Exodus 2:11-25

Introduction

Something I have learned over the years from watching movies and reading stories is that the best stories, when introducing a character, will not just tell you who someone is, but they will show you and allow you, the reader, to come to the realization who he or she is. A great example of this in a movie is Oceans 11. This is a heist movie that includes different men with different talents teaming up to steal from some casinos. There is a part early in the movie where they list out their team. Upon each name(s) said, there is a clip of this person doing something to show the viewers who that person is. For example, two of them are brothers and rather than saying “These two brothers are childish and tend to argue a lot and are always competing,” they show a clip of these brothers “passing the time” by racing an RC car and a monster truck. The race ends with the one driving the monster truck running over his brother’s RC car. Don’t tell, but show!

Clearly if anyone knows good story telling, it is God Himself who crafted together the greatest story every told. And He does this same thing, but even includes foreshadowing. What is especially interesting is that if we tell a story through a movie, we have to write it out with people who signed up for the task. However, God uses people in their normal lives for His story. And to show us who Moses is, we get today’s story of murder and fleeing the country.

The main point I want you to get from today’s message is that our God’s love is faithful and steadfast. He always comes through, even when we can’t see it.

Christian Standard Bible Chapter 2

11 Years later, after Moses had grown up, he went out to his own people and observed their forced labor. He saw an Egyptian striking a Hebrew, one of his people. 12 Looking all around and seeing no one, he struck the Egyptian dead and hid him in the sand. 13 The next day he went out and saw two Hebrews fighting. He asked the one in the wrong, “Why are you attacking your neighbor?”

14 “Who made you a commander and judge over us?” the man replied. “Are you planning to kill me as you killed the Egyptian?”

Then Moses became afraid and thought, “What I did is certainly known.” 15 When Pharaoh heard about this, he tried to kill Moses. But Moses fled from Pharaoh and went to live in the land of Midian, and sat down by a well.

16 Now the priest of Midian had seven daughters. They came to draw water and filled the troughs to water their father’s flock. 17 Then some shepherds arrived and drove them away, but Moses came to their rescue and watered their flock. 18 When they returned to their father Reuel,, he asked, “Why have you come back so quickly today?”

19 They answered, “An Egyptian rescued us from the shepherds. He even drew water for us and watered the flock.”

20 “So where is he?” he asked his daughters. “Why then did you leave the man behind? Invite him to eat dinner.”

21 Moses agreed to stay with the man, and he gave his daughter Zipporah to Moses in marriage. 22 She gave birth to a son whom he named Gershom, for he said, “I have been a resident alien in a foreign land.”

23 After a long time, the king of Egypt died. The Israelites groaned because of their difficult labor, and they cried out, and their cry for help because of the difficult labor ascended to God. 24 God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. 25 and God saw the Israelites, and God knew.

Moses Grew Up v.11-12

Insight from Stephen

The first thing we see in this passage is that Moses grew up. A large amount of time had passed from when we saw Moses as a 3-month old baby. To better understand how Moses grew up, we have to look at another passage of Scripture that speaks of this time. Stephen, the deacon and first martyr, preached an incredible sermon right before his death. Within the sermon, he gave a lot of Jewish history, as he was preaching to the Jews. There is a portion that gives us more insight about how Moses grew up.

Christian Standard Bible Chapter 7

20 At this time Moses was born, and he was beautiful in God’s sight. He was cared for in his father’s home for three months. 21 When he was put outside, Pharaoh’s daughter adopted and raised him as her own son. 22 So Moses was educated in all the wisdom of the Egyptians and was powerful in his speech and actions.

23 “When he was forty years old, he decided to visit his own people, the Israelites.

It seems that Moses not only was raised in Pharaoh’s house, but he was raised to be an Egyptian. Not just an Egyptian, but a good, royal Egyptian. This would mean he had to be an expert on all things Egypt.

And so, a major part of this training was Moses’s education in the academia of Egypt. But we must see that Moses was not just smart, this passage says Moses was powerful in his speech and actions. He was a well-known strong leader in Egypt.

Moses the Rejected Savior v.13-15

Moses was not unaware of the suffering of the Jews. He was also not unaware that he himself was a Jew. And so, here in verse 11, we see that he does care about the Jews still. In fact, he is grieved by his people’s oppression.

So what does Moses do? He is strong. He is capable. He is a leader. Moses makes a stand against evil. It is good to make a stand, but it must be made with much wisdom and planning. Moses, at 40 years-old, still lacked some of this wisdom. I want to point out three steps to Moses’s plan that we can learn from.

There is something I want to point out first, though. Moses was only under his mother’s care until he was at most five years old. Therefore, Moses likely had an awareness of who the God of Israel was, perhaps he even worshiped him, but he most likely was worshiping Egyptian gods too! He didn’t have the law. Therefore, we must be gracious and understand that God used many pagan men to form who His people came to be.

A Fleshly Impulse

At most we know that Moses desired for his people to be free. This is not a bad desire by any means. However, his plan to aid in this effort of saving his people began with, not a plan, but an impulse of his flesh.

