Brief history of Moses. bible story of moses story of prophet moses

Ve-li-ki pro-rock and for-ko-no-da-tel from-ra-il-chan pro-is-ho-dil from co-le-na Le-vi-i-na. He was born in Egypt around 1570 B.C. In all his na-chi-na-ni-yah and steps, Mo-and-this was a weapon-di-em in the hands of the All-above-not-go. Mo-and-this was a man-lo-ve-com, someone-ro-mu God revealed the secrets of being: co-re-re-ing of the world and man-lo-ve-ka . On Mount Xi-nai-sky, he received from God 10 for-for-ve-dey of Him. With the power of God, she created great knowledge and miracles. Pre-sta-vil-sya 120 years in the country of Mo-avit-sky. Buried in a valley near Beth-fe-go-ra, but “no one knows the place to bury him, even to this day” ().

About the life of Mo-and-sey, the books of the Bible are in the West-woo-yut - Is-hod, Numbers-la and Vto-ro-for-ko-nie.

Kontakion of Prophet Moses

The face of the prophet with Moses and Aaron is rejoicing today, / as if the end of their prophecy has been fulfilled on us; / today the Cross shines, by which Thou hast saved us. / / With those prayers, Christ God, have mercy on us.

Translation: The meeting of the prophets with Moses and Aaron today joyfully triumphs, because the result of their prophecies has been fulfilled on us: today the Cross shines, by which we are saved. Through their prayers, Christ our God, have mercy on us.

Who is the prophet Moses, you can find out from the Bible. His biography is set forth in the Old Testament. According to Scripture, this is the central actor events that determined the fate of the Jewish people as God's chosen.

He is called the God-seer because he communicated directly with God. It was to Moses, according to the biblical legend, that the Lord handed over the tablets - stone slabs on which the ten commandments were carved, which later became the basis of Christian morality.

Prophet Moses the God-seer - a short life

The biography of this extraordinary man, who lived several millennia ago, is of great interest to the present day both for professional researchers of biblical history and for ordinary people familiar with the Holy Scriptures.

This is what a brief retold biography of the saint looks like.

Birth of Moses

Pharaoh Ramses II, who came to power in the homeland of the prophet, in Egypt, where Jews lived at that time, was afraid that in the event of war, foreigners would betray him and go over to the side of opponents. Pharaoh began to pursue a policy of genocide, forcing the Israelites to hard work, and also ordered the killing of all newborn boys in Jewish families.

This order came into force on the eve of the birth of Moses, who became the third child in the family of Amram and his wife Jochebed - the future prophet had a brother Aaron and a sister Miriam.

Childhood and youth

Parents managed to hide the fact of his birth. Realizing that it would be impossible to do this longer, and in order to save the baby, the parents put the baby in a basket and hid it in the papyrus thickets off the banks of the Nile. The daughter of the pharaoh, who came with the maids to the river bank, accidentally found a basket. Knowing about the father's order, the princess understood who the child was, but, struck by the beauty of the baby, decided to take the child up.

The baby did not want to take the breast of any nurse, then Mariam, Native sister Moses, came up and offered to find a nurse for the baby. She was the boy's mother. The woman then brought the boy to the palace as the adopted son of the Pharaoh's daughter. He lived there until he became an adult. However, the young man knew about his origin, and never worshiped the Egyptian gods.

Escape to the desert

Once he saw an Egyptian beating a Jew, and while defending his fellow tribesman, he accidentally killed the attacker. Fleeing from persecution, the adopted son of the princess flees through the desert to the land of Midian, finds shelter in the house of the priest of this people and becomes the husband of his daughter.

How many years did it take the prophet to mature physically and spiritually for the main feat of his life - leading the Jewish people out of Egyptian slavery? During the flight from Egypt, Moses was forty years old, and he lived the same in Midian, so by the time of the exodus he was already 80.

Calling Moses by God

Once, when the saint was tending his father-in-law's sheep not far from Mount Horeb, the Lord appeared in the form of a burning but not burning thorn bush. When the shepherd tried to come closer and take a closer look at this miracle, he heard the voice of God, ordering him not to approach. The voice called on the saint to return to Egypt to lead the Jews out of captivity.

In order to strengthen the spirit of the prophet, God made the rod (shepherd's staff) in the prophet's hand turn into a snake. The Lord warned his chosen one to be ready for difficulties, since the embittered pharaoh would not agree to let the Jews go free. Since the prophet had a speech impediment, the Lord sends brother Aaron with him.

Moses and Aaron go to Pharaoh

The pharaoh was no longer the ruler from whom the future prophet fled forty years ago. In response to Moses' demand to give the Jews the opportunity to leave Egypt, the pharaoh only laughed, but increased the labor service of his slaves.

But Moses did not leave the king alone, demanding freedom for his fellow tribesmen.

Having received another refusal, he threatened the pharaoh with terrible punishments of God. Pharaoh did not believe, but the threat became a reality: the Lord, by the hand of Moses, began to send “executions”, that is, punishments, to the Egyptians.

Ten plagues

First, as the legend says, it became a punishment with blood, when all the water in the Nile and other reservoirs turned into blood, “smelt” (rotten), and it became impossible to drink it. At the same time, it remained clean and transparent in the homes of Jews. The Egyptians had to buy drinking water from their slaves.

But the pharaoh did not believe that this was God's punishment, but attributed the damage to the water to witchcraft. He called for the help of his sorcerers, who also managed to turn the pure water bought from the Jews into blood.

Second The Egyptian execution was an invasion of toads (frogs), which came out of the water and filled the whole earth with themselves, crawling into the houses of the Egyptians. Toads were everywhere - on the floor and on the walls, in bed and dishes. Witchcraft Egyptian priests, trying to rid the country of toads, led to an even greater increase in their number.

Pharaoh began to ask Moses to pray for him before the Lord, so that He would return the frogs back to the rivers, promising to release the Jews. The request was fulfilled, but the ruler violated this word, and did not let the tribesmen of the prophet go.

Third the execution was an invasion of midges that covered the surface of the earth, attacking people and livestock.

This time, the Magi themselves, realizing their impotence, recognized this punishment by the finger of God and urged the ruler to agree with the demand of the leader of the Jews, but the pharaoh again refused.

fourth was the punishment of "dog flies" - insects that combined the persistence of flies and the aggressiveness of dogs. It was a kind of gadfly that dug into the skin of people and animals, leaving behind bleeding wounds. And no one could hide from them anywhere.

Only the area of ​​Goshen, where the Israelites lived compactly, was free from flies. So the Creator showed that all these disasters are not just " ecological catastrophy”, but the punishment of the Lord, which is selective.

Fifth the plague was the death of cattle, which struck domestic animals throughout Egypt. Only the cattle in the stables of the Jews survived.

Sixth execution- Moses and Aaron, taking a handful of soot in their hands, threw it in front of Pharaoh's face, after which the ruler himself and all his subjects, as well as their animals, became covered with sores and boils. Frightened, the pharaoh decided to let the Jews go, but again changed his mind.

Seventh the execution was a fiery hail, accompanied by thunder and lightning.

Pharaoh again began to ask for mercy from the Lord for Egypt, again promising to allow the Jews to leave freely, and did not keep his word.

eighth execution - the wind brought clouds of locusts from the desert, which destroyed all the green growth on earth, not only cultivated plants, but also ordinary grass. The same story repeated itself - first the ruler calls on God's mercy, promising to fulfill the requirements of Moses and Aaron, then he forgets about his promises.

With ninth A darkness fell over the country, which neither candles nor torches could dispel. The darkness was so thick and dense that you could touch it with your hands.

tenth and the last Egyptian execution was the death of the firstborn in all Egyptian families, from the heir to the Pharaonic throne, to the firstborn of the prisoner who was in prison. The first-born of all the domestic animals of the Egyptians also perished.

It happened within just one night. And all the children and animals of the Israelites were alive and unharmed, since God, through the prophet, ordered the Jews to smear the doorposts of their houses with the blood of the sacrificial lamb so that the Angel, the executor of God's punishment, would not enter inside.

Establishment of Easter

After the tenth plague, the pharaoh finally allowed the Jews, led by Moses and Aaron, to leave Egypt. In memory of this event, the Jews established a special holiday - Passover, the Exodus, or the Jewish Passover, which became the prototype of the Christian.

On the day of Passover, every Jewish family arranges a meal at which specially prepared lamb meat is served, in memory of the sacrificial lamb, whose blood was smeared on the doorposts of Jewish houses.

Exodus of Moses from Egypt. Crossing the Red Sea

After the Lord brought the Israelites out of Egyptian captivity, He ordered the Jews to go to the land of Canaan. The shortest way there lay through the territory occupied by warlike tribe the Philistines, but the Jews, weakened by captivity and hard work, would not be able to overcome it.

The Slavic translation of the Bible says that the prophet led the people to the Red Sea, but which sea is meant is not immediately clear. The fact is that the Slavs called the Red Sea the Red Sea, which is a narrow bay of the Indian Ocean.

Coming to his senses after all the disasters experienced, the pharaoh, whose pride was hurt by the fact that he had to yield, equipped war chariots and chased the departed, wanting to avenge the humiliation. Caught between the army of the ruler and the sea waters, the Jews prepared for death.

God did not leave them here either: He sent a wind that parted the waters, exposing the seabed in the narrowest place, and all the people, led by the prophet, walked along it to the other side. The memory of this transition has been preserved to this day not only in the Holy Scriptures, but also in the legends and parables of the Israelites.

Seeing what a deep sea Moses and his people crossed with ease, Pharaoh set off after him, hoping to “slip through” as well. But the heavy chariots got bogged down in the damp sea sand, and as soon as the last Israelite set foot on the opposite shore, the wind changed, the waters returned to their place, and the Pharaoh's army perished.

Miracles Performed by Moses

In the desert, people did not have enough food, and in the evenings, during halts, they began to grumble, remembering that in Egypt they always had meat. Suddenly, flocks of quails descended from the sky, covering the entire camp, and by morning dew fell. After the moisture had evaporated, what was left on the ground was something resembling a grain, which the Israelites called manna.

The food tasted like a wheat cake with honey. This miracle was repeated every morning, throughout the journey.

