detract from righteous living.

 

Turning from the worship of the true and living God and worshipping false gods like wealth and fame and engaging in immoral and unrighteous conduct result in bondage in all its insidious manifestations. These include spiritual, physical, and intellectual bondage and sometimes bring destruction.

A Crisis of Doubt

Moses’ mission was to free the Israelites from both spiritual and temporal bondage. If Moses thought this work would be easy, he was mistaken. The Israelites had lost the religion—and the faith—of their fathers. Professor Brown wrote:

The idea of Israel’s inclination to doubt was already present in Moses’ interview with Jehovah during his call. (See Exodus 3–4.) This notion first appeared in Moses’ question about God’s name, for Moses was certain that the Israelites would not believe his announced purpose to deliver them from bondage if he could not repeat a name which the Israelite elders would recognize. (See Exodus 3:13.) Further, the signs which Moses was to perform—changing his rod to a serpent, making his hand leprous, and changing water to blood (see Exodus 4:1–9)—constituted a second indication of natural Israelite skepticism.

The skepticism didn’t end there. And the Israelites weren’t the first to express it once Moses returned to his place of birth. Professor Brown wrote:

After his return to Egypt, Moses’ first encounter with disbelief did not come in his initial meeting with the Israelite leaders but, remarkably, in his opening clash with Pharaoh. In that scene, narrated in chapter 5, we read that Pharaoh asked, “Who is the Lord [i.e., Jehovah], that I should obey his voice to let Israel go? I know not the Lord, neither will I let Israel go” (Exodus 5:2).

 

Pharaoh believed, it is clear, that he knew all the gods who mattered as far as Egyptian affairs were concerned. And then turning despotic, he decided to crush the Israelite’s unrest by requiring them to gather their own straw. We all remember the response of the Israelites when the proclaimed deliverers, Moses and Aaron, were returning to the Israelite villages after that first disappointing meeting with Pharaoh: “The Lord look upon you, and judge; because ye have made our savour to be abhorred in the eyes of Pharaoh, and in the eyes of his servants, to put a sword in their hand to slay us” (Exodus 5:21).

But the Lord had a purpose—even if the Israelites and Egyptians didn’t understand. Professor Brown explained:

The upshot of this scenario with Pharaoh and its resulting difficulties for the children of Israel was that even slaves, to obtain freedom, would have to suffer, in the language of Paul, “the loss of all things” (Philippians 3:8). Unbeknownst to the Israelites, they were beginning to be forced by God to rely neither on the now capricious Pharaoh and his foremen nor on their own abilities and resources. Said another way, the mainstays of their secure world, such as it was, had begun to collapse. Instead, God had begun to propel Israel toward a situation in which they would have to rely on Him alone, not upon anything or anyone else.

Thus, the crisis of doubt would become a lesson on faith.

The Hebrew God vs. Egypt’s Gods

Calling of the Fishermen (Christ Calling Peter and Andrew), by Harry Anderson

After Pharaoh refused to let the children of Israel go, Moses levied a series of plagues under the direction of Jehovah—the God of the Hebrews. In the first plague, Moses turned the water in the river Nile to blood, killing all the fish and rendering the water not drinkable. Pharaoh’s magicians did the same. But how did they replicate God’s power? The late President Joseph F. Smith explained:

All down through the ages and in almost all countries, men have exercised great occult and mystical powers, even to the healing of the sick and the performing of miracles. Soothsayers, magicians, and astrologers were found in the courts of ancient kings. They had certain powers by which they divined and solved the monarch’s problems, dreams, etc. One of the most striking examples of this is recorded in Exodus, where Pharaoh called “the wise men and the sorcerers” who duplicated some of the miracles the Lord had commanded Moses and Aaron to perform. When Aaron threw down his rod, it became a serpent. The Egyptian magicians threw down their rods, and they also became serpents. …

 

… The Savior declared that Satan had the power to bind bodies of men and women and sorely afflict them [see Matthew 7:22–23; Luke 13:16]. If Satan has power to bind the bodies, he surely must have power to loose them. It should be remembered that Satan has great knowledge and thereby can exercise authority and to some extent control the elements, when some greater power does not intervene. (Answers to Gospel Questions, 5 vols. [1957], 1:176, 178).