Now this is behavior we would expect from a pagan worshiper, but that doesn’t mean we cannot learn from it. Moses did exactly what seemed right to him in this moment, and thus led to the murder of this slave driver.

For us, we cannot begin here with a fleshly impulse. Just because you feel the desire, no matter how strong, to X, Y, Z, does not mean you have to. It is far better for you to take a step back and consider the situation before you let your feelings dictate your actions.

Moses did not really know who God is, but we do and have access to Him and His Word. So before you decide to do something so significant, consult

God

His Word

and His people

This will ensure that your action is a righteous, God-honoring one and not an impulsive flesh one.

2. Israel Rejects Moses’s Act

At this point, Moses probably felt good thinking he got away with what he did. Perhaps felt content and satisfied in how he stood up against evil, even. But then something happens the next day.

Christian Standard Bible Chapter 2

13 The next day he went out and saw two Hebrews fighting. He asked the one in the wrong, “Why are you attacking your neighbor?”

14 “Who made you a commander and judge over us?” the man replied. “Are you planning to kill me as you killed the Egyptian?”

Then Moses became afraid and thought, “What I did is certainly known.”

Once again, we receive more insight from Stephen in his sermon on this part:

Christian Standard Bible (Chapter 7)

“25 He assumed his people would understand that God would give them deliverance through him, but they did not understand.

This tells us that Moses did know somewhat of the Israelite God and even thought He was using Moses in this moment. However, Stephen tells us, and the Exodus account shows us, that the Israelites did not understand. They were confused by what he was doing! They did not see him as their leader, but critiqued him.

Moses’s half-baked “plan” (if you could call it that) did not work. His impression that God was using him was misunderstood. It all fell apart. Despite him being strong and “powerful in speech and action,” his plan fell through because it was not God’s timing.

Oftentimes we make decisions based off of feelings, but in a different way. We say things like “I felt at peace about it, so I did it.” Or the opposite, “I did not feel peace about it so I did not do it.” Be careful with this. In a moment of temptation and sinfulness, I can feel at peace with cursing someone in my mind. I can look at sharing the Gospel with someone and feel a severe lack of peace about it, even. Does this mean I shouldn’t do it? By no means. There is never a time we should curse someone, even in our minds, and there is never a time God does not want us to share the Gospel with someone.

Do not depend on these feelings or impressions. Be discerning and careful. Moses had an impression, but was misguided. Nonetheless, God used this for His great redemption plan, but that only means that God is sovereign despite our mistakes.

3. A Dire Consequence

Christian Standard Bible Chapter 2

15 When Pharaoh heard about this, he tried to kill Moses. But Moses fled from Pharaoh and went to live in the land of Midian, and sat down by a well.

Not only does Israel not band around him as their leader, but Pharaoh finds out about Moses and tries to kill him. And so, Moses is forced to skip town and go to a town called Midian. Not only does Moses fail, but he is forced to leave the people he was trying to save. His comfort. His royalty. His everything gone in a day.

There are consequences to our actions. If we act impulsively to our flesh’s desire, we will likely reap a dire consequence. Your sins have consequences! Yes, Romans 8:1 tells us “there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” So if you are a Christian and you sin, you are not now going to hell for eternity. However, your sin will still have a consequence. If I cheat on my wife, I will not be removed from God’s hand, but I just may lose my wife and will definitely lose my position as a minister.

God is also sovereign through our consequences though. So do not let consequences to sin lead you to self-hatred, but take the consequence, as you deserve it, and move forward. Not backward to what you were just doing, but forwards! Towards Christ! Walk in His grace that He has RICHLY poured out on you and move forward.

A New Life v.16-22

Moses Delivers

After this failure, we see Moses run all the way to Midian, which is over 200 miles away from Egypt. Moses ran far. He was really scared, so he just kept going. Eventually he arrives in Midian approaching a well.

Midian Background

Midian was a son of Abraham (Genesis 25:2) and here in Moses’s time was friendly to Jews. These would become enemies of Israel, unfortunately, but at this time they were friendly. These people, at this time, likely worshiped the One True God, Yahweh.

The daughters of a priest were trying to get water at a well, but were harassed by the local shepherds. The shepherds scared them away, so that the water would be their’s alone. But here we see Moses show up.

In God’s providence, Moses happened to be in the area and, despite his failure in Egypt, he still feels burdened to stand up against evil. And so, he drives these shepherds away and rescues the Midianite daughters. Moses goes even further and waters the flock of the daughters.

These women likely had their own flock to water, as their father elsewhere is said to be a shepherd as well. So Moses goes and gets water for every single animal. This is a big task displaying courtesy and kindness to these ladies. And this goes well for Moses.

Boys and Girls

Something I want to point out here is how Moses treats these Midianite women.

First Moses stands up for them. No, Moses was not a devout follower of the One True God at this point, but he still was made in God’s Image and, therefore, stood up for the weak. Please hear me, I am not saying that no women are capable of defending themselves, but I am saying that there are clear sexual distinctions between men and women. Men are, generally, physically and emotionally stronger than women. This is simply how God made us, and it is not a bad thing. Similarly, women tend to smarter and more discerning than men. These two things compliment one another!

