Exodus 2:11-25

11Many years later, when Moses had grown up, he went out to visit his people, the Israelites, and he saw how hard they were forced to work. During his visit, he saw an Egyptian beating one of the Hebrew slaves. 12After looking around to make sure no one was watching, Moses killed the Egyptian and buried him in the sand.
13The next day, as Moses was out visiting his people again, he saw two Hebrew men fighting. "What are you doing, hitting your neighbor like that?" Moses said to the one in the wrong.
14"Who do you think you are?" the man replied. "Who appointed you to be our prince and judge? Do you plan to kill me as you killed that Egyptian yesterday?"
Moses was badly frightened because he realized that everyone knew what he had done. 15And sure enough, when Pharaoh heard about it, he gave orders to have Moses arrested and killed. But Moses fled from Pharaoh and escaped to the land of Midian.
 When Moses arrived in Midian, he sat down beside a well. 16Now it happened that the priest of Midian had seven daughters who came regularly to this well to draw water and fill the water troughs for their father's flocks. 17But other shepherds would often come and chase the girls and their flocks away. This time, however, Moses came to their aid, rescuing the girls from the shepherds. Then he helped them draw water for their flocks.
 18When the girls returned to Reuel, their father, he asked, "How did you get the flocks watered so quickly today?"
 19"An Egyptian rescued us from the shepherds," they told him. "And then he drew water for us and watered our flocks."
 20"Well, where is he then?" their father asked. "Did you just leave him there? Go and invite him home for a meal!"
 21Moses was happy to accept the invitation, and he settled down to live with them. In time, Reuel gave Moses one of his daughters, Zipporah, to be his wife. 22Later they had a baby boy, and Moses named him Gershom, for he said, "I have been a stranger in a foreign land."
 23Years passed, and the king of Egypt died. But the Israelites still groaned beneath their burden of slavery. They cried out for help, and their pleas for deliverance rose up to God. 24God heard their cries and remembered his covenant promise to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. 25He looked down on the Israelites and felt deep concern for their welfare.

Points of Interest:
• ‘many years later’—we know from other references that Moses is 40 years old.

• ‘he went out to visit his people, the Israelites, and he saw how hard they were forced to work’—we don’t know why it took 40 years for Moses to see the plight of the Israelites: maybe he recently learned new information about his birth family; maybe he has been restricted in his movement by education, work, or security concerns; maybe he has been enjoying the life of the Egyptian upper class and hasn’t wanted to see before then; and maybe he’s seen this mistreatment many times before, but this is the last straw.

• ‘After looking around to make sure no one was watching’—a sure sign that he’s not very certain that what he’s about to do is right.

• ‘What are you doing, hitting your neighbor like that?’—perhaps Moses has a somewhat idealized view of the Hebrews. He can’t believe that a Hebrew would mistreat a fellow Hebrew; he thought only Egyptians did that.

• ‘Who do you think you are?’—a great question. Moses finds himself stuck between his two identities of Israelite and Egyptian. He’s rejected by both groups: the Israelites consider him a spoiled Egyptian collaborator and resent him sticking his nose in their business; the Egyptians treat him as an ungrateful wretch who turned on them. Once he kills the Egyptian, his status quickly changes from privileged son of a princess to rogue Hebrew murderer who must be stopped. The Egyptians probably use Moses’ murderous act as a defense of their racism, telling themselves that they never should have trusted one of those Hebrews to live among them in the first place.

• ‘escaped to the land of Midian’—the Midianites were a semi-nomadic people group based in northwestern Arabia, found wandering throughout the desert border regions on the eastern side of Canaan and the Egyptian sphere of influence (Bible Background Commentary 78). The Midianites were fairly closely related to the Israelites; they were descended from Abraham through his second wife Keturah, whom he married after Sarah’s death. It’s possible that their culture and even their religion might have some close resemblances to the Israelites’ culture and religion.

• ‘daughters who came regularly to this well to draw water and fill the water troughs for their father's flocks’—apparently Reuel has no sons. Therefore, his daughters must do the shepherding, and find themselves the objects of bullying by other shepherds.

• ‘Moses came to their aid’—in this passage, we start to get a glimpse of the kind of person Moses is. One thing we learn about him is that he has a passion for protecting people who are treated unjustly. Twice, he decides to come to the rescue of the people being treated unfairly. The first time around, he does more harm than good: he acts rashly and violently himself, murdering someone and then trying to cover it up; his actions are unappreciated by the people he was trying to save; he doesn’t really better their situation; and he is forced to flee from his home. The second time, things go much better: he is of genuine help; his help is received gratefully; and by it he gains for himself a new home.

• ‘he settled down to live with them’—Moses is adopted into yet another people group, becoming part of Reuel’s Midianite tribe.

• ‘his covenant promise to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob’—that would be the promise to make a great nation of their family, to give them the land of Canaan, and to bless all the nations of the world through them.

Taking it home:
• For you: What’s a passion God has given you? Think of a time when that passion has been of genuine benefit to yourself or others. Have there also been times when that passion has been unappreciated, or when it’s gotten you or others into trouble? If you’ve recently had a disappointment in pursuing one of your passions, ask God to quickly give you a second chance to see that passion really shine.

• For your six: When Reuel hears about Moses’ kindness to his daughters, he doesn’t want to miss an opportunity to make a friend with this man. So, he invites him to dinner. It seems that eating together is a universally recognized and approved way of building relationships. Are any of your six relatively unfamiliar to you? Pray that God would give you the chance to have coffee or dinner with them. Look for opportunities to invite them, or be prepared to say, ‘yes,’ if you get an invitation.

• For our church: Although we are not living under terrible political oppression like the Israelites were, we are living in a world and in a city where all is not as it should be. Like the Israelites, we’ve received promises from God that have not come true, promises that it would be in New Haven like it is in heaven. Jesus tells us, “Whenever you pray, say, ‘Your kingdom come and your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.’” Ask the Holy Spirit to give us the hope and endurance to keep praying this prayer for New Haven until God hears and acts; pray that it would happen during our lifetimes.