Berachot 4: King David, True Prophets and Transgressions

We continue our discussion about the proper recitation of the Shema at night.  The Gemara uses King David to teach us that a righteous man is still concerned about halacha.  He is afraid that he might say the shema incorrectly and ultimately be barred from the World-to-Come.

The Gemara then takes a turn and shares examples where transgressions have led to major changes.  One of these is where the Jewish people return to the land of Israel at the start of the Second Temple period.  Moshe sang the Song of the Sea and connected the entrance to Israel with Yehoshua and Ezra (Shemot 15:16-17).  We should have been worthy of a miracle, but our entrance into Israel happened naturally because of our transgression.

The Rambam teaches that G-d will never go back on G-d's promises made to prophets; there are no transgressions that will affect those promises.  We had learned that Moshe promised that entering Israel while Ezra was alive would be a miracle.  This leads us to question who is truly a prophet.  It is suggested that positive prophesies made by true prophets are always completed.  If they were not fulfilled, people would be wary of whether or not such prophets were in fact "true".  We know, of course, that Moshe was a true prophet.  Even though one of his prophesies did not happen because of our transgression, no-one will doubt that he is a true prophet.