11 One day, when Moses had grown up [around age 40, so we have skipped over 36 years], he went out to his people and looked on their burdens, and he saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his people. [Moses has come to identify with his people, the Israelites, and not the Egyptians.] 12 He looked this way and that [suggesting premeditation], and seeing no one, he struck down the Egyptian and hid him in the sand. [See Acts 7:23-29.] 13 When he went out the next day, behold, two Hebrews were struggling together. And he said to the man in the wrong, “Why do you strike your companion?” 14 He answered, “Who made you a prince and a judge over us? Do you mean to kill me as you killed the Egyptian?” [These men do not appreciate Moses conversion from Egyptian to Hebrew identity. They also most likely want to disassociate from Moses and put the blame on him for the murder. Otherwise there will be, or already has been, severe punishment against the Hebrew slaves for the murder.] Then Moses was afraid, and thought, “Surely the thing is known.” [See Hebrews 11:24-26. Moses did this act out of altruism, but taking things into his own hands was a mistake. Good leaders learn from their mistakes.] 15 When Pharaoh heard of it, he sought to kill Moses. [Moses’ life is in peril again.] But Moses fled from Pharaoh and stayed in the land of Midian. [Moses is now completely cut off from his Egyptian ties and could not remain in the country. The Midianites were descended from Abraham through his wife Keturah (Gen. 25:2).] And he sat down by a well. [Where else in the Bible do wells become/represent the beginning point of a new life?]
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 [also called Jethro in chapter 19], 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.” [Moses has a penchant for intervening against injustice and oppression. Here he was quick enough to act against all odds, was sufficiently imposing enough to make the shepherds retreat, and was vigorous enough to water the flock himself. Not knowing any of these women, he acted out of principle rather than personal loyalty or financial gain. All these characteristics will be seen again as Moses responds to God’s call to save Israel.] 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. [Note that Moses marries a non-Israelite. The people he leads out of Egypt are not genetically and ethnically monolithic.] 22 She gave birth to a son, and he called his name Gershom [“an alien there”], for he said, “I have been a sojourner in a foreign land.” [Verses 20-22 provide a succinct summary of Moses settling down, getting married, and having his first child. He is now a permanent resident among the Midianites and a man in exile from Egypt and his Israelite brothers and sisters.]
Comments