One glance at the picture tells us that the central figure, that of
Moses, is the most important among the nineteen prophets represented. Of
all the prophets Moses is considered the most ideal and superhuman, and
thus Mr. Sargent has tried to represent him. By using more conventional
lines, and by modeling the figure in low relief so that it stands out
from the rest of the picture, he has produced this distinguishing
effect. The face, beard, shoulders, arms, and Tables of the Law stand
out in the painting as if they were carved from stone. In fact, as we
look at him we think more of a monument than of a painting. The wings
crossed so stiffly make the figure seem all the more erect, while the
feathers seem to send out rays of light over the entire picture. The
earnest face with its deep-set eyes suggests the strength and courage of
that great leader who felt that upon him lay the responsibility for the
restless, ignorant idolaters whom he was to lead.
When we read the story of the prophet’s life we are filled with wonder.
From the very first it was unusual. Moses was born at the time when the
wicked king of Egypt commanded that all boy babies of the Israelites
should be drowned. But his mother kept him hidden until he was three
months old. Then she placed him in a small boat or ark which she pushed
out among the flags and grasses of the river.
We all know how the daughter of Pharaoh found the child and adopted him
as her own son. She named him Moses, meaning “to draw out,” for, as she
said, she had drawn him out of the water. Grown to manhood among the
Egyptians, his open sympathy for his own people caused him to be
banished. Then, in the vision of the burning bush, which burns yet never
is consumed, the Lord appeared to him and told him that he was to
deliver the people of Israel out of the hands of the Egyptians. But when
he was told to go to speak to Pharaoh his courage deserted him, and it
was not until after several miracles had been performed and divine help
promised that he was willing to go.
Aaron, brother of Moses, went with him to ask Pharaoh to permit the
Israelites to go on a three days’ journey into the wilderness to offer
sacrifices to the Lord. But Pharaoh only laughed at them. A great many
dreadful things had to happen to Pharaoh’s people before he would give
his consent—the water was turned to blood; the land was covered with
frogs, and lice, and flies; the cattle were afflicted with a dreadful
disease; man and beast were covered with running sores; hail destroyed
most of the crops; locusts came to devour the rest, and the whole
country, except the land in which the Israelites dwelt, was cast into
darkness. During each of these scourges Pharaoh would send for Moses and
beg him to ask God to deliver the land, saying he would let the
Israelites go. But as soon as the danger was removed he would refuse to
keep his promise.
Then came the most dreadful scourge of all—the death of the first-born
in every Egyptian home. Again Pharaoh had failed to heed the warning of
Moses. There was weeping and wailing in Egypt that day, for every home
lost a loved one. In great haste the king sent messengers to Moses,
giving the Israelites his consent to go and even urging them on their
way.
So with their families and their worldly goods the Israelites started
out in search of the promised land under the leadership of Moses and
Aaron. They had scarcely begun their weary journey before Pharaoh
regretted having allowed them to go, and sent spies and an army after
them. But a “pillar of cloud” came between the two camps and hid the
Israelites that night. In the morning the Red Sea, over which they must
cross, divided before them and they walked across on dry land between
the walls of water. When they had passed, the waters closed in again and
destroyed the pursuing Egyptians.
Then comes the wonderful history of those forty years’ wanderings in the
wilderness, led by clouds by day and pillars of fire by night, until the
Israelites reached the promised land. During all this time, under the
guidance of the Lord, Moses taught his people and directed them in all
their affairs. Yet they were not capable of understanding his great
spiritual convictions, for at one time, when Moses remained on Mount
Sinai forty days and forty nights communing with God, he found upon his
return that his people had made themselves an idol and were worshiping
it. Their faith seems never to have been very strong, and they were
constantly in need of the help and encouragement of their great leader.
From Mount Sinai, Moses brought them the two stone tablets, with the Ten
Commandments written upon them.
In his picture Mr. Sargent has represented Moses with two little horns
on his forehead. After Moses came down from Mount Sinai, where God had
spoken to him, his face shone, or, as the Bible says, “sent forth beams
or horns of light.” These horns are also shown very distinctly in
Michelangelo’s wonderful statue of Moses.
Here we see him represented as a sort of spiritual giant, holding toward
us for our observance the two stone tablets containing the Ten
Commandments upon which all Christian living should be based.