Moses is known as a great leader and prophet in the Christian faith. God chose him to lead the Israelites out of Egypt, where they were slaves. He is known for his leadership skills and his ability to convince people to follow him.
Moses was born into a family that was not well off financially, but he had a strong connection with God at an early age. He grew up learning about God’s laws and how to live by them. He learned how important it was to worship God and follow His rules.
When Moses was 40 years old, an angel appeared before him and informed him that God had chosen him to lead the Israelites out of Egypt. Moses refused at first because he did not believe that he could do it on his own without help from God or other people who might have been stronger leaders than himself at that time (Exodus 3:11–12). The angel told him that he would receive help along the way, but Moses still refused until after 40 days passed without seeing any miraculous signs from God (Exodus 4:1–2).
The Lineage of Moses in the Bible
The Ancestors of Moses
The lineage of Moses in the Bible can be traced back to the book of Genesis. Moses was a descendant of Levi, the third son of Jacob and Leah. The lineage of Moses is recorded in Exodus 6:16-20, which lists his ancestors all the way back to Levi.
Exodus 6:16-20
16 These were the names of the sons of Levi according to their records: Gershon, Kohath and Merari. Levi lived 137 years. 17 The sons of Gershon, by clans, were Libni and Shimei. 18 The sons of Kohath were Amram, Izhar, Hebron and Uzziel. Kohath lived 133 years. 19 The sons of Merari were Mahli and Mushi. These were the clans of Levi according to their records. 20 Amram married his father’s sister Jochebed, who bore him Aaron and Moses. Amram lived 137 years.
The Birth of Moses
Moses was born during a time when the Israelites were enslaved in Egypt. His mother, Jochebed, bravely hid him for three months before placing him in a basket and setting him adrift in the Nile River. He was found by Pharaoh’s daughter and raised in the royal court as a prince of Egypt.
Exodus 2:1-10
1 Now a man of the tribe of Levi married a Levite woman, 2 and she became pregnant and gave birth to a son. When she saw that he was a fine child, she hid him for three months. 3 But when she could hide him no longer, she got a papyrus basket for him and coated it with tar and pitch. Then she placed the child in it and put it among the reeds along the bank of the Nile. 4 His sister stood at a distance to see what would happen to him. 5 Then Pharaoh’s daughter went down to the Nile to bathe, and her attendants were walking along the riverbank. She saw the basket among the reeds and sent her female slave to get it. 6 She opened it and saw the baby. He was crying, and she felt sorry for him. “This is one of the Hebrew babies,” she said. 7 Then his sister asked Pharaoh’s daughter, “Shall I go and get one of the Hebrew women to nurse the baby for you?” 8 “Yes, go,” she answered. So the girl went and got the baby’s mother. 9 Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Take this baby and nurse him for me, and I will pay you.” So the woman took the baby and nursed him. 10 When the child grew older, she took him to Pharaoh’s daughter and he became her son. She named him Moses, saying, “I drew him out of the water.”
The Calling of Moses
Despite being raised in privilege, Moses felt a calling from God to lead the Israelites out of slavery in Egypt. Through a series of miraculous events, including the burning bush and the ten plagues, Moses led the Israelites to freedom and eventually to the promised land.
Exodus 3:1-10
1 Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the far side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. 2 There the angel of the Lord appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush. Moses saw that though the bush was on fire it did not burn up. 3 So Moses thought, “I will go over and see this strange sight—why the bush does not burn up.” 4 When the Lord saw that he had gone over to look, God called to him from within the bush, “Moses! Moses!” And Moses said, “Here I am.” 5 “Do not come any closer,” God said. “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.” 6 Then he said, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.” At this, Moses hid his face, because he was afraid to look at God. 7 The Lord said, “I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering. 8 So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey—the home of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites. 9 And now the cry of the Israelites has reached me, and I have seen the way the Egyptians are oppressing them. 10 So now, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt.”
The line of Moses, as outlined in the Bible, goes back to Jacob and his 12 sons. After that, the line goes back to Abraham, Isaac , and then Adam and Eve.
Moses (descendant of Abraham)
[Moses] was born in Egypt and raised as an Egyptian. He became known as a man of God and a prophet of God, and his name is still revered today.
His father was named Jacob, who received the name “Israel” after wrestling an angel at Peniel (Genesis 32:28). His mother’s name was Leah, one of Jacob’s four wives (Genesis 29:32–35). Moses had two older brothers: Reuben and Simeon (Exodus 2:1–10).
