Books of Moses

“ But none believed in Moses, save a race of his own people, through fear of Pharaoh and his chiefs; lest he should afflict them, for verily, Pharaoh was lofty in the earth, and verily, he was extravagant.
And Moses said, 'O my people! if ye did believe in God, then on Him rely, if ye be resigned.' 85 They said, 'Upon God do we rely. O our Lord! make us not a cause of trial for a people who do wrong, but save us by Thy mercy from the people who misbelieve!'
And we inspired Moses and his brother thus, 'Establish, ye twain, houses for your people in Egypt ”

“ His opinion was based upon the well-known texts which have turned all really eminent biblical scholars in the nineteenth century from the old view by showing the Mosaic authorship of the five books in their present form to be clearly disproved by the books themselves; and, among these texts, accounts of Moses' own death and burial, as well as statements based on names, events, and conditions which only came into being ages after the time of Moses. ”

“ They evolved a worship that contained in a modified form many of the ceremonials that they witnessed when they came into contact with the Babylonians and Phœnicians. Their Bible they maintained to be a collection of books which appeared at intervals, with divine inspiration, during a thousand years of Jewish history. Similarly, they insisted that Moses wrote the Pentateuch, that Judges, Kings, and Chronicles go back to the times they describe, that the prophecies were added from the ninth century onward, and so on. ”

“ They accept the first five books of the Bible as their gospel, but reject all others; they accept Moses as the only law-giver, believe that a Messiah is to come, believe in the resurrection of the body, and in a state of future rewards and punishments, and they keep all the feasts and fasts enjoined in the Pentateuch. They also keep the feast of Purim, on the ground that it celebrates the journey of Moses to Egypt to deliver the Israelites, and not as the Jews celebrate it for the release of their people by Queen Esther. ”

“ We did show him our signs, all of them, but he called them lies and did refuse.
Said he, ‘ Hast thou come to us, to turn us out of our land with thy magic, O Moses ? 60 Then we will bring you magic like it ; and we will make between us and thee an appointment; we will not break it, nor do thou either; — a fair place.’
Said he, ‘ Let your appointment be for the day of adornment [6] , and let the people assemble in the forenoon [7] .’
But Pharaoh turned his back, and collected his tricks, and then he came.
Said Moses to them, ‘ Woe to you ! do not forge against God a lie ”

“ He said, ‘ Nay, throw ye !’ and lo! their ropes and their staves appeared to move along. 70 And Moses felt a secret fear within his soul.
Said we, ‘ Fear not ! thou shalt have the upper hand. Throw down what is in thy right hand; and it shall devour what they have made. Verily, what they have made is but a magician's trick ; and no magician shall prosper wherever he comes.’
And the magicians were cast down in adoration ; said they, ‘ We believe in the Lord of Aaron and of Moses !’
Said he [9] , ‘ Do ye believe in Him before I give you leave ? Verily, he is your master who taught you magic! ”

“ God, there is no god but He ! His are the excellent names.
Has the story of Moses come to thee ? When he saw the fire and said to his family, ‘ Tarry ye ; verily, I perceive a fire ! 10 Haply I may bring you therefrom a brand, or may find guidance by the fire [1] .’ And when he came to it he was called to, ‘ O Moses ! verily, I am thy Lord, so take off thy sandals ; verily, thou art in the holy valley Tuvâ, and I have chosen thee. So listen to what is inspired thee; verily, I am God, there is no god but Me ! ”

“ And Moses said, ‘ Verily, I take refuge in my Lord and your Lord from every one who is big with pride and believes not on the day of reckoning.’
And a believing man of Pharaoh’s people, who concealed his faith, said, ‘ Will ye kill a man for saying, My Lord is God, when he has come to you with manifest signs from your Lord ? and if he be a liar, against him is his lie; and if he be truthful, there will befall you somewhat of that which he threatens you ; verily, God guides not him who is an extravagant liar. ”

