Ted Grant II
Registered Senior Member
Everybody knows that it took 40 years for Moses, to lead the Children of Israel, to the Promised Land from Egypt. Along the way, they put to the sword many thousands of men, women and children with the help of their God. Their God showed the way, as a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. He provided food and water. He delivered the enemies into their hands.
This is what happened at the end of the journey as recorded apparently, by Moses himself...
"And Moses went up from the plains of Moab unto the mountain of Nebo, to the top of Pisgah, that is over against Jericho and the Lord shewed him all the land...and the Lord said unto him, This is the land which I sware unto Abraham...I have caused thee to see it with thine eyes, but thou shalt not go over thither.
So Moses, the servant of the Lord died there in the land of Moab...and he buried him in a valley...but no man knoweth of his sepulchre unto this day."
Note: "unto this day" suggests the story was written a long time after the events portrayed.
It is difficult to believe that Moses recorded his death and burial several years later.
In the New Testament, Matthew chapter 2 verses 13 onward, we learn this...
"...behold, the angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream, saying, Arise and take the young child and his mother and flee into Egypt and be thou there until I bring thee word, for Herod will seek the young child to destroy him! When he (Joseph) arose, he took the young child and his mother by night and departed into Egypt and was there until the death of Herod (in 4 B.C.) that it may be fulfilled which is spoken by the prophet, saying, Out of Egypt have I called my son (see note 1 below).
(later)...and he arose and took the young child and his mother and came into the land of Israel
...And he came and dwelt in a city called Nazareth, that it might be fulfilled which is spoken by the prophets, He shall be called a Nazarene (see note 2 below)".
Note 1 :- This is a quote from the book Hosea chapter 11 which reads as follows...
"When Israel was a child, then I loved him and called my son out of Egypt. As they called them, so they went from them: they sacrificed unto Baalim and burned incense to graven images."
The "son" in this passage is clearly the Children of Israel and refers to the Exodus from Egypt.
Note 2:- The reference to Nazarite (not Nazarene) might be from Judges Chapters 13 and 16.
Here is an extract...
"For lo, thou shalt conceive and bear a son and no rasor shall come on his head: for the child shall be a Nazarite unto God from the womb and he shall deliver Israel out of the hand of the Philistines"
A quick reading of Judges chapter 13 (which is really really revealing and exciting) tells us the name of the child - his name was Samson.
There are people, who are able to explain away these apparent difficulties, by juggling with words and translations to make them OK. It's not easy, but they manage to do it, because they are determined to maintain the integrity of the Holy Scriptures, probably because their income depend on it . But to us mere mortals, it looks like the gospel writers mined the Old Testament for anything to use when composing their stories. Anyway, enough of this nitpicking. On to my main question...
So Moses took 40 years for the one way journey and Joseph managed to travel twice the distance in a short time and hang about in Egypt to wait for Herod to die. We know it was a short time because the child was still young when they got back to Israel. Moses was 120 years old when he got to the Promised Land.
We are not told how Joseph, Mary and the young child traveled. Little donkey, perhaps?
So, why was Moses so slow (navigated by God) and Joseph was so quick?
This is what happened at the end of the journey as recorded apparently, by Moses himself...
"And Moses went up from the plains of Moab unto the mountain of Nebo, to the top of Pisgah, that is over against Jericho and the Lord shewed him all the land...and the Lord said unto him, This is the land which I sware unto Abraham...I have caused thee to see it with thine eyes, but thou shalt not go over thither.
So Moses, the servant of the Lord died there in the land of Moab...and he buried him in a valley...but no man knoweth of his sepulchre unto this day."
Note: "unto this day" suggests the story was written a long time after the events portrayed.
It is difficult to believe that Moses recorded his death and burial several years later.
In the New Testament, Matthew chapter 2 verses 13 onward, we learn this...
"...behold, the angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream, saying, Arise and take the young child and his mother and flee into Egypt and be thou there until I bring thee word, for Herod will seek the young child to destroy him! When he (Joseph) arose, he took the young child and his mother by night and departed into Egypt and was there until the death of Herod (in 4 B.C.) that it may be fulfilled which is spoken by the prophet, saying, Out of Egypt have I called my son (see note 1 below).
(later)...and he arose and took the young child and his mother and came into the land of Israel
...And he came and dwelt in a city called Nazareth, that it might be fulfilled which is spoken by the prophets, He shall be called a Nazarene (see note 2 below)".
Note 1 :- This is a quote from the book Hosea chapter 11 which reads as follows...
"When Israel was a child, then I loved him and called my son out of Egypt. As they called them, so they went from them: they sacrificed unto Baalim and burned incense to graven images."
The "son" in this passage is clearly the Children of Israel and refers to the Exodus from Egypt.
Note 2:- The reference to Nazarite (not Nazarene) might be from Judges Chapters 13 and 16.
Here is an extract...
"For lo, thou shalt conceive and bear a son and no rasor shall come on his head: for the child shall be a Nazarite unto God from the womb and he shall deliver Israel out of the hand of the Philistines"
A quick reading of Judges chapter 13 (which is really really revealing and exciting) tells us the name of the child - his name was Samson.
There are people, who are able to explain away these apparent difficulties, by juggling with words and translations to make them OK. It's not easy, but they manage to do it, because they are determined to maintain the integrity of the Holy Scriptures, probably because their income depend on it . But to us mere mortals, it looks like the gospel writers mined the Old Testament for anything to use when composing their stories. Anyway, enough of this nitpicking. On to my main question...
So Moses took 40 years for the one way journey and Joseph managed to travel twice the distance in a short time and hang about in Egypt to wait for Herod to die. We know it was a short time because the child was still young when they got back to Israel. Moses was 120 years old when he got to the Promised Land.
We are not told how Joseph, Mary and the young child traveled. Little donkey, perhaps?
So, why was Moses so slow (navigated by God) and Joseph was so quick?