The Forty Year Detour Text: Exodus 2:11-22
Introduction: God's School of Hard Knocks
We often like our heroes to be ready-made. We want them to spring onto the stage of history fully formed, with a clear mission and a flawless record. But God is a master craftsman, and He does not mass-produce His instruments. He forges them. He hammers them, heats them, and plunges them into the cold water of adversity. The man God will use to deliver a nation, the man who will speak with God face to face as a man speaks with his friend, begins his public career with an act of vigilante justice, a shallow grave in the sand, and a forty-year exile into obscurity.
Moses, at age forty, is a man of two worlds. He is a prince of Egypt, educated in all the wisdom of the most powerful empire on earth. He has status, power, and influence. He is also a Hebrew, a son of the covenant, and he knows it. He sees the affliction of his people, and his heart is stirred. This is a righteous impulse. But the method he chooses is the method of a prince of Egypt, not a prince of God. He sees a problem, and he solves it with the sword. It is decisive, it is swift, and it is entirely carnal. He is trying to accomplish God's purposes with Pharaoh's methods.
This passage is a master class in the providence of God. It shows us how God takes the raw material of a man's zeal, even his misguided and sinful zeal, and uses it to strip him down to nothing. Before Moses can deliver Israel from Egypt, God must first deliver Egypt out of Moses. Before he can be trusted with a nation, he must be humbled into a shepherd. Before he can lead two million people through the wilderness, he must first learn to lead a flock of sheep in that same wilderness. God's university for leaders is often located on the backside of a desert, and the curriculum is long, quiet, and humbling.
We will see three movements here. First, Moses's failed attempt at deliverance. Second, his necessary flight into exile. And third, his new life and family in Midian. In all of this, we see a God who is sovereignly orchestrating all events, even our blunders, to prepare His man for His mission.
The Text
Now it happened in those days, that Moses had grown up. And he went out to his brothers and looked on their hard labors. And he saw an Egyptian striking a Hebrew, one of his brothers. So he turned this way and that, and he saw that there was no one around. So he struck down the Egyptian and hid him in the sand. Then he went out the next day, and behold, two Hebrews were struggling with each other; and he said to the wicked one, “Why are you striking your companion?” But he said, “Who made you a ruler or a judge over us? Are you intending to kill me as you killed the Egyptian?” Then Moses was afraid and said, “Surely the matter has become known.” And Pharaoh heard of this matter, so he sought to kill Moses. But Moses fled from the presence of Pharaoh and settled 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 give water to their father’s flock to drink. Then the shepherds came and drove them away, but Moses rose up and saved them and gave water to their flock to drink. Then they came to Reuel their father, and he said, “Why have you come back so soon today?” So they said, “An Egyptian delivered us from the hand of the shepherds, and he actually even drew the water for us and gave water to the flock to drink.” And he said to his daughters, “Where is he then? Why is it that you have left the man behind? Call him so that he may eat bread.” And Moses was willing to settle down with the man, and he gave his daughter Zipporah to Moses. Then she gave birth to a son, and he named him Gershom, for he said, “I have been a sojourner in a foreign land.”
(Exodus 2:11-22 LSB)
A Zeal Not According to Knowledge (vv. 11-14)
We begin with Moses's first foray into the role of deliverer.
"Now it happened in those days, that Moses had grown up. And he went out to his brothers and looked on their hard labors. And he saw an Egyptian striking a Hebrew, one of his brothers. So he turned this way and that, and he saw that there was no one around. So he struck down the Egyptian and hid him in the sand." (Exodus 2:11-12)
Moses is now forty years old. He identifies with his kinsmen, calling them "his brothers." He sees their suffering, and it moves him to act. The book of Hebrews tells us that this was an act of faith. "By faith Moses, when he was grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, choosing rather to be mistreated with the people of God than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin" (Hebrews 11:24-25). So the motive was righteous. He was choosing sides. He was casting his lot with the covenant people.
But the action itself is a mixture of faith and flesh. He sees an injustice, an Egyptian beating a Hebrew. He acts as a judge, and he executes the sentence himself. We should not rush to call this murder. In the context of the brutal oppression, it was an act of justice. But it was premature. It was unauthorized. And it was done in secret. "He turned this way and that, and he saw that there was no one around." This is not how God's appointed deliverer is meant to act. God's deliverance is not a covert operation. It will be done in the open, with a high hand, in the face of Pharaoh himself. Moses is acting like a vigilante, not a viceroy of the Most High.
He buries the body in the sand, thinking the matter is settled. But sin, even well-intentioned sin, has a way of coming to the surface. The next day, he tries again.
"Then he went out the next day, and behold, two Hebrews were struggling with each other; and he said to the wicked one, 'Why are you striking your companion?' But he said, 'Who made you a ruler or a judge over us? Are you intending to kill me as you killed the Egyptian?'" (Exodus 2:13-14)
Moses's attempt to bring justice to his own people is met with contempt and rejection. Yesterday he defended a Hebrew against an Egyptian. Today he tries to defend a Hebrew against another Hebrew. But the man he rebukes throws his sin right back in his face. "Who made you a ruler or a judge over us?" This is the crucial question. The answer, of course, is that God had. Stephen, in his sermon in Acts 7, says that Moses "supposed that his brothers would understand that God was giving them salvation by his hand, but they did not understand" (Acts 7:25). Moses's calling was real, but his timing was off, and his methods were carnal. The people were not ready to receive him. Slavery had gotten into their souls, and they preferred the familiar misery of bondage to the risky business of deliverance. This question, "Who made you a ruler?" will be asked of Moses again. The next time, it will be Pharaoh asking it. And by then, Moses will have the answer, straight from the burning bush.