Moses married Zipporah, daughter of Jethro and Hobabah Gershom was born during this time (Exodus 2:11-22).
When Moses’ brother Aaron died without having any male heirs, the people were afraid that their priesthood would die out because there were no living descendants among Aaron’s family line.[1] Moses then asked God how he should handle this problem; he wanted to know if it could be fixed because it bothered him greatly that there would be no priests left on earth who could continue offering sacrifices for sins if nothing changed soon enough.[2]. God told him not to worry about this problem anymore because He would give them another prophet instead—someone who would lead them into battle against their enemies before returning home safely with victory over any obstacles they encountered along the way!
Aaron (brother of Moses)
Moses’ brother, Aaron, was the first High Priest of Israel. He was also Moses’ older brother by at least a few years. The Bible tells us that Aaron was the son of Amram and Jochebed (Exodus 6:20).
Aaron was well known for having been involved in some major miracles throughout his life. One such event occurred when he turned his staff into a snake to impress Pharaoh with their god’s power (Exodus 7:9–12). Another miracle that we see him involved in is when he speaks to Pharaoh after God had sent ten plagues against Egypt but still nothing changed (Exodus 8). It is also noted that it was Aaron who took care of Moses during his infancy after he had been abandoned by his mother (Exodus 2:1–10). In addition to these two significant events within his life story, we also know that Aaron eventually became high priest over the twelve tribes of Israel; however, this wasn’t until after the Exodus had taken place so it must have happened sometime after this time period as well
Miriam (sister of Moses)
The sister of Moses, Miriam, was a prophetess and leader in the Exodus. She is mentioned in the same breath as Aaron and Hur. In fact, she was probably more important than some of the men because she had a lot more experience with God than any man did at that time.
Eleazar (son of Aaron)
You should also know that Eleazar was the son of Aaron. Understandably, he was an important figure in the Bible because he served as high priest during the Exodus. It’s worth noting that his mother was a Canaanite (her name was Luwcah), which made him part-Canaanite too. As you may have guessed, this means that Eleazar is descended from Jacob on his mother’s side:
Ithamar (son of Aaron)
You may be wondering where this lineage of Moses comes from. It is actually through the tribe of Judah, which was a son of Isaac who was a son of Abraham. Ithamar was the youngest son of Aaron and died in the wilderness. However, Ithamar also has another line: he is also one who stayed behind with his father in Egypt after their release from slavery by Pharaoh. In this way, they were not part of the generation who wandered out into the wilderness for forty years (Num 1:2-11).
Abishai (son of Eleazar)
In the lineage of Moses you have Abishai, who was the son of Eleazar. He was also a son of Aaron, who was also a son of Israel and Abraham. The father of Israel, in turn, was Noah; and his father was Lamech; and Lamech’s father Methuselah, and so on up to Enoch. Enoch’s father Jared married two women: one named Mahalaleel (thereby making him Mahalaleel’s brother-in-law) and another named Baraka (who became the mother of Cainam in Hebrew). Cainam is often referred to as Cainan in biblical text but this is due more to scribal error than anything else since he had no brother named Cainan at all!
Abraham had three wives who bore him children: Sarah born from Ur (see Genesis 11:29), Hittite wife Keturah born from Haran (see Genesis 25:1-4), Egyptian wife Hagar born from Nubia or Midianite wife Zipporah born from Midianites living near Mount Sinai where Moses would eventually receive laws sent down by God himself!
Phinehas (son of Eleazar)
The lineage of Phinehas is as follows:
- Eleazar, son of Aaron, son of Moses.
- Phinehas, the great-grandson of Moses and great-great-grandson of Jacob/Israel (i.e., Joseph’s son).
Elkanah (son of Phinehas)
Samuel, the final judge of Israel before Assyria conquered it, was the son of Elkanah.
Samuel’s mother Hannah gave birth to him after having prayed for a child for many years. While she was praying, Eli the priest saw her mouth moving but failed to hear her speak because he had become hard of hearing with age (1 Samuel 1:10-11). He thought she was drunk so he ridiculed her and called her name a curse word in front of others who were present at the time (1 Samuel 1:12–17). It is said that this humiliation caused Hannah to weep bitterly which eventually led to an angel appearing before her assuring that she would bear a son despite being barren since the day they were married (1 Samuel 1:18-20).
When Samuel grew up, he became an important figure in Israel’s history when he led them through many difficult situations such as defeating their enemies and judging them fairly without bias towards any one individual or group found guilty during his time as judge over Israel’s entire nation.”
