Nadene Goldfoot
Moses had Dan fight with the Amaleks who attacked the last of the marchers of the Exodus that were the slower ones. It was like animals who attacked herds of others; they waited for the weak and the babies.
The Amaleks were almost always hostile to Israel. They were nomads wandering between Southern lands and Canaan. They attacked the Israelites in the desert near Rephidim shortly after the Exodus, slaying the weak and weary.
Israel regards Amaleks as an eternal foe, the extermination of which was a national mission as told in Exod. 17: 13-16, incompletely carried out later by King Saul in I Sam. 15. During the period of Judges (12th-11th centuries BCE), the Amaleks penetrated Western Eretz Yisrael at various points and their presence was a standing threat to the peace of the country. Later they invaded Southern Juddea and burned down the town of Ziklag. King David fought and defeated them heavily with only 400 of them escaping told in I Sam.30l. In the reign of Hezekiah (720-690 BCE) the tribe of Simeon overwhelmed the Amalekites and settled in their territory. During Purim we read about the story of Haman, who was the "Agagite" in Esther 3:1 and is regarded as a descendant of Agag, king of Amaleks, as told in 1 Samuel 15:33. I could easily think of Hamas and Hezbollah of today as their descendants as well.
Moses and Aaron talked the Pharaoh into letting the Slaves go who agreed after going through 10 plagues and they were prepared to leave and got as far as the Sea, sea of Reeds, but his army was drowning in it. The 2 million had successfully crossed first.
After several marches and a severe battle with the Amalekites, Moses led the people to Mt. Horeb in the Sinai wilderness which was Mt. Sinai. After arriving there, Moses received the TEN COMMANDMENTS by divine revelation. He then taught the people an entire legal code, expounded the sacrificial practice, gave instructions for the erection of the TABERNACLE and, on the advice of Jethro, organized a judicial system. There were 613 commandments in all, but we do follow most of them in daily living.
Moses had argued at the beginning of the march with many of the people. Some had found it a hard way to live and wanted to return to Egypt. They seemed to remember their favorite foods that weren't available on this march. They forgot the stings of the whips. His 1st attempt to penetrate Canaan with such a group failed. Between the 2nd and 39th year of the Exodus, we don't know how they all managed. In the latter year, he tried to bring into Canaan the new generation that had grown up in the wilderness and successfully fought the Amorites, the Moabites, the Midianites and Bashan---all in Transjordania.
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Before his death at age 120, he appointed Joshua as his successor. He said his good-byes in the form of a public address by summarizing the events of the past 40 years and the main legislation laid down at Sinai. He blessed the people, gave them guidance for their life in Canaan, and died at a place unknown to posterity, for he didn't want to be worshipped.
He taught them that there was only one unseen G-d. This was a new and unique religion to be observed in its own land. The basis was complete. It was and is Monotheism and a loyalty to G-d, the Creator and Father of all. Israel was to be a holy nation and a model to other people. Moses gave it form and substance and had been nurture by the patriarchs.
Traditionally, the entire Pentateuch was written by Moses himself. There are many legends about him found in Jewish literature. Remember, he wrote this as the Five Books Of Moses, the father of monotheism. He taught us how to treat others, how to be moral. Any author of today trying to screw this aim up got it all wrong. To besmirch his good name is a form of anti-Semitism. He was not even able to act like todays soldiers in a jungle doing things they would later have PTSD over, as I have found to be happening. Our Moses expected the best of us, so had to expect the best in himself.
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