Moses had the heart for the unusual mission but the timing and method he went about it the first time was wrong. In a rage, he killed the Egyptian taskmaster and hid him in the sand. He did not know but what he did was noticed by one of the Hebrews. As he was trying to help settle a dispute between his Hebrew brethren, one of them accused him of seeking to do the same to him as he did to that taskmaster. Knowing that what he did would soon reach the ear of Pharaoh, he did not wait for the outcome.
The murder was obviously wrong. No matter how justifiable the reason for doing it, it was a sin. For his mistaken zeal, Moses anticipated that Pharaoh would want him more dead than alive. So, in verse 15, we are told that he fled and settled in Median and was now sitting by a well. He must have had the time to muse over all that had happened and wished he had a chance to redo what he did wrong. The best anyone who has made a mistake can do is to learn from the mistake that he had made.
Here, by the well of Midian, Moses was given a test to see if he had learned from his mistake. He had the opportunity to help the daughters of a Midian priest from some bullies by the well. The seven daughters of Reuel, a Midian priest, brought their father’s flock to the well to water them. Then came some rough shepherds who intimidate them and made it hard for them to fulfil their duties. Right there Moses was confronted with another situation of gross injustice. It was not slaves being oppressed, but girls being bullied. Instinctively, he helped them out and even went to the extent of helping them to water their father’s flock. Ordinarily, Reuel’s daughters would have to bear with the injustice and could only do the watering of the flock after the bullies had done theirs. But with the help of Moses, they were able to finish their task early. This was noticed by Reuel and inquired how they could do their task so fast that day. They narrated about how they were helped by Moses, who was eventually given the hand of Zipporah, one of his daughters, in marriage.
In just one act, Moses forfeited all the luxuries of the palace accumulated over 40 years. And by the time he paid for his mistaken zeal, he had to spend another 40 years in Midian. This period in Midian was his re-training ground for the mission. In all these, we see the hand of God. From this, we see that even in failures and misjudgment, God has enough grace to transform a sinner. He can turn anyone into an effective servant. For forty years Moses thought he was something. For the next forty in the desert of Midian, he realized that he was nothing. Then for another forty, he was with God in the wilderness and realized that having God was everything. Just in case we are wondering how come God is taking so long to shape us for effective work? Remember that Moses had to spend two periods of forty years, one in the palace of Pharaoh another 40 in the desert of Midian before the 40 years of work in the wilderness.
One lesson Moses’ time in the desert of Midian teaches us is that we need time to be alone with God. In the quiet desert and a place where needless activities were drastically reduced, it would be a more conducive environment for Moses to encounter God. If we want to experience more connecting time with God, like Moses, we need to reduce the needless activities of life and create time for God. It is often in the stillness of created silence that we hear Him more clearly. What are we doing to reduce the noises in our life so that we can hear from God? Every one of us needs to make time for solitude and silence to hear the still small voice of God. Do take time to do it. It’s needful to hear His voice.
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