In the Old Testament, the Second Book of Moses, entitled "Exodus", tells how this great prophet organized the exodus of Jews from Egypt in the second half of the 2nd century BC. e. The first five books of the Bible also belong to Moses and describe amazing stories and divine miracles for the salvation of the Jewish people.
How many years Moses drove Jews in the desert
The founder of the Jewish religion, the legalist and the first Jewish prophet on earth was Moses. Many are completely interested in wondering how many years Moses led the Jews through the desert. In order to understand the essence of what is happening, first you need to familiarize yourself with the plot of this story. Moses (the biblical character) rallied all the tribes of the people of Israel and led him to the land of Canaan, promised by God to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. It was on him that God placed this overwhelming burden.
The birth of moses
The question of how many years Moses led the Jews through the desert is worth examining in great detail. The story of Moses begins with the fact that the new king of Egypt, who did not know the prophet Joseph and his merits before Egypt, worried that the people of Israel is multiplying and becoming strong, begins to treat him with particular cruelty and forces him to excessive physical labor. But the people all the same grew stronger and increased. And then the pharaoh ordered to throw all the newborn Jewish boys into the river.
At this time, in one family from the Levin tribe, a woman gave birth to a baby, she put it in a basket with a resin-treated bottom and let it down the river. And his sister began to observe what would happen to him next.
At this time, the daughter of the pharaoh bathed in the river and suddenly, hearing a baby cry in the reed, she found the child in a basket. She took pity on him and took him to her. His sister immediately ran to her and offered to find a nurse. Since then, his mother became his nurse. Soon the boy grew stronger and became the daughter of Pharaoh, like a son. She gave him the name Moses - because she pulled him out of the water.
Moses grew up and saw the hard work of his brothers Israel. One day he saw an Egyptian beating a poor Jew. Moses, looking around so that no one would see him, killed the Egyptian and buried his body in the sand. But soon Pharaoh found out about everything, and then Moses decided to flee from Egypt.
Escape from Egypt
So Moses ended up on the land of Midian, where he met a priest and his seven daughters, one of whom - Zipporah - became his wife. Soon their son Gersham was born.
After some time, the king of Egypt dies . The people of Israel cry out from misfortune, and this cry is heard by God.
Once, when Moses grazed the sheep, he saw a flaming thorn bush, which for some reason did not burn. And suddenly he heard the voice of God, which ordered Moses to go back to Egypt, save the children of Israel from slavery and bring them out of Egypt. Moses was very frightened and began to pray to God that He would choose someone else.
He was afraid that they would not believe him, and then the Lord endowed him with signs. He asked to throw his rod on the ground, which immediately turned into a snake, and then forced Moses to take her by the tail, so that the rod would again become. Then God made Moses stick his hand in his bosom, and then it turned white and covered with leprosy. And when he again put her in the bosom, she became healthy.
Return to Egypt
God appoints Aaron's brother as Moses' assistant. They came to their people and showed signs that they believed that God wants them to serve him, and the people believed. Then Moses and his brother came to Pharaoh and asked him to let the people of Israel go, because God so commanded them. But Pharaoh was adamant and considered all the signs of God as a cheap trick. His heart hardened even more.
Then God sends ten terrible executions to the pharaoh: one the water of lakes and rivers turned into blood, where the fish became dead and stinking, then the whole earth was covered with toads, then midges came up, then the songs of a fly, then a pestilence, then abscesses, then hail of ice, then locusts, then darkness. Each time one of these executions occurred, the pharaoh relented and promised to let the people of Israel go. But when he received forgiveness from God, he did not keep his promises.
The exodus of the Jews from Egypt becomes almost impossible, but not for God, who subjected his people to the most terrible execution. At midnight, the Lord struck the death of all the Egyptian first-born. And only then did Pharaoh let the Israelites go. And Moses leads the Jews out of Egypt. The Lord showed the path to the promised land to Moses and Aaron day and night in the form of a pillar of fire.
Moses leads Jews out of Egypt
Recovering from horror, the pharaoh sets off after them, taking with him six hundred selected chariots. Seeing the approach of the Egyptian army, the sons of Israel, who were located by the sea, were very frightened and screamed. They began to rebuke Moses that it was better to be slaves of the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness. Then Moses lifted the rod from the commandment of the Lord, and the sea parted, and land was formed. And the people of Israel went out of six hundred thousand, but the Egyptian chariots did not stop either, then the water closed again and sank the entire enemy army.
The Israelis made their way through the waterless desert. Gradually, water supplies ran out, and people began to suffer from thirst. And suddenly they found a source, but the water in it turned out to be bitter. Then Moses threw a tree at him, and she became sweet and potable.
