This is a summary of a Bible study that I put together designed to help the honest seeker establish solid reasons for faith in the God of the Bible. Reviewing this article will also help the believer in Jesus to have more faith because the power of God’s predictive nature is on full display in the Book of Exodus. God predicted that he would raise up a special prophet who would be like Moses. (Deut. 18:17-19) That special prophet is Jesus. Both Peter (Acts 3:22-23) and Steven (Acts 7:37) confirmed that Jesus was the fulfillment of that specific prophecy. Below is the summary of the 26 points of correlation between the life of Moses and the life of Jesus. The details are listed in the order in which they appear in the book of Exodus. The full study can be found at readit4yourself.com under the articles tab, and it is called MOSES AND JESUS.
1. Pharaoh sought to kill Hebrew boys when Moses was born (Ex 1:15-20), and Herod sought to kill Hebrew boys when Jesus was born (Mat 2:16).
2. Obviously Moses was Jewish (Ex 2:1-2), and Jesus was Jewish (Mat 1:1).
3. Moses was sent into the heart of Egypt as a baby for safekeeping (Ex 2:10), and Jesus was sent to Egypt for the same reason (Mat 2:13-15).
4. Moses divested himself of royalty to redeem the Jewish people (Ex 2:10-11), and Jesus divested Himself of His heavenly royalty in order to redeem the Jewish people (Phil 2:6-7).
5. Moses was a shepherd (Ex3:1), and Jesus called himself the Good Shepherd (John 10:14-16).
6. Moses made God’s name known (Ex 3:13,15), and Jesus manifested God’s name (John 17:6).
7. Moses performed miracles specifically to prove that he was sent from God (Ex 4:8), and Jesus did the very same thing (John 14:11).
8. Moses had a prophet, his brother Aaron (Exodus 7:1). Likewise, Jesus had a prophet, John the Baptist. (Mat 11:9-10).
9. Moses was sent to confront Pharaoh and redeem the Jewish people (Ex 8:1-2), and Jesus was sent to confront satan and redeem all mankind (Mark 15:18-20).
10. Moses did all the work and only required a faith response from the people (Ex 12:13-passover), and Jesus did the same. (John 6:29).
11. Moses directed his followers through the waters of the Red Sea in order to be saved (Ex 14:21-22), and Jesus directed his followers to be baptized in the waters of baptism in order to be saved. (Mark 16:16).
12. The Israelites sang a song about Moses’ victory (Ex 15:1), and people in heaven sang a song about Jesus’ victory (Rev 15:1-4).
13. Moses provided bread and meat for his followers while in the wilderness (Ex 16:13-15), and Jesus did the same (Mark 6 and Mark 8).
14. Moses was rejected by the people who he came to redeem (Ex 17:3-4), and Jesus was rejected by the people who he came to redeem (Luke 4:28-29).
15. Moses provided water for his followers (Ex 17:1-7), and Jesus said, “If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink” (John 7:37).
16. Moses caused water to gush from a rock on two separate occasions. In one instance he was supposed to speak to the rock, and in the other, he was instructed to strike the rock. (Ex 17:6-7 and Num. 20:7-8). The Israelites were dying of thirst and were almost dead, and the gushing water meant that they would come back to life. Jesus caused a resurrection of a dead person from a rock on two separate occasions. In one instance, he spoke to the dead person and Lazarus came out of the rock and back to life. In the other, Jesus came back to life without speaking a word. He was resurrected after he died on a wooden cross. In both cases the dead came back to life after being buried in a rock (John 11:41-45 & Matt. 28:2).
17. Moses stood on a hill with his arms out-stretched on a wooden rod. He was accompanied by a man on either side. As a result of this action, the Israelites won a great victory in battle (Ex 17:8-16). When Jesus was crucified, he was hung on a wooden cross with out-stretched arms. While He did this, there was a man on either side, and because he did this, all mankind won a great victory (John 19:16-18).
18. Moses was a mediator between the Israelites and God (Ex 18:15), and Jesus is a mediator between us and God (1 Tim 2:5).
19. Moses was involved with an intricate story that involved God calling Moses to join Him on the mountain top on the morning of the third day (Ex 19:3-20). Jesus was resurrected to join His Father in heaven on the morning of the third day. Approximately eight details from the story in Exodus match the story of Jesus’ resurrection as recorded in the Gospels (Mat. 28:1-4). This story by itself is convincing proving that God predicted Jesus’ primary mission fourteen hundred years before He was born.
20. Moses was sent to redeem the Israelites first (Ex 19:6), and Jesus came to the Jew first as well (Mat 15:24).
21. Moses interceded for the Israelites (Ex 32:9-14), and so did Jesus as he hung on the cross (Luke 23:34).
22. Moses offered his life as a sacrifice in place of the Israelites who had sinned (Ex 32:32), and Jesus did the exact same thing (John 3:16).
23. Moses had a close and conversant relationship with God (Ex 33:11), and so did Jesus (John 11:41-42).
24. The body of Moses was never found (Ex 34:6), and the body of Jesus was not in the sepulcher (John 20:13).
25. Moses had a shining face after his encounter with God (Ex 34:28-30), and so did Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration (Mat 17:1-3).
26. Moses fasted for 40 days (Ex 34:28), and so did Jesus (Mat 4:2).
Moses’ life prefigured the life of Jesus as God had predicted in Deuteronomy 18:17-19. It is both comprehensive and convincing. The book of Exodus is essentially one long series of prophecies regarding Jesus in the Gospels. I have identified 26 main points of correlation, but within many of the points, there are several details that match. For those looking for a reasonable foundation to a faith in Jesus as the Messiah, this study will provide that. For the skeptic, hopefully this study will make you think.
…for I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me,10 Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure. (Isaiah 46:9b-10)
And Jesus had this to say about prophecy. And now I have told you before it come to pass, that, when it is come to pass, ye might believe.(John 14:29)