Moses is a towering figure in the Old Testament. He stood up to one of the most powerful leaders in the ancient world. He led the people and wrote the law. But, how old was Moses when God called him? Well, the answer (he was 80) gives hope to other old men, like me (not…quite 80).
How Old Was Moses
The age of Moses has been a subject of discussion and debate since before Jesus walked the earth. But, I’m going to begin by taking the Bible at face value (always a good first step) for the timeline of milestones that it does contain. How old was Moses when he was put in the basket? How old was Moses when he left Egypt? When did he die?
As an aside, I have to say that I adore Moses as a writer. He authored the first five books of the Bible. So, Moses himself declares what a good-looking baby he was. And, Moses himself asserts in Numbers 12:3 that he “was very meek, more than all people who were on the face of the earth.”
Anyway, this super humble, good-looking guy was hidden by his mother because Pharaoh was slaughtering all of the Hebrew baby boys. She hid him for three months, then put him in a basket and trusted God with his future. The Bible gives a clear answer on how old he was in the basket:
“The woman conceived and bore a son, and when she saw that he was a fine child, she hid him three months. When she could hide him no longer, she took for him a basket made of bulrushes and daubed it with bitumen and pitch. She put the child in it and placed it among the reeds by the river bank.” Exodus 2:2-3 ESV
How Old Was Moses When He Left Egypt
Moses was found in his basket by Pharaoh’s daughter. She paid his mother to nurse him, and then brought him into the Egyptian court as her adopted son (Exodus 2:10). He grew to adulthood in between verses 10 and 11.
Stephen asserts in Acts 7:22 that during this time Moses was instructed in all the wisdom of the Egyptians and that he became a man who was mighty in words and deeds. His testimony then reveals that Moses was 40 years old when he murdered the Egyptian, and fled Egypt.
‘“When he was forty years old, it came into his heart to visit his brothers, the children of Israel. And seeing one of them being wronged, he defended the oppressed man and avenged him by striking down the Egyptian. ‘ Acts 7:23-24 ESV
Moses pridefully wanted this would show his people that salvation would come to them through his hand. Instead, they rejected him as a murderer. So, at the age of 40, Moses fled Egypt and went into to the land of Midian where he started a family.
How Old Was Moses When God Called Him
The time that Moses spent in the wilderness served to humble and transform him. It prepared him to take his people through the desert. But how long was this period? How old was Moses when God called him from the burning bush?
The traditional answer is 80. In fact, Moses’s life has long been broken down into 3 segments that were each 40 years long. He killed the Egyptian at 40 years old, he stood up to Pharaoh at 80, and he died at the age of 120.
The number 40 carries great significance in Jewish mysticism. It represents a period of trial, purification, or preparation for a new phase or purpose. And, we can see many examples of this in the Bible; Moses was atop Mount Sinai, Jesus was tempted in the wilderness, and it rained on the ark–all for 40 days and nights.
The calling of Moses comes after two periods of forty years in his life. This gives the reader a sense of him being doubly prepared by God for this mission. And, it gives those of us who come to faith in Jesus later in life a sense of hope–that He can use us at any age.
But, the truth is that we don’t know the exact age of Moses when he encountered Jehovah at the burning bush. He might not have been 80, quite yet. The text does state that he was 80 when he confronted Pharaoh to enact the first plague (Exodus 7:7), which occurred shortly thereafter.
Regardless, the text makes it clear that Moses had been humbled greatly from his past aspiration to be the savior of his people. His response to God’s commission was, “Oh, my Lord, please send someone else” (Exodus 4:13). Moses understood how unqualified he was. God used him anyway.
How Old Was Moses When He Died
Moses spent the final third of his life speaking to his people on behalf of God. He taught them the law as it was given to him. He established the 12 tribes and fostered their identity and culture as a unified people who belonged to Jehovah.
But, despite a wealth of sermons and books that have been written on the example of Moses’s leadership, I do not think he would have called himself the leader.
Moses spoke on behalf of the leader. He interceded and served as an intermediary between the people and the person in charge. But, Moses knew there was only one person who was leading Israel. Everyone else, including himself, followed.
This final chapter of Moses’s life is certainly the longest in the narrative. There are many pivotal events, but the one thing which perhaps is missing, is the reward. Moses went through all kinds of trouble to bring his people to the promised land, but God denied him the privilege to enter it.
It feels like an injustice. And, scholars have wrestled a lot with this passage. R. Shmuel David Luzzatto noted, “Moses committed one sin, yet the commentators have accused him of thirteen or more – each inventing some new iniquity!” Read this list for some of these interpretations.
Rashi, one of the most influential Jewish commentators in history, wrote about the offense of Moses as a missed opportunity to teach the Israelites. “If a rock, which neither speaks nor hears nor is in need of sustenance, obeys the word of God, how much more so should we.”
The bottom line is that choices matter, and they carry consequences. Even the “small” ones.
Fortunately, despite this setback, Moses finished his biography with the same kind of can-do attitude he had at the beginning. “Moses was 120 years old when he died. His eye was undimmed, and his vigor unabated.” Deuteronomy 34:7
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