MOSES can be fairly regarded as the founder of the Hebrew or Jewish religion. The Israelites had a religion before he taught them, but it does not appear to have been distinctly formulated. Actually, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob was the God whom Moses learned to know, but the earlier patriarchs got only a glimpse of Him. The God of Israel first became distinctly known to Moses. (See Exodus 6:2, 3.)
After Moses, and before Christ Jesus, a considerable number of Jews acquired and disseminated further knowledge of the infinite One and of His provisions for man. During this interval of at least twelve centuries, important contributions to ethical and spiritual understanding were made by more than a few Jews, not all of whom can be identified now. Thus, some of the Psalms are among the highest expressions of thought in this period, but the authorship of them is an open question. One fact, however, can be safely stated; that is, the ethical and spiritual progress during this time developed from the basis which had been furnished by or through Moses.
For a person of his time, or of any time, Moses demonstrated a comparatively large measure of the characteristics which belong to full manhood. This fact deserves emphasis, because his religious leadership from Egypt and his delivery of the Ten Commandments are so conspicuous in his history as to distract attention from his further development and success. Our appreciation of Moses is apt to stop at Horeb, instead of going on with him to Moab. The Ten Commandments register one of the most important stages in the advancement of mankind toward real manhood, but Moses advanced beyond this stage.