Then the people began to suffer from thirst, and reproaches fell again on the leader - why he brought them out of Egypt, where there was always plenty of water. Then, with God's help, the prophet drew water from the stone. At the same time, having become angry with the people and losing his temper, he violated the will of God for the only time in his entire life - instead of appealing to the rock, he struck it with a staff.

When a spring gushed from there, people began to believe that it was not the Lord, but Moses himself who gave them water. This act of the prophet was the reason why the saint did not enter the promised land.

The next test was the battle with the Amalekites. The Israelites fought them under the command of Joshua, and the prophet watched the progress of the battle, standing on a hill with a staff in his hands. When he raised his hands, the Israelites took over, and when he lowered them, they retreated.

To ensure victory for the tribesmen in the battle, which lasted from dawn to sunset, Aaron and one of his assistants, Hor, supported the tired hands of the prophet. After the victory, God told the prophet to record this event in a book.

Sinai Covenant and 10 Commandments

Three months after the exodus from Egypt, the Jews approached Mount Sinai. God warned the saint that here He would descend to the people. In preparation for the meeting, the Israelites should wash themselves, change into clean clothes and, while fasting, abstain from the marital bed.

On the appointed day, with thunder and lightning, a dark cloud appeared over the top of the mountain and a roar was heard, reminiscent of the sound of a trumpet. The whole mountain shook, and the people were very frightened - they realized that this was the voice of God, who spoke to Moses.

The Lord ordered the prophet to go up the mountain. The leader of the Israelites began to rise, but the people remained below. When the prophet stood before the face of God, He handed him the tablets.

Wrath of Moses

The leader was absent for 40 days, and everyone began to consider him dead. At the request of the people, Aaron created an idol - a golden calf, similar to Egyptian idols, which people began to worship, thereby violating the main commandments of God.

The returned prophet in anger destroyed the idol and broke the tablets of the covenant. His despair knew no bounds - he understood that the Lord could turn away from the Israelites who had committed such a grave sin as apostasy.

The prophet returned to Mount Sinai and began to pray to God for the forgiveness of his fellow tribesmen. If He does not want to forgive the Israelites, then the saint is ready to share the responsibility with them - let Him cross out his name from His book.

According to the fervent prayer of Moses, which lasted 40 days, the Lord restored His covenant with the chosen people. He confirmed all his promises, and also ordered to make new tablets and write 10 commandments on them.

Having accomplished his feat of prayer, the prophet descended from Sinai. His face, after fellowship with the Lord, shone so brightly that he had to cover it with a veil so as not to blind the Israelites.

Construction and Consecration of the Tabernacle

Soon after receiving the tablets, the Lord gave the Jews the command to build a Tabernacle - a camp church. The tablets were placed in the ark and brought into the Tabernacle.

The place where it was installed was covered with a cloud, which became visible sign God's presence. When the cloud rose up, it was a sign that it was time for the people to move on.

End of wandering. Death of Moses

The Israelis continued to express their indignation at different reasons, sadness of the prophet and causing the wrath of God, who determined the Jews to wander in the desert for 40 years, until those who became a troublemaker and did not believe in divine providence pass away.

Finally, this period is over - people have come to the borders of the promised land. God took Moses to Mount Nebo and showed it to him. After this, Moses blessed his people by handing over the reins of government to Joshua. Shortly thereafter, he died.

Conclusion

Accurate information about how long Moses lived has not been preserved in history. Judging by the information given in the Holy Scriptures, the years of Moses' life are about 120 years.

The Valley of Moab is mentioned as the place where he was buried, but his grave remains unknown. Memorial Day of the Prophet Moses is celebrated Orthodox Church September 17, new style.

After the death of Patriarch Joseph, the position of the Jews changed dramatically. New king, who did not know Joseph, began to fear that the Jews, having become a numerous and strong people, in the event of war, would go over to the side of the enemy. He placed leaders over them to wear them out with hard work. Pharaoh also ordered the death of newborn Israelite boys. The very existence of the chosen people is at stake.. However, the Providence of God did not allow this plan to be carried out. God saved from death and the future leader of the people - Moses. This greatest Old Testament prophet descended from the tribe of Levi. His parents were Amram and Jochebed (Ex 6:20). The future prophet was younger than his brother Aaron and sister Miriam. The baby was born when the pharaoh's order was in force to drown newborn Jewish boys in the Nile. The mother hid her child for three months, but then she was forced to hide it in a basket in the reeds on the river bank. The pharaoh's daughter saw him and took him into her house. Watching from afar, Moses' sister offered to bring a wet nurse. According to God's providence, it was so arranged that his own mother became the breadwinner for him, raising him in her house. When the boy grew up, his mother brought him to the pharaoh's daughter. While living in the royal palace as an adopted son, Moses was taught all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and was mighty in word and deed (Acts 7:22).

When he forty years old he went out to his brothers. Seeing that an Egyptian was beating a Jew, he, protecting his brother, killed the Egyptian. Fearing persecution, Moses fled to the land of Midian and was received in the house of the local priest Raguel (aka Jethro), who married his daughter Zippora to Moses.

Moses lived in Midian Fourty years. During these decades, he gained that inner maturity that made him capable of accomplishing a great feat - with the help of God, free the people from slavery. This event was perceived Old Testament people as central to the history of the people. It is mentioned more than sixty times in Holy Scripture. In memory of this event, the main Old Testament holiday was established - Easter. The Exodus has a spiritual and representative significance. The Egyptian captivity is an Old Testament symbol of the slavish submission of mankind to the devil until the redemptive feat of Jesus Christ. Exodus from Egypt heralds spiritual liberation through the New Testament sacrament of baptism.

The Exodus was preceded by one of the most important events in the history of the Chosen People. epiphany. Moses was tending his father-in-law's sheep in the desert. He went to Mount Horeb and saw that the thorn bush is engulfed in flames, but does not burn out. Moses began to approach him. But God called to him from the midst of the bush: don't come here; put off thy sandals from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground. And he said: I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob(Ex 3:5-6).

Outer side visions - a burning, but not burning thorn bush - depicted plight of the Jews in Egypt. Fire, as a destructive force, indicated the severity of suffering. As the bush burned and did not burn out, so the Jewish people were not destroyed, but only cleansed in the crucible of disasters. This is a prototype of the Incarnation. The Holy Church adopted the symbol of the Burning Bush Mother of God . The miracle lies in the fact that this thorn bush, in which the Lord appeared to Moses, has survived to this day. It is located in the fence of the Sinai monastery of the Holy Great Martyr Catherine.

The Lord appeared to Moses and said, scream the sons of Israel suffering at the hands of the Egyptians came to him.

God sends Moses on a great mission: bring my people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt(Ex 3:10). Moses humbly speaks of his weakness. To this indecision, God answers with clear and full of all-conquering power words: I will be with you(Ex 3:12). Moses, having received high obedience from the Lord, asks for the name of the One who sent it. God said to Moses: I am the Existing (Ex 3:14). Word Existing in the Synodal Bible, the hidden name of God is transmitted, inscribed in the Hebrew text with four consonants ( tetragram): YHWH. The place cited shows that the prohibition to pronounce this secret name appeared much later than the time of the exodus (perhaps after the Babylonian captivity).

During the reading aloud of sacred texts in the tabernacle, the temple, and later in the synagogues, instead of the tetragram, another name of God was pronounced - Adonai. In Slavic and Russian texts, the tetragram is given by the name Lord. in biblical language Existing expresses the personal principle of absolute self-sufficient being, on which the existence of the entire created world depends.

The Lord strengthened the spirit of Moses two miraculous acts. The rod turned into a snake, and Moses' hand, covered with leprosy, was healed. The miracle with the rod testified that the Lord gave Moses the authority of the leader of the people. The sudden defeat of Moses' hand with leprosy and its healing meant that God endowed His chosen one with the power of miracles to fulfill his mission.

Moses said he was tongue-tied. The Lord strengthened him: I will be with your mouth and teach you what to say(Ex 4:12). God gives the future leader as an assistant to his older brother Aaron.

Having come to Pharaoh, Moses and Aaron, on behalf of the Lord, demanded that the people be released into the wilderness to celebrate the holiday. The pharaoh was a pagan. He declared that he did not know the Lord and the people of Israel would not let him go. Pharaoh was hardened against the Jewish people. The Jews did hard work at that time - they made bricks. Pharaoh ordered that their work be made heavier. God again sends Moses and Aaron to declare His will to Pharaoh. At the same time, the Lord commanded to perform signs and wonders.

Aaron threw his rod before Pharaoh and before his servants, and it became a serpent. The wise men and sorcerers of the king and the magi of Egypt did the same with their charms: they threw down their wands, and they became snakes, but Aaron's rod swallowed up their rods.

The next day, the Lord commanded Moses and Aaron to perform another miracle. When the pharaoh was going to the river, Aaron struck the water in front of the king's face and water turned to blood. All reservoirs in the country were filled with blood. The Egyptians Nile was one of the gods of their pantheon. What happened to the water was to enlighten them and show the power of the God of Israel. But this first of the ten plagues of Egypt only hardened Pharaoh's heart even more.

Second execution took place seven days later. Aaron stretched out his hand over the waters of Egypt; and went out frogs and covered the ground. The disaster prompted Pharaoh to ask Moses to pray to the Lord to remove all the frogs. The Lord fulfilled the petitions of His saint. The toads are dead. As soon as the king felt relieved, he again fell into bitterness.

Therefore followed third execution. Aaron struck the ground with his rod, and there appeared midges and began to bite people and livestock. In the Hebrew original, these insects are named kinnim, in Greek and Slavic texts - sketches. According to the Jewish philosopher of the 1st century Philo of Alexandria and Origen, these were mosquitoes - a common scourge of Egypt during the flood period. But this time all the dust of the earth became midges throughout all the land of Egypt(Ex 8:17). The Magi could not repeat this miracle. They said to the king: this is the finger of God(Ex 8:19). But he didn't listen to them. The Lord sends Moses to Pharaoh to speak on behalf of the Lord to let the people go. If he does not comply, they will be sent to the whole country dog flies. It was fourth plague. Her tools were flies. They are named canine, apparently because they had strong bite. Philo of Alexandria writes that they were distinguished by their ferocity and persistence. The fourth plague has two features. First of all, The Lord works a miracle without the mediation of Moses and Aaron. Secondly, the land of Goshen, where the Jews lived, was freed from disaster so that Pharaoh could clearly see the absolute power of God. The punishment worked. Pharaoh promised to let the Jews go into the desert and offer a sacrifice to the Lord God. He asked to pray for him and not to go far. Through the prayer of Moses, the Lord removed all the flies from Pharaoh and the people. Pharaoh did not let the Jews go into the desert.