“ Could they not see that God who created the heavens and the earth is able to create the like of them, and to set for them an appointed time ; there is no doubt therein, yet the wrong-doers refuse to accept it, save ungratefully !
Say, ‘ Did ye control the treasuries of the mercy of my Lord, then ye would hold them through fear of expending ; for man is ever niggardly !’
And we did bring Moses nine manifest signs ; then ask the children of Israel (about) when he came to them, and Pharaoh said to him, ‘ Verily, I think thee, O Moses ! ”

“ And when Moses′ wrath calmed down he took the tables, in the inscription of which was guidance and mercy for those who dread their Lord.
And Moses chose from his people seventy men for our appointment ; and when the earthquake took them he said, ‘ O my Lord ! hadst Thou willed, Thou hadst destroyed them before and me. Wilt Thou destroy us for what the fools amongst us have done ? This is naught but Thy trial, wherewith Thou dost lead astray whom Thou pleasest and guidest whom Thou pleasest ; Thou art our patron ! forgive us and have mercy on us, for Thou art the best of those who do forgive ! ”

“ For when Moses desired to see the Lord, saying, “If therefore I have found grace in Thy sight, manifest Thyself to me, that I may see Thee distinctly,” [50] the sight which he desired to have was of that condition which he was to assume as man, and which as a prophet he knew was to occur. Respecting the face of God, however, he had already heard, “No man shall see me, and live.” “This thing,” said He, “which thou hast spoken, will I do unto thee.” Then Moses said, “Show me Thy glory.” And the Lord, with like reference to the future, replied, “I will pass before thee in my glory,” etc. ”

“ O Moses ! verily, I am God, the mighty, wise ; 10 throw down thy staff !’ and when he saw it quivering, as though it were a snake, he turned back fleeing, and did not return. ‘ O Moses ! fear not ; verily, as for me — apostles fear not with me ; save only those who have done wrong and then substitute good for evil ”

“ Moses received the Book. Noah was a faithful servant. Israel’s two sins and their punishment. The Qurʼân a guide and glad tidings. Man prays for evil and is hasty. Night and day are two signs. Every man’s augury is round his neck. Each one shall have a book on the resurrection day with an account of his deeds. Each is to bear the burden of his own sins. No city is destroyed till warned by an apostle. Choice of good in this world or the next. Mohammed is not to associate others with God. ”

“ Have they not looked to the earth, how we caused to grow therein of every noble kind ? verily, in that is a sign; but most of them will never be believers! but, verily, thy Lord He is mighty and merciful.
And when thy Lord called Moses (saying) , ‘ Come to the unjust people, 10 to the people of Pharaoh, will they not fear ?’ Said he, ‘ My Lord ! verily, I fear that they will call me liar; and my breast is straitened, and my tongue is not fluent ; send then unto Aaron [1] , for they have a crime against me, and I fear that they may kill me [2] .’ Said He, ‘ Not so ”

“ EVERY national church or religion has established itself by pretending some special mission from God, communicated to certain individuals. The Jews have their Moses; the Christians their Jesus Christ, their apostles and saints; and the Turks their Mahomet; as if the way to God was not open to every man alike.
Each of those churches shows certain books, which they call revelation, or the Word of God. The Jews say that their Word of God was given by God to Moses face to face; the Christians say, that their Word of God came by divine inspiration; and the Turks say, that their Word of God ”

“ And if the story of Moses had been of man’s invention, we should have heard—I think, from what we know of the fables, ‘myths’ as they call them now, which nations have invented about themselves, and their own early history, we may guess fairly what we should have heard—how Moses brought the Jews into the land of Canaan, and established his laws, and reigned over them, and died in honour and great glory—if he died at all, and was not taken up into the skies, and changed into a star, or into a god ”

