Once at the peak, we stand to look back at where we have journeyed in the past year, then we turn our gaze to the path before us, the next steps of our lives. Do we see clearly the choices that lie ahead? What decisions do we need to make in the coming months that will bring joy, and growth, blessings and life to ourselves and those for whom we are responsible?
But how can we, ordinary human beings, be like Moses? The Torah tells us that there will never again be a prophet like Moses — and even in the Bible the essential idea of prophecy was not necessarily to know and predict the future with certainty. Only God can see the future — and we are just ordinary human beings, living with others who are changeable and inconstant. We live in a universe that includes an element of randomness and unpredictability — despite our best efforts we will never be able to avoid every obstacle or accident.
But the essential role of the prophet is not to see the future but rather to clarify the present — the choices and challenges — the values and principles by which we can decide on our path, and to choose our next steps as wisely as humanly possible.
At the high holidays, our task is to see the challenges and alternatives that are before us, and to make decisions we can live with — choices that affirm life, choices that reflect our values as Jews, choices that hold the greatest potential to bring blessing to ourselves and others in the New Year! Your email address will not be published. The only good preacher is a faithful preacher. When Martin Luther studied Exodus, he wondered why God commanded Moses to do something that was doomed to fail.
He wrote:. Is it not foolish for someone to say to another: Friend, preach to Pharaoh, but be advised that he will not listen to you; for I intend to harden him?
I would refuse such an assignment from anyone and would say: Preach yourself. But the answer is: We are bidden to preach, but we are not bidden to justify people and make them pious. This thought should comfort all preachers and Christians, and everybody should pursue his calling and faithfully perform his duties. Only the Word of God is entrusted to Moses, not the responsibility of making Pharaoh soft or hard by preaching.
This is done for his consolation that he may not be frightened if nobody wants to follow and obey him. If I could be moved by the fact that my word and sermon are despised, I suppose I would stop preaching.
But says God go on, Moses, preach! This principle liberates us from a worldly standard of success, in which ministry is always measured in terms that people can quantify: How much? How many? How big? The primary thing that God demands from a minister is faithfulness to his gospel. When he saw the burning bush he went to investigate, and when God spoke to him in Exodus 3, Moses interrogated the Lord, wanting to know what his name was and how he would convince the Israelites about the mission given to him.
This also points to another special characteristic of Moses: he spoke directly to the Lord, and the Lord, in turn, spoke to him face-to-face. And indeed the Lord fought for the Israelites, and the entire army of Pharaoh perished in the sea The faith that Moses had in God resulted in him being a loyal servant.
His loyalty can be explained by comparing him with his brother Aaron. When Moses went to Mount Sinai to get the stone tablets of the covenant law, the Israelites asked Aaron to make them gods other than the Lord, and despite the signs that the Lord had shown to him and Moses, Aaron made a golden calf for the people to worship. When Moses saw the Israelites worshipping this false human-made god, he was so angry that he threw the stone tablets down and they broke to pieces Ex Finally, the life of Moses shows that leadership is not a walk in the park.
The Israelites, like any human nation, were a difficult people to lead—always complaining, often rebelling against him and God, but with humility and faith, Moses led them to the Promised Land.
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