Moses Flees to Midian

Story: Moses Flees to Midian

Passage: Exodus 2:11-25

Characters:  Moses, Zipporah

Summary:  Moses went to see the burden on his people.  He killed an Egyptian who was abusing a Hebrew.  Pharaoh heard and tried to kill him but Moses fled to Midian.  In Midian, Moses helped the daughters of Reuel by fighting off some shepherds and watering their flock.  Reuel gave him his daughter Zipporah as a wife and they had a son.  The people in Egypt cried out to God because their burden was so heavy and God heard and remembered his promise to them.

Notes: I always imagined Moses did not know he was a Hebrew until he was older, but this passage implies that he was fully aware of his heritage.  I also always pictured the murder to be accidental.  I thought he just went too far in trying to help his kinsman.  The passage implies that the murder was fully premeditated and intentional.  The passage says he looked both ways and when he saw no one was coming he killed the man and hid him in the sand.  Would God really use a murderer?  In Acts 7, Stephen reveals that Moses was already forty when this event happens and that his reason for defending the Hebrews was that he thought they would understand he was to be their deliverer.  His methods were not God's however and the Israelites rejected him.  I almost wonder if this action was designed to show the Israelites that soon he would be Pharaoh and he would take up their case and they could trust him.  If that was his goal, it didn't work.  The people took offense that he thought he had authority over them.  Ironically, he did have authority over them!  Moses ended up in Midian and I find it humorous that after saving the women, they seemingly left him at the well.  Reuel’s reaction is funny to me.  He was like where is he?  Why did you leave him?  Very few details are given about this period of time.  All the passage says is that Moses got married and had a son.  Reuel was a priest of Midian.  He was probably related in some way to Abraham.  Therefore it is possible that he was a priest of the true God.  Gershom means sojourner.  Moses knew that he was in a foreign land that was not his home.  This name foreshadowed the fact that Egypt was not Israel’s home either.  The passage then turns to three verses indicating a change in fortune for Israel.  God hears their cries and remembers His covenant with them.  This doesn’t mean He had forgotten, but rather that He knew it was time to begin delivering His people.  I think the final sentence in the chapter is very epic in ESV.  “God saw the people of Israel—and God knew.”  God did not want to deliver them because they deserved it, but rather because He had told them He would.  

Questions:  How long was Moses in Midian?  How did he earn Reuel’s favor? How long after he arrived did he have a son?  Did he want to return to Egypt?   

Lessons:  Moses was a murderer but God is planning on using him in a major way to deliver His people from bondage.  I also take comfort in the fact that even though His people were suffering, God had not forgotten His covenant with them and even as they were in slavery, He was preparing Moses to deliver them.   

The Birth of Moses

Story: The Birth of Mosees

Passage: Exodus 2:1-10

Characters:  Moses, Pharaoh’s Daughter, Miriam

Summary:  A Levite couple had a son.  They hid him for three months and then placed him in the nile river in a basket.  Pharoah’s daughter found the boy and she kept him.  She hired Moses’ mother to nurse him.  When he was old enough he became an Egyptian and Pharaoh’s daughter named him Moses.     

Notes: In Hebrews we read that Moses’ parents hid him for three months out of faith in God.  They knew God wanted them to hide him.  I wonder if they freaked out when they saw Pharaoh’s daughter find him.  I doubt they thought she would adopt him!  Technically, his parents obeyed and they did put him literally in the river!  God was in control the whole time.  Not only did Moses’ mother end up raising her son herself, but she also got paid, and she knew her son would not be oppressed like the rest of the Hebrews were.  God was very much at work in this passage.  He had big plans for Moses and His protection was on him from the beginning.  I wonder why Miriam’s name is not mentioned in this passage.  She is only referred to as his sister.  I also find it interesting that Moses lived with his family for three months and then for longer, but he was apparently nameless over that time.  It was Pharaoh’s daughter who named him.  She did not give him an Egyptian name though, she called him Moses which sounds like Hebrew for draw out.  I wonder if this Egyptian woman was actually friendly towards the Hebrews?  This would be very significant considering that Egypt’s borderline racist attitude towards outsiders had only become more violent after Joseph died. 

Questions:  Why did Moses get a Hebrew name?  What did Moses’ family think of these events?  Did Pharaoh’s daughter know that Moses’ mother was the one she hired to nurse him? 

Lessons:  God is in control.  God had big plans for Moses and he had a plan to protect his childhood.  When things feel messed up and confusing and all hope is lost, God has a plan and we still are a part of it and we need to take comfort in that fact.