Followed fifth plague - pestilence which struck all the cattle of Egypt. The Jewish cattle, however, the calamity has passed. This execution was also carried out by God directly, and not through Moses and Aaron. The stubbornness of the pharaoh remained the same.

Sixth execution was accomplished by the Lord only through Moses (when the first three were accomplished, Aaron was the mediator). Moses took a full handful of ashes and threw them into the sky. People and cattle covered abscesses. This time, the Lord Himself hardened Pharaoh's heart. He did this, apparently, in order to further reveal to the king and all the Egyptians His all-conquering power. God says to Pharaoh: I will send tomorrow, at this very time, a very strong hail, which has not been in Egypt since the day it was founded until now.(Ex 9:18). The holy writer notes that those servants of Pharaoh who were afraid of the words of the Lord, hastily gathered their servants and flocks into their houses. The hail was accompanied by thunder, which can be explained as the voice of God from heaven. Psalm 77 gives further details of this execution: They crushed their grapes with hail, and their sycamores with ice; gave up their livestock to hail and their flocks to lightning(47-48). Blessed Theodoret explains: “The Lord brought upon them hail and thunder, showing by the fact that He is the Lord of all the elements. This execution was carried out by God through Moses. The land of Goshen was not affected. It was seventh plague. Pharaoh repented: this time I sinned; The Lord is righteous, and I and my people are guilty; pray to the Lord: let the thunders of God and hail cease, and I will let you go and hold you no longer(Ex 9:27-28). But repentance was short-lived. Soon the pharaoh again fell into a state bitterness.

Eighth plague was very scary. After Moses stretched out his rod over the land of Egypt, The Lord brought a wind from the east lasting day and night. The locusts attacked all the land of Egypt and ate all the grass and all the greenery on the trees.. Pharaoh repents again, but, apparently, as before, his repentance is superficial. The Lord hardens his heart.

Peculiarity ninth plague in that it was caused by the symbolic action of Moses, who stretched out his hands to heaven. Installed for three days thick darkness. Having punished the Egyptians with darkness, God showed the insignificance of their idol Ra, the god of the sun. Pharaoh gave in again.

Tenth plague was the scariest. The month of Aviv has arrived. Before the start of the exodus, God commanded to celebrate Easter. This holiday became the main one in the Old Testament sacred calendar.

The Lord told Moses and Aaron that every family on the tenth day of Abib (after the Babylonian captivity, this month became known as Nissan) took one lamb and kept him separate until the fourteenth day of that month, and then stabbed him to death. When the lamb is slain, let them take from its blood and they will anoint on both jambs and on the crossbar of the doors in the houses where they will eat it.

At midnight on the 15th of Abib, the Lord struck in the land of Egypt all the firstborn, as well as all original livestock. The first-born Jews were not harmed. As the doorposts and beams of their houses were anointed with blood sacrificial lamb, The angel who slew the firstborn of Egypt, passed by. Established in memory of this event, the holiday was called Easter (Heb. passover; from a verb meaning jump over something).

The blood of the lamb was a type of the atoning blood of the Savior, the blood of cleansing and reconciliation. Unleavened bread (unleavened bread), which the Jews were supposed to eat on Easter days, also had a symbolic meaning: in Egypt, the Jews were in danger of becoming infected with pagan wickedness. However, God brought the Jewish people out of the country of enslavement, made them spiritually pure people, called to holiness: And you will be holy to me(Ex 22:31). He must reject the former leaven of moral corruption and start a clean life. Unleavened bread that cooks quickly symbolized that speed with which the Lord brought His people out of the land of slavery.

Easter meal expressed common unity of its participants with God and among themselves. Symbolic meaning It also had the fact that the lamb was cooked whole, with the head. Bone shouldn't have broken.

One of the central events Old Testament is the story of Moses, the salvation of the Jewish people from the power of the Egyptian pharaoh. Many skeptics are looking for historical evidence of the events that took place, since in the biblical account there were many miracles performed on the way to However, be that as it may, this story is quite entertaining and tells about the incredible liberation and resettlement of an entire people.

Background and birth of Moses

The birth of the future prophet was initially shrouded in mystery. Almost the only source of information about Moses was the biblical writings, since direct historical evidence does not exist, there are only indirect ones. In the year of the prophet's birth, the ruling pharaoh Ramses II ordered all newborn children to be drowned in the Nile, because, despite the hard work and oppression of the Jews, they continued to be fruitful and multiply. Pharaoh was afraid that someday they might take the side of his enemies.

That is why Moses' mother hid him from everyone for the first three months. When this was no longer possible, she tarred the basket and placed her child in it. Together with her eldest daughter, she took it to the river and left Mariam to see what happens next.

God was pleased that Moses and Ramses met. History, as mentioned above, is silent about the details. The pharaoh's daughter picked up the basket and brought it to the palace. According to another version (which some historians adhere to), Moses belonged to the royal family and was the son of that very daughter of the pharaoh.

Whatever it was, but the future prophet was in the palace. Miriam, who was watching the one who lifted the basket, offered Moses' own mother as a wet nurse. So the son returned to the bosom of the family for a while.

The life of a prophet in the palace

After Moses grew up a little and stopped needing a nurse, his mother took the future prophet to the palace. There he lived for quite a long time, and was also adopted by the daughter of the pharaoh. Moses knew what kind he was, knew that he was a Jew. And although he studied on a par with the rest of the children royal family, but did not absorb cruelty.

The story of Moses from the Bible testifies that he did not worship the numerous gods of Egypt, but remained faithful to the beliefs of his ancestors.

Moses loved his people and every time he suffered when he saw their torment, when he saw how mercilessly each Israelite was exploited. One day something happened that forced the future prophet to flee from Egypt. Moses witnessed a severe beating of one of his people. In a fit of rage, the future prophet snatched the whip from the hands of the overseer and killed him. Since no one saw what he did (as Moses thought), the body was simply buried.

After a while, Moses realized that many already knew what he had done. The pharaoh orders the arrest and death of his daughter's son. How Moses and Ramses treated each other, history is silent. Why did they decide to try him for the murder of the overseer? You can take into account different versions of what is happening, however, most likely, the decisive factor was that Moses was not an Egyptian. As a result of all this, the future prophet decides to flee from Egypt.

Flight from the Pharaoh and the later life of Moses

According to biblical data, the future prophet went to the land of Midian. The further story of Moses tells of his He married the daughter of the priest Jethro Zipporah. Living this life, he became a shepherd, learned to live in the desert. He also had two sons.

Some sources claim that before marrying, Moses lived for some time with the Saracens, had a prominent position there. However, it should still be taken into account that the only source of narration about his life is the Bible, which, like any ancient scripture, over time has acquired some kind of allegorical touch.

Divine Revelation and the Appearance of the Lord to the Prophet

Be that as it may, but the biblical story about Moses tells that it was in the Midian land, when he was tending the flocks, that the Lord's revelation came to him. The future prophet at that moment was eighty years old. It was at this age that on his way he met a bush of thorns, which blazed with flame, but did not burn out.

At this point, Moses was instructed that he must save the people of Israel from Egyptian rule. The Lord commanded to return to Egypt and lead his people to the promised land, freeing them from long-term slavery. However, the Almighty Father warned Moses about the difficulties on his way. In order for him to have the opportunity to overcome them, he was given the ability to work miracles. Due to the fact that Moses was tongue-tied, God commanded him to take his brother Aaron to help him.

Return of Moses to Egypt. Ten plagues

The story as a herald of God's will began on the day when he appeared before the pharaoh, who ruled at that time in Egypt. This was a different ruler, not the one from whom Moses had fled in his time. Of course, the pharaoh refused the demand to release the Israeli people, and even increased the labor service for his slaves.

Moses and Ramses, whose history is more obscure than researchers would like, clashed in opposition. The prophet did not reconcile himself to the first defeat, he came to the ruler several more times and eventually said that God's punishment would fall on the land of Egypt. And so it happened. By the will of God, there were ten plagues that fell on Egypt and its inhabitants. After each of them, the ruler called on his sorcerers, but they found the magic of Moses more skillful. After each misfortune, Pharaoh agreed to let the people of Israel go, but changed his mind each time. Only after the tenth Jewish slaves became free.

Of course, the story of Moses did not end there. The prophet still had years of travel, as well as a clash with the unbelief of his fellow tribesmen, until they all reached the Promised Land.

Establishment of Passover and Exodus from Egypt

Before the last plague that befell the people of Egypt, Moses warned the people of Israel about it. It was the killing of the firstborn in every family. However, the warned Israelites anointed their door with the blood of a lamb no older than one year, and their punishment passed.

On the same night, the celebration of the first Easter took place. The story of Moses from the Bible tells of the rituals that preceded it. The slaughtered lamb had to be baked whole. Then eat standing up, having gathered the whole family. After this event, the people of Israel left the land of Egypt. Pharaoh, in fear, even asked to do it sooner, seeing what happened at night.

From the first dawn came the fugitives. The sign of God's will was a pillar, which was fiery at night and cloudy during the day. It is believed that this Easter was eventually transformed into the one we know now. The emancipation of the Jewish people from slavery symbolized just that.

Another miracle that happened almost immediately after leaving Egypt was the crossing of the Red Sea. At the command of the Lord, the waters parted, and dry land was formed, along which the Israelites crossed to the other side. The pharaoh who was chasing them also decided to follow the bottom of the sea. However, Moses and his people were already on the other side, and the waters of the sea closed again. So the pharaoh died.

The Covenants Moses Received at Mount Sinai

The next stopping point for the Jewish people was Mount Moses. The story from the Bible tells that on this way the fugitives saw many miracles (manna from heaven, spring water springs appearing) and strengthened in their faith. Ultimately, after a three-month journey, the Israelites came to Mount Sinai.

