Moses and the Exodus Trivia Quiz

Moses was the son of Amram (father) and Jochebed (mother), both of whom were Levites. He had a brother named Aaron who was three years older, and an older sister named Miriam.

Exodus 2:2-10 (NLT) tells us that Moses' mother became pregnant with him, knew that there was something special about him and kept him hidden for three months. This was in defiance of the Pharaoh's edict that all Hebrew baby boys had to be drowned at birth. There came a point where she was unable to hide him any longer, so her scheme was to place the baby in a basket of reeds and papyrus, waterproofed with tar and pitch and then hide it in the reeds of the Nile River. Miriam stayed behind to see what would happen.

The baby was found by the Pharaoh's daughter, who took pity on him. Miriam approached the princess and asked if she could find a Hebrew woman to nurse the child. The princess agreed and Moses ended up back with his mother, supported by the princess. When Moses grew older, he was taken back to the Pharaoh's daughter who promptly adopted him and named him Moses, meaning "I lifted him out of the water."

The Bible does not provide us with a great deal of insight into the early life of Moses. What we do know from Exodus 2:10 is that he was adopted by the Pharaoh's daughter and that from the age of twelve he was given schooling with the Pharaoh's goal of making him a prince. The ultimate goal was that he would one day be the ruler of all Egypt.

The consequence of this schooling was that Moses got an intimate knowledge of the way in which the Egyptian hierarchy and their systems operated. It also aided him in developing a way with words. These lessons would provide Moses with a great future benefit, the skills with which he would lead his own people.

At the age of forty, Moses wandered out into the fields to get a feel, first hand, as to how his people fared. He found them hard at labour. He also noticed an Egyptian man beating a Hebrew during his work and, in defense of his own he killed the Egyptian man, took his body aside and buried it in the sand.

The next day he ventured into the same fields and, on this occasion, came across two Hebrew men fighting each other. When he questioned them as to who started it, one of the men railed upon him, demanding to know who made him (Moses) their leader and whether or not he also planned to kill one them, in the same manner that he'd killed the Egyptian.

This frightened Moses. He now realized that the word of his deed was spreading and that it would not take long to reach the ears of the Pharaoh. The palace of the Pharaoh was no longer safe for him and, as described in Exodus 2:11-15, fearing that his life was now forfeit, he fled to Midian.

Reuel (also known as Jethro in other texts) had seven daughters who had the task of tending to his sheep. The problem they had was that, when they went to the well to fetch water, they'd be driven away by the other shepherds. Moses was in the area, saw what was happening and stood up for the women. He also assisted them in tending to the flock (Exodus 2:17). When Reuel heard of this he invited Moses to his house and gave to him his daughter Zipporah (Exodus 2:21).

Zipporah would give birth to a son for Moses and he was named Gershom. The name meant "sojourner there", which Moses deemed appropriate, stating that like that name, he too was a "stranger in a strange land" (Exodus 2:22). He and Zipporah would have a second son, whom they named Eliezer, meaning "God is my helper".

Moses would end up tending sheep for Reuel (Jethro) for forty years. This seemed like an inordinately long time to be performing a menial task. For a married man with two sons, it also smacked of a lack of ambition but, there was a method, that ran deep, amongst all of this.

During the time Moses was studying to be a prince, he developed knowledge, and he came to understand power. What he came to realize he didn't possess was self-control. During his time tending the sheep he was taught humility and patience. He led sheep to pastures that had feed and also water. He'd separate the aggressive sheep from those that were timid, he ensured that none of them strayed, and he kept the predators at bay. All of these were skills that would be vital for him when he led the Israelites to the Promised Land.

The Burning Bush is a significant moment in the life of Moses and the eventual leadership of his people. Here he expresses his self-doubt; "who am I that I should go unto Pharaoh, and that I should bring forth the children of Israel out of Egypt" (Exodus 3:11). God shows him that He will stand by him and proves His word with two miracles. For the first he requests Moses to drop his staff, which he turns into a serpent. He then demands that Moses grab the serpent by the tail, and it returns to being his staff. This was a great display of faith on the part of Moses as he was extremely fearful of the snake. Still, he expressed further doubt, so the Lord turned his hand into leprous snow and then returned it to normal again (Exodus 4:1-7).

Moses had come across the burning bush while he was tending Reuel's sheep on Mount Horeb. Whilst the initial contact was with an angel of God, the fire became one of a number of God's manifestations in the Bible. The bush, however, was never consumed by the fire and, most commentators have come to regard this as a symbol that God's people would not be consumed by their afflictions in Egypt.

At Exodus 4:18, Moses returns to his father in law, and seeks permission to leave for Egypt. He is told to go in peace.