Anger of the people
After some time, the people of Israel fell upon Moses with the anger that they lacked bread and meat. Moses reassured them, assured that in the evening they would be full of meat, and in the morning they would be full of bread. By evening, a quail came flying, which could be caught with hands. And in the morning the manna of heaven fell like hoarfrost, it lay on the surface of the earth. She tasted like a honey cake. Manna became their constant food sent by the Lord, which they ate until the very end of their long journey.
At the next test stage, they did not have water, and again they fell upon Moses with angry speeches. And Moses, according to the will of God, struck the rock with his rod, and water came out of it.
A few days later, the Amalekites attacked the Israelites. Moses told his loyal servant Jesus to choose strong men and fight, and he himself began to pray on a high hill, raising his hands to the sky, as soon as his hands fell, the enemies began to win. Then the two Israelites began to support the hands of Moses, and the Amalekites were broken.
Mount Sinai. The commandments
The people of Israel continued on their way and stopped near Mount Sinai. It was the third month of his wanderings. God sent Moses to the top of the mountain and said that His people should prepare to meet with Him, so that they would be clean and washed their clothes. On the third day there were lightning and thunder, and a strong trumpet was heard. Moses and the people received the Ten Commandments from the mouth of God, and now they had to live by them.
The first one says: serve the one True God who brought you out of the land of Egypt.
Second: do not make yourself an idol.
Third: do not pronounce the name of the Lord in vain.
Fourth: Do not work on Saturdays, but glorify the name of the Lord.
Fifth: honor your parents so that you feel well and the days of your life on earth last.
Sixth: do not kill.
Seventh commandment: Do not commit adultery.
Eighth: Do Not Steal.
Ninth: Do not utter false witnesses against your neighbor.
Tenth: do not desire anything your neighbor, neither his house, nor his wife, nor his field, nor slave or slave of his, nor his ox, nor his donkey.
The Lord called Moses to Mount Sinai and talked with him for a long time, at the end of the conversation he handed him two stone tablets with the commandments. Moses spent forty days on the mountain, and God taught him how to carry out His orders correctly, how to build a camp tent and serve in it his God.
Golden Taurus
Moses was gone for a long time, and the Israelites could not stand it, and doubted that God favored Moses. And then they began to ask Aaron to return to the pagan gods. Then he ordered all women to remove the gold jewelry and bring it to him. From this gold he poured out a calf, and, as to God, they sacrificed to him, and then they arranged a feast and sacred dances.
When Moses saw with his own eyes all this unholy feast, he was very angry, threw the tablets with revelations. And they crashed on a rock. Then he wiped the golden calf into powder and poured it into a river. Many that day repented, and those who did not do so were killed, and there were three thousand.
Then Moses returned to Mount Sinai to stand before God and ask Him to forgive the people of Israel. The magnanimous God had mercy and again gave Moses the tablets of revelation and the Ten Commandments. Moses spent the whole year with the Israelites at Mount Sinai. Having built the tabernacle, they began to serve their God. But now God commands to go on a journey to the land of Canaan, but already without Him, and sets an Angel before them.
Curse of god
After a long journey, they finally saw the promised land. And then Moses ordered to gather twelve people to send them to scout. Forty days later, they returned and said that the land of Canaan was fertile and densely populated, but also had a strong army and powerful fortifications, so it was simply impossible to conquer it, and for the people of Israel this would be certain death. Hearing this, the people almost stoned Moses and decided to look for a new boss instead, and then they completely wished to return to Egypt.
And the Lord was more angry than ever before against the people of Israel, who did not believe him with all his signs. Of the twelve scouts, he left only Jesus, Nun and Caleb, who were ready to fulfill the will of the Lord at any moment, and the rest died.
The Lord the people of Israel at first wanted to exterminate with a plague, but then, after the intercession of Moses, he was forced to wander in the deserts for forty years, until those who murmured, twenty years old and above, died out, and allowed only their children to see the land promised to their fathers.
Canaan land
Moses drove the Jewish people through the desert for 40 years. Over the years of hardships and hardships, the Israelites repeatedly reproached and scolded Moses and murmured against the Lord himself. Forty years later, a new generation grew up, more adapted to wandering and harsh life.
And then the day came when Moses led them to the land of Canaan to conquer it. Having reached its borders, they settled down near the Jordan River. Moses was one hundred and twenty years old at that time; he felt that his end was near. Rising to the very top of the mountain, he saw the promised land, and in complete solitude he appeared before God. Now, God has laid the obligation to lead the people to the promised land on Jesus, the son of Nun.
Israel no longer had a prophet like Moses. And it didn’t matter to everyone how many years Moses had taken the Jews through the desert. Now they mourned the death of the prophet for thirty days, and then, having crossed the Jordan, they began to fight for the land of Canaan and, in the end, after a few years conquered it. Their dreams of the promised land have come true.