The plagues were a deliberate showing of the power of the God of the Hebrews—that He is the only God. Professor Satterfield wrote:

The plagues were intended to accomplish two things: (1) to show to both Egypt and Israel that the gods of Egypt were false, and thus (2) to soften Pharaoh’s heart so that he would follow the only true and living God and allow the children of Israel leave Egypt. Each plague was designed to accomplish this by showing that the God of the Hebrews had power over the various elements that the Egyptians believed were controlled by their false gods. For example, the Egyptians believed that the Nile was controlled by the god Hapi. However, when the Lord through Moses caused the Nile to turn to blood (a sign of death), the Egyptians religious rituals could not stop the plague but only add to it. Hence, Egypt was shown that the God of the Israel had control over the life-giving Nile and not their false deity, Hapi. Further, through the progression of each plague, Egypt and Israel was shown that the God of Israel was not limited in power but in fact the God over all the earth.

After the third plague, Pharaoh’s magicians told him: “This is the finger of God” (Exodus 8:19). But Pharaoh would not listen. The first three plagues—turning the river water to blood and infestations of frogs and lice— afflicted both Hebrews and Egyptians. But this changed with the fourth plague. Professor Brown wrote:

… Beginning with the plague of the flies, the plagues that ravaged Egypt made a clear distinction between the Israelite slaves and the Egyptians. (See Exodus 8:23; Exodus 9:4–7.)

God’s Purpose for Plaguing Egypt

Moses Speaks to Pharaoh, by James Tissot

It is at this point that some wonder why God punished the Egyptians with so many terrible plagues. Why did He not stay His hand? Why did God, as the scriptures say, harden Pharaoh’s heart? The answer to this question lies in another scriptural account. The Latter-day Saint Old Testament Manual explains:

The Joseph Smith Translation of Exodus 4:21 says, “I will prosper thee; but Pharaoh will harden his heart, and he will not let the people go.” This truth must be remembered in all subsequent references to the pharaoh’s heart being hardened. …

 

God gave the pharaoh a chance to let Israel go, of his own free will, to worship God. Through his refusal the pharaoh could blame no one but himself for the consequences.

The Lord allows the wicked, in this case Pharaoh, agency to choose as they will “according to the hardness of their hearts, that the judgments which he shall exercise upon them in his wrath may be just; and the blood of the innocent shall stand as a witness against them at the last day” (Alma 14:11).

As President Boyd K. Packer said:

We are free to choose what we will and to pick and choose our acts, but we are not free to choose the consequences. They come as they will come.

Elder Gerald N. Lund said:

The heart is a tender place. It is sensitive to many influences, both positive and negative. It can be hurt by others. It can be deadened by sin. It can be softened by love. …

 

Individual agency is so sacred that Heavenly Father will never force the human heart, even with all His infinite power. Man may try to do so, but God does not. To put it another way, God allows us to be the guardians, or the gatekeepers, of our own hearts. We must, of our own free will, open our hearts to the Spirit, for He will not force Himself upon us.

Thus, the Lord allowed Moses to plague the Egyptians until the pharaoh had softened his heart enough to let the children of Israel go.

Israel’s Oppressors Suffer Plagues

The Plague of Flies, by James Tissot

The plagues inflicted upon the Egyptians grew more severe as they went on. Again, each was an attempt to get Pharaoh to let Moses’ people go. In the fifth plague, all of the cattle—including horses, asses, camels, oxen and sheep (Exodus 9:3)—belonging to the Egyptians died. In the sixth, the Egyptian people and beasts were covered in boils (Exodus 9:8-11). In the seventh, hail and fire destroyed many of Egypt’s crops (Exodus 9:22-26).

