Obstacles in the Life of Moses and Joshua
Though obstacles are a common part of life’s dynamics, they are not always easy to overcome. Moses and Joshua both prophets of God faced many obstacles in their lives. “God would be their God by His presence as well as by His word.”(Clowney, 2013, p. 113) Moses story was presented in the Old Testament of the book of exodus begins with the obstacle of him escaping death as an infant. Exodus 2:3 says, But when she could hide him no longer, she got him a wicker basket and covered it over with tar and pitch. Then she put the child into it and set it among the reeds by the bank of the Nile. (New American Standard Bible)
When Moses became a man he faced a heart wrenching obstacle of watching the Egyptians hurt his own peoples, in a rage of anger Moses commits murder to an Egyptian who was beating up an Israelite. This obstacle was not over, Moses spent 40 years in the desert hiding from the Egyptians. A new obstacle begin when God called upon him to save the children of Israel in Exodus 14:13. His obstacle in
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”Even during periods of moral crises, God is looking for faithful servants to bless.”(Arnold & Beyer, 2008, p. 187) God desires for us to be loyal and self-sacrificing, we can encounter His faithfulness if we work within his will. If we do not allow ourselves to be feed by the Lords will, it will cause wreckage to our lives. Which then brings in the formation of broken promises. We must be willing to reflect in faithfulness for God with our presents, words and actions. ”The book is first and foremost about God and his faithful dealings in the lives of his people.”(Arnold & Beyer, 2008, p. 192) The relevance of Ruth’s manuscripts gives a validation to what true loyalty through God looks like. We have the ability to break the curse of unfaithfulness and show others within our culture the dynamics of true
Moses was a major character in the fact that he was the reason his son, Adam, became the man that he had become. “If just once in all my born days you’d say a good thing to me” (Fast 3), Moses stated. Moses wanted Adam to be raised the way that Moses was raised and respect it. Adam did not like how strict his father was to him and did not want to be raised like he was. “Maybe it’s time I just went and did something without my father”
To begin with, the dual narratives of the text here present a unique mixture of chronology and perspective. Moreover, noteworthy is also McBride’s usage of the rhetorical strategy of alternate chapters and parallelism. This can be seen when McBride remarkably places related chapters together to juxtapose the life of his mother and that of himself. This allows one to observe the parallelism in the two lives; and perhaps more importantly, understand the significance Ruth’s life has had on McBride. For example, McBride places the chapters “Shul” and “School” next to each other. Here, both Ruth and James are struggling and are trying to fit in but are rejected due to racial and social conflicts. Another example is, “The New Testament” and “The Old Testament.” Both of these chapters revolve around the embarrassment Ruth and James feel for their circumstances. In “The Ne...
No one may have understood Ruth’s actions and her motives for doing what she did, but Ruth knew what she was getting herself into. She wanted a better life for herself and her twelve children, which she accomplished. Although many may not agree with her process of achieving her goals, she still managed to raise twelve successful men and women. Through all the miseries and tragedies, Ruth picked herself up and moved on. I am proud of her.
This quote that was said by Ruth had a significant meaning and also a purpose for it being put in the book.
To begin with, the dual narratives of the text here present a unique mixture of chronology and perspective. Moreover, noteworthy is also McBride’s usage of the rhetorical strategy of alternate chapters and parallelism. This can be seen when McBride remarkably places related chapters together to juxtapose the life of his mother and that of himself. This allows one to observe the parallelism in the two lives and to understand the significance Rachel's life had on McBride. For example, McBride places the chapter titled “Shul” and “School” next to each other with each giving a view of the problems they faced in school. Here both Ruth and James are struggling and are trying to fit in but are rejected due to racial and social conflicts. Another example is “The New Testament” and “The Old Testament.” Both of these chapters revolve around the embarrassm...
Before relationships begin to develop, each of the protagonists are in different positions. Moses is born a Hebrew, but growing up he is considered an Egyptian. When Moses flees to Midian and saves the
One highlight from Abingdon Old Testament Commentaries: Ruth, by Judy Fentress-Williams is loyalty. In the book of Ruth, Ruth states, “Where you go, I will go; where you lodge, I will lodge; your people shall be my people, and your God my God” (Ruth 1:14). Ruth says this to Naomi after Naomi tried to push her away. The commentary states that Ruth said this to Naomi as they were moving from Ruth’s homeland to Naomi’s homeland (Williams, chapter 1). I think this is significant because it shows that Ruth is actually following Naomi and not leaving her behind or abandoning her. This verse is a pivotal event in the first chapter which makes it even more significant (Williams, chapter 1). This is when the setting begins to change. It starts off in Moab and then they both travel to the land of Judah. It also
Moses spends forty years following the instructions of God throughout Exodus. However, in Numbers, God tells him to speak to the rock and it will bring them water. Instead of speaking to the rock, he strikes it with his staff, like he did previously in Exodus. When he does not directly follow the instructions he was given, God responds by saying, “‘Because you were not faithful to me in showing forth my sanctity before the Israelites, you shall not lead this community into the land I will give them,’” (Numbers 20:12). Moses ends up being able to see the Promised Land, but never being able to set foot inside
Moses' journey begins in Egypt. This is a land where the Pharaoh has ultimate control and power over the people. Campbell refers to this greedy, egocentric, possessive leader as the tyrant. At this time, Egypt is noticing a huge increase in the number of Hebrew slaves (Exodus 1:9). In order to maintain possession of the land, Pharaoh must stifle the future threat that the increasing population of Israelites represent. To do this he orders the first born son of every Hebrew to be thrown into the Nile. However, baby Moses floats to the Pharaoh's daughter and Moses is raised as an Egyptian prince. He grows up different than any other Hebrew. He learns how to become soldier for his Pharaoh, but something is always troubling him. One day Moses sees an Egyptian striking a Hebrew slave and Moses intervenes and kills the Egyptian (Exodus 2:12). The next day he sees two Hebrews struggling, and tries to intervene, but he discovers that his murder of yesterday is known. This conflict symbolizes what Campbell says is the "call t...
