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The Departure of Moses the Prophet

The Departure of Moses the Prophet .

On this day also, the righteous Moses, the head of the prophets, departed . He labored on behalfof the people of God till his death and delivered up himself for them . It was he who workedmiracles and wonders in Egypt and in the Red Sea . When he became of age, refused to be calledthe son of the daughter of Pharaoh .She brought him up when his parents left him on the banks of the river because they were afraidof Pharaoh who had commanded the slaughter of all male children of the Hebrews . When thedaughter of Pharaoh found him by the river, she took him and reared him as her own son . Whenhe had completed his 40 years, he saw an Egyptian slaying one of the Hebrews and straightawayhe avenged the Hebrew and slew the Egyptian . The next day he saw two of the Hebrews fightingand he attempted to make peace between them . He, who was in the wrong, told him, "Do youwant to slay me as you did slay the Egyptian yesterday?" Because of this, Moses fled to the landof Midian where he married and begot two sons . (Exodus 2)When he was 80 years old, a fire appeared to him in a bush, but the bush was not consumed .When he moved close to behold this great sight, the Lord spoke to him from the bush andcommanded him to bring out the people of Israel from the land of Egypt .God worked at his hands the ten plagues upon the Egyptians, the first was the river which turnedinto blood and the last was the slaughter of the first born of the Egyptians . (Exodus 7-12) Hebrought the people out, and he divided the Red Sea and made them pass through it, and then hebrought back the water over their enemies . He brought down for them "Manna" in the desert forforty years, and he made the water flow from a rock, and in spite of that they grumbled againsthim and many times they wanted to stone him . But he was long suffering with them, and heprayed to God for them, and because he loved them greatly, he said to God, "If You will not16forgive this people their transgression, then blot out my name from Your book ." (Exodus 31:32)The Book testified that he spoke with God five hundred and seventy times as a man talks with hisfriend, and he was called the mouthpiece of God . When Moses came down from Mt . Sinai, afterbeing with God, with the two tables of testimony in his hands, his face was shining . The childrenof Israel were afraid to come near him, so he put a veil on his face when he came near to talk tothem . (Ex . 34:29-35)When he was 120 years old, God commanded him to commit the leadership of the people toJoshua, the son of Nun, his disciple . (Deuteronomy 34:9) Moses called him and commanded himwith the commands of God and His Law, and informed Joshua that he was the one to bring thepeople into the promised land . After Moses had made the Tabernacle of Witness and everythingwhich was in it as God had commanded him, he died in the mountain . He was buried there, andGod hid his body so the children of Israel would not find it and worship it because the Booktestifies there never rose up a prophet in Israel as Moses . When Satan wished to reveal the body,Michael the archangel rebuked him, and prevented him from doing so as St . Jude testifies in hisepistle . (Verse 9)His prayers be with us . Amen .