After each plague, Pharaoh pled with Moses to stay God’s hand, saying that he would let the people go. And then he backtracked on his promise. But the response was different with the next plague. Elder Hugh W. Pinnock said:

After being threatened with hordes of locusts, Pharaoh agreed to let the men go if Moses would leave the women, the young, and the old behind. (See Exodus 10:3–11.)

 

However, Moses insisted that all should go. He said, “We will go with our young and with our old, with our sons and with our daughters, with our flocks and with our herds will we go” (Exodus 10:9). Moses refused to divide the people of God.

 

All ages would share the adventure and the dangers together…. The solidarity of the people of all ages is God’s way of doing things.

Moses refused to divide the people, and Pharaoh again refused to let the Hebrews go. Thus, the Lord sent the plague of locusts, which ate whatever greenery remained (Exodus 10:12-15). And in the ninth, there was three days of darkness (Exodus 10:21-23).

Of these plagues, the Old Testament Manual states:

There have been numerous attempts through the ages to explain the plagues described in these chapters of Exodus. Some have tried to show that the various plagues were the result of some natural phenomenon such as passing meteorites or the explosion of a volcanic island in the Mediterranean Sea. While there is some degree of logical progression in the plagues (the river’s pollution could have driven the frogs out of the marshes to die, and this situation would then have bred lice, flies, and disease), it is not possible at present to explain how the Lord brought about these miraculous events. The fact that the plagues were selective (that is, sent upon the Egyptians but not the Israelites) adds to their miraculous nature. God often works through natural means to bring about His purposes, but that fact does not lessen the miraculous nature of His work. In the plagues and eventual deliverance of Israel from the bondage of Egypt is a record of remarkable and miraculous intervention by God in behalf of His children. How He actually intervened is not nearly so significant as that He did intervene.

The other point to note is that God did not destroy the Egyptians in one great display of power. In His mercy, God gave them many chances to let His people go. And God warned them what would happen if they did not let His people go. But, even after nine attempts to gain their attention, the Egyptians would not heed the God of Israel.

The Last and Final Plague

Thus God commanded the tenth and final plague:

For I will pass through the land of Egypt this night, and will smite all the firstborn in the land of Egypt (Exodus 12:12).

This plague was to be different. The Israelites would not escape this plague without showing faith by participating in the ordinance of the Passover. Those who refused to do so would not be spared. This was to be in similitude of the future sacrifice of the Lamb of God—His Son, Jesus Christ. Elder W. Christopher Waddell explained:

For protection against “the destroyer” (Exodus 12:23), the Lord instructed His people to offer a sacrifice, a lamb “without blemish” (verse 5), and to collect the blood from the sacrifice. They were then to “take of the blood” and apply it to the entrance of each home—“the two side posts and … the upper door post” (verse 7)—with this promise: “And when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you” (verse 13).

 

“The children of Israel went away, and did as the Lord had commanded” (verse 28). They offered the sacrifice, collected the blood, and applied it to their homes. “And it came to pass, that at midnight the Lord smote all the firstborn in the land of Egypt” (verse 29). Moses and his people, according to the promise of the Lord, were protected.

 

The blood used by the Israelites, symbolic of the Savior’s future Atonement, was a product of the sacrifice they had offered. Nevertheless, the sacrifice and the blood alone would not have been sufficient to obtain the promised blessing. Without the application of the blood to the door posts, the sacrifice would have been in vain.

It was after this final, devastating event that Pharaoh relented. Exodus 12:30-31 states:

And Pharaoh rose up in the night, he, and all his servants, and all the Egyptians; and there was a great cry in Egypt; for there was not a house where there was not one dead.

 

And he called for Moses and Aaron by night, and said, Rise up, and get you forth from among my people, both ye and the children of Israel; and go, serve the Lord, as ye have said.

