Exodus 2:11 One day, when Moses had grown up, he went out to his people and looked on their burdens, and he saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his people. 12 He looked this way and that, and seeing no one, he struck down the Egyptian and hid him in the sand. 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?” Then Moses was afraid, and thought, “Surely the thing is known.” 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.
"One day, when Moses had grown up;" whatever that means, he came to point where he was different; he was his own man now, he saw things differently, FELT THINGS DIFFERENTLY, could go where he wanted and didn't need an allowance anymore!
Maybe.
And while he was out, he went by his old neighborhood --"he went out to his people" and he saw things differently ... he "looked on their burdens..."
What did he see?
He saw an Egyptian helping his people didn't he? An Egyptian was lifting the load with them? After all the work his people had been doing for the Egyptians, he saw an Egyptian expressing gratitude, didn't he?
Get this image into your head: this major contrast is important in the biblical narrative of Israel and God's people.
NO!!! NO, he saw an Egyptian "beating a Hebrew, one of his people."
What do you do when you see ONE OF YOUR OWN being taken advantage of?
What do you do when you see YOUR PEOPLE being stepped on by those who are supposed to be helping them, lifting them up, sustaining them, supporting them, giving them what they need so they can help and live for a long time?
I don't know what Moses was trained to believe in Egypt, what forms of justice he thought he could execute on his own, but whatever he was thinking this is what he did in verse 12: "He looked this way and that, and seeing no one, he struck down the Egyptian and hid him in the sand."
Moses was crossing a street in his life; a street where he looked both ways and he saw no one, but he didn't look in the last direction: UP!
You and I do the same thing when we look both ways and seeing no one proceed without looking UP!
The writer of Hebrews recasts this event as being one of faith ... MESSY FAITH!
Moses' faith was zealous! He FELT right feelings of wanting to protect God's people and in a way his act was self defense.
I would say it went to far; Moses might say he didn't have a choice but to take it that far.
In a land where God's people had become slaves because of their weakness and the exploitation by a stronger and smarter country, Moses couldn't take it anymore.
I'm not saying it was time for him to pull out a tract of the 4 spiritual laws with this Egyptian.
This is the OT and the Holy Spirit wasn't inside people working towards peace--Jesus told Peter under the new covenant that those who live by the sword will die by the sword, so we are to LIVE by the SPIRIT!
So when you get to a choice, a crossroads where you find yourself looking to the left and to the right, let that be a trigger for you to never forget TO LOOK UP! So many men will save their soul when tempted by fill in this blank with something like porn to never forget to look UP!
Apparently Moses didn't see anyone but there were some who saw him; in the least it was his little lamb he rescued that may have had a big mouth. Every big brother and sister have experienced what Moses did. Big brother and big sister tell little rug rats to keep their mouths shut about events only to find that is like adding extra chili sauce on a hotdog--soon things get bloated and a huge stink follows!
Grown up Moses "went out the next day, behold, two Hebrews were struggling together," and he FELT IT AGAIN!
This time he made a judgment call but spoke instead, "And he said to the man in the wrong, “Why do you strike your companion?”
He answered, “Who made you a prince and a judge over us? Do you mean to kill me as you killed the Egyptian?”
UH-OH! Then Moses was afraid, and thought, “Surely the thing is known.” 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.
Moses' choices had consequences: it was found out (be sure your sins WILL find you out!), his boss, his step-grand-dad, learned of it and sought to kill him!
It didn't matter that he was raised in Egypt, Moses identified with the slaves and he will be treated like a slave! Now that's faith!
In Egypt family doesn't mean the same. But as Moses will soon learn, family means much more in Israel, not because family means everything, but because God means everything and families under God have a destiny to fulfill. As long as they are in God's will families will always be God's means to accomplish his purposes--in the NT God's family is called the CHURCH!
So Moses was found out, he was being hunted down, and now he had to use his skills to escape and flee to the land where Abraham's 2nd wife Keturah's children lived: Midian. He flees for his life from a place GOD will bring him back to. When GOD brings you back you won't have to flee.
When you try and do things your own way, things get messed up, time gets spent on temporal things, and you are removed from what and where you really want to be. That's your Midian! Are you in a Midian right now? You've done things your own way, things have become a big mess, you are no where close to where you want to be doing what you want to be doing and it looks like that dream is all but over.
For Moses, he let it all go. He let the dream die. He became content with where he was. In Egypt, he was a big fish in a big pond. In Midian, he was a big fish in a little pond--and he like it that way.
Verse 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.”
Even in Midian, Moses FELT IT AGAIN! HE LOOKED AND HE SAW and he stood up and he saved those girls and watered their flocks.
Perhaps you are in Midian. You had looked and seen and made a decision to look every direction but up and now it has gotten you in a land far away from where you want to be. And every decision since keeps taking you farther and farther away from where you want to be.
It is not too late to look up. It may very well be too late to salvage anything, but that's not your call. Look up, and let God make the calls. You are not your own. You have been bought with a price. You have to serve somebody. Will you serve Egypt? Yourself? or God?
Perhaps you have learned while in Midian the last time what to do and what not to do; you have looked and seen; and you have learned how to rely on God's timing and how to wait upon the Lord and do things His way and not your own. Stay faithful!
Perhaps you are just entering Midian. Repent now, turn to Christ, seek his forgiveness and perhaps your stay there will be shortened and your consequences lessened.
And finally, perhaps you have looked and seen something that isn't right and you don't know what to do. You want to be courageous but you don't want to end up in Midian. But you have played the coward and let the Egyptian beat your brother, your sister, you mother, your father, your children and although you have wanted to do something, you have been afraid. You are in a self-made Midian called FEAR. It is a land you know too well. You have visited there often. Your life reflects that decision 20 times over. What will you do? Will you be brave enough to truly trust in God for your salvation? Will you be courageous enough to give your life away to him!? You are still on the outside looking in. The first condemned people to the outside of the New Jerusalem in Revelation 21 are cowards. Your feet need to walk another road entirely--to Emmaus with you!
Looking at the story of Moses, there seemed to be a worse choice to make than killing the Egyptian--letting the Egyptian kill his brother.
Moses had an eye for seeing things that weren't right. God is going to use that to bring him closer to Himself soon. In the meantime, verse 21 "Moses was content to dwell with" Reuel/Jethro, "and he gave Moses his daughter Zipporah." Moses submitted himself to a father figure, maybe unlike any he had ever had and would work to prolong Jethro's livelihood and Moses was given a place to stay and a wife. Verse 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.”
I am a sojourner too, I am in a foreign land called the temporary Babylon, a fallen society that takes captives and imprisons them to life of consumerism and greed and that denies the truth. And I am called to look and see what is wrong and stand up for what is right and for those who cannot stand up for themselves in this Fallen place. God has given me his promises. God knows my dreams--he placed them there. And God will leave me in my Midian until the proper time.