Similarities and differences of Moses distinctive mental and moral qualities as portrayed in the two law books which are Exodus and Numbers.

Exodus and Numbers are among the law books. In Greek bible (Septuagint, or LXX) it is called Exodos, meaning “going out”. This book tells us how the Israelites lived in slavery in the land of Egypt, how God in His Majesty choose Israelites to be his people and raised a leader who is Moses to lead them out of the land of slavery, through the wilderness to his promise land which is Canaan. The book of Numbers which in Greek means “in the desert of” is the fourth book of the five books of law or Torah. Numbers is the culmination of the story of Israel from oppression and their journey to take possession in the Promised Land which God had promised their forefathers. Moses means “drawn from water” .He was a leader and a prophet that God had raised from the tribe of Levi, during the time of King Pharaoh. Through God’s power he lived in the palace as the prince and later went to live as a shepherd in his father-in-law’s place. His life is well explained in the early chapters of the book of Exodus. In (Exodus 3), he encounters God in the burning bush and his God given tasks starts and continues until the end of the book of Numbers, God uses Moses because of his distinctive mental and moral qualities, therefore throughout this article, I will tackle the similarities of Moses’s character in Exodus and Numbers and contrast of his character in the two books.

Here are the similarities of Moses’s character in both books, the meekness of Moses was discernible at the burning bush He considered himself not being eloquent, neither in the past nor in the future and not ready to take the great task that the Lord was giving him. Moses pleaded with God to give someone else that assignment But the lord assured him that He was to walk with him for he was God the creator of the universe (Exodus 4:10-13). In the book of (Numbers 12:3).The bible clearly states that Moses was a humble man more than anybody on earth. When they faced opposition he didn’t consider himself as being supreme but he trusted in God who worked through him. God used Moses because of his humility.

In the two books Moses is depicted as a man of courage. He is able to move the people of Israelites from the land of Egypt to the land of Canaan .He takes this role with courage and is not worried how his action of returning to Israel might influence him since Pharaoh might have known his deeds. In Numbers, he leads the people of Israelites without caring about their murmurings. He follows God’s instructions to the letter and does not fear the outcomes of the instructions whether they will be followed by the Israelites or not

Moses was selfless; he had no selfless ambitions When the Israelites sinned against God by asking Aaron to build an idol for them to worship, Moses had an agility to ask for forgiveness on their behalf, (Exodus 32).Moses pleaded with God not to let his anger burn against his own people whom he had brought out of Egypt with great power and might. Consequently, we see God relenting and not bringing down the disaster Moses did not consider himself as having not sinned against God but he carried their burden at heart Again in (Numbers 12) when Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses because of marrying an Ethiopian woman, the Lord came down upon them in form of a pillar of cloud, the Lord called them out of the tabernacle his anger kindled against them and as a result of that, Miriam become leprous and white as snow. When Moses saw that, he beseeched God to have mercy on her and the lord heard Moses’s plea. He did not take into account that Miriam and the brother Aaron were his accusers, but he swiftly stood in for them, indeed he was altruistic.

Moses showed love for God and Israelites in many distinctive ways. When God commanded him he did not relent. No matter how sophisticated the task was, He was just ready to comply with God’s authority, all this is a sign of love to Him. For love and obedience goes hand in hand (Exodus 40:16).Moses is not only showing love to God but also the Israelites in (Exodus 18:13-16),he sits to listen to their diverse problems from morning to evening, moreover Moses intercedes for them out of love after they sinned against God by disobeying him. God entirely, relent His punishment on them because of Moses love that was shown through intercession. Love covers a multitude of sins, a principle that is well known to Moses. He prayed for his accusers and interceded for them that sinned against God, he had the heart for people

Moses and Aaron were instructed by the Lord to confront King Pharaoh and ask him to set the Israelites free from bondage of slavery and they obeyed at every other point and as a matter of facts this instructions were not easy.(Arnold ,2015) Moses is instructed in many instances in Exodus first in chapter 3 during the burning bush he is told to remove his sandals before getting anywhere near the burning bush and he obeys ,secondly when the lord instructed him to perform each of the ten plagues he did not relent but obeys to the latter. At the time when God commanded him to make a sanctuary for him a place where he will dwell amongst them Moses apparently submitted to that order. .Nevertheless, Moses proved to be disobedient in Numbers. (Van Seters and John, 1994) When they reached the desert of Zin Israelites argued with Moses concerning lack of water. Moses failed to honor God as holy before Israelites, and again failed to believe in God, For God intended that Moses should speak to the rock but Moses failed in regard to the third imperative, which is a sign of disobedience to him. Therefore the lord pronounced that he will not see the Promised Land (Numbers20).