Pharaoh finally let Moses’ people leave—but they were not yet free. True freedom, for some, would take much longer than Moses likely imagined.

1. Moses & the Exodus: The Lord Prepares a People and a Prophet

2. Moses and the Exodus: Pharaoh and the Plagues

3. Moses and the Exodus: Leading the Children of Israel out of Bondage

4. Moses and the Exodus: Learning to Live the Ten Commandments

Moses and the Burning Bushes, by Jerry Thompson

The story of Moses leading the children of Israel out of bondage and the miracles leading up to it is powerful. For thousands of years, Jews and Christians have found spiritual strength in the lessons derived from this Old Testament experience. Even Hollywood has made movies based on this Biblical account. But some modern readers wonder about the historicity of the Bible and its stories, including this Old Testament account. A commentary on the Bible by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints states:

There is a broad range of approaches within the vast mosaic of biblical interpretation. For example, biblical inerrancy maintains that the Bible is without error and contradiction; biblical infallibility holds that the Bible is free from errors regarding faith and practice but not necessarily science or history; biblical literalism requires a literal interpretation of events and teachings in the Bible and generally discounts allegory and metaphor; and the “Bible as literature” educational approach extols the literary qualities of the Bible but disregards its miraculous elements.

So just how should we interpret the message of this Bible story? The historical and spiritual references weave together an intriguing tapestry of this Old Testament tale. It’s a story full of miracles and God’s hand in the lives of His people. Both New Testament and Book of Mormon prophets speak of this Old Testament prophet and his people. Ancient and modern scholars also write of them. After studying many sources, here is one Mormon’s perspective on Moses and the Exodus.

Growth of the Israelites in Egypt

The beginning of this story is just as important as the end. And both show the ways in which God works His miracles and fulfills His promises. This story begins not with Moses, nor even Joseph who was brought as a slave into Egypt, but with the biblical prophet Abraham. God promised Abraham that he would be fruitful and the father of many nations (Genesis 17:5-6). It was for this reason that Joseph, son of Jacob, was brought into Egypt and that he, in turn, brought his family. Elder Mark E. Petersen explained (Moses: Man of Miracles. Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1977, pp. 27-30):

The fulfillment of God’s promises to Abraham required that Israel should become numerous. To accomplish this, the little family, numbering only 70 persons (Genesis 46:26–27), needed sufficient time and a peaceful place in which to grow. Egypt was that place. …

 

… Palestine was a battleground for warring nations that moved back and forth in their conquests between the Nile and the Euphrates. Israel would have found no peace there. They required stable conditions for their eventual growth and development. …

But Egypt was only to be a place of preparation for the Israelites. Biblical scholar Nahum M. Sarna wrote:

The domicile of the Israelites in Egypt is not regarded as permanent. Most striking is the contrast between the private funeral of Joseph and the public state funeral earlier accorded his father, Jacob. Joseph’s family did not have the influence with the Egyptian authorities to secure for him a similar privilege. Moreover, Joseph himself seems to have been aware of the gathering storm clouds, for his dying words are “God will surely take notice of you and bring you up from this land to the land which He promised on oath to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. … When God has taken notice of you, you shall carry up my bones from here.” (Genesis 50:24–25.)

The Oppression of the Hebrew People

Egypt was a place of preparation, growth and trial for the children of Israel—the descendants of Jacob. They were welcomed by one ruling family and rejected by another.  The Latter-day Saint Old Testament Student Manual explains:

Many scholars speculate that Joseph came to power in Egypt while the nation was under the domination of the Hyksos people. The ancient historian Manetho called the Hyksos the shepherd-kings and told how their conquest and dominion were bitterly hated by the Egyptians. The Hyksos were Semitic peoples from the lands north and east of Egypt. Since Jacob and his family were also Semitic, it is easy to understand how Joseph would be viewed with favor by the Hyksos and also how, when the Hyksos were finally overthrown and driven out of Egypt, the Israelites would suddenly fall from favor with the native Egyptians.