Leaving the people at its foot, Moses himself climbed to the top for the instructions of the Lord. There, a dialogue took place between the Universal Father and his prophet. As a result of all this, ten commandments were obtained, which became the main ones for the people of Israel, which became the basis of legislation. Commandments were also received that covered civil and religious life. All this was written in the Book of the Covenant.

Forty Years' Journey Through the Wilderness of the Israelite People

Near the Jewish people stood for about a year. Then a sign was given by the Lord to move on. The story of Moses as a prophet continued. He continued to bear the burden of mediating between his people and the Lord. For forty years they wandered in the desert, sometimes living for a long time in places where conditions were more favorable. The Israelites gradually became zealous executors of the covenants that the Lord had given them.

Of course, there were outrages. Not everyone was satisfied with such long wanderings. However, as the story of Moses from the Bible testifies, the people of Israel nevertheless reached the Promised Land. However, the prophet himself never reached her. Moses had a revelation that another leader would lead them on. He died at the age of 120, but no one ever found out where it happened, since his death was a mystery.

Historical facts confirming biblical events

Moses, whose life story we know only from biblical stories, is a significant figure. However, is there any official data that confirms his existence as a historical figure? Some consider all this to be just a beautiful legend that was invented.

However, some historians are still inclined to believe that Moses is a historical figure. This is evidenced by some of the information contained in the biblical story (slaves in Egypt, the birth of Moses). Thus, we can say that this is far from a fictional story, and all these miracles actually happened in those distant times.

It should be noted that today this event is displayed more than once in the cinema, and cartoons have also been created. They tell about such heroes as Moses and Ramses, whose history is little described in the Bible. Special attention the cinematography focuses on the miracles that happened during their journey. Be that as it may, but all these films and cartoons educate morality in the younger generation and instill morality. They are also useful for adults, especially those who have lost faith in miracles.

Then the king of Egypt began to fear that the people of Israel would unite with the enemies of Egypt and, desiring freedom, would not arm themselves against it. He assigned special overseers to the Israelites, who were charged with the duty of exhausting them with hard work. They tortured the Israelites with particular cruelty, forcing them to cultivate the land, make bricks and build cities, both for the sake of vanity and, in particular, in order to quickly exterminate the Jewish people.

But the more they became embittered against the Israelites and exhausted them, the more they multiplied: for they could not reduce the number of people whom it was pleasing to God Himself to multiply and exalt. And although the king gave a secret command to the midwives, so that they, at the very birth, would kill Jewish male babies; but those, fearing God, spared them. Then the king issued an inhuman command throughout the Egyptian land, according to which anyone who noticed a male Jewish baby was to throw him into the river (Ex., ch. 1).

At that time there lived a certain man named Amram, from the tribe of Levi, who had a wife from the same tribe, whose name was Jochebed; to this day they have had a son, Aaron, and a daughter, Miriam. At that very cruel time, when newborn Jewish babies were exterminated, their second son was born; the child was so beautiful that the mother, knowing the brutal law on the killing of all newborn Jewish babies, grieved for the baby and decided to hide him at home, which she did for three months. But then, since she could no longer hide the baby, she took a basket, pitched it, put the child in it and placed it in the reeds near the river bank. The baby's sister began to watch from a distance what would happen to him (Ex. 2:2). And the daughter of Pharaoh 3 went out to the river 4 to bathe, and her servants walked along the river bank. She saw a basket among the reeds, and sent her handmaid to take it. Opening the basket and seeing a crying baby in it, she took pity on him and said: "This is from Jewish children." The princess wanted to adopt the baby and find him a Jewish nurse. According to the legends of Joseph Flavius ​​5, many Jewish nurses were brought to the found baby, but he did not accept milk from them. Then Miriam, the sister of Moses, dared to approach Pharaoh's daughter and said to her:

“Wouldn’t it be right for me to call a Jewish nurse to you to nurse your baby?”

Pharaoh's daughter answered her, "Go," and she brought her mother to her. And Pharaoh's daughter said to her:

“Take the baby and nurse it: I will pay you for it.

Jochebed took the baby, and he clung to her, feeling his mother in her. she fed him in her house; when the child grew up, she brought him to the daughter of Pharaoh, who adopted him and called his name: Moses, " because, she said, I took it from the water"(the name in Egyptian means water) (Ex. 2: 7-10).

In some ancient legends 6 it is told that one day the daughter of Pharaoh brought Moses to her father, and he, playing with him, placed on his head a royal crown, on which there was a small statue of an idol; Moses, having torn off the crown from his head, threw it on the ground and trampled it under his feet. The pagan priest, who received a prediction from the Magi 7 that when a leader was born to the Israelites, Egypt would suffer many plagues, advised the Pharaoh to kill the baby so that he, having grown up, would not cause any disaster to their country. But, according to the good will and dispensation of God, others rebelled against this, saying that the baby did it not intentionally, out of ignorance. To test his infantile ignorance, hot coals were brought, and he took them and put them into his mouth, which caused his tongue to be seared and, as a result, became tongue-tied.

When Moses came of age, the daughter of the king assigned to him the most chosen wise men of Egypt to teach him all the wisdom of Egypt, and he was strong in words and deeds, surpassing his teachers in a short time and becoming the favorite of the king and all his closest dignitaries (Acts 7: 21-22). When he learned about his origin, that he was an Israelite, and knew the One God, who exists in heaven, the Creator of the universe, in whom his people believed, he began to abhor Egyptian pagan wickedness (Heb.22:24-26).

Some historians write 8 that when the Ethiopians fought against Egypt, then Moses, who had already reached adulthood, was chosen by the Egyptians as commanders and, thanks to his courage, defeated the enemies. However, the king of Egypt, instead of gratitude, hated him even more, because some of the Egyptian priests in their sorcery prophesied that Moses would bring disaster on Egypt in the future, and advised the king to kill him. Under the influence of their suggestions, the king really planned to kill Moses, but he did not proceed to this immediately, not wanting to offend his daughter, and hoping to find some fault behind him or to wait for a more convenient time.

It happened that Moses went to his compatriots, the sons of Israel, and examining their hard work, he saw that an Egyptian was beating a Jew. Noticing that there was no stranger near that place, he killed the Egyptian and hid his body in the sand. The next day, he went out again and, seeing two quarreling Jews, he said to the one who started the quarrel:

Why are you lying to your neighbor?

And he said:

“Who made you the chief and judge over us?” Are you thinking of killing me as you killed the Egyptian yesterday?

Moses, hearing this, was afraid and said to himself:

“Probably everyone knew about this case.

Pharaoh, hearing about this, wanted to kill Moses; but Moses fled from Pharaoh and stopped in the land of Midian (Ex. 2:11-15).

Tired of the long journey, Moses sat down by the well. And behold, the seven daughters of Jethro, the priest of Midian, 9 came to the well, tending their father's flocks. They began to fill the troughs with water to water the sheep. But the shepherds of the other flocks came and drove them away. Then Moses got up and protected the maidens, drew water for them and gave water to their sheep.

The maidens, having returned home, told their father that some Egyptian had protected them from the shepherds and had even drawn water for them and watered their sheep. Jethro hurried to invite Moses to him, took him into the house and then gave him his daughter Zipporah in marriage, from whom Moses had two sons. He called the first Risam, “because,” he said, “I became a stranger in a strange land,” and the second, Eliezer, saying: “The God of my father was my helper and delivered me from the hand of Pharaoh” (Ex. 2:16 -22).

After a long time, the king of Egypt died. And the children of Israel groaned from their work, and their cry for the heavy yoke went up to God. And God heard their groaning, and God remembered His covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. And God looked upon the sons of men, and desired to set them free (Ex. 2:23-25).

Moses was tending sheep at Jethro, his father-in-law. One day he led the flock far into the wilderness and came to the mountain of God Horeb 10 . And then the Angel of the Lord appeared to him in a fiery flame from the midst of a thorn bush 11 , and Moses saw that the thorn bush was burning with fire, but was not consumed.

Moses at the Burning Bush (in Slavic thorn acacia - bush). Icon of Byzantine icons of Sinai.

Moses said:

“I’ll go and look at this great phenomenon, why doesn’t the bush burn down?”

The Lord called to him from the midst of the bush:

- Moses, Moses!

He replied:

“Here I am, Lord!”

And God said to him:

– Do not come here; put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground.

And he added to this:

“I am the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.

Moses covered his face because he was afraid to look at God.

I, - the Lord said to Moses, - saw the suffering of my people in Egypt, the cry from their ministers, and I know their sorrows. And I go to deliver him from the hand of the Egyptians and bring him out of this land and bring him into a fruitful and spacious land, into the land of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Gergesites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites, into a land flowing with milk and honey 12 . And behold, the cry of the children of Israel has already reached me, and I see the oppression with which the Egyptians oppress them. So go: I will send you to Pharaoh, and you will bring my people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt.

Moses said to God:

Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the children of Israel out of Egypt?

“I will be with you,” God answered him, “and here is a sign for you that I have sent you: when you bring My people out of Egypt, you will serve God on this mountain.

Moses said to God:

“Behold, I will come to the children of Israel and say to them: The God of your fathers has sent me to you. And they will say to me: What is His name? What should I tell them?

“I am Jehovah 13,” God answered Moses, “so say to the children of Israel: The Lord God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob 14 sent me to you. This is my name forever and the remembrance of me from generation to generation. Go, gather the elders of Israel, and tell them: The Lord God of your fathers appeared to me and said: I visited you ... And I will bring you out of the oppression of Egypt, and they will listen to you, and you will go to the king of Egypt, and you will say to him: Jehovah, the God of the Jews , called us. and so let us go into the wilderness, for a three-day journey, to offer sacrifice to the Lord our God. “But I know that the king of Egypt will not let you go. Then I will strike Egypt with wonders, and Pharaoh will be forced to let you go.

“And if they do not believe me,” Moses objected, “and do not listen to my voice and say: The Lord has not appeared to you?

The Lord said, "What is that in your hand?

He replied: "Staff."

The Lord said, "Throw him on the ground."

Moses threw, and the staff turned into a snake. Moses ran away from him, but God commanded him to take the serpent by the tail, and the serpent again became a rod in his hands.