Faith requires no evidence for belief or practice. The very nature of faith surmises that tangible evidence doesn’t exist. Moses walked with the Lord and built trust in him. He also had faith in him. All this are depicted in Exodus and Numbers .Moses acceptance of vacation and mission, given to him by God is a vivid indication that he was a man of great faith. For he accepted to take the great task not having any slightest idea of what is before him (Exodus 14).Prayer enkindles faith and in many occasion we encounter Moses praying to God, this a clear suggestion that he had faith in him and he was faithful to him that he didn’t want to do that which is contrarily to his word and that is the reason why, whenever the Israelites asked him of anything he would look up to God .and do what the Lord entirely instruct him to do. Unfaithfulness to God is having faith in oneself but the Lord requires one to have faith and trust in him. This can be shown by honoring his word .Moses however failed to honor God in (Numbers 20&27); consequently, he did not reach Canaan.

Self-control is a subset of patient .Moses was a self-controlled man. In many instances he understood that self-control is necessary to keep us away from sinning even when we have been provoke just like in (Exodus 15 & 16).When the Israelites complained to him for having let them to come and die in the desert he remained composed. This grumbling was not only from the Israelites but also from his enemies, the Israelites immediately after release from Egypt started to grumble against Moses. However, he was patient with them. Moses encounter with Pharaoh at the time of the ten plagues is a vivid indication that he was a man with patience. He did not get weary of the stubbornness of Pharaoh. In (Numbers 11) as the Israelites walked in the wilderness Moses grew weary of their grumbling in verse 11-15, Moses is troubled and he spoke with God asking Him what to do ,for he was tired of their complains Moses didn’t understand what the Israelites wanted .They had become too much of a nuisance that Moses grew impatient. He was no longer self-controlled, as a result God appointed other 70 leaders to help him in (Numbers 11:16-17.)

Moses was a Hebrew, he was raised in the Egypt’s royal family as the grandson of Pharaoh .His revulsion to injustice erupted into a lethal attack on an Egyptian man he found beating an Hebrew worker .Moses discerned to be true to his people for he had learned that he was a Hebrew and he wanted nothing less than justice to them. However this discernment for truth didn’t stop there, when the Lord called him having no idea of what to tell Pharaoh and the Israelites .He is depicted as a man of war in the book of Exodus since he wanted to revenge on what the Egyptian had done to one of his people the Israelite. He is depicted as a man of war and we see him running away after revenging by killing the Egyptian. He flees in order to run away from Pharaoh since he knew something bad would happen if Pharaoh heard that an Egyptian was killed. In book of Numbers he is depicted as a very calm man who is ready to do anything for God .He is ready to lead the people to the Promised Land, although at some point this does not come to pass.

In the book of Exodus Moses is depicted as a man who was eager to take the Israelites out of Egypt into the land of Canaan.(Arnold,2015) The Israelites quickly heed to his directions which came from God through Moses. The people follow the commands without any challenges since they knew Moses was their savior from God. However this is not the case in Numbers since the Israelite are very disobedient making Moses not to have the same eagerness as in the beginning of their journey from Egypt. The disobedience causes Moses to regret having taken the role of moving the Israelite from the Egypt to the Promised Land. He becomes remorseful to God and asks Him why He had allowed this to happen to him.

In both the book of Exodus and Numbers, Moses is depicted as a man who had full trust in the LORD. He agreed to walk with the Israelites up to the Promised Land which was a risky for him since he had earlier on killed an Egyptian and returning back to Egypt would mean that Pharaoh would deal with him mercilessly because of his act. In the book of Numbers his trust in the Lord is greatly witnessed since it is here that he experiences a lot of pressure from the Israelites. Despite all this he remains trusting in the Lord and many times pleads with God when the Israelites are involved in sin against God (Mathew, 2016)

In the book of Exodus, Moses is depicted as a man with great fear which is witnessed during his commission by God to rescue the children of Israelite and when he escapes the Land of Egypt after the killing of the Egyptian. He asks God to give him a helper who would help him in communicating to the Israelite. This shows his fear towards his calling since he was afraid to go alone and lead the Israelite to the Promised Land. Moses escape from the land of Egypt shows his immense fear since he was worried of what Pharaoh would do to him on discovery that he had killed an Egyptian. In the book of Numbers Moses is a filled with fear when the Israelites became so disobedient to God and their cries of wishing that Moses would return them to Egypt rather than facing the harsh climate in the desert. This makes Moses worried since he knows that the Israelites can turn on him any time when their journey to the Promised Land is not successful

In conclusion, Moses is depicted as a man who was full of faith and obedience to God. Despite the ever increasing pressure from the Israelite, Moses remains strong and continues with his mission that he was granted by God. His courage to move the people of Israelite from the Promised Land is a thing to be emulated .He is a man who has had a great favor from God and is trusted with the responsibility of taking the people of Israelite from the Promised Land to Canaan. However strong he was he was unable at some point to follow the instructions of God to the letter and this makes him not to reach the land of Canaan.