When Moses was born, the Israelites were oppressed by the Egyptian Pharaoh and bound to a harsh life of labor, taking part in building some of the great public works of Egypt such as the pyramids, fortresses, and installations to regulate the flow of the Nile River. For fear that the Israelite population would continue to increase, the Pharaoh insisted that every male Hebrew child would be killed at birth. Ironically, during this oppressive period, Moses, the “future deliverer of Israel”, was born. To protect his life, his mother sent him down the Nile in a specially woven ark. He was found by the Pharaoh’s daughter who took him in and, to add to the irony, she hired his mother to be his foster nurse.
God’s people found themselves in captivity in Egypt after the death of Joseph and the Pharaoh that had knowledge of the good done by children of Israel (Ex. 1:8-14). God saw the oppression of His people and sent Moses and Aaron to deliver His people from slavery (Ex. 3:10, 4:14-16).
This section of exodus focuses on Moses, an Israelite who was raised as an Egyptian, who has fled from Egypt after the Pharaoh tried to kill him for killing an Egyptian man. By Exodus 3:1 Moses is married to Zipporah daughter of Jethro who gives him a job working as a shepherd. While tending to his animals Moses arrives at Horeb also known as Mount Sinai or the Mountain of God. Here Moses has his first theophany with God in the form of a burning bush. During this passage God talks to Moses telling him what he needs to do: go to Egypt and convince the Pharaoh to let the Egyptians go by performing a series of miracles. What god is asking Moses to do is intimidating. At this time the Pharaoh was the ruler of Egypt who had a powerful army and the Israelite’s weren’t going to be easy to convince that God sent him. Despite the “signs” Moses is reluctant to take the role beca...
Ostriker A. (2002). The book of ruth and the love of the land. Biblical Interpretation, 10 (4),
“And Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet with God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain. Now Mount Sinai was completely in smoke, because the Lord descended upon it in fire. Its smoke ascended like the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mountain quaked greatly. And when the blast of the trumpet sounded long and became louder and louder, Moses spoke, and God answered him by voice. Then the Lord came down upon Mount Sinai, on the top of the mountain. And the Lord called Moses to the top of the mountain, and Moses went up.” (Exodus 19:17-20, Macarthur, 1997) In the Sinai wilderness, there lies a holy, sacred mountain, Mount Sinai (Jebel Musa), “the mountain of Moses.” This sacred mountain, once made the Israelites tremble with fear at the site of thick smoke and the loud sound of trumpets at the descending of the Lord. The Lord spoke with Moses at the top of Mount Sinai while this thick smoke created by the hand of the Lord covered the mountain, prevailing the Israelites from gazing upon the holiness of the Lord and anyone who touched the base of the mountain would die. Apart from the graveness of what would happen to the Israelites if they were to disobey the Lord, Mount Sinai became this “sacred” place, a holy ground, where Moses (who was the son of a Hebrew slave, born in Egypt and called by the name of the Lord to deliver the Israelites out of exile to the promised land) was once in the presence of the Almighty, Jealous, Holy and All-Powerful Yahweh. Standing in the presence of the Lord, Moses received the Ten Commandments. The Ten Commandments were two stone tablets, breathed to life by the spoken word of the Lord, a symbolic covenant to the Israelites from the Lord. From a biblical, theological perspective, Mo...
According to the book of Exodus in the Bible, Israel's future leader, Moses, was born at a very risky time. It was a time when the Jews in Egypt had increased in number and prospered so much that the Egyptian pharaoh decreed that every male Jew who was born at that time was to be killed. Moses was born a Jew. However, when his mother realized that, the time came for him to be born; she decided not to let him be killed and was eager to hide him. It was not possible though to keep him with her, for she would be found. Consequently, she decided to hide him among the reeds in the River Nile (Exodus 1-2 and QB VI...