How can we know that a messenger and his word come from God?
This question troubles the human being since the time the first person came and said: "God has sent me to you".
In times of distress, hopelessness, vital problems and of lack of absolute values, the temptation of believing in someone who assures God has spoken to him to convey the secret of joy and happiness in life, is an irresistible temptation.
Most of the times, this person happens to be an insane. But some times the person convinces a crowd, fascinating people with charming futile words and misleading them. In the past and today, as well, we hear of putative heavenly messages related to religion, politics, economy, health and so on. The consequences are at best the perpetuation of a delusion and of false hopes. But in the worst case it may case destruction, death and devastation.
How can we verify that the one who speaks in God's name is really His messenger?
This is a central question in parshat Shmot. Moshe expresses it in different ways: "[I] say to them 'your forefather's God has sent me to you'. They will ask me 'What is His name?', what shall I say to them?" (Ex. 3:13), "They will neither believe me, nor listen to me, saying 'The Lord did not appear to you' " (Ex. 4:1). Pharaoh, too, raises doubts about Moshe's prophecy: "Pharaoh said: 'Who is the Lord that I should heed Him?" (Ex. 5:2).
This parashah shows us, in fact, how to distinguish between a heavenly message and words produced by the pretentious soul of an indomitable ego. It requires two conditions: the personality of the prophet and the accomplishment of the message.
The prophet's personality? Moshe declines the task. He does not consider himself worthy. He asks a basic question, that will follow him all his life long: "Who am I to go to Pharaoh and to free the Israelites form Egypt?" (Ex. 3:11). He never considered himself being the first, the worthy, the knowledgeable. His humbleness is a ratification of his being a prophet.
The accomplishment of the message? This is, perhaps, the core of the distinction between a divine message and one that is not. "This will be the sign that I have sent you: while freeing the people from Egypt, you shall worship God at this mountain" (Ex. 3:12). The sign that he has been sent to free Israel from Egypt will come only after having accomplished the task! We discover that the message came from God once we have reached the goal. In the meanwhile, the message is not divine, but human.
The message is neither the miracle, nor in it. It is built during the process and is verified in the results. "March towards freedom, arrive to Mount Sinai and while worshipping God you will understand that all this came from Him; not before that".
The real prophet, the real messenger of God, remains humble even after the verification of his word and the achievement of the task. This is a sine-qua-non element of the sign that verifies the divinity of the message. Rabbi Shimshon Raphael Hirsch comments: "Once the redemption completed, thou wilt not be the people's ruler, but you will worship: you, thou and the people, will approach this Mountain as God's servants" (Sh.R. Hirsch, Shmot 3:12). A prophet that becomes an omniscient ruler because he hears God's word is not really a prophet. His message is not God's, but his own.
Let us not wait for a divine message and an emissary that will lead us by miracles. It is by doing, by building and by a positive spiritual development that we will arrive to concrete goals of freedom and of respect of God's Creation. After arriving there, we will discover that all this came from God.