The man's retort reveals that Moses's secret is out. "Are you intending to kill me as you killed the Egyptian?" This strikes fear into Moses's heart. He thought he was in control, but he was not. He realizes the matter is known, and his position in Egypt is no longer tenable.
From Prince to Fugitive (vv. 15-20)
The consequences of Moses's actions come swiftly.
"And Pharaoh heard of this matter, so he sought to kill Moses. But Moses fled from the presence of Pharaoh and settled in the land of Midian, and he sat down by a well." (Exodus 2:15)
The prince of Egypt is now a wanted man. The very power structure he was a part of now seeks his life. So he flees. He runs for his life, east into the Sinai wilderness, to the land of Midian. And where does this broken, fugitive prince end up? He sits down by a well. The well is a significant place in the Old Testament. It is a place of meeting, a place of refreshment, and often, a place where a bride is found. It was at a well that Abraham's servant found Rebekah for Isaac. It was at a well that Jacob met Rachel. And now it is at a well that Moses, the deliverer in exile, will find his wife.
Even in his flight, Moses cannot help but be who God made him to be. He is a deliverer. He is a shepherd. He sees injustice, and he acts.
"Now the priest of Midian had seven daughters; and they came and drew water... Then the shepherds came and drove them away, but Moses rose up and saved them and gave water to their flock to drink." (Exodus 2:16-17)
Here is the same righteous indignation we saw in Egypt. But notice the difference. In Egypt, he acted in his own strength and struck a man dead. Here, he rises up, defends the weak against bullies, and serves them by watering their flock. He is learning to use his strength not to kill, but to give life. He is moving from being a striker to being a shepherd. God is re-channeling his zeal. He failed to deliver the nation of Israel, but here in the wilderness, he succeeds in delivering seven young women and their flock.
His actions do not go unnoticed. The daughters return to their father, Reuel, also called Jethro, who is the priest of Midian. He is a Gentile, but it appears he is a priest of the true God. He is a descendant of Abraham through his wife Keturah. He recognizes the character of the man who helped his daughters.
"So they said, 'An Egyptian delivered us from the hand of the shepherds...' And he said to his daughters, 'Where is he then? Why is it that you have left the man behind? Call him so that he may eat bread.'" (Exodus 2:19-20)
It is ironic that they identify him as an "Egyptian." He has just fled Egypt after renouncing his Egyptian identity, but his appearance still marks him as one. Reuel's response is one of patriarchal hospitality. He rebukes his daughters for not inviting this stranger home. This is a man of honor, and he invites Moses into his fellowship.
A New Life in a Foreign Land (vv. 21-22)
Moses, the fugitive, finds a home. The prince finds a family.
"And Moses was willing to settle down with the man, and he gave his daughter Zipporah to Moses. Then she gave birth to a son, and he named him Gershom, for he said, 'I have been a sojourner in a foreign land.'" (Exodus 2:21-22)
Moses accepts the hospitality and settles down. He who was once in line for the throne of Egypt is now a humble shepherd for his father-in-law. He marries Zipporah, and they have a son. The naming of the son is deeply significant. He calls him Gershom, which means "a sojourner there." Moses says, "I have been a sojourner in a foreign land."
Which land is he talking about? Is it Midian? Yes, he is a foreigner there. But more profoundly, he is talking about his entire life. He was a sojourner in Pharaoh's court, a Hebrew in an Egyptian palace. He is a sojourner in Midian. He is a man without a country. But this is the necessary training for the man who will lead a nation of sojourners for forty years in the wilderness. He must learn that his true home is not in Egypt, nor in Midian, but with God and His people. He must learn to be a pilgrim before he can lead a pilgrimage.
For forty years, Moses will be in this school of obscurity. He will learn patience. He will learn humility. He will learn to depend not on his own strength or status, but on God alone. The mighty prince of Egypt will be transformed into the meekest man on earth, ready to be used by God for a task far greater than he could have ever imagined.
Conclusion: God's Wise Detours
This story is a profound encouragement to all of us who have ever felt like we have failed, or taken a wrong turn, or ended up in a place we never expected. Moses's first attempt to serve God ended in what looked like a complete disaster. He went from the palace to the desert. From a prince to a shepherd. From a somebody to a nobody.
But from God's perspective, this was not a detour. It was the designated route. God had to lead him into the wilderness to teach him the lessons he could never have learned in the court of Pharaoh. He had to strip him of his self-reliance so that he could be clothed in divine power. He had to teach him that deliverance comes not by the sword of man, but by the word of God.
We see a type of Christ here, but it is a type by contrast. Moses, the first deliverer, tried to save his people by his own strength and was rejected. He had to flee into exile. Christ, the true deliverer, came to His own, and His own received Him not. He was rejected and cast out. But unlike Moses, He did not come with a sword. He came to lay down His own life. Moses killed an Egyptian to save a Hebrew. Christ, the true Hebrew, allowed Himself to be killed by the Gentiles to save all of His people, Jew and Gentile alike.
If you are in a season of obscurity, if your zealous plans have crumbled into dust, if you feel like you are on the backside of the desert, take heart. God is not wasting your time. He is training you. He is humbling you. He is preparing you. The lessons of the wilderness are essential for the leadership of God's people. It is in the quiet obscurity of Midian that God forges the man who will bring down an empire and lead a people to the promised land. Trust His process, even when it feels like a forty-year detour.