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Moses

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For forty years, Moses lived at the court of the Pharaoh (his Egyptian training); for the next forty years, he lived as a shepherd in [[Apophatic theology|contemplation]] of [[God]] and the world (his exile in Arabia); and for his remaining forty years, he led the people through the wilderness to the [[w:Promised Land|Promised Land]] (his government of the Israelite nation). He beheld the Promised Land, but was not allowed to enter it, for he had once [[Sin|sinned]] against God ([http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Numbers%2020:12&version=NKJV Numbers 20:12]). Thus Moses reposed at the age of 120.<ref name=PROLOGUE>[[Nikolai Velimirovic]]. ''[[Prologue from Ohrid|Prologue from Ohrid: Lives of Saints, Hymns, Reflections and Homilies for Every Day of the Year]].'' 1928.</ref>
As a [[Wonderworker|miracle-worker]], he was a prefiguration of [[Christ]], according to St. [[Basil the Great]],<ref name=PROLOGUE/> and is looked upon as a precursor to [[Christ]] ([http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1%20Corinthians%2010:1-4&version=NKJV 1 Corinthians 10:1-4]) and as a witness to him ([http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John%201:45&version=NKJV John 1:45]) in the seamless, unified history of God's relationship to and interaction with humanity throughout the ages.<ref name=WHOSWHO>''"Moses".'' In: Who's Who in the Bible: An Illustrated Biographical Dictionary. Reader's Digest Association, 1994. pp.300-311.</ref> In Saint [[Augustine of Hippo|Augustine]]'s homily on Psalm 90, which is entitled ''"The prayer of Moses the man of God,"'' he writes that Moses was the ''"Minister of the [[Old Testament|Old]], and the Prophet of the [[New Testament]]"''.<ref>[[Augustine of Hippo]]. ''St Augustine Homily on the Psalms. Psalm XC. 1''.</ref> Moses' influence continues to be felt in the religious life, moral concerns, and social ethics of civilization today.<ref name="BRITTANICA"/>
The [[Orthodox Church]] commemorates his [[feast day|sacred memory]] annually on [[September 4]]/17,<ref name=SYNAX>Great [[Synaxarium|Synaxaristes]]: {{el icon}} ''[http://www.synaxarion.gr/gr/sid/552/sxsaintinfo.aspx Ὁ Προφήτης Μωϋσῆς].'' 4 Σεπτεμβρίου. ΜΕΓΑΣ ΣΥΝΑΞΑΡΙΣΤΗΣ.</ref><ref name=OCA-LIFE>''[http://oca.org/FeastSaintsViewer.asp?SID=4&ID=1&FSID=102490 Holy Prophet and God-seer Moses - Life].'' OCA - Feasts and Saints.</ref> the day that Moses saw the [[w:Promised Land|Land of Promise]],<ref>"September 4: The Holy God-seer Moses the Prophet and Aaron His Brother". In: ''The Menaion: Volume 1, The Month of September.'' Transl. from the Greek by the [[Holy Transfiguration Monastery (Brookline, Massachusetts)|Holy Transfiguration Monastery]]. Boston, Massachusetts, 2005. pp.67.</ref> as well as on the [[Sunday of the Forefathers]].<ref>Fr. Andrew Anglorus. ''[http://www.orthodoxengland.org.uk/sermhff.htm THE SUNDAY OF THE HOLY FOREFATHERS].'' St John's Orthodox Church, Colchester, Essex, England.</ref>
===Moses' Seat===
It is unknown whether the roots of the “seat of Moses” are Israelite, pagan, or Christian. Nothing alike to this is found described in the [[Old Testament]]. The best of archaeological evidence indicates more that it was a Jewish adoption of a pagan practice and possibly a Christian one. The earliest account of "Moses' seat" is found in the [[New Testament]]] (Matthew 23), and whether this was a literal or metaphorical description of authority provides fodder for perennial debate. Hence, the question becomes not whether Christians derived the "[[Cathedra|bishop chairCyril of Jerusalem]]writes that Moses' seat ''" from signifies not his wooden seat, but the authority of his teaching."''<ref>[[synagogueCyril of Jerusalem]], but whether both synagogue . ''Catechetical Lectures with Procatechesis and church communities alike appropriated the notion from pagan buildings5 Mystagogical Catecheses. However that may beLexture X, 23.''</ref> Thus in terms of "Moses' seat" one may conclude that the unity that the synagogal community saw and today sees in ''Mosheh Rabbenu'' ("Moses our teacher"), so the Orthodox churches see in its overseer, the bishop (''[[Bishop|Episkopos]]'').
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