The Lord said:

“Here is a sign for you so that they will believe you that the Lord, the God of their fathers, has appeared to you. And if they don’t believe this, then do one more thing: put your hand in your bosom.

Moses put his hand in his bosom, then took it out, and saw that it turned white from leprosy 15 like snow. The Lord ordered to put his hand in his bosom again, and she again became healthy.

“If they don’t believe even this miracle,” said the Lord, “then take water from the river and pour it out on dry land, and the water will become blood on dry land.”

Moses again began to ask God not to send him, for he was not speechless and tongue-tied.

The Lord said:

- And who gave the mouth to man? Who makes dumb or deaf, or sighted, or blind? Am I not the Lord God? And so go, and I will be with your mouth and teach you what to say to you.

Moses continued to refuse and asked to be sent to replace him with someone more capable. Then the Lord became angry with Moses and said:

"Don't you have a brother Aaron?" I know that he can speak for you. And now he will come out to meet you, and a meeting with you will make him happy. You will speak to him and put My words in his mouth, and I will be with your mouth and with his mouth and I will teach you what to do. And he will speak instead of you to the people and will be your mouth, and you will be to him instead of God. And take this rod (which was turned into a serpent) in your hand: with it you will do things 16 .

After this, Moses returned to Jethro and said to him: "I will go to Egypt to my brothers, and see if they are still alive."

“Go in peace,” answered Jethro.

And Moses went to Egypt without fear, for the king who wanted to kill him, and all those who sought his destruction, had already died. To meet Moses, at the command of God, Aaron came out, who kissed him with joy. Moses gave Aaron all the words of the Lord. When they came to Egypt, they gathered all the elders of Israel and told them all the words that the Lord spoke to Moses, and Moses did signs and wonders before their eyes. The Israelites believed them and rejoiced that God had visited the children of Israel and looked upon their suffering.

After this, Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and said to him:

“Thus says the Lord God of Israel: Let my people go, that they may celebrate a feast for me in the wilderness.”

But Pharaoh said:

Who is the God of Israel that I should listen to His voice? I do not know the Lord, and I will not let the Israelites go. And you, Moses and Aaron, why are you diverting the people from their work? Go, everyone, to your work.

And he immediately gave the command to the guards over the Jews to oppress them even more with hard work and not to give them henceforth straw for making bricks, which from that time on they must collect themselves, but at the same time they did not reduce the required number of bricks from them.

“Jews,” said the king, “are idle; therefore they cry: we will go, we will offer sacrifice to our God.

After this, the Jews began to be oppressed even more. Looking for material for themselves, they did not have time to prepare the number of bricks set for them every day; for this they beat the Jewish guards and did not accept any explanation from them, and they cried out against Moses and Aaron, saying: “Judge you, Lord, because you made us hated before Pharaoh and his servants and gave weapons into their hands to kill us .

Moses turned to the Lord and said:

- God! Why did you subject this people to such disaster, why did you send me? For from the time I came to Pharaoh and began to speak in Your name, he began to do worse to the people.

The Lord answered Moses:

“Now you will see what I will do with Pharaoh: with a strong hand, he will let the children of Israel go, even drive them out of his land. Say to them: I, the Lord, will bring you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians, and I will save you; heritage.

Moses told these words to the children of Israel, but they, due to their cowardice and the severity of their work, did not believe Moses. Then the Lord commanded Moses to go to Pharaoh and tell him to let the children of Israel out of his land. Moses answered that if the children of Israel did not already listen to him, then how could Pharaoh listen to him when even his speech, Moses, was inaudible.

To this the Lord answered him:

“I appointed you as a god to Pharaoh, and Aaron your brother will be your prophet.” You will tell him whatever I command you, and your brother will tell Pharaoh to let the Israelites go. But I will allow Pharaoh to show his stubbornness in all his strength and not listen to you. For this I will stretch out My hand on Egypt and execute a terrible judgment on her by means of miraculous plagues; then all the Egyptians will know that I am God! And I will bring the children of Israel out of their midst. And if Pharaoh demands proof from you, then you tell Aaron to throw down the rod, and the rod will become a serpent.

Encouraged by God Himself, Moses and Aaron again stood before Pharaoh and his servants and did as the Lord commanded them. Aaron threw down his staff before Pharaoh, and the staff became a serpent. Pharaoh called on the wise men of Egypt and sorcerers. and they did the same with their charms; but Aaron's rod swallowed up their rods. And the heart of Pharaoh was hardened, and he did not listen to them, as the Lord had foretold, and did not want to let the Jews go. Then, at the command of God, Moses and Aaron began to inflict executions on the land of Egypt 17 .

On the next day, Aaron, at the command of Moses, took his rod, struck it on the water of the river in the presence of Pharaoh and his servants, and all the water in the river turned into blood; the fish in the river died, and the river stank, and the Egyptians could not drink the water from the river. The second plague was frogs 18: Aaron stretched out his hand over the waters of Egypt, and brought out frogs from them, which penetrated into the houses, into the bedrooms, on the bed, into the oven and the kneader, and on the king, and on the servants, and on his people, and nowhere nobody was given rest. And the whole land of Egypt was covered with frogs, and when they died out at the command of Moses, the Egyptians gathered them in heaps, and the whole earth stank from the dead and rotten frogs. The third plague was on people and on cattle, on Pharaoh and his house and on his servants, and the soil of the land of Egypt became full of snipes 19 . The fourth plague was dog flies 20 . The fifth plague was a very severe plague on the cattle throughout the land of Egypt. The sixth execution was purulent inflammatory abscesses on people and cattle. The seventh plague was hail and fire between the hail 21, and that hail killed everything that was under open sky: and grass, and trees, and cattle, and people. The eighth plague was locusts and caterpillars 22 which devoured all the Egyptian vegetation. the ninth plague was a three-day darkness over all the land of Egypt, so thick that even with the fire there was no light, so that no one could see each other for three days, and no one got up from his bed during this time. The tenth and last plague was the death of the firstborn of the Egyptians.

And all these plagues, none of which did any harm to the Israelites, but only to the Egyptians, were inflicted by God through Moses and Aaron because Pharaoh did not want to let the people of God into the wilderness to serve God; for, although he promised several times to release them for fear of execution, but when the punishment weakened, he became hardened again and thus did not release them until the tenth execution. Before the tenth plague, the sons of Israel, in accordance with how Moses commanded them, begged from the Egyptians silver and gold vessels and expensive clothes, as much as they could carry with them.

Then Moses established for the children of Israel, in memory of their exodus from Egypt, the feast of Passover, according to the command of the Lord. The Lord said to Moses and Aaron:

- Let this month 23 be your first of the year. Tell the whole congregation of the sons of Israel that on the ninth day of this month, each family separates one lamb from their flock. The lamb must be without blemish, male, one year old. And let them keep it with you until the fourteenth day of this month. Then in the evening let them slaughter a lamb in every family. Then let him anoint both the doorpost and the crossbar with his blood in those houses in which they gather to eat the lamb. It is necessary to eat its meat not boiled in water, but baked on fire, with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. Until morning, do not leave anything from him and do not crush the bones, and what remains, burn with fire. Eat with haste, girded and shod, and with staffs in your hands. This is the Passover of the Lord 24 . I will go through this night in the land of Egypt, and I will strike every firstborn among the Egyptians, from man to livestock, and when I see blood on your houses, I will pass over you and will not let the destroyer enter your houses to strike. And let this day be memorable, and celebrate on this feast to the Lord in all your generations, as an eternal institution 25 .

According to the command of God, in every family of Israel, a lamb was separated and prepared for the appointed time. All the children of Israel had their doors anointed with blood and locked; no one left them until the morning. At midnight, the destroying angel passed through Egypt and struck down all the firstborn of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh to the firstborn of the prisoner in prison, and all the firstborn to the cattle. The Jews had everything.

In the night Pharaoh arose, and all his servants, and all the Egyptians, and there was a great cry throughout all the land of Egypt, for there was not a house where there was not a dead man. Immediately Pharaoh called Moses and Aaron to him and said:

“Get up, get out of the midst of my people, you and all the children of Israel, and go and serve the Lord your God, as you said; take small and large cattle. Go ahead and bless me.

The Egyptians began to urge the Israelites to get out of their land as soon as possible, because, they said, otherwise we would all die because of them.

And the people of Israel carried their dough before it was left sour; their kneaders, tied in garments, were on their shoulders, for they, compelled by the Egyptians, could not have time to prepare the brashna for the journey. They went out with silver and gold and jewels; many strangers, small and large cattle also went out with them. The number of all foot husbands, except for households and other strangers, reached 600,000 people. Moses took with him the bones of Joseph, who died in Egypt, and before his death, foreseeing the future with a prophetic spirit, he cursed the children of Israel, saying: " God will visit you, and you will carry my bones out of here with you."(Gen. 50:24-25).

The Lord God went before the Israelites, shining on them by day in a pillar of cloud, and by night in a pillar of fire, that they might go day and night. The pillar by day and the pillar of fire by night did not depart from the presence of the whole people (Ex. 13:16-32).

When it was announced to the king of Egypt that the people of Israel had fled, the hearts of him and his servants turned against this people, and they said: "What have we done? Why did we let the Israelites go so that they would not work for us?" Pharaoh harnessed his chariot, and took his people with him, six hundred chosen chariots and all the other Egyptian chariots, and leaders over all of them. They pursued the Israelites and overtook them when they were encamped by the sea, 26 but they could not attack them: the angel of God, who went before the camp of the children of Israel, went behind them, entered into the middle between the camp of the Egyptians and between the camp of the children of Israel, and was cloud and darkness to some, and lighted up the night to others, and they did not come near one another. Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and the Lord drove the sea with a strong east wind that lasted all night, and made the sea dry land, and the waters parted. The Israelites went across the sea on dry land; the waters were a wall to them on their right and left side. The Egyptians pursued them, and all the horses of Pharaoh, his chariots, and his horsemen went into the midst of the sea. After the Israelites were led through the sea, Moses, at the command of God, stretched out his hand over the sea, and by morning the water returned to its place, and the Egyptians fled to meet the water. And the Lord drowned the Egyptians in the midst of the sea: the returning water covered the chariots and the horsemen of all the army of Pharaoh who went into the sea after them, so that not one of them remained. And the Lord on that day delivered the Israelites out of the hands of the Egyptians, whom they saw dead on the seashore, so that not one of them was left. And the Lord on that day delivered the Israelites out of the hands of the Egyptians, whom they saw dead on the shore of the sea, which had thrown their bodies on dry land. Then the Israelites saw in what happened the great hand that the Lord showed over the Egyptians, and the people of the Lord feared and believed Him and His servant Moses (Ex., ch. 14). Moses and the children of Israel, rejoicing and triumphant, sang a song of thanksgiving to the Lord:

– "I sing to the Lord, for He is highly exalted; he threw his horse and rider into the sea..."27 (Ex. 15:1-18).

