Moses

Moses is the leader chosen by God to liberate the Israelites from slavery in Egypt and to receive the Law — including the Ten Commandments — on Mount Sinai. He is the central figure of the Old Testament and a type of Jesus Christ, the new and greater Moses (CCC 62, 204).

Moses and the Exodus

Moses was called by God at the burning bush — where God revealed his name "I AM WHO I AM" (Exodus 3:14) — and commissioned to lead the Israelites out of Egypt. After the ten plagues and the Passover, Moses led the people through the Red Sea and into the desert, where God fed them with manna and provided water from the rock. The Exodus is the defining event of Israel's identity as God's people (CCC 62, 204).

Moses and the Law

At Mount Sinai, God gave Moses the Ten Commandments and the full Mosaic Law — the covenant by which Israel was to live as God's holy people. Moses is therefore the lawgiver of Israel. As lawgiver, he is a type of Christ, who gives the new and definitive Law — not on stone tablets but written on the heart (Jeremiah 31:33; CCC 62, 204).

Moses as Type of Christ

Moses prefigures Christ in multiple ways: as mediator between God and his people, as intercessor, as leader through the wilderness, as the one who reveals God's word. Jesus is explicitly called the "new Moses" — the one who completes and surpasses what Moses began (CCC 218).

Frequently Asked Questions

Did Moses write the first five books of the Bible? The Church's tradition attributes the Pentateuch (Genesis through Deuteronomy) to Moses. Modern biblical scholarship recognizes a more complex authorship process, while the Church affirms that Moses's foundational role in Israel's tradition is historically real and that the Pentateuch genuinely reflects his teaching (CCC 702).