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Halle Brockett

Ms. Akers

Honors English 9

19 October 2017

Struggles of Moses

The characters in The Bible as/in Literature all go through terrible suffering. One

character who has an especially intriguing story is Moses. Moses was born in secret, since

Hebrew boys were being killed at birth. Eventually his mother gave him up, and he was found by

the Pharaohs daughter. From then on he lived in luxury, feeling helpless while watching the

Hebrew people suffer through slavery. The background Moses had was important, because it

provided him with a reason to care for the Hebrews, while still giving him the power to make

change occur. With each of his struggles came an outcome with a moral. Most of the problems

Moses faced were focused around freeing his people. Although, these dilemmas were necessary

in order to build up a bond between the Hebrew people and God and to free them from Egyptian

rule.

First off, Moses felt unsure of his capabilities. He killed an Egyptian man to save an

Israelite, and when word got to the pharaoh, Moses was forced to flee from his home. This

completely turned his life around, although, who could say if it was for the worse or the better?

Because of this, God came to him and told him to fight for the Hebrews freedom. Moses

believed himself incapable of completing this task, but God encouraged Moses and helped him

to pursue it: Who has made mans mouth? Who makes him dumb, or deaf, or seeing, or blind?

Is it not I, the Lord? Now therefore go, and I will be with your mouth and teach you what you

shall speak (112). In this line, God is explaining that He would know if Moses was unfit for the

task, seeing as He would be the one making it so. This line provides the moral that anyone is
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capable of doing whatever they please; it is only their self-doubting thoughts that hold them

back. Without Gods convincing words, Moses never would have started on the long path of

freeing the Hebrews.

Soon after, Moses worked hard trying to persuade the pharaoh to let the Hebrew people

go. Each time Moses begged, the pharaoh denied his request. Although, Moses did not stop

trying. God sent many plagues down upon Egypt, and finally, the pharaoh let the Hebrews leave.

However, the pharaoh changed his mind and sent armies running after the Hebrews. Yet again,

Moses had to struggle against the Egyptians. He spoke words of encouragement to the Hebrew

people: Fear not, stand firm and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will work for you today;

for the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall never see again (121). In this line, Moses was

trying to encourage the Israelites to persevere, because if they did, they could defeat the

pharaohs armies. Throughout Moses story, he had to stand firm in order to achieve his main

goal of freeing his people. Perseverance is another lesson provided in The Bible as/in Literature

through Moses.

Despite the Hebrews acting as the victims of the story, they still made many mistakes.

Once the Hebrew people escaped, they made settlement away from Egypt. God gave Moses ten

commandments He wished for the Hebrews to follow. Before these rules even reached the

Hebrew people, however, they had already broken many of them. Moses asked God for

forgiveness and He excused Moses, but commanded him to copy down the ten commandments

in order to make up for the Israelites sin: Write these words; in accordance with these words I

have made a covenant with you and with Israel (137). This quote describes how God would

condone the Hebrew people, but only if they atoned for their sins. This implies that if one

commits a wrongdoing, they can still be redeemed if they admit to their error and try to fix the
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mistake. Moses atoned for the sins of his people in order to strengthen their relationship with

God.

Moses had a very complex story in The Bible as/in Literature with many obstacles along

the way. Every part of his eventful journey had a lesson to learn from it. The problems Moses

faced in his lifetime were all very important to the accomplishments he madeforming a strong

relationship with God and freeing the Hebrews from slavery.