Scripture Reading(s)
Exodus 2:15-22
15 When Pharaoh heard of it, he sought to kill Moses. But Moses fled from Pharaoh and stayed in the land of Midian. And he sat down by a well.
16 Now the priest of Midian had seven daughters, and they came and drew water and filled the troughs to water their father’s flock.
17 The shepherds came and drove them away, but Moses stood up and saved them, and watered their flock.
18 When they came home to their father Reuel, he said, “How is it that you have come home so soon today?”
19 They said, “An Egyptian delivered us out of the hand of the shepherds and even drew water for us and watered the flock.”
20 He said to his daughters, “Then where is he? Why have you left the man? Call him, that he may eat bread.”
21 And Moses was content to dwell with the man, and he gave Moses his daughter Zipporah.
22 She gave birth to a son, and he called his name Gershom, for he said, “I have been a sojourner in a foreign land.”
Reflections
The life of Moses took a drastic turn from great to worst. He went from living in a palace under the roof of Pharaoh to now being on the run for his life. Moses was no longer part of the Pharaoh’s house hold. He was a fugitive and was now hated amongst a group of people that he once belonged too.
This story takes a drastic turn because this is when God begins to move in a powerful way to set up the scene for deliverance and redemption. The nation of Israel was being held captive under Pharaoh’s harsh rule and they needed a way out. God had once delivered Moses as a baby and spared his life and now He did again to use him as His tool to free the nation of Israel from captivity.
Moses ends up in a place where God begins to prepare him for being a true leader. He starts off by taking him away from what was a rich and comfortable life style to living simply and taking care of a wife, a child and learning to be a shepherd. Even in the midst of all the running and fear, God still provides a safe place for him among people who become his family and continues the work that He set out to do in his life from birth.
God had planned for the leadership of Moses to take place long ago. He saved him from being killed as a baby and He rescued him from being killed as a man and is now about to use him to help save an entire nation. God’s plan is never thwarted by anything. Despite the drastic turn of events, God’s plan and sovereignty took over. We can find true comfort in knowing that God is always in control and we can trust in His awesome plan for our lives.
Sometimes it is hard to pickup on little detail in the Bible that make stories interesting. The first time I read this story as a youth I mostly noticed that this was a story about how Moses met his wife. It wasn’t until later I was able to see the story from Jethro’s point of view. If we read the story from his perspective then we notice that even though times change, some things never change. For example, as a father with 7 daughters Jethro is less than impressed that a man saved his daughters and someone how not one of them asked him to come over for dinner.
He said to his daughters, “Then where is he? Why have you left the man? Call him, that he may eat bread.”
I can hear just about any modern day father saying the same thing to his flock of unwed daughters. “You’re telling me that a strong and brave man saved all 7 of you and not one of you tried to snag him and bring him home?! Do you want to be single forever?”
I find this part of the story just a bit humorous. Either way, we should be comforted that there is nothing new under the sun. The problems we face today are the same as generations before us. We must trust that the Lord is leading us and that His word will instruct us.