Moses returned to Egypt, with his brother Aaron as his spokesperson, to approach the Pharaoh with the aim of releasing the "children of Israel". He'd been forewarned by God, at the Burning Bush, that the Pharaoh would not be receptive to this. The aim of this was to make Moses appear to be a god and Aaron a prophet (Exodus 7:1). The Lord has also informed Moses that part of the Pharaoh's reticence would be because he (the Lord) would harden the Pharaoh's heart to the request. This, so that he could "multiply his signs and wonders in the land of Egypt" (Exodus 7:3)

The latter would be the precursor to the infliction of the Ten Plagues on Egypt. Among these were the turning of the waters of the Nile River to blood, locusts devouring the plant life of the land and the killing of the livestock. The final blow to the Pharaoh would be the killing of the first born son of all of the families in Egypt. Moses called upon his people to smear lamb's blood, a symbol of sacrifice, on their doors and this would ensure that the Angel of Death would pass them by. One of the victims of this final act was the Pharaoh's own son. It proved to be the final straw and he allowed the Israelites to leave Egypt (Exodus 12:31-32).

It would take three months for Moses and his people to reach Mount Sinai and they were guided by the Lord. During the day this help manifested itself as a pillar of cloud and, at night, it was a pillar of fire.

The journey, however, was not all smooth sailing. Not long after they'd left, the Pharaoh had had another change of heart and instructed his armies to pursue and destroy them. The Israelites appeared to be trapped when they'd reached the Red Sea, but Moses, at God's bidding, parted the waters and allowed his people to cross. When the armies of Egypt had fully committed themselves to the pursuit across this opening, Moses closed the waters and drowned them out (Exodus 14:16-28).

The Israelites then complained that, whilst Moses had delivered them from the Pharaoh, their plight was now worse. At least, they wailed, under the yoke of the Egyptians we were being fed. To quell this discontent, Moses, initially, cast a tree into the bitter waters of Marah to make them sweet (Exodus 15:23-25), delivered manna from Heaven (Exodus 16:4) and quail (Exodus 16:13). He struck rocks at Massah and Meribah to deliver water (Exodus 17:6-7). This latter action would have consequences for Moses later on.

In Exodus 17: 8-16 the Israelites are attacked at Rephadim by the Amalekites. Moses orders Joshua to choose men and to go and repel the invading forces. He would command from a nearby hill while holding the Staff of God.

He had the assistance of Aaron and Hur, who soon noticed that when Moses held his hands up, the Israelites also got the upper hand in the battle. However, when his hands fell the Amalekites were able to regain lost ground. Aaron and Hur urged Moses to keep his hands up and, when those arms got heavy, they assisted him by propping them up with stones. Moses managed to keep his hands up and, by sunset, the battle was won.

In Exodus 19:1-19 we learn that Moses climbs Mount Sinai, where the Lord informs him that he wishes to speak to his people. He does this in the form of a cloud at the base of Mount Sinai; however, every time he spoke, the mountain shook. This terrified the Israelites and they pleaded with Moses that he speak with God on their behalf.

Initially Moses went up the mountain with seventy of the elders to receive the Lord's teachings (Exodus 20:18-19) but, after a time, Moses was requested to climb higher and the Lord would talk to him alone. Moses would spend forty days and nights with the Lord, receiving his teachings while the Lord carved his Ten Commandments onto a set of stone tablets.

On his return from the top of the mountain, Moses found his people had crafted an idol calf from the own gold and were worshipping it (Exodus 32). Angered, Moses broke the stone tablets and destroyed the calf. The Lord was also angered and Moses went to him, pleading for forgiveness for his people and a new covenant with the Lord. He would return from the mountain with a new set of Commandments after promising God that he would lead his people and continue to teach them.

The Book of Exodus finishes, rather abruptly, with Moses coming down from Mount Sinai with the Ten Commandments, building the Ark of the Covenant to store the Law of God and then a tabernacle in which to house them. We are left with Moses being denied entry into the tabernacle.

The "Promised Land" of Canaan that Moses was leading his people to was not something new. God had endowed this to his people in the time of Abram (Genesis 12 NIV). Along the road to Canaan, he'd provided his people with food and water, sheltered them and gave them his Law. At the door to the "land of milk and honey" he'd asked only one thing of them ... to believe in him.

Moses was instructed to send twelve spies into the land of Canaan. On return all, bar Joshua and Caleb, told of the impossible odds and unconquerable rulers that awaited them. The Israelites lost faith in God and, as a result, were made to wander in the wilderness for another forty years, until all of the adults, bar Joshua and Caleb, perished. In this way there was the chance that the children of those parents would resurrect that belief.

At this point, Joshua was chosen to lead the Israelites into the Promised Land. Moses was forbidden to set foot in it. This was a punishment for disobeying God. When Moses delivered water from the rock at Meribah, he was instructed to speak to the rock but Moses had doubts and struck it with his staff (Numbers 20:10-11 NIV). Yes, the punishment here is steep but Moses took it on the chin and refused to complain. He would see out his days on Mount Abarim, overlooking the lands his people were given. He continued to read the Ten Commandments to his people and he made sure he kept reminding them of all that God had done for them. His preachings/sermons would form the basis of the Book of Deuteronomy.