“ When the Unseen, the Eternal, the Divine Essence, caused the Day Star of Muḥammad to rise above the horizon of knowledge, among the cavils which the Jewish divines raised against Him was that after Moses no Prophet should be sent of God. Yea, mention hath been made in the Scriptures of a Soul Who must needs be made manifest and Who will advance the Faith, and promote the interests of the people of Moses, so that the Law of the Mosaic Dispensation may encompass the whole earth. ”

“ Now assuming, in harmony with the reference in Isaiah, that the cloud was one of smoke, some may be disposed to think that, like the ark of the covenant, the holiest symbol of all, this was produced by human intervention, yet in a way not incompatible with its sacredness, its mystery, and value as a sign of Jehovah's presence. Where Moses was as leader, lawgiver, prophet, mediator, there God was for this people: what Moses did in the spirit of Divine zeal and wisdom was done for Israel by God. Through his inspiration the ritual and its elaborate symbolism had their origin. ”

“ Make us a god, which shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we know not what is become of him. 24And I said unto them: Whosoever hath any gold, let them break it off; so they gave it me; and I cast it into the fire, and there came out this calf.' 25And when Moses saw that the people were broken loose—for Aaron had let them loose for a derision among their enemies— 26then Moses stood in the gate of the camp, and said: 'Whoso is on the Lord's side, let him come unto me.' And all the sons of Levi gathered themselves together unto him. ”

“ When Moses appeared surrounded with glory, and, as it were transfigured on Mount Sinai, afraid lest the Israelites, always superstitious, should consider him as a god descended upon the earth, the Lord, amid a flame of fire, declared at the same time from on high, " I am that I am, and thou shalt worship only me." Moses himself appears before the people with only the tables of the law in his hands, as if to let them know that, notwithstanding the glory with which they had seen him arrayed, he nevertheless was only the minister, and not the author of the holy law ”

“ You have upon your shelves the Book of Covenants and Commandments, the revelations of heaven; you also are in possession of the Pearl of Great Price, containing the vision of Moses, that great and glorious vision which he received on the mount, revealing to him the history of the creation of the world. The Lord saw proper to descend upon a certain mountain before Moses, and showed himself to him, and the glory of God rested upon Moses so that he stood in the presence of the Lord; and the Lord showed unto Moses the works of his hands in relation to the various creations that he had made. ”

“ He was a deliverer of his people out of bondage, and their guide through the wilderness, like Moses; a prince and a lawgiver, like Moses; the builder of the true tabernacle, as Moses was of the typical one. Moses was faithful as a servant, Christ as a Son. Moses was murmured against by Israel, defied by Pharaoh, yet God owned him, and ratified his commission. Moses was a pattern of meekness and patience, so is Christ. Moses died by the word of the Lord, so did Christ. ”

“ Let the reader peruse the song of Moses, and bear in mind that it is not only a magnification of the past, but also prophetic of as great, or greater, a deliverance of the nation under Shiloh. Under Moses, they were saved by the angel of God (Exod. 14:19) ; but when the time of the second exodus from Egypt arrives, they will be saved by the Lamb of God, whose prowess will be applauded by God's harpists of the crystal sea, who will sing the new song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, "Great and marvellous are thy works, Lord God Almighty ”

“ This is one of the many precious promises given by God to Israel. Moses is a character justly deserving our regard and veneration. The Jewish nation held him in high estimation, and almost idolized his memory. Perhaps our time may not be misemployed in searching for proofs of the fulfilment of this prophecy, and in examining the character of one (even Jesus) who declares himself to be not only a prophet like unto Moses, but in every respect his superior; which, if proved, will clearly warrant their giving unto Jesus far greater honour than was even due to Moses. ”

“ What can God do for us? If we are to get anything, we must seek and obtain it for ourselves. Yet the Israelites as a whole held the almost universal belief of those times, the conviction that a Power above the visible world does rule the affairs of earth. And there was evidence enough that Moses was guided and sustained by the Divine hand. The sagacious mind, the brave, noble personality of Moses, made for Israel, at least for every one in Israel capable of appreciating character and wisdom, a bridge between the seen and the unseen, between man and God. ”