 

Many people have wondered how Joseph could be vice-regent for so many years without having his name in any of the records or monuments of Egypt. If the theory of Hyksos domination is correct, then Joseph’s name would have been purged from records and monuments along with those of the other Hyksos rulers.

Eventually came the pharaoh who “knew not Joseph” (Exodus 1:8). The Israelites weren’t taken captive by the native Egyptian rulers; rather, the native Egyptian rulers moved into the land where the Israelites were living. Sarna explained:

Ramses II built his capital in the very area of Israelite settlement. This pharaoh achieved an unrivaled reputation as a vigorous builder on a prodigious scale. His vast public projects required an unlimited supply of labor, a high degree of organization, and the constant production of brick, masonry, and other building materials. The pharaoh could find a large pool of manpower at hand in the Israelite population, and he proceeded to exploit it fully. (See Exodus 1:11.) …

 

The enslavement of the Israelites was not domestic bondage, the type in which an individual becomes the chattel of a private master and lives in his household. What we are dealing with is state slavery, the organized imposition of forced labor upon the male population for long and indefinite terms under degrading and brutal conditions. The men so conscripted received no reward for their labors; they enjoyed no civil rights, and their lot was generally much worse than that of a household slave. Organized in large work gangs, they became an anonymous mass, losing all individuality in the eyes of their oppressors.

But this oppression also served a purpose. Elder Peterson wrote:

Their bondage certainly was not all on the negative side. It too served a good purpose. The cruelty of the taskmasters, the hatred that existed between the Hebrews and the Egyptians, and the length of their trying servitude fused Jacob’s children into a united people. …

 

The hatred they felt toward the Egyptians prevented intermarriage between the Hebrews and their neighbors. To reap the benefits of the Abrahamic promises, Israel had to remain a pure race, and the Lord used this means to achieve it. … Yes, Egypt had her role in the Lord’s mighty drama, and she played it well.

 

At the end of 430 years, the Lord now decreed that the time had arrived for Israel to occupy her own land and there become that “peculiar people” who would await the coming of their Messiah.

The Lord was refining His people—and using the Egyptians to do so. But the oppression was increasing. Sarna wrote:

One by-product the pharaoh hoped to achieve through this enslavement was a reduction in the male Israelite population, but it did not happen: “The more they were oppressed, the more they increased and spread out” (Exodus 1:12).

 

Accordingly, the king resorted to more barbarous measures. To achieve immediate and certain regulation of the population, he decreed the murder of all newborn Israelite males. The obligation to commit this infanticide was thrust upon the midwives. (See Exodus 1:15–16.)

 

… In issuing his decree to the midwives, the king obviously relied upon the ease with which the baby could be killed at the moment of delivery by means not easily detectable in those days. … Faced with an irreconcilable conflict between obedience to the sovereign’s depraved law and allegiance to the moral law of God, the midwives chose morality. Their noncompliance with the law, however, was not publicly announced but privately effected. They could not disclose the truth in response to the pharaoh’s interrogation because they would have been removed from a situation in which they could save lives.

Thus, even in their dire circumstances the Lord was blessing them and protecting them.

The Deliverer is Delivered from Death

Moses in the Bulrushes, by George Soper

Pharaoh’s plan to reduce the size of the Hebrew population had been foiled by the midwives. But then, like King Herod in the time of Christ, the monarch was told that a deliverer was coming. The Old Testament Manual explains:

Both the ancient Jewish historian Josephus and Jonathan ben Uzziel, another ancient Jewish writer, recorded that the pharaoh had a dream wherein he was shown that a man soon to be born would deliver Israel from bondage, and this dream motivated the royal decree to drown the male children (see Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews, bk. 2, chap. 9, par. 2; Clarke, Bible Commentary, 1:294).

