Moses the Prince, the Prophet: His Life, Legend & Message for Our Lives

Examines the life of Moses, tracing his youth as an Egyptian prince and his mission to lead the Israelites from slavery and into the Promised Land

Moses's spiritual legacy is compassion for human frailty.
Moses-The Prince, the Prophet: His Life, Legend & Message for Our Lives

Understanding the story of Moses can help us cope with our own personal struggles in our daily lives. From him, we can learn about personal liberation and change, as well as about how we can relate to the Divine.

Moses is an extraordinary figure. He overcame tremendous obstacles, particularly in his childhood and early years, and went on to become the leader of a people and a nation. Moses was born in Egypt at a time that the pharaoh had issued a genocidal decree against Israelite newborns. So for the first 3 months of his life, Moses was hidden by his mother. Then he was set adrift on the river Nile, facing a most uncertain future.

Rescued from the river by the daughter of the pharaoh, Moses was adopted by the Egyptian princess and raised in the royal household. He was thus a product of two very different cultures and influences. Yet, he grew up to identify with the oppressed Israelites, rather than the Egyptians who were oppressing them.

One day in the desert, Moses had a spiritual vision at a burning bush, an experience that would stay with him for the rest of his life. God called on him to lead his people out of slavery to the Promised Land. God promised to bring about this deliverance and to always remain with Moses.

As great a man as Moses was, he had doubts about his own abilities to lead and to carry out his assigned task. From Moses, we learn that such doubts are universal, and that even the greatest religious leaders have them.

Moses's mission was successful, but only after a series of difficulties for the Israelites and the Egyptians. Redemption does not come easily or suddenly, and when it finally comes, most of us are not prepared for it, just as the Israelites were not.

Despite the enslavement of the Israelites by the Egyptians, the Bible specifically commands the Israelites not to hate the Egyptians, who provided them with basic necessities for living in a strange land. We need to remember the Egyptian experience--but not to harbor hatred. On the contrary, we need to remember so that we will never mistreat others the way the Egyptians did.

The lesson of forgiveness is central to the story of Moses and the Israelites. Throughout their wanderings in the Sinai Desert, Moses carried a powerful symbol--the bones of his deceased ancestor Joseph, who showed great compassion in forgiving his brothers who had wronged him. Joseph knew that he would not live to see the liberation from Egypt, but he knew that redemption would indeed come, and he would be there in spirit. The presence of his coffin in the midst of the people was a constant reminder of their own mortality, inspiring the Israelites to introspection and self-evalution. They also understood that some of our dreams can be realized even when we are no longer physically present.

Throughout his wanderings, Moses learned a great deal about all kinds of family relationships--biological and adoptive. He himself had both a birth mother and an adoptive mother. He later married Zipporah, a Midianite by birth, who converted to his faith. Moses's father-in-law, Jethro, came to play a pivotal role in Moses's life as his advisor. By contrast, Amalek, a man related to Moses by blood, completely estranged himself from his cousin and the rest of the Israelites. His descendents cruelly attacked the Israelites in the desert, trying to exterminate them.

The differing stories of Amalek and Jethro make clear that the religion of the Hebrews is based not only on biology, but also on ideology, a shared value system.

The pinnacle experience for the Israelites was their receiving the Ten Commandments and the rest of the Torah at Mount Sinai. Yet, at the height of this religious experience, the people betrayed God by creating an idol to worship--a golden calf. Moses was so angered when he witnessed this incredible act of betrayal that he smashed the Tablets of the Law.

Ultimately, God forgave the people and created another set of stone tablets. Things do not always proceed smoothly or easily, even for the Creator of the universe.

The second set of commandments that Moses brought to the people were different from the first. With them, God recognized the persistence of human frailty and weakness. So, the second tablets included a new measure of compassion for all people.

There are ten central lessons that we can all learn from the story of Moses and the giving of the Law. Here are two of them:

* Don't perceive yourself as a victim. It's easy to attribute every failure and difficulty to deprivation or mistreatment. Moses could have focused on being born at the time of a genocidal decree; on being sent to an uncertain fate while floating in a basket on a river; on growing up in two cultures; as well as on numerous other deprivations. Yet, he didn't dwell on his hardships. Rather, he got involved in alleviating the suffering of others, using his own experiences to increase his empathy for the abused. Moses reminds us that we have the freedom--within some inborn limitations--to choose our way in life.

* Take the initiative to meet God--and God will meet you halfway. During the giving of the Ten Commandments, Moses ascended Mount Sinai while God "descended" to come closer to humanity.

In any loving relationship, we cannot wait for the other party to take the first step. We must each take the initiative in approaching the other. Even the process of healing is a two-sided affair. We may seek advice from physicians, but we often need to meet them halfway by modifying our lifestyles in the ways they suggest.

In summary, the story of Moses's life and mission is much more than the story of an individual or a people. Moses's interactions--with his family, his followers and God--illustrate his personal greatness, but they also serve as models for our own relationships, both with humans and the Divine.