Like Unto Thee

The Come, Follow Me manual this week says this: “Throughout the book of Exodus, you might also note some similarities between Moses and Jesus Christ… For example, what similarities do you see between Exodus 1:22; 2:1–10 and Matthew 2:13–16? Or between Exodus 24:18 and Matthew 4:1–2?” I believe there is indeed a strong link between the life of Moses and the mission of the Savior. The Lord said to Moses, “I will raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee, and will put my words in his mouth; and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him. And it shall come to pass, that whosoever will not hearken unto my words which he shall speak in my name, I will require it of him” (Deuteronomy 18:18-19). Nephi taught that this prophet who would be like unto Moses is the Savior: “And the Lord will surely prepare a way for his people, unto the fulfilling of the words of Moses, which he spake, saying: A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you, like unto me; him shall ye hear in all things whatsoever he shall say unto you. And it shall come to pass that all those who will not hear that prophet shall be cut off from among the people. And now I, Nephi, declare unto you, that this prophet of whom Moses spake was the Holy One of Israel; wherefore, he shall execute judgment in righteousness” (1 Nephi 22:20-21). The scriptures want us to make the connection between the great ancient prophet and the Son of God. We see similarities between the Savior and Moses starting with their births. Moses was born at a time when Pharoah sought to kill all of the male Israelites: “And Pharaoh charged all his people, saying, Every son that is born ye shall cast into the river, and every daughter ye shall save alive” (Exodus 1:22). Similarly, Herod sought to kill all young children after Jesus was born: “Then Herod, when he saw that he was mocked of the wise men, was exceeding wroth, and sent forth, and slew all the children that were in Bethlehem, and in all the coasts thereof, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had diligently inquired of the wise men” (Matthew 2:16). Moses miraculously escaped alive, and so did Jesus. Joseph and Mary fled to Egypt to protect Jesus, and then Jesus eventually came up out of Egypt to return to the land of Canaan: “That it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Out of Egypt have I called my son” (Matthew 2:15). Moses of course came up out of Egypt to go to the land of Canaan as well as he led the Israelites out of bondage.

               Other aspects of the life of Moses remind us of the Savior. Jesus “fasted forty days and forty nights” (Luke 4:2). Moses did the same, as he related to his people: “And I fell down before the Lord, as at the first, forty days and forty nights: I did neither eat bread, nor drink water, because of all your sins which ye sinned” (Deuteronomy 9:18). Moses provided miracles to the Israelites feeding them in the wilderness with manna. Jesus provided bread miraculously to the people as well. He then referenced Moses and the manna when He said, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, Moses gave you not that bread from heaven; but my Father giveth you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is he which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world” (John 6:32-33). Moses also provided water in the wilderness for the people when he smote the rock and water came out of it for the people to drink (see Exodus 17:5-6). Perhaps the Savior wanted the people to remember that experience when He stood up at the feast of tabernacles and said, “If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water” (John 7:37-38). Moses lifted the serpent up in the wilderness to heal the people, just as the Savior was lifted up on the cross to heal us. Nephi connected them through this experience when he taught, “And as [Moses] lifted up the brazen serpent in the wilderness, even so shall he be lifted up who should come. And as many as should look upon that serpent should live, even so as many as should look upon the Son of God with faith, having a contrite spirit, might live, even unto that life which is eternal” (Helaman 8:14-15).

We likewise see similarities between Moses and the Savior in their roles. In the wilderness Moses provided the law of the Lord to them as he came down from Mount Sinai, and throughout their forty years of wandering he provided the word of God to the people. He was the lawgiver to the Israelites. Jesus of course is the ultimate Lawgiver, declaring in this dispensation: “Wherefore, hear my voice and follow me, and you shall be a free people, and ye shall have no laws but my laws when I come, for I am your lawgiver, and what can stay my hand?” (Doctrine and Covenants 38:22) Moses also sat in the judgment seat before the people: “Moses sat to judge the people: and the people stood by Moses from the morning unto the evening” (Exodus 18:13). He was their judge, just as the Savior is to be our Judge. Numerous scriptures attest to this; for example, Joseph Smith declared that “God and Christ as the judge of all” (Doctrine and Covenants 76:68). Most importantly, Moses delivered the children of Israel out of bondage from the Egyptians. Similarly, Christ is our Deliverer from death and sin. President Joseph F. Smith put it this way in his vision: “And the saints rejoiced in their redemption, and bowed the knee and acknowledged the Son of God as their Redeemer and Deliverer from death and the chains of hell” (Doctrine and Covenants 138:23). Surely the image of Moses parting the Red Sea and miraculously leading the children of Israel out of the hands of the Egyptians is meant to remind us that Jesus will deliver us from this fallen world back to our Father as we follow Him. And undoubtedly there are many other parallels we could make between Moses and the Savior. Surely the life of the prophet Moses—with his challenges, miracles, and experiences leading the Israelites—was meant to point us to Jesus Christ, the ultimate Prophet.