The Lord’s hand, however, was not to be stayed. Sarna wrote:

Thwarted once again in his evil designs, the pharaoh then enlisted “all this people” in a national effort to annihilate the people of Israel. All newborn males are to be drowned in the River Nile (Exodus 1:22). That decree is ultimately tinged with irony, for the very agency of destruction that he chose—water—eventually carries the instrument of his own punishment, the infant Moses, into the arms of his sister.

Moses was the son of Levite parents, who hid him in their household until he was 3 months old. He was eventually put in a basket and sent down the river, where Pharaoh’s sister found him and adopted him as her own. She employed a Hebrew nursemaid—Moses’ own mother—to nurse and care for the child in the pharaoh’s house.

Moses’ Egyptian Education

Moses was raised as Egyptian royalty in Pharaoh’s palace. In the New Testament, the Apostle Steven said:

And Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and was mighty in words and in deeds (Acts 7:22).

Moses himself offers a summary of his early life in Egypt. (See Exodus 2:1-15.) Mormon scholar Sidney B. Sperry wrote:

Unfortunately, [Moses] explains nothing about his experiences as a member of the inner circle of Egyptian court life. Presumably he was familiar with the best in Egyptian education and diplomatic procedures of that day. And if we may trust the writings of Josephus, the Jewish historian, the Egyptians were not lax in putting to use the great leadership abilities of Moses during this period of his early life.

The Old Testament Student Manual further explains:

Josephus said that Moses was a very handsome and educated prince and a mighty warrior in the cause of the Egyptians (see Antiquities, bk. 2, chap. 9, par. 7; chap. 10, pars. 1–2).

 

As a prince, Moses may have had access to the royal libraries of the Egyptians as well as the scriptural record of the Israelites as taught by his mother. Quite possibly he read the prophecies of Joseph and was led by the Spirit to understand his divine appointment to deliver his brethren the Israelites. Stephen’s address implied that Moses understood his responsibility: “And when he was full forty years old, it came into his heart to visit his brethren the children of Israel. … For he supposed his brethren would have understood how that God by his hand would deliver them: but they understood not.” (Acts 7:23, 25.)

 

Paul, in Hebrews, added further to the concept, “By faith Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter; … esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt” (Hebrews 11:24, 26). Moses’ mother, Jochebed, likely taught him the principles and righteous traditions of the Hebrews as she nursed and cared for him (see Exodus 2:7–9).

The combination of religious, cultural and secular education gave Moses the tools that he would need later in life as the prophet of the Lord and Deliverer of the children of Israel.

A Prophet Begins to Feel His Call

Moses Slays an Egyptian, by James Tissot

It would appear that Moses began to feel that he was called to help his brothers and sisters of Israel. Although Moses may have felt the call to help his people, his early attempt did not go well. The scriptures teach:

And it came to pass in those days, when Moses was grown, that he went out unto his brethren, and looked on their burdens: and he spied an Egyptian smiting an Hebrew, one of his brethren.  And … he slew the Egyptian, and hid him in the sand.

 

And when he went out the second day, behold, two men of the Hebrews strove together: and he said to him that did the wrong, Wherefore smitest thou thy fellow?

 

And he said, Who made thee a prince and a judge over us? intendest thou to kill me, as thou killedst the Egyptian? And Moses feared, and said, Surely this thing is known.

 

Now when Pharaoh heard this thing, he sought to slay Moses. But Moses fled from the face of Pharaoh, and dwelt in the land of Midian…. (Exodus 2:11-15)

This event concludes Moses’ early days and training in the land of Egypt. But this was just the first step in preparing a covenant people that were prepared to be delivered from bondage—and the prophet of God who would deliver them.

