Friday, 15 January 2021

Moshe and Aharon

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"But ADONAI spoke to Moshe and Aharon and gave them orders concerning both the people of Isra'el and Pharaoh, king of Egypt, to bring the people of Isra'el out of the land of Egypt." (Exodus 6:13, CJB)

This has come just after Moshe has got discouraged because Pharaoh has made the Israelites' labour harder. G-d tells Moshe to speak again to Pharaoh and Moshe gets cold feet and says he's such a poor speaker - and how does God respond? He doesn't reply directly and Moshe still has to confront Pharaoh, but this time G-d speaks to Aharon too.

A number of people suggest that Moshe never reached his full potential because he was timid and G-d gave the intended honour of priesthood to Aaron as a result. Maybe so, maybe not. Personally, I think this story illustrates G-d's compassion and recognition of human frailities.

Although G-d is our strength, sometimes we need another person; we need companionship; we need a hand on our shoulder telling us we can get through this; some things are too big for us to accomplish on our own and we need someone else. I love how Moshe tells G-d that he can't speak to Pharaoh, but the text records that he actually does more of the talking than Aharon! Maybe just having his brother by his side gave hime the confidence he needed.

We all have people in our lives (sometimes random strangers, who we don't know!) who give us support and courage to do next thing or keeping standing when we are tired. Have you offered thanks for them and let them know you appreciate it? This Shabbat, let us take a moment to consider the people in our lives - our family, friends and colleagues - who might need a human touch of some kind to keep up their courage.

"The Lord grant mercy to the house of Onesiphorus for he often refreshed me, and was not ashamed of my chains; but when he was in Rome, he eagerly searched for me, and found me ..." (2 Timothy 1:16-17, NASB)