FRIDAY
Yesterday we saw Moses give the redemption of God’s people a go in his own way, power and timing. That didn’t work so well and Moses has to flee from Egypt or Pharaoh would have had him killed.
Exodus 2:15-3:1 (NIV)
15 When Pharaoh heard of this, he tried to kill Moses, but Moses fled from Pharaoh and went to live in Midian, where he sat down by a well. 16 Now a priest of Midian had seven daughters, and they came to draw water and fill the troughs to water their father’s flock. 17 Some shepherds came along and drove them away, but Moses got up and came to their rescue and watered their flock.
18 When the girls returned to Reuel their father, he asked them, “Why have you returned so early today?”
19 They answered, “An Egyptian rescued us from the shepherds. He even drew water for us and watered the flock.”
20 “And where is he?” Reuel asked his daughters. “Why did you leave him? Invite him to have something to eat.”
21 Moses agreed to stay with the man, who gave his daughter Zipporah to Moses in marriage. 22 Zipporah gave birth to a son, and Moses named him Gershom, saying, “I have become a foreigner in a foreign land.”
23 During that long period, the king of Egypt died. The Israelites groaned in their slavery and cried out, and their cry for help because of their slavery went up to God. 24 God heard their groaning and he remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac and with Jacob. 25 So God looked on the Israelites and was concerned about them.
3:1 Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the far side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God.
Moses becomes a shepherd in a foreign country. Shepherds were a despised class of people in Egyptian culture. So this was a downgrade for Moses, to say the least. He was raised in a palace. Now he is a shepherd in the wilderness. He is also a foreigner as his name for his first son indicates. He has seemingly lost everything. But, as we will see, it is only after he has lost everything that he gains everything when he encounters the presence of the one true God.
Interestingly, it is the same aspects of Moses’ character that got him in trouble in Egypt that ingratiate him in Jethro’s household. His sense of justice and impulsiveness lead him to defend the daughters of Jethro.* God didn’t need to destroy the personality of his servant Moses. Instead, he needed to redeem his personality so it would be used for good.
In fact, this is what this wilderness time is all about. In the wilderness of Midian, God transforms Moses from a proud, young, self-sufficient Egyptian prince into a humble, old, fully dependent Midianite shepherd. In Numbers 12:3 Moses is said to be the most humble person on earth. It is likely during this time that this humility is formed in him. It is only then that God begins to work through Moses to deliver his people Israel. Acts 7:30 tells us that Moses was 80 at this point! God brings Moses to the end of himself, so that only God receives the glory from this deliverance. Moses would be completely powerless in himself to go up against Pharaoh. In the wilderness God will teach Moses how much he needs him. Imagine how many times Moses replayed his murder of the Egyptian in his head. I imagine he would have regretted his decision or even thought, “Well, I gave it a go and it didn’t work out. Time to retire into the oblivion of the desert and die in peace.” But God had different plans. It was this time of waiting in Midian that formed him into a humble man who was completely dependent upon God for the deliverance of God’s people.
Next week we will pick up with the burning bush, the place where Moses first encounters the presence of God and he is commissioned and empowered to deliver God’s people.
*Jethro is also called Reuel which means “friend of God.” This may have been a nickname or a tribal name or a personal name. It’s likely a name relating to his role as a priest. Regardless, it’s the same person as Jethro.
Reflection
How have you experienced the desert of Midian? How has God brought you to the end of yourself? Or are you still trying to accomplish God’s purposes in your own way, your own ability, and your own timing? Have you been in the desert, so to speak, where you can learn to surrender to God’s way, God’s power, and God’s timing?