Moses’ Spiritual Growth in Midian

Jethro and Moses, by James Tissot

After fleeing from the wrath of Pharaoh in Egypt, Moses traveled to the land of Midian. The time that Moses spent there was not wasted. It was another step in his preparation to become a prophet of God. It could be said that in Egypt, Moses received his secular education and in Midian he received his spiritual training. There he became a shepherd and married a woman named Zippora, who bore him two sons. (See Exodus 2:15–22 and Exodus 18:1–6.) His father-in-law was Jethro, or Reuel. Mormon scholar Sidney B. Sperry explained:

Jethro was very important in Moses’ life and work. The Old Testament calls him “the priest of Midian,” but modern revelation through Joseph Smith throws important light upon the priesthood of Jethro. According to the Doctrine and Covenants, section 84, Moses received the “Holy Priesthood … under the hand of his father-in-law, Jethro” (Doctrine & Covenants 84:6). …

 

Jethro’s spiritual training of Moses must have been extensive. It eventually led to the Lord himself instructing Moses and calling him to the ministry.

A Shepherd is Called of God

Moses’ father-in-law played an important role in his life both spiritually and temporally. Sperry wrote:

Moses became the keeper of Jethro’s flock, which made it necessary for him to move about in the desert to find suitable grazing sites. … It seems that Moses led Jethro’s flock westward into the desert, “to the mountain of God, even to Horeb.” (Exodus 3:1.) Here the Lord appeared to Moses from the burning bush….

It is here that Moses’ real spiritual preparation and training begins. Moses sees a bush that appears to be on fire but is not consumed (Exodus 3:2-3). Mormon scholar Ellis T. Rasmussen explained:

A manifestation was given to Moses by a messenger of light, causing a bush to appear to burn; it was really not afire and was not consumed. The word “angel” could better have been rendered “messenger” which is the basic meaning of the Hebrew word malakh. A flame in a bush, a mighty wind, a small voice, a great thundering, or other phenomena may herald a message from God, as a malakh of God. After Moses’ attention was drawn to the bush, the voice of the Lord Himself spoke to Moses; Moses responded in awe and reverence. (Rasmussen, Introduction to the Old Testament, 1:74.)

When the Lord had Moses’ attention, He said:

Moses, Moses … Draw not nigh hither: put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground. … I am the God of thy father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob….

 

I have surely seen the affliction of my people which are in Egypt, and have heard their cry by reason of their taskmasters; for I know their sorrows…. Come now therefore, and I will send thee unto Pharaoh, that thou mayest bring forth my people the children of Israel out of Egypt. (Exodus 3:4-10)

Moses responded, “Who am I, that I should go unto Pharaoh?” (Exodus 3:11). Of this response, Bishop Richard C. Edgley wrote:

One cannot fault Moses for this reaction to this call. After all, the Hebrews did not see him as their brother but rather as an oppressor aligned with Pharaoh, and Pharaoh saw Moses as a traitor whose life he sought. To give Moses assurance about what seemed an almost insurmountable task, the Lord told Moses to cast his staff upon the ground. The staff immediately turned into a serpent. The Lord then gave other signs to demonstrate His power and assure Moses that with the Lord’s help he was equal to the task. (See Exodus 4:2–9.)

 

Moses made another attempt to express his feelings of inadequacy. He explained that he was “slow of speech, and of a slow tongue.” In response, the Lord said, “Who hath made man’s mouth?” He explained that He would “be with thy mouth, and teach thee what thou shalt say.” When Moses still expressed his uncertainty, the Lord assigned Aaron, Moses’s brother, to be Moses’s mouthpiece. (See Exodus 4:10–16.)

 

Undoubtedly Moses was comforted. He understood that the Lord was on his side and that he would be able to perform the task.

The children of Israel had been sufficiently refined, and the Lord had prepared a prophet. The time had come for the Lord’s prophet to lead His people out of bondage.

1. Moses & the Exodus: The Lord Prepares a People and a Prophet

2. Moses and the Exodus: Pharaoh and the Plagues

3. Moses and the Exodus: Leading the Children of Israel out of Bondage

4. Moses and the Exodus: The Quest to Become a Covenant People