And Miriam, the sister of Moses and Aaron, having gathered the wives of Israel, led the choirs with them, taking her timbrel in her hand; they all struck the tambourines and sang the same song under her direction.

After this Moses led the Israelites from the Red Sea 29 , and they entered the wilderness of Shur 30 ; and they went three days in the wilderness and found no water. When they came to Marah and found a spring there, they could not drink from it, for the water was bitter. And the people murmured against Moses, saying, "What shall we drink?" Moses cried out to the Lord, and the Lord showed him a tree; he threw it into the water, and the water became sweet 31. And Moses led the Israelites during their travels in various deserts for forty years, asking them from God everything that was necessary. When they murmured against Moses and Aaron because of food, remembering the meat that they ate in Egypt, Moses pleaded with God, and the Lord rained on them with manna and sent them full quails 32 . The Israelites ate this manna for forty years in the Arabian desert, until they entered the borders of the promised land of Canaan. When they murmured because of thirst, Moses brought water out of the stone for them: he struck the stone with his rod, and a fountain of water flowed out 33 . When the Israelites were attacked by the Amalekites, Moses lifted up his hands to God in prayer, and the Israelites began to overcome and defeat the enemies, whose troops they completely destroyed with the sword 34 . And no matter how many times they angered God in the wilderness, every time Moses implored the Lord for them, who wanted to destroy them, if Moses, His chosen one, did not stand before Him to turn away His wrath, let him not destroy them!

Meanwhile, Jethro, the father-in-law of Moses, hearing what God had done for Moses and the people of Israel when they went out of Egypt, took Zipporah, the wife of Moses, and his two sons, and went with them to Mount Horeb, where the Israelites camped with their tents. Moses went out to meet him and, after a mutual greeting, told him about everything that the Lord had done with Pharaoh and with all the Egyptians for Israel, and about all the difficulties that met them on the way. Jethro rejoiced when he heard about the benefits that God had shown to Israel, glorified God, who delivered his people from the power of the Egyptians, confessed before everyone that the Lord is great, more than all gods, and offered sacrifices to Him.

The next day Moses sat down to judge the people; the people stood before him from morning until evening.

Seeing this, Jethro noticed Moses that he was in vain bothering himself and the people in this way, for this work was too hard for him alone.

“Listen to my words,” said Jethro, “be a mediator for the people before God and present their deeds to God; teach the children of Israel the ordinances of God and His laws, show them His way in which they must walk, and the works that they must do; and choose for yourselves able people, fearing God, truthful people, hating self-interest, and put them over the people as chiefs of thousands, chiefs of hundreds, chiefs of fifty, and chiefs of tens, and clerks; let them judge the people at all times and report to you about every important matter, and judge all the small things themselves: and it will be easier for you, and they will bear the burden with you.

Moses obeyed his father-in-law, after which Jethro soon took leave of him and returned to his land (Ex., ch. 18).

On the very new moon of the third month, after the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt, they came to the wilderness of Sinai and encamped against the mountain. Moses ascended Sinai 35, and the Lord called to him from the mountain, commanding him to proclaim to the Israelites in His name: “You saw what I did with the Egyptians, and how I carried you, as it were on eagle wings, and brought you to Myself. If If you obey my voice and keep my covenant, you will be my chosen people before all others, and you will be with me a holy kingdom and a holy people.

The people expressed their readiness to fulfill whatever God commands. Then the Lord commanded Moses to sanctify the people and prepare them for the third day with a two-day cleansing. On the third day, in the morning thunders were heard, lightning began to flash, and thick darkness surrounded the mountain; a trumpet sound was heard, which became stronger and stronger. All the people trembled. And Moses led him out of the camp to meet the Lord; everyone stopped at the foot of the mountain, the mountain was surrounded on all sides by a line, which was forbidden to cross under pain of death. The people saw that Mount Sinai was tossing from its very foundations, and smoke ascended from it, as if from a furnace; because the Lord descended on him in a thick cloud and in fire. Moses and Aaron, by the command of God, stood on the mountain in the sight of the people (Ex. 19:3-25).

"I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, from the house of slavery; you shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make for yourself an idol or any image of what is in heaven above, and what is on the earth below, and that is in the water below the earth; do not worship them and do not serve them, for I am the Lord your God, a jealous God, punishing children for the guilt of their fathers to the third and fourth generations that hate Me, and showing mercy to a thousand generations of those who love Me and keep My commandments "Thou shalt not pronounce the name of the Lord thy God in vain, for the Lord will not leave without punishment the one who pronounces His name in vain. Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy; work for six days and do [in them] all your works, and the seventh day - Sabbath to the Lord your God: you shall not do any work in it, neither you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your servant, nor your maidservant, nor [your ox, nor your donkey, nor any] your livestock, nor a stranger who in your dwellings; for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and in a day the seventh rested; wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it. Honor your father and your mother, [that you may be well and] that your days may be long in the land which the Lord your God is giving you. Dont kill. Don't commit adultery. Don't steal. Do not bear false witness against your neighbor. Do not covet your neighbor's house; Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife, [neither his field,] nor his male servant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, [nor any of his cattle,] anything that is thy neighbor's" (Ex. 20:2-17 ; Deut. 5:5).

After this, the elders of Israel stood up before Moses and said:

“Behold, God has shown us His glory, we have heard his voice from the midst of the fire… We feel that it is impossible for any mortal being to hear God who is ever-awake, as we hear, and remain alive. It is better for you to approach, and listen to everything that our God will tell you, and retell to us: we will listen and fulfill.

“Do not be afraid,” said Moses, “God is testing you, so that by placing His fear on you, He will keep you from transgressing His commandments.

Then Moses entered the darkness, marked by the near presence of Jehovah, and there he received from Him various laws relating to the ecclesiastical and civil welfare of the people of God and, descending from the mountain, conveyed everything that the Lord had said to the people and wrote it all down in a book. The next day, in the morning, Moses built an altar of earth under the mountain and placed twelve stones around it, according to the number of the twelve tribes of Israel, and offered burnt offerings and thanksgiving offerings from slain bulls and goats to God, on behalf of all the people, who promised at this time to do everything that he commanded Lord (Deut. 5:23-31; Ex. 20:18-21; 24:1-11). Then the Lord said to Moses:

“Come up to Me on the mountain and be there, and I will give you the tablets of stone 36 and the law and the commandments that I wrote for the teaching of the people.

Moses, with his helper in the work of ministry, Joshua, the son of Nun 37, went up to Sinai, and a cloud covered the mountain, and the glory of the Lord overshadowed it, and a cloud covered Sinai for six days, and on the seventh day the Lord called to Moses, and he went up to the very top, where he dwelt forty days and forty nights. At this time, he received instructions on how to arrange a tabernacle or a camp temple, in which the people should offer sacrifices and offer up prayers to God. At the end of forty days, the Lord gave him two tablets, on which with the finger of God were inscribed all those ten commandments, which the Lord spoke aloud to all the people (Ex. 24:12-18, 31; Deut. 9:9-11).

Moses Receiving the Tablets. Icon from the beginning of the 13th century. From the section Byzantine icons of Sinai.

Meanwhile, the people, seeing that Moses did not leave the mountain for a long time, gathered to Aaron and demanded that he make them a god who would go before them, "because," they said, "something happened to Moses." They brought him the golden earrings of their wives and daughters, and Aaron made for them the image of a calf of gold. The people said, "This is the god who brought us out of the land of Egypt." And the next day they offered sacrifices on the altar before the calf, they began to drink, eat and play 38 . And God was angry with them, and He told Moses that this hard-nosed people whom He had brought out of Egypt had gone astray, transgressed the commandments of God, and worshiped a false god. Moses began to pray for the people, and God heeded his intercession. Going down to the foot of the mountain, Moses and Joshua saw a calf and dancing. Moses was inflamed with anger, and throwing down the tablets, he broke them under the mountain in the sight of all the people. Then he took the calf that they had made, broke it and ground it into dust, which he poured into the stream flowing from the bark, and, to the shame of the man-made deity, forced the Israelites to drink that water. Aaron, in response to the reproaches of Moses, excused himself for the unbridled and stubbornness of the violent people, and Moses saw that the people had nothing to justify themselves with. He stood at the gate of the camp and exclaimed:

- Who remained faithful to the Lord - come to me!

And all the sons of Levi gathered to him. Moses ordered each of them to go with a sword through the camp and back, and kill anyone who met. And up to three thousand of the guilty fell (Ex. 32:1-29; Deut. 9:12-17, 21).

The next day, Moses again ascended the mountain, prostrated himself before God, and fasting for forty days and nights, pleaded for the sin of the people, saying:

- If You do not forgive their sin, then blot me out of Your book, in which you have inscribed those destined for eternal bliss.

The Lord answered that He would blot out those who sinned against Him from His book, and, commanding Moses to lead the people to the promised land, he made it clear that he would no longer accompany him with special favor. The people, having heard this threat, wept, and all put on themselves penitential garments. Moses deepened the prayers, and God returned His favor to the Israelites.

After this, Moses was honored at Sinai to see the glory of the Lord.

“My face,” the Lord said to him, “you cannot see, because a person cannot see Me and remain alive. But I will pass all My glory before you and I will proclaim the name: Jehovah... When My glory passes away, I will set you in a cleft of the rock and I will cover you with My hand until I have passed through. And when I remove My hand, you will see Me from behind, but My Face will not be visible to you.