Samuel (son of Elkanah, judge and prophet)
Samuel was a prophet and judge of Israel. He was also the last biblical judge before the establishment of kingship. Samuel was born in Ramah, a town in the south of Judah (1 Samuel 1:19). He was a descendant of Eliab (1 Samuel 8:2-4) and is mentioned as having three sons: Joel, Abijah, and Ner (1 Chronicles 6:33).
Samuel’s early life included service under Judge Eli by guiding his father’s sheep to pasture (1 Samuel 1:24-28). When God called him out to become His prophet, he heard what God had said but told Eli he did not think himself worthy since he did not know how to speak well enough nor could he prophesy as others did. However, God persisted with his calling until Samuel agreed on one condition – that if anyone asked him why they should follow him instead of Eli then they would receive an answer from God Himself which pleased both parties greatly!
Eliab (son of Ithamar)
The firstborn son of Ithamar was Eliab, who became the father of Abinadab.
Abinadab was the father of Eliab, whose name means “My God is generous.” This is where the story grows interesting because this means that Moses’ father was named after his grandfather or great-grandfather! As your ancestor may have been named after someone else already in your family tree (if they were named after anyone), you can also search for additional information about these people in order to learn more about them and their lives.
Abiasaph (son of Korah, son of Izhar, son of Kohath, son of Levi, son of Jacob, descendant through the tribe Judah, son of Isaac, son of Abraham)
Moses was a descendant of Jacob, who was the son of Isaac and grandson of Abraham.
Abiasaph (son of Korah, son of Izhar, son of Kohath, son of Levi)
The oldest brother named in the Bible is Korah, who was born in Egypt during the time that Pharaoh had his father Levi as a slave there. Jacob married Leah and Rachel at different times and they had 13 children altogether: Reuben, Simeon, Levi (who was born before Joseph), Judah (who would become an important figure later on), Issachar, Zebulun (who’s name means “honor”), Dan…and then Joseph.
Korah (son of Izhar, son of Kohath, son of Levi, son of Jacob, descendant through the tribe Judah, son of Isaac, son of Abraham)
According to the Bible, Korah was a son of Izhar, who was a son of Kohath and so on.
The important thing to remember is that you can trace Korah’s lineage back through Judah (the tribe) all the way up to Abraham. So the lineage begins with Izhar and ends with Isaac then Jacob and then Abraham.
Genealogy of Moses To Jesus
Moses’ lineage to Jesus is part of a larger story that connects Moses with virtually all of the characters in the Bible. Moses was not a stand-alone prophet, but part of an entire line of prophets that included Adam, Abraham, Joseph and David (and probably many others we don’t know about).
The most famous person in this line is Jesus Christ. But it also includes other people who are important to Christianity like King Solomon and St. Peter (the first Pope).
Moses’ genealogy shows how important his role was because he came from such an impressive family tree!
Although Jesus was not a direct descendant of Moses, they were related. The legacy that Moses left behind is important to the lineage of Jesus and vital to understanding who he is as a person. If we go back far enough, we can even see that Jesus shares a common ancestor with Moses in Abraham.
The Story Of Moses In The Bible
Other than Jesus, Moses might be the most well-known character in the Bible. He played multiple roles throughout his life and I’ll touch on a few. It’s easy to glamourize Biblical characters who accomplish great things, but they were people just like us.
Let’s look at eight things about Moses—who he was in the Bible—and some details regarding his life.
- Moses was a Hebrew.
He was born to Jochebed and Amram, both from the tribe of Levi, when the children of Israel lived in Egypt as slaves. He was the youngest of three children, with a sister named Miriam and a brother named Aaron. - Moses was a special baby.
The Pharaoh was afraid of the Israelite slaves because there were so many of them and ordered all the boy babies to be killed. Moses mother protected him. “She saw that he was a special baby and kept him hidden for three months” (Exodus 2:2).
When she couldn’t hide him anymore, she made a little boat, placed him in it, and hid baby Moses in the reeds on the banks of the Nile River. He didn’t stay there for very long before the pharaoh’s daughter came to his rescue. Being unable to nurse him, she hired a Hebrew woman to do the job. This woman just so happened to be Moses’ mother.
- Moses was raised as royalty.
Following his weaning, the Pharaoh’s daughter raised Moses in the palace, amidst all the comforts of Egypt. - Moses was a murderer.
