Matthew 2: Moses & Jesus

Hope Joy X. Owens
Feb 15
5 min read

Moses Scripture on Field — Deuteronomy 18:15

The Bible is an impressive literary piece! The Word of God is truly one large narrative with intertwining stories and themes. Have you ever noticed the parallels between Moses' and Jesus' stories? I am personally in awe of our Creator, specifically His sovereignty and His omniscience. To have correlating events and prophecies over 1500 years apart is so impressive. Also, these stories were recorded about 1,400 years apart!

Moses: 1526 B.C.
Jesus: 5 B.C.
The Pentateuch: 1446-1406 B.C.
The Gospels and Acts: 62-110 A.D.

*These dates are rough estimates.

Read Matthew 2, paying attention to the details. You can also read Exodus, beginning in chapter 2, to refresh your memory of the story of Moses.

Israelites or Jews?

These names refer to the same people. You can learn more about the different names of the Hebrew people in this concise article.

Moses v. Jesus

I love making connections! This is by no means an exhaustive list of the correlation between Moses and Jesus, but I write this to bring God glory - for others to be reminded of and to worship God for His greatness!

Correlating Story Points

Under Another's Rule
1. Exodus 1:8 The Israelites were under the rule of Pharaoh.
2. Matthew 2:1 The Jews were under the rule of Herod.
Unjust Leaders and Murder
1. Leaders demand a mass killing of infant males in an attempt to maintain control.
2. Exodus 1:22 Pharoah commanded newborn sons to be thrown into the Nile.
3. Matthew 2:16 Herod ordered the murder of all the sons in the area of Jesus' birth under two years.
Undoing of Evilness
1. Pharoah and Herod's attempts to control what God has already planned for His people fail.
2. Exodus 2:1-10 Moses' mother hid him. Then, God provided an unexpected turn: Pharoah's very own daughter saves this child.
3. Matthew 2:13-15 God sends an angel to Joseph to warn him of Herod's plan. They escape to Egypt.
Unlikely Survival Win
1. Exodus 2:23 Pharaoh dies and is no longer a threat.
2. Matthew 2:19 Herod dies and is no longer a threat.
3. Moses and Jesus have survived their threats and can return to where they fled to.
Unique Families
1. Exodus 2:10 Pharoah's daughter adopts Moses. He grows up in the royal household of Pharoah.
2. Matthew 2:18-25 Joseph takes in Jesus, the child born of his virgin wife.
Urgent Flees
1. Note the directions are opposite. Both individuals flee to escape death.
2. Exodus 2:15 Moses fled from Egypt.
3. Matthew 2:14 Joseph, Mary, and Jesus flee to Egypt.
Undertook Hardships
1. As stated previously, their lives as infants were threatened. They survive that, but they face more challenges throughout their lives.
2. Moses
  1. Exodus 2:15 Pharoah wants to kill Moses. ²
  2. Exodus 4:10 Moses struggles with speech.
  3. Exodus 5:1-9 Pharoah refuses Moses' request for God's people to go on a 3-day journey and imposes harder work on the Israelites.
  4. Exodus 7:13 Pharoah rejects Moses' request to let God's people go. ³
  5. Many times, in the wilderness, the Israelites complain to Moses.
3. Jesus (He has even more examples. I am only going to list a few.)
  1. Luke 4:14-30 His hometown rejected Him.
  2. On many occasions, the religious leaders opposed Him.
  3. Several made attempts on His life.
  4. One of His closest associates betrayed Him.
Underdogs
1. Despite all the opposition, they accomplished great things. They are both survivors who become saviors.
  1. Freeing the Israelites from Egyptian oppression, Moses (almost⁴) leads God's people into the Promised Land.
  2. Freeing Jesus fulfills prophecies, defeats death, and provides hope for all of mankind.
Unite God's Family
1. Israelites go with Moses.
2. The Church begins with Jesus.
3. Via these leaders, both chosen peoples are on their way to a land promised by God - the Land of Canaan and Heaven.

The great prophet Moses, who saw the Lord face-to-face⁵, foreshadows the greater prophet Jesus. The Gospel Coalition makes even more connections:

In this unique position, Moses is recognized as a deliverer (Ex. 3:7–10), covenant mediator (Ex. 34:27), priest (Ps. 99:6), and ruler (Ex. 2:13–14; Acts 7:27). Moses’s larger-than-life status as prophet was designed by God as a template from which all other prophets would be measured. ⁶

As much as Jesus and Moses are alike, Moses ultimately fell short of fully carrying out God’s plan. God called Moses to lead His people to the Promised Land (Exodus 3), but because of his disobedience, Moses was not allowed to enter (Numbers 20:12). In contrast, Jesus perfectly fulfilled His mission. As the ultimate prophet, priest, and deliverer, He accomplished what Moses never could. Both interceded for God’s people, but only Jesus provided the final, perfect solution to sin. He faithfully obeyed God to the point of death, and on the third day, He was raised to life. Now, through Christ, all who believe and repent have the hope of eternal life, looking forward to the ultimate Promised Land—eternal union with God.

Juxtaposing Events

Jesus and Moses are two different people!

Moses fled from Egypt. Jesus' family fled to Egypt.
Moses murdered a man. Jesus was murdered.
Moses never entered the Promised Land on account of his sin. Jesus did what no man could do and gave us a chance to join Him in Paradise despite our sins.

Connecting Events

God used Moses for His ultimate salvation plan!

Moses recorded the Law. Jesus fulfilled the Law. The Law reveals what we cannot earn while Jesus makes a way and freely gives sinners eternal hope.
John 13:14 "And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, so that everyone who believes will have eternal life in Him."

Prophecy Fulfilled from Deuteronomy 18:15: Acts 3:22-23

"Moses said, ‘THE Lord God WILL RAISE UP FOR YOU A PROPHET LIKE ME FROM YOUR COUNTRYMEN; TO HIM YOU SHALL LISTEN regarding everything He says to you. And it shall be that every soul that does not listen to that prophet shall be utterly destroyed from among the people.’"

Side Note: I could not skip sharing this.

I am not the first person to notice this, so I do not write to take credit for drawing connections. I just had to write about this because I could not get this out of my head. It is crazy how God brought this back to my attention, as I first wrote about the parallels back on October 5, 2024 (during my private time with the Lord). On January 23rd, I decided to look back at my past notes (which I never do), where I reflected on October 5th and read about Moses in Acts 3 the same night. It's February 5th, and this is still stuck in my mind.

Notes

Referring to their lifetimes on earth - Jesus is very much still alive. Being in heaven, Moses is also considered among the living.
This time, our protagonist Moses was in the wrong, not Pharaoh. Moses killed an Egyptian, one of Pharoah's people.
Multiple times.
Deuteronomy 32:48-52 https://www.gotquestions.org/Moses-promised-land.html
Deuteronomy 34:10
https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/jesus-prophet-moses/ This article has some neat connections between Jesus and Moses.