At the same time, Moses received the command to write the words of the covenant in a book and again received the tablets, on which God again inscribed the same ten commandments that were written on the previous ones.

The contemplation of the glory of God left a mark on the face of Moses. When he came down from the mountain, Aaron and all the Israelites were afraid to approach him, seeing how his face was shining. Moses called them and told them everything that God commanded him. After this, he put a veil over his face, which he removed only when he stood before God (Ex. 32:30-33; 33:1-6, 12-23; 34:1-8, 10-18, 22-24 26-35; Deut. 9:18-19, 10:1-4; 2 Cor. 3:13).

Moses announced to the sons of Israel the will of God about the tabernacle and proceeded to build it, entrusting it to the artists indicated by God, according to the model he had seen at Sinai during his forty-day stay on it. The Israelites, on the other hand, brought generous donations of gold, silver, copper, wool, linen, leather, trees, fragrances, precious stones, and everything they could. When the tabernacle was ready and sanctified with all the accessories with anointing oil, a cloud covered it and filled the whole tabernacle, so that Moses himself could not enter it. And Moses placed inside the tabernacle the cauldron of the covenant, bound with gold 39 , in which he put the golden stave with manna 40 , the prosperous rod of Aaron 41 and the tablets of the covenant, and above the casket he placed the image of two golden cherubs 42 and arranged everything necessary for sacrifices and burnt offerings. Then Moses established holidays and new moons for the Israelites 43 and appointed priests and Levites for them, choosing the entire tribe of Levi to serve God, at His command, and placing it at the disposal of Aaron and his sons 44 .

The servant of God Moses did many other signs and wonders, he gave many cares for the Israelites, he gave them many laws and reasonable orders; all this is reported in the sacred books written by him: in the book of Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy; these books describe in detail his life and the labors that he took upon himself during his reign over the children of Israel.

When the Israelites came to Mount Amorite in Cadiz-Barnea, 45 Moses told them that the land that the Lord had given them as an inheritance was now before them; but the Israelites wished to send spies first to inspect the land, and by the command of God, Moses chose from the leaders of Israel one person from each tribe, including Joshua, to survey the land of Canaan. Returning, the messengers told that the land was rich in fruits, pastures, cattle and bees, but some of them were afraid of the inhabitants of that country, who were distinguished by extraordinary growth and strength, and advised the Israelites to return to Egypt, so as not to perish from the Amorites; But Joshua and others who urged them to go to that beautiful land, the Israelites wanted to stone them to death. But God, through the prayer of Moses, forgave the Israelites their sin, and those guilty of rebellion were stricken with sudden death (Numbers 13 and 14; Deut. 1:19-46).

On the way, the children of Israel again showed their cowardice, and began to complain and grumble against God. Then the Lord sent poisonous snakes, the stings of which were deadly, and many of the children of Israel died from them. The people humbled themselves and repented that they had sinned against God and grumbled against Moses. Then Moses prayed that the Lord would drive away the snakes from them, and the Lord said to him: "Make a snake and hang it on a pole: then, whoever is wounded, just look at him - and remain alive." Moses hung a brass image of a serpent on a pole, after which all the wounded who looked at this image with faith remained unharmed 46 .

So Moses led the people of Israel on their way to the land of Canaan, saving them with his prayers and miracles from various disasters and punishments of God.

Moses himself was determined to die outside the promised land. When the time of his death approached, the Lord foretold him of his imminent repose and said:

“Go up Mount Avarim 47, which is in the land of Moab, opposite Jericho, and look at the land of Canaan, which I am giving for the possession of the sons of Israel, and die on that mountain, and be added to your people, as Aaron your brother died on Mount Hor 48, and was added to his people, because you have sinned against Me among the children of Israel at the waters of Meribah in Cadiz, in the wilderness of Sin, because you did not show My holiness among the children of Israel; before you you will see the land that I give to the children of Israel, but you yourself will not enter there (Deut. 31:14-30; ch. 32 and 33).

Before his death, Moses blessed the children of Israel, each tribe separately, prophesying about their future destinies (Deut. 3:23-28; Numbers 27:12-23). After this, by the command of God, he went up to the mountain, and the Lord showed him all the land of Gilead to Dan, and all the land of Naphtali, and all the land of Ephraim and Manasseh, and all the land of Judah, even to the West Sea and the midday country and the plain of the valley of Jericho, city ​​of palms, to Sigor 49 . And Moses, the servant of the Lord, died there in the land of Moab, according to the word of the Lord. His body was buried in the valley of the land of Moab opposite Beth Pegor, 50 and no one ever knew the place of his burial. Moses was one hundred and twenty years old when he died; but his vision was not dimmed, and the strength in him was not exhausted. The Israelites honored the death of Moses with thirty days of lamentation. And there was no longer among the Israelites a prophet like Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face, according to all the signs and wonders that he performed before the eyes of all Israel (Deut. 34: 1-12).

Through the prayers of the holy prophet Moses, may the Lord deliver us from all sorrow, and may it settle us in eternal villages, leading us out of Egypt - this troubled world! Amen.

Troparion, tone 2:

Thou prophet Moses ascended to the height of the virtues, and for this reason thou wast worthy to see the glory of God: the tablets of the grace-filled law were received, and the inscriptions of grace in oneself were carried, and the prophets were honest praise, and piety the great sacrament.

Kontakion, tone 2:

The face of the prophet, with Moses and Aaron, rejoices today, as if the end of their prophecy has been fulfilled on us: today the cross shines, by whom you saved us. With those prayers, Christ God, have mercy on us. ____________________________________________________________

1 The death of Patriarch Joseph should be attributed to approximately 1923 BC. The stay of the Israelites in Egypt lasted about 398 years, starting with the resettlement of Jacob and his family there.

2 Amram, descended from the tribe of Levi (the son of the patriarch Jacob) and was the son of Kohath, the son of Levi (Ex. 6:20; Numbers 3:29; 26:58-59). Jochebed was the daughter of Levi (Ex. 6:20; Numbers 26:59).

3 i.e. daughter of the king of Egypt. The kings of Egypt were called pharaohs.

4 Here, of course, the Nile is the greatest river in the world. The length of the Nile is believed to be 6000 versts; it flows in northeast Africa, starting from Ethiopia and flows into the Mediterranean Sea.

5 Josephus Flavius, Jewish historian (born 37 A.D.), author of "Antiquities of the Jews", where he relates some legends about Moses, which are not found in the sacred biblical books.

6 The legend about this is transmitted by Georgy Kedrin, a Byzantine writer of the late 11th or early 12th century, the author of the so-called. "Historical synopsis", or a collection of chronicle legends from the creation of the world to 1059 according to R. Chr.

7 In ancient times, the name Magi meant wise people who had high and extensive knowledge, especially knowledge about the secret forces of nature, heavenly bodies, sacred writings, etc. They observed natural phenomena, interpreted dreams, predicted the future; for the most part they were also priests, and enjoyed great respect at the royal courts and among the people. Such were especially the magi of Egypt.

8 Joseph Flavius ​​in "Antiquities of the Jews", book. 2, ch. ten.

9 The Midianites, or Midianites, were the descendants of Midian, the fourth son of Abraham by Keturah; it was a numerous people of different Arabian tribes, who led a nomadic lifestyle. The Midian land, where they had their main residence, was a desert area near the Elanite Gulf of the Red (Red) Sea, on its eastern side, in Arabia. As a descendant of Midian, son of Abraham, Jethro and his family were worshipers of the true God.

10 Horeb is a mountain in the Arabian desert, the western upland of the same mountain range, the eastern part of which is Sinai.

11 In Slavonic: Kupina is a thorny acacia of the Arabian Peninsula, which grows especially abundantly near the mountains of Horeb and Sinai, representing small shrub with sharp spines. The burning, but not burning bush that appeared to Moses, foreshadowed by itself, according to the teachings of St. Church, the Mother of God - the Virgin, who remained incorruptible after the incarnation and the birth of the Son of God from Her.

12 By the land of Canaan, in some places, are meant the vast lands that lie in the west of Asia along the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea - in particular, the land on this side of the Jordan, Phenicia and the land of the Philistines, and the country beyond the Jordan differs from the land of Canaan. In modern times, under the land of Canaan, it usually means the entire Promised Land, all the lands occupied by the Israelites on both sides of the Jordan. The land of Canaan was notable for its extraordinary fertility, an abundance of pastures suitable for cattle breeding, and in this sense it is called in Scripture the land flowing with milk and honey. The Canaanites are the original inhabitants of the land of Canaan, the descendants of Canaan, the son of Hamov, divided into 11 tribes, of which five: the Jews, the Jebusites, the Amorites, the Gergeses and the Hittites lived in the country that the Israelites later occupied, or in the proper sense the Promised Land. The Jews, a large tribe of Canaan, dwelt in the middle of the land of Canaan and partly in the south; the Amorites, the most powerful tribe of Canaan under Moses, spread widely in the very land of Canaan, on this side of the Jordan, occupied the middle of this land and the mountain of the Amorites and spread far, both to the north and to the south; the Hittites lived in the mountainous countries near the Amorites and were also a strong and numerous tribe; the Jebusites in the time of Moses occupied southern part the promised land; The Gergesites lived in the west of the Jordan. The Perizzites were a people who belonged to the ancient, natural inhabitants of Palestine, and did not come from a Canaanite tribe; lived mainly in the middle of Palestine, or the land of Canaan.

13 Jehovah, or Jehovah in Hebrew, is one of the names of God, which expresses the originality, eternity and immutability of the Being of God.

14 Having chosen Abraham to keep the faith on earth, and having made His covenant with him, God repeated His promises to Isaac and Jacob afterwards. Hence, these patriarchs are often placed together in the Holy Scriptures, not only as the ancestors of the Jewish people, but also as the successors and keepers of the Divine covenants and promises, as great ascetics of faith and piety, and as intercessors and intercessors before God, who acquired their special faith and virtues. grace from God. Therefore, their names are repeated and mentioned in Holy Scripture and during manifestations and revelations to the people of God, and God in this sense is called the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

15 Leprosy is the most terrible and disgusting, contagious disease; it dominates predominantly in countries with a hot climate, especially in Egypt, Palestine, Syria, Arabia, India and in general in the east. With the development of this disease, the skin becomes a disaster, then it swells, dries, becomes covered with scabs and ulcers with a disgusting smell, then the members of the body fall off, and for the most part, those affected by this disease eventually die in terrible agony.

