September 4 Saint of the Day Profile
September 4 Saint of the Day Profile Moses the Prophet
Profile:
Hebrew liberator, law giver, and prophet. He belonged to the tribe of
Levi and was born in Egypt (10th century B.C.), at a time of grievous
persecution, when Pharaoh had ordered the killing of all male Hebrew
children (Exodus 1) Exposed on the waters of the Nile, he was rescued by
Pharao's daughter and educated at court.
Having killed an Egyptian to
save one of his brethren from ill-treatment, he fled to Median where he
married Jethro's daughter (Exodus 2). God appeared to him in the burning
bush and commanded him to go and deliver his brethren (3), with the
help of his brother Aaron, but Pharaoh stubbornly refused to let the
Israelites go, and the terrible chastisements known as the Ten Plagues
of Egypt, only hardened his heart (7-10). However the last one, viz.,
the death of every first born, forced him to yield, and the Hebrews
departed, after celebrating the first Pasch (11-13).
Then began, under
the leadership of Moses, a long and wearisome journey in the direction
of the Promised Land, the dramatic episodes of which are related in the
remaining chapter of Exodus and in Numbers. Only a few can be enumerated
here: The Passage of the Red Sea and the Canticle of Moses (Exodus
14-15); the Manna (16); the promulgation of the Law on Mount Sinai
(19-31); the many revolts of the people, who are saved each time by the
intervention of their leader (Exodus 16; Numbers 13-14, 21); the march
from Mount Sinai to Cades, and the stay at Cades for 38 years during
which the present generation is condemned never to enter the Promised
Land (Numbers 10-20); Moses himself is excluded from it because of his
lack of confidence at the "Waters of Contradiction" (ib., 20); Balaam's
Prophecies (23-24).
The Israelites finally reached the banks of the
Jordan, after defeating the Ammonites and Moabites, and Moses died on
Mount Nebo after pronouncing the three memorable discourses preserved in
Deuteronomy. He was buried in the valley of Moab, but "no man knows his
sepulchre" (Deuteronomy 34), and "there arose no more a prophet in
Israel like unto Moses" (ib., 10). See also, Exodus, Numbers and
Deuteronomy.
Blog post courtesy:
http://catholicsaints.info/new-catholic-dictionary-moses/
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