The Story of Moses and the Book of Mormon

The event from the Old Testament that seems to have been the most important, or at least the most talked about, among the Nephite prophets was the miracle of Moses leading the children of Israel out of Egypt and across the Red Sea.  For example, Nephi used it to try to inspire his brothers when they wouldn’t help him build the boat: “Have ye not read that God gave power unto one man, even Moses, to smite upon the waters of the Red Sea, and they parted hither and thither, insomuch that the Israelites, who were our fathers, came through upon dry ground, and the waters closed upon the armies of the Egyptians and swallowed them up?” (Helaman 8:11)  Lehi also quoted a prophecy to his son Joseph about Moses given by Joseph of Egypt: “Moses will I raise up, to deliver thy people out of the land of Egypt” (2 Nephi 3:10).  Alma likewise wrote about his own focus on the miraculous event: “Yea, I have always remembered the captivity of my fathers; and that same God who delivered them out of the hands of the Egyptians did deliver them out of bondage” (Alma 29:12).  So why did they focus so much on this miracle that had taken place hundreds of years before their day?

               Perhaps their love for that Old Testament story was that it teaches so many gospel principles that are relevant in any day.  The most obvious lesson is that God is able to do miracles and to deliver us from our trials.  Alma taught to his son Helaman: “I will praise him forever, for he has brought our fathers out of Egypt, and he has swallowed up the Egyptians in the Red Sea; and he led them by his power into the promised land; yea, and he has delivered them out of bondage and captivity from time to time” (Alma 36:28).  As Alma put it when he prefaced the story, “I have been supported under trials and troubles of every kind, yea, and in all manner of afflictions; yea, God has delivered me from prison, and from bonds, and from death” (Alma 36:27).  The Moses story is a reminder to us that God is a God of miracles and like He delivered our ancient fathers, He can also deliver us.  In a similar vein, the story reminds us that we must trust God and move forward with faith when we receive our own commandments from the Lord.  Nephi used the story to try to teach this principle to his brothers in their task of obtaining the plates: “Let us be strong like unto Moses; for he truly spake unto the waters of the Red Sea and they divided hither and thither, and our fathers came through, out of captivity, on dry ground, and the armies of Pharaoh did follow and were drowned in the waters of the Red Sea” (1 Nephi 4:2).  And just as Moses saw God’s power come out in a dramatic way, so too did Nephi see God open the way before him to accomplish what he was commanded. 

              The story of Moses also is a great reminder that God calls prophets and that we are to follow them for temporal and spiritual salvation.  This was the sense in which Nephi the son of Helaman quoted the story; the people didn’t believe that he was a prophet and “some of the people sought to destroy Nephi” (Helaman 8:11).  So he reminded them that just as Moses had been called and given divine power anciently, so too could God call a prophet in their day: “Have ye not read that God gave power unto one man, even Moses, to smite upon the waters of the Red Sea, and they parted hither and thither, insomuch that the Israelites, who were our fathers, came through upon dry ground, and the waters closed upon the armies of the Egyptians and swallowed them up?” (Helaman 8:11)  And of course the implication was that they needed to follow such a prophet, for if the Israelites had not followed Moses they would have remained in bondage under the power of the Egyptians.  The story of Moses and the miracle of the Red Sea was a influential reminder for the Nephites of God’s power, his prophets, and their need to trust in Him, and it continues to teach us today.