My point is this though: these shepherds harassing these women display weak, wicked men. They use their strength to oppress the weak. If you want to be a godly man, then you will never use your strength to oppress the weak, especially women.

I will be honest, some of you are like those shepherds and think it is okay to be rough with girls. That is not okay. That is against God. That is something that you must repent of. Do not be an oppressor, but a protector of women.

And some of you are doing something different. You feel as if you must be emotionally connected to all girls just so you can be close to them. You use them to prop yourself up. This is also wrong. Boys, you must be able to exist without girls. I encourage you to build up friendships with your brothers in Christ, not girls. That doesn’t mean to avoid them, but don’t be best friends with them. It isn’t necessary.

Second, Moses shows them courtesy. He waters their flock just to help them. This is another attribute that you should take on and boys towards girls. Be kind to them, but do so not expecting anything in return. Look what happens here:

Christian Standard Bible Chapter 2

Then some shepherds arrived and drove them away, but Moses came to their rescue and watered their flock. 18 When they returned to their father Reuel,, he asked, “Why have you come back so quickly today?”

19 They answered, “An Egyptian rescued us from the shepherds. He even drew water for us and watered the flock.”

20 “So where is he?” he asked his daughters. “Why then did you leave the man behind? Invite him to eat dinner.”

Moses helped them and then they just left. Moses didn’t try to follow them or ask them for anything. He protected them, showed them courtesy, and moved on. Guys, stop being kind to girls just to get their attention and even affection. Godly manhood means protecting and being kind expecting nothing in return, even towards females.

In Moses’s case, being 40 years old, this generous act leads to him being married. The daughters tell their dad, Reuel, who is happy about this and calls for them to bring Moses to his home for dinner. This led to Moses marrying his wife Zipporah and having a son named Gersom.

From here on, Moses would live happily with his new family as a shepherd in Midian. He would actually stay here for 40 years until he is 80 living a happy, quiet life.

God Remembers v.23-25

But once again, we must see that God is not absent from this story. Israel is not without hope because Moses failed to lead a revolt against Pharaoh. Their only hope is seen in these last few verses:

Christian Standard Bible Chapter 2

23 After a long time, the king of Egypt died. The Israelites groaned because of their difficult labor, and they cried out, and their cry for help because of the difficult labor ascended to God. 24 God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. 25 and God saw the Israelites, and God knew.

Moses specifies that it was a long time before the Pharaoh who wanted him dead died himself. Not only this, but after he died, Israel was still enslaved, as the new new Pharaoh, too, sought to oppress the Jews.

This must have been very difficult for Israel, especially because God was not acting yet. This is difficult for us to understand, but at times God will hold off on acting intentionally, leaving us to suffer longer. Why does He do this? We do not always get to know. Sometimes it makes sense, and sometimes it does not. Ultimately, we must trust Him in these times of prolonged suffering! After all, He is done nothing but prove Himself to be sovereign and good and faithful. Why would He not be that now then? Look what Peter said of times of prolonged suffering:

Christian Standard Bible Chapter 1

5 You are being guarded by God’s power through faith for a salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. 6 You rejoice in this, even though now for a short time, if necessary, you suffer grief in various trials 7 so that the proven character of your faith—more valuable than gold which, though perishable, is refined by fire—may result in praise, glory, and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. 8 Though you have not seen him, you love him; though not seeing him now, you believe in him, and you rejoice with inexpressible and glorious joy, 9 because you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

Your suffering is refining! It produces, in you, a faith that is, as Peter says, more precious than gold! So take heart in your times of suffering and find joy knowing that God is using it for your growth.

The Israelites were suffering terribly, but look what the Scripture says

Christian Standard Bible Chapter 2

The Israelites groaned because of their difficult labor, and they cried out, and their cry for help because of the difficult labor ascended to God. 24 God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. 25 and God saw the Israelites, and God knew.

God heard their cry.

He is not deaf, but He actually hears all of your cries. He hears when you pray to Him. He listens to you, better than anyone on Earth could.

God remembered His covenant

This is not to say that He just forgot He promised to Abraham that He would bless and keep His people as a nation. This just means He is bringing it to mind and deciding to act. God is not man, though He came as man at a time. God is not imperfect or sinful. God is perfect and omniscient; therefore He cannot forget.

God knew

This passage does not say what He knew, but we can infer that God knew how He would save Israel. He knew how He would redeem them. He knew how He would reach Moses and raise Him up to be a strong leader with guidance this time. He knew He would miraculously rescue Israel through the moment of the Red Sea. He knew.

God Knew

In the same way, when God saw Adam and Eve sin, destining themselves and all their offspring for Hell, God knew how He would rescue humanity. God knew He would send Jesus Christ to take on our punishment and die in our place. And now, if we put our faith in Christ, than we will be saved from this punishment we deserve.

Then, your suffering will not be in vain. Instead it will produce a faith more precious than gold. Do not wish away your times of suffering, but recognize that those times produce in us a stronger faith! If you just grumble through suffering, you’ll miss all the growing.