David and Moses are two very important people in our history and both play a huge role in the shaping of mankind. Moses, meaning “drawn from water” and David, meaning “Beloved” were both similar in many ways, but also different in the ways they came to be. Many people have heard of these two men in the Bible and when thought of, they think of them as men of strong faith. Are they more similar or different? And why would they be more similar or different? What would be the causes for them to be so?
Both Moses and David had a heart after God, did not want to be a leader, turned from Gods ways and came back, led many people to victory, and both faced great fear. They did have differences in the fact that they both were vastly different in age, and they came from completely different upbringings. ‘|| have found David son of Jesse a man after my own heart; he will do everything I want him to do” (Acts 13:22). And in Psalm 119:47-48: David says “For I delight in your commands because I love them. I lift up my hands to your commands, which I love, and I meditate on your decrees. Moses was brought up by faithful parents and was taught to Fear God. Moses made the decision to follow God just like David. While Moses was out in the wilderness for forty years it truly showed just how much faith and trust he had in the Lord just like how David showed faith and trust when he defeated Goliath. Unfortunately both Moses and David betrayed God. When God had come to Moses in the burning bush, Moses had questioned God instead of trusting what he had said.
Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt? Marshall, Logan. )” Moses should have trusted what God said and done what he was told, instead he questioning God. David sinned against God when one day was looking out of his window at another women named Bathsheba while she was bathing and called her to his room. David had committed adultery and also got Bathsheba pregnant with Solomon. Both sins by David and Moses are different, but both are acts of turning away from God. So far it seems that we have seen many similarities, however they had two very different upbringings.
David was the youngest of Jesse’s eight sons. Jesse was the son of Ohed, and the grandson of Boaz and Ruth. He was a farmer and sheep breeder in Bethlehem. From that moment when the Spirit of God came upon David, he began to show signs of becoming a great leader. He went back to his sheep on the hillsides around Bethlehem, but God was there with him. David grew up strong and courageous, not afraid of the animals which prowled around and tried to carry away his sheep. He often fought and killed bears and lions, when they went after his flock.
David, alone all day, practiced throwing stones in a sling, until he could strike exactly the place for which he aimed. When he swung his sling, he knew that the stone would go to the very spot at which he was throwing it. David was the kind of boy we today would call a redneck. Moses on the other hand was given up at birth. His mother tried to hide him for three months, but could do it no longer so she put him in a basket and placed him in the Nile River. The Pharos daughter went down to the river to bathe and saw the basket and went over to it and saw the baby.
She sent her female slave to go get it for her and told her to take it to the mother and pay her to nurse him until older and then I will raise him. So Moses was born a Hebrew but raised as a son of Pharo. He was wealthy and nicely dressed all of his life. He lived in a palace and was surrounded by beauty. Although he grew up in the splendor of the Egyptian king he was still aware of his Hebrew heritage. He became furious while witnessing an Egyptian master brutally beating a Hebrew slave, and he impulsively killed the Egyptian.
Moses was still humble in the fact that just because he grew up in royalty did not mean he had the right to walk around acting like he was better than others. Another way both David and Moses are similar is that they both faced great fear. The Philistine and the Israelites gathered for war, which David was a part of. The two armies faced each other and camped for battle on opposite sides of a land. A Philistine giant named Goliath who was over nine feet tall and wearing full armor came out each day for forty days, mocking and challenging the Israelites to fight.
David, just being a young teenager became very angry with Goliath for defying God and decided to fight him in battle. David was not a big guy, and he was much younger, so to say the least I’m sure David had great fear about this battle. David knew that he had God on his side though and that with God all things are possible. Dressed in his simple tunic, carrying his shepherd’s staff, sling and a pouch full of stones, David approached Goliath as he was cursing and threatening David.
David said to the Philistine, “You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the Lord Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied … today I will give the carcasses of the Philistine army to the birds of the air … and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel (1 Samuel 17). David began to attack and so hoping that God would come through he pulled out a small stone and a slingshot and held it up in aim, and the stone hit Goliath right on his forehead in a small opening in his armor.
Since God came through and helped David pull it off it was a great witness to other around him and a life changing experience for David, because now David had more trust for God. Moses went out into the wilderness for 40 years for killing an Egyptian man for harming other men. I’m sure going from a rich boy to someone who has to live in a tent in the desert was a very scary thing to have to endure. Moses stayed in the dessert until God came to him in the burning bush and told him to go back and take the children in slavery out of Egypt. Moses did not think that he had the power to be a leader; however, God told im that he would be with him through it all and to not be afraid.
Moses certainly had his doubt, which I discussed previously, however, he ended up going through with it and in the end he trusted God so much more and had an even stronger faith. Leading the Israelites out of Egypt was a very brave thing to do and it is a reason why people looked at him like a leader. Moses took all of the people, just liked God asked and fled the land. On their way to Cannon they came across the Egyptian army. They were all afraid, including Moses when they saw them.
God told Moses to hold out his staff and then God parted the red sea and the Israelites walked across dry land and the tall waters were beside them. It took a lot of bravery and leadership to take all of those people through something like that. Once all of the people crossed, God told Moses to hold out his staff again. Then God put the water back into its original format and killed all the Egyptian army that was trying to capture them. That in itself was a miracle and took a leader to accomplish. God used both David and Moses for good and yet they were so different.
I think the reason that God picked a man who was poor and had nothing and then a man who had everything was to display the fact that God can use anyone. God can use you if you are weak, small, big, tall, rich or poor. It does not matter how you were raised or who you came from, but how much faith you have. Both Moses and David can relate to many others in the world and people can look to them for advice and guidance which is why they are in the bible. If you look at all the points that I previously stated, you will see a pattern in their actions.
Is Moses and David more similar or different? Well they are more similar, because when you have two Christian men both trying to be more like Christ they will begin to act the same and respond the same to certain situations. They may look different and may have different backgrounds, but Christians aim to be Christ like, and if they have the same role model they will end up action similar. God had similar purposes for them as well, which was to bring love and hope to the world. Most important it was to bring God the glory that he deserved for loving his people.
To sum up all that has been discussed, Moses, son of Pharos, and David, son of Jesse, started out as two different people, but ended up becoming more similar than ever because they had just one thing in common. There are many other people in the Bible who are different that are also like David and Moses because they know God. Not only are there people in the bible who can relate to this but there are people in our life today who also are completely different, but because they share the same faith they are more similar then different. God brings people together and can use each and every person for good and will continue to do so forever.