16 For the appearance of God to Moses and the calling of the latter, see Ex., ch. 3, ch. 4, art. 1-17.

17 For the plagues of Egypt, see Ex., ch. 7-12.

18 A genus of large tailless frogs. Toads themselves are harmless and not dangerous, but very vile and disgusting; often covering the land of Egypt in myriads and filling swamps, Nile channels, fields and courtyards, and creeping into houses, bedrooms, on beds, in ovens and sourdough, they became a real ulcer for the inhabitants.

20 Dog flies are a genus of stinging flies or insects, supposedly especially harmful to dogs. But here the Hebrew word that replaces this expression means actually a mixture, a multitude, and therefore here one must understand the multitude of harmful insects in general.

21 Some understand the seventh plague as khamsin, a scorching south wind that brings whole heaps of sand to Egypt from the desert, often combined with devastating thunderstorms and at the same time strong hail. Khamsin is accompanied by terrible disasters for the inhabitants of Egypt.

22 Locust is an insect belonging to the category of jumping and herbivores. It is distinguished by its gluttony, and therefore is considered one of the most terrible scourges of God in the East. It always arrives in clouds with an east wind, devours all vegetation on its way, and nothing can resist it until the same wind drives it into the sea, where it dies. Scripture often points to locusts as a special instrument of God's wrath. - A caterpillar is one of the locust species in its larvae, before the development of its wings.

23 In Hebrew, the month of Aviv, or Nisan, corresponding to the second half of our March and the first half of April.

24 Passover - translated from Hebrew - means passing, passing something, deliverance, and hence the sacrifice of passing, deliverance. Easter is the greatest of the Old Testament Jewish holidays, established in memory of the miraculous deliverance of the Jews from Egyptian slavery. The Old Testament Easter served as a type of the redemption of the human race from sin through the suffering and death of the Divine Lamb - Christ, and was a great sacrament of faith for the Jews (Heb. 11:28).

25 For the establishment of the feast of Passover, see Ex. ch. 12 and 13, Art. 1-16.

26 At that time the Israelites were encamped at Pi-Gahiroth before Baal-zephon (Ex. 14:9). Baal-Zephon - an Egyptian city near the Red or Red Sea, according to west side its northern edge. Pi-Gahiroth - the area at the end of the northern (Hieropolitan) Gulf of the Red Sea, east of Baal-Zephon, the so-called Agirud or Agrud; now - a fortress with a source of such bitter water that even very unpretentious camels can hardly drink it.

27 Ex. 15:1-18. The words of this whole thankful, laudatory song are filled with reverent delight and bear the seal of sacred majesty. This solemn song of the Israelites to the Lord in our Orthodox Church occupies the first place among the nine sacred songs that serve as the basis of the well-known song canons, daily sung by the Church to the glory of God and His saints.

28 The tympanum is one of the oldest musical instruments, which is still in great use throughout the East, and partly in the West. This is a wooden or metal circle the width of a palm, covered with leather, along the edges of which various metal circles, rings, and tambourines are usually hung. And now, as in ancient times, this instrument is predominantly an instrument of women, who, while singing and dancing, holding it in their left hand, shake it, and strike it in time with their right hand.

29 The Red, or so-called Red, Sea is a long narrow strait of the Indian Ocean, separating the Arabian Peninsula from Egypt and Asia from Africa. The Red Sea is very deep, even at the smallest distance from the coast.

30 Sur - the desert between Palestine and Egypt, between the Gulf of the Red Sea and the Mediterranean Sea, to the southwestern border of Palestine. Now the so-called El-Jifar desert.

31 Ex. 15:22-25. Merra (translated means bitterness) is a place in the Sur Desert, on the eastern shore of the Red Sea. Now this area is believed to be on the way from Ayun-Muz to Sinai in the mineral spring Govar or Gavor, where the water is so unpleasant, bitter and salty that it is considered by the nomadic Arabs as the most bad source.

32 Ex., ch. 16. It was in the wilderness of Sin in Arabia near Sinai. - Manna - translated from Hebrew means: "What is this?", For the first time the Jews saw her descending from heaven in the form of something small, snowy, they asked each other in bewilderment: "What is this?" By manna here one cannot understand any of all natural manna known by the genus, made from small grains of a special cereal plant. It was a special wonderful food that God sent from heaven to the Israelites. Moses likens the taste of manna to the taste of flour mixed with honey or oil; she was at the same time convenient for the preparation of various victuals.

33 Ex 17:1-7. It was in Rephidim, in the desert of Arabia, by Mount Horeb. After the miraculous drawing of water from the rock, Moses called the name of the place: Massa and Meribah (i.e. "temptation and reproach"), because of the reproach of the sons of Israel, and because they tempted the Lord, saying: "Is the Lord among us, or not?"

34 Ex. 17:8-16. The Amalekites are a nomadic people who lived in the south of Palestine in rocky Arabia, between Idumea and Egypt, in the deserts of Sin and Paran, in the north of the Sinai Peninsula.

35 Mount Sinai is actually a group of mountains, consisting of granite rocks, cut through and surrounded by steep and rough valleys; the Arabs now call it Mount Tur or Jebel-Tur-Sina; lies almost in the middle of the known branches of the Red Sea, which form the Sinai Peninsula. It consists of three mountain ranges. Mount Sin itself, at which the Israelites entered into a covenant with God and received the commandments of the law from Him, represents the highest southeastern peak of the middle ridge, while the lower, northwestern peak is Mount Horeb.

36 i.e. stone boards.

37 Joshua is the successor of Moses, the leader of Israel, who led the Jews into the promised land. His memory is September 1st.

38 It cannot, of course, be assumed that the Israelites thought of making a god out of metal and ascribed their deliverance from Egypt to him, while recently God spoke his law to them; no, they wanted to serve Jehovah (Ex. 32:5), but, contrary to the clear prohibition of God (20:4), they were carried away by the example of the pagans who worshiped deities in sensual images, the closest example of which was presented to them by the Egyptians, who worshiped the black bull Apis, depicting the deities of Osiris, and cast from metal his image. For all that, their crime was idolatry and deserved severe punishment.

39 The kivot or, from Greek, the Ark of the Covenant, the greatest shrine of the Tabernacle, was a box made of shittim wood (the best kind of cedar).

40 Stamna, translated from Greek, is a jug or a vessel in general. In this golden stave was kept part of the manna, which the Israelites miraculously ate during their forty years of wandering in the desert of Arabia.

41 The origin of this rod of Aaron is told in the book of Num. One day, a dangerous uprising broke out against Moses and Aaron, led by the Levite Korah and two Reubenites Dathan and Aviron, who were joined by 250 other leaders of the society. Korah, jealous of Aaron, himself sought the high priesthood and, together with his accomplices, began to say that the whole society is holy, and in vain did Moses and Aaron put themselves above everyone else. The guilty were punished by the judgment of God: they were swallowed up by the scattered earth; but the indignation continued, and the wrath of God struck another 14,700 people. To prevent disputes about who should have the right to the priesthood, God commanded that a rod be taken from each of the twelve leaders of the tribes of Israel and placed in the tabernacle, promising that the rod would blossom in the one chosen by Him. The next day Moses found that Aaron's rod gave flowers and brought almonds. Then Moses laid Aaron's rod before the ark of the covenant for preservation, as a testimony to future generations about the Divine election of Aaron and his descendants to the priesthood.

42 The image of the cherubim in human form, but with wings, and the placement of these images over the ark of the covenant expressed that they, as the highest spiritual beings, were awarded special closeness to God, stand before His throne and reverently serve Him, delving into the mysteries of our salvation.

43 These holidays were the following: Saturdays, Passover and the feast of unleavened bread, Pentecost (established in memory of the Sinai legislation and to give thanks to God for the new fruits of the earth), the feast of trumpets, the day of cleansing, the feast of tabernacles, the new moon - the beginning of each new month, sanctified by sacrifices. In addition, special feasts for the Israelites were: the Sabbath year, or the seventh, and the jubilee, or 50th year.

44 Num. 3:5-13; 8:5-22; 1:5-53. First, Aaron and his sons received a special consecration to minister before God in the Tabernacle; after that, the whole tribe of Leviino was attached to them. The priesthood proper belonged to Aaron and his sons and their offspring; the high priesthood belonged to the eldest in his family; his other descendants were priests, and others from the tribe of Levi were generally called Levites, who served at the tabernacle, performing the lowest duties: they carried the tabernacle and its accessories, guarded them, helped the priests during worship, some of them were singers and musicians, book readers and judges according to civil affairs etc.

45 Cadiz, or Cadiz-Barnea - the area on the border of the promised land, near Mount Seir, in the south of Palestine.

46 Numbers 21:4-9. The serpent ascended in the desert, according to St. Gregory of Nyssa, is the sign of the sacrament of the Cross, which the Word of God clearly teaches when it says: as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up"(John 3:14).

47 Abarim is actually a chain of mountains going against Jericho on the other side of the Jordan, in the land of Moab. Moses saw the promised land from the top of Mount Nebo; This peak was called Pisgah.

48 Mount Hor was on the border of Idumea and Palestine, near Cadiz, south of the Dead Sea. Aaron died a year before the death of Moses.

49 The country of Gilead is called the country of the Jordan, from Mount Hermon to the river Arnona. The city of Dan is in the north of Palestine and was the northern limit of the Promised Land. The land of Naphtali occupied the northernmost part of the land of Canaan. The tribe of Ephraim, during the division of the Promised Land, occupied the very middle of it. Manassiino - its northern part next to Gilead, which was later occupied by him. The tribe of Judah occupied the vastest and most important part of the land of Canaan from the Mediterranean to the Dead Sea, and from the stream of Egypt to the limits of Ephraim. “By the Western Sea we mean here the Mediterranean. - Midday suffering, i.e. southern. Sigor is a city in the valley of Siddim, in the south of the Judean Desert, on the eastern side of the Dead Sea. Thus, Moses was shown the whole country, which, by the will of God, the Jews were to occupy.