He grew up in the palace but knew he was a Hebrew. When Moses saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew slave, the Bible says, “Looking this way and that and seeing no one, he killed the Egyptian and hid him in the sand” (Exodus 2:12).
Not the greatest coverup because the next day a Hebrew slave called him out on it.
- Moses was afraid.
We know we deal with fear, but so did Moses. Pharaoh found out what Moses had done and tried to kill him. Moses ran for his life. He lived out in the desert of Midian for 40 years, became a husband to Tharbis and Zipporah, and a father to Gershom and Eliezer.
Fear showed up again when God “…appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush. Moses saw that though the bush was on fire it did not burn up”(Exodus 3:2).
God wanted Moses to rescue the Israelites from Egypt. Moses was afraid and gave excuse after excuse, one of which was that he stuttered. Moses told God, “Please send someone else(Exodus 4:13). God didn’t want to send someone else and got angry with Moses.
- Moses was a courageous leader.
To overcome Moses’ fear, God recruited his brother Aaron to assist, promising to help them both. Moses rose to the challenge. Through the long story of the 10 plagues and the Pharaoh’s opposition, he led the Israelites out of Egypt.
When trapped between the Pharaoh—who’d changed his mind and pursued the newly freed slaves—and the Red Sea, Moses told the people, “Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the LORD will bring you today” (Exodus 14:13).
He also prophesied, “The Egyptians you see today, you will never see again.” (Exodus 14:13), and he was right. Moses led them through the Red Sea on dry ground with the power of God. That was just the beginning of Moses’ courageous leadership.
- Moses was close with God.
The job God called Moses to do was full of difficulties and challenges. Moses never hid his emotions and questions from God. They spent 40 days together on top of Mount Sinai and God gave Moses “the two tablets of the covenant law, the tablets of stone inscribed by the finger of God” (Exodus 31:18).
Meanwhile, the people got tired of waiting for Moses, made an idol, and started worshiping it. This made God angry, and He offered to kill them all, making Moses into a great nation instead. “But Moses sought the favor of the LORD, his God(Exodus 32:11).God heard Moses and didn’t act on his emotions.
In response to Moses’ request to see God’s glory, he saw parts of God no one ever had before. “And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, ‘The LORD, the LORD, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin…'” (Exodus 34:6-7).
For 40 years, Moses led the Israelites, and God kept His promise to always be with him. Even when Moses messed up due to his anger, which disallowed him from entering the promised land,. The Bible says Moses is “whom the LORD knew face to face(Deuteronomy 34:10).
- Moses was buried by God.
God was with Moses to the very end, burying him in secret. Moses lived to be 120 years old and was completely healthy. “…his eyes were not weak, nor his strength gone”(Deuteronomy 34:7). The people grieved 30 days for him until God put a stop to it, instructing Joshua to take the leadership position.
“And Moses the servant of the LORD died there in Moab, as the LORD had said. He buried him in Moab, in the valley opposite Beth Peor, but to this day no one knows where his grave is”(Deuteronomy 34: 5-6).
It’s speculated that God secretly buried Moses body so the Israelites couldn’t make a shrine to it, worshiping it as an idol. That may be true, or it might be God burying his friend. Only God knows.
Characteristics Of Moses In The Bible
One of the few characters whose entire biography is detailed in the biblical narrative is Moses, and the early events of his life characterize him as a product of his circumstances. The daughter of Pharaoh, who takes pity on the Hebrew infant left abandoned, raises Moses after his birth in Egypt. After an impulsive murder, Moses flees west, where he begins a life as a shepherd and stumbles into God in the form of a burning bush. He reluctantly agrees to return to Egypt and demand the Israelites’ release, but agrees to little more. Each event in the journey from Egypt to Mount Sinai, where God delivers his laws to the Israelites, propels Moses further into the roles of prophet, priest, ruler, and savior of Israel.
Moses’ most heroic virtue is his steadfast obedience, and it might be said that a passive quality permeates each of his miracles. Ten plagues strike Egypt because Moses simply appears in Pharaoh’s court to request the release of the Israelites. With the help of his rod, or divine staff, Moses parts the waters of the Red Sea merely by outstretching his arms. Later, the beleaguered Israelites defeat a mighty army when two men help Moses raise his hands for the duration of the battle. The image of a stationary man bringing about overwhelming physical feats is striking. Moses himself is far from passive or reticent, yet he represents a prototype of the biblical hero whose greatness lies not in self-assertion but in obedience to God.