Exodus 2:11–22 (ESV)
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. He looked this way and that, and seeing no one, he struck down the Egyptian and hid him in the sand. 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?’ 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.’ 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. Now the priest of Midian had seven daughters, and they came and drew water and filled the troughs to water their father’s flock. The shepherds came and drove them away, but Moses stood up and saved them, and watered their flock. When they came home to their father Reuel, he said, ‘How is it that you have come home so soon today?’ They said, ‘An Egyptian delivered us out of the hand of the shepherds and even drew water for us and watered the flock.’ He said to his daughters, ‘Then where is he? Why have you left the man? Call him, that he may eat bread.’ And Moses was content to dwell with the man, and he gave Moses his daughter Zipporah. She gave birth to a son, and he called his name Gershom, for he said, ‘I have been a sojourner in a foreign land.’
This is a very different scene from the baby in the basket. Moses is grown now. He’s been raised in Pharaoh’s household, educated in Egypt’s courts — and suddenly we see that he knows who he really is. The text says he went out to “his people.” He identifies with the Hebrews, not with Egypt. That’s a big moment of awakening.
But Moses makes a mistake that will shape the next forty years of his life. He tries to fix things his own way. He sees an Egyptian beating a Hebrew and takes justice into his own hands. And then, when he realizes he’s been found out, he runs.
Moses wanted to be a deliverer, but he wasn’t ready yet. His heart was right, he longed to see his people freed, but his method was wrong. God had called him to lead, but not like this. So Moses flees into the wilderness, where God will begin the long process of humbling and reshaping him.
And that’s how God often works. Before He uses us, He humbles us. Before He sends us, He breaks our pride. Moses thought he could rescue Israel by his own strength, but God would teach him that deliverance comes by His hand alone.
So Moses ends up in Midian, sitting by a well. He is all alone, exiled, with his plans in ruins. But God isn’t done with him. God meets him there, not in power but in obscurity. And even in exile, Moses keeps showing his heart to protect. He defends Reuel’s daughters at the well. The instinct to serve and to rescue is still there, it’s just being reshaped by God.
Moses names his son Gershom, saying, “I have been a sojourner in a foreign land.” That word sojourner captures how he must have felt. Out of place. Unsettled. Forgotten. And yet, this is where God will prepare him for everything that comes next.
It’s a good reminder that sometimes the wilderness isn’t punishment, but rather it is God’s way of preparing us. God uses seasons of being out of the limelight to teach us dependence on him, to teach us patience, and to teach us humility. The same man who once acted out of impulse will eventually, 40 years later, learn to lead by trusting in God.
And of course, all of this points forward to Christ, who is the ultimate and true Deliverer. He left the glory of heaven, entered our wilderness, and led us out of the slavery of sin. Where Moses failed, Jesus succeeded perfectly. He never ran from His mission, but went willingly to the cross for us.
So if you feel like you’re in a wilderness right now, maybe forgotten, maybe spiritually stuck, maybe waiting for a prayer that doesn’t seem to get answered, this passage reminds us to not lose heart. God may be doing His deepest work in your quiet places.
Prayer
Father, thank You that even in seasons of failure or waiting, You are still shaping us for Your purposes. Forgive us for the times we’ve tried to take matters into our own hands. Teach us to trust Your timing and Your ways. When life feels like a desert, remind us that You are there — preparing us, refining us, and drawing us closer to Yourself. We thank You for Jesus, our faithful Deliverer, who never failed and never ran away. In His name we pray, Amen.