MOSES THE SINNER

When it comes to prominent characters in the Old Testament, rabbinical scholarship over the years has had the tendency to engage in hagiography, i.e. idealizing its subjects by stressing their good points and explaining away their deficiencies. This is especially true where the Patriarchs are concerned. The best corrective to such wasted efforts is to keep in mind that in the OT there is only one hero, God Himself.

Let us take a look at Moses' life for example. For one thing, it is hard to deny that he had a major problem with keeping his temper in check, even if it his outbursts were usually of the type that would be called righteous indignation. But even a little righteous indignation goes a long way since not one of us is inherently righteous.

Moses' problems start out with a sin that most of us would consider the greatest one of all – the murder of a fellow human being (see Exodus 2:11-15). Several facts come out from this account of Moses' killing of the Egyptian who was beating a Hebrew. It was not done on the spur of the moment in hot blood since we are specifically told that Moses first carefully looked around to make sure he was unobserved before killing the man. Thus, we could not really call it unpremeditated, an accident, self defense, or manslaughter. Secondly, he carefully concealed the body, hoping that no one would find it. Thirdly, when a fellow Hebrew revealed that the incident was known by others, Moses reacted out of sheer fear by running away before Pharaoh could arrest and execute him. This is despite the fact that it is doubtful Pharaoh would have done that to his own adopted grandson.

Certainly Satan felt this murder was a great enough sin that he argued with the archangel Michael about the fate of Moses' body after death. We only know about this incident from its mention in Jude 9. Jude is apparently quoting from a pseudepigraphal Jewish writing known as either the Assumption of Moses or the Testament of Moses. While these two may be the same document, some scholars feel they are two separate accounts. Unfortunately, the existing copies of this work (or works) are missing the final pages which would have contained this incident. But the early church fathers were in agreement that this served as the source of Jude's comments since he also quotes from this writing in verse 17.

In any case, the event should not be confused with the eternal fate of Moses' soul. As Neyrey says, Jude seems uninteresting in the state of Moses' soul at death, but rather focuses both on Michael's 'not daring' [to rebuke Satan] and especially on the Lord's eventual judgment.”

We pick up Moses' life in Exodus 3, where we learn that he has settled in to a comfortable life tending sheep and has married the daughter of Jethro, a priest of Midian. At least later in the life of Israel, such intermarriages were highly criticized as leading to heterodox religious practices and out-and-out apostasy. Just witness the spiritual downfall of Solomon and the drastic actions taken by Ezra after the return from Exile to purify the remnant who had returned to Jerusalem.

Then, Moses has his direct interview with God in the burning bush. But at this point, Moses' tendency to fear comes back and he begins making excuses as to why he is unsuitable for the role God has planned out for him. It is only when God reveals that “those who were seeking your life are dead” that Moses actually musters up enough nerve to travel back to Egypt to confront Pharaoh (Exodus 4:18-20).

At this point we run into the mysterious incident in which God actually tries to kill Moses, presumably because he had failed to circumcise his son as he should have. Some have deduced that perhaps Moses had given in to his pagan wife's objection to carry out that needed act (Exodus 4:24-26). If so, then it is an indication that, like Solomon afterward, he was willing to compromise his religious beliefs to keep peace in the family.

Several commentators have found verification of that scenario from Zipporah's harsh comments regarding Moses being “a bridegroom of blood to me.” It is as if she is saying, “If your strange god demands blood, then here it is!”

We could look on this event as being the third time Moses revealed that he was much more afraid of man (and woman) than he was of God.

For most of the rest of the time in the wilderness, Moses could not be accused of any grievous sort of sin, unless one wishes to count the time when he managed to break all ten commandments at the same time upon seeing the Israelites break only one, that of idolatry (Exodus 32:19). Of course, Moses only “broke” the commandments in a literal way, not a figurative one.

Then we come to the puzzling episode recorded in Numbers 20:1-13 in which God tells Moses to command a rock bring forth water for the people to drink from. Instead, in his anger at the people, Moses strikes the rock instead. For that seemingly minor infraction, God tells him that he will never be allowed into the Promised Land. The question is Why?

David Wright voices the opinion of many scholars: “Moses and Aaron apparently sin by not clearly attributing the miracle to God.” He points to verse 12 where God tells Moses that he did not “show my holiness before the eyes of the Israelites.” In confirmation of that viewpoint is the key pronoun “we” in verse 10 when Moses asks the people: “Shall we bring water for you out of this rock?”

As an alternative explanation for Moses' inability to enter the Promised Land, there is the comment given in Deuteronomy 1:34-37, and repeated in 3:23-29, that God was angry with Moses on account of the first generation's unwillingness to enter and possess the land when they were told to. But why was Moses held accountable for that failure?

Craigie says, “The reason for Moses' exclusion from the promised land, in this context, seems to be directly related to his responsibility for the Israelites...his identification with the people as their leader meant that he also accepted with them the result of their failure.”

Levinson even goes a step further in talking about Moses “vicariously bearing the punishment due Israel for her sins.” Thus, in that way, Moses is seen as a type of Christ to come.

Despite Moses' personal failures in his life and God rebuking him on several occasions, that does not equate to him being excluded from the heavenly kingdom. We see a hint of that in Deuteronomy 34:6 where the Hebrew text literally states that after Moses' death “He buried him,” clearly referring to God's personal action. And this attitude of God toward Moses is confirmed by his subsequent appearance with Elijah in a glorified form at the Mount of Transfiguration.

Paradoxically, rabbinical attempts to make light of Moses' failings in order to present him as the model Israelite without fault have the unintended effect of similarly making light of the extent of God's grace. But that same thing happens every single time that works-oriented Christians feel they can earn their way into heaven by living a sinless life.