Moses

Moses stands at the centre of the Pentateuch as the defining leader, mediator, and prophet of the Old Testament. No figure in the Hebrew Bible occupies as much narrative space or bears as much covenantal weight. He is the man through whom Yahweh delivers Israel from Egypt, through whom the Law is given at Sinai, through whom the tabernacle is built, and through whom Israel is prepared to enter the land, even as Moses himself is prevented from going in.

His role as mediator is foundational to understanding everything he does. He stands between Yahweh and the people at every critical point: receiving the Law on their behalf, interceding when they sin, bringing back the response of the people to God. The people cannot stand before Yahweh at Sinai; they ask Moses to stand for them. He bears the weight of the nation’s covenant relationship with God in a way that no other individual before Christ does.

The New Testament’s treatment of Moses is deliberate and consistent. Hebrews 3 presents him as a faithful servant in Yahweh’s house, while Christ is the Son over the house. John 1 says the Law came through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. Moses is not diminished by this comparison; he is honoured as the one who foreshadowed the greater mediator to come, and who, according to John 5, wrote about him. The articles below trace Moses through several of the defining passages in his story.