Exodus 2:15-22

Now when Pharaoh heard this thing, he sought to kill Moses. But Moses fled from the face of Pharaoh, and lived in the land of idian, and he sat down by a well.

Now the priest of Midian had seven daughters. 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 helped them, and watered their flock. When they came to Reuel, their father, he said, “How is it that you have returned so early today?”

They said, “An Egyptian delivered us out of the hand of the shepherds, and moreover he drew water for us, and watered the flock.”

He said to his daughters, “Where is he? Why is it that you have left the man? Call him, that he may eat bread.”

Moses was content to dwell with the man. He gave Moses Zipporah, his daughter. She bore a son, and he named him Gershom,† for he said, “I have lived as a foreigner in a foreign land.”

God loves each one of us and He has made us all for a purpose. It is possible to be showing signs of what that purpose is without even knowing it. We see this here with Moses. I believe that Moses was pretty depressed about things. We know from the name of his firstborn that he felt that he didn’t belong where he was.

Although it was true that Moses didn’t live in the land promised to Israel, he was actually in the place where God wanted him to be.

Moses really was made to be a deliverer. We see here that, even as he sat by a well, he couldn’t help but chase off the pesky shepherds for the girls who were trying to water their flocks and ended up helping them. Why didn’t Moses just keep to himself and not bother? God had placed a sincere desire to promote what is right and to deliver those who were being abused. That’s why he killed the Egyptian. It was a good thing for Moses to have the desire for justice and to deliver people, and God really rewarded it this time by giving Moses a wife and a son.

The land of Midian is still a pretty empty place today. I am told that, it would be pretty easy to get lost. By living as a shepherd in Midian, he gained some practical knowledge about how to get around in that area. He also learned how to be patient and take care of animals. We will see as we study the Bible that this is a common way for God to train His leaders. It is evident that God had His deliverer in the place that He wanted him to be, for now.