How does Moses here represent the role of mediator, prophet, priest, and king? How does this short story present Moses as a model for Christ? What are the similarities between Moses and Jesus in this story, and what are some differences?
In this text, Moses combines the roles of mediator, prophet, priest, and king:
We see him as a mediator standing between the oppressor and the oppressed and intervening to save the Hebrew from the hand of the Egyptian. He is the mediator who is considered the link between his enslaved people and the world of Pharaoh’s palace in which he grew up.
We see him as a prophet conveying the words of God to the people, seeing what others do not see and speaking the truth to the people.
We see him like a king trying to establish justice between the two quarreling men and asking: “Why do you beat your friend? So that he may judge between them.”
We see him as a priest who goes out to visit his people and look at their burdens, and he is preoccupied with the problem of one of his people and considers it his own problem, so he chooses to suffer with them.
Moses is considered a model of Christ as he “went out to his brothers” and chose to voluntarily leave the privileges of the royal palace to visit his enslaved people. This depicts what Christ did when he emptied himself of his heavenly glory and took the form of a slave (Philippians 2:6-7). They both left the glory to identify with the suffering. Then we find that he went out to look at their burdens. He was not satisfied with watching from afar, but he suffered for them and carried their anxiety in his heart. This is how Christ “bears our infirmities and bears our sorrows” (Isaiah 53:4). The look here is not a passing look, but rather a working look, full of sympathy. Moses stood between the oppressor and the oppressed to save his Hebrew brother. This is the role of the mediator who mediates between two parties. Christ is “the one mediator between God and people” who saved us from the slavery of sin. We find in the story a pivotal point, which is that Moses went out to save his people, but he was rejected and met with the response of the Abrami. Who made you a ruler and judge over us? This is tantamount to a clear rejection of his message and authority. Likewise, Christ “came to his own, but his own did not receive him” (John 1:11). He came with the message of salvation, but the Jews also rejected him. In the end, Moses remains an incomplete model, but Christ is the fulfillment and completion of Moses’ model.
Similarities with Christ:
Differences: Moses killed the Egyptian with his human hand and with human anger, but Christ chose to be killed even though he had not committed any sin and there was no deceit in his mouth.
What similarities do you see between the characters in this story and other characters in the Bible?
Moses and Joseph: Both of them lived in Pharaoh’s palace, and both of them were rejected by their brothers first and then became their saviors.
Moses and Jacob: They both fled for fear of their lives.
Moses and David: They both led the people and were concerned with the salvation of the people.
Check the cross references for this story in your Bible. Where else in the Bible is this story repeated? Who is the other person in the Bible who was asked, “Who made you a ruler and judge over us?”
(Acts 7:23-29) Stephen’s letter narrates this incident in detail.
(Acts 11:24-27) “By faith Moses, when he grew up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, preferring rather to be humiliated with the people of God.”
(Acts 7:27-35)
The only person who was asked this question in the Bible was Moses himself. No one else was asked this question specifically, but the question is mentioned repeatedly in two places (Exodus 2:14) (Acts 7:27-35), once when the Hebrew man said it directly to Moses, and another time when Stephen narrated it in his speech to everyone at his martyrdom. He did not ask this question personally, but he used this incident to show a recurring pattern in the history of Israel, which is their rejection of any message of salvation. God sends it to them.
Moses | Jesus
He left Pharaoh’s palace to miss his brothers He left his heavenly glory and emptied himself (Philippians 2)
He went out to look at their burdens He became a human being and bore our pain
He was rejected by his Hebrew brothers “He came to his own, but his own did not receive him” (John 1:11)
He sat at the well (the meeting place). He sat at the well with the Samaritan woman (John 4)