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August 2024
Man Builders, Part 3
Exodus 2:16-24
THE HIDDEN VALUE OF “DEAD” TIME
Moses’s Freefall
The Bible’s description of the crisis that drives Moses’s flight to the desert captures is a masterpiece in brevity. It shows that instant when reality catches up with him and sends him into the tailspin that will dominate his life for the next forty years (for the timeline, see Stephen’s speech in Acts 7:23 and 30). His crisis explodes the day after he kills an Egyptian for beating an Israelite. Thinking that he will find welcome with his people, he tries to intervene in a dispute between two of the Hebrews. When one of the men expresses his distrust of Moses and what he stands for, Moses panics.
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
--Exodus 2:14-15
Four brief statements trace Moses’s plummet from would-be hero to renegade:
- He realizes that his act has become public knowledge.
- The Pharaoh seeks to execute him.
- He flees to Midian.
- During the first recorded break in the action, he sits by a well, doubtless wondering what he will do next.
Giving Up on Plans
We pick up where we Moses at the end of the last segment, sitting by a well in Midian (Exodus 2:18). At this moment, the seven daughters of the priest of Midian happen to come to the 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.”
--Exodus 2:16-19
The section switches from Moses point of view to the collective viewpoint of seven sisters, daughters of the priest of Midian, who come to water their sheep. Here we see Moses being Moses. When the other shepherds come in to bully the ladies, he reacts, not so much out of impulse as out of principle. He drives out the other shepherds and fills the troughs for the sisters. Apparently, however, the bullying of the women is a daily affair, because when the shepherdesses come home, their father asks them why they return so early. They explain what has happened. “An Egyptian delivered us out of the hand of the shepherds and even drew water for us and watered the flock.”
“An Egyptian.” Obviously, Moses is a Hebrew, but his Egyptian garb betrays his cultural heritage.
A Less-than-stellar Contentment
A happenstance meeting at a well, followed by a reflexive reaction to bullying, work to ricochet Moses’s life in a completely new direction.
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.”
--Exodus 2:20-22
With this transition, Moses enters the second phase of his life. It is period fraught with difficult changes—
From royalty to survival.
From singleness to marriage.
From privilege to subsistence.
While the Bible says that he is content, it is shallow happiness. When a son is born, Moses names him Gershom, meaning “Foreigner.” His son’s name is reflected in his lament, “I have been a sojourner in a foreign land.” Remember, Moses writes the book of Exodus. When he relates this part of the narrative, he bares his soul. He gives us an insight into his failure to fulfill God’s plan. Granted, it is perceived, but he cannot see that yet. His emptiness is genuine.
Behind-the-scenes Reality
However, one scene remains in Moses’s desert experience. That is the then-hidden reality about his forty-year sojourn in the desert, a truth that would remain hidden until much later in his life. The truth is that God is preparing his people to want to be rescued from slavery. The final paragraph in the section:
During those many days the king of Egypt died, and the people of Israel groaned because of their slavery and cried out for help. Their cry for rescue from slavery came up to God. And God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. God saw the people of Israel—and God knew.
Exodus 2:23-25
Again, this paragraph displays two major revelations behind two different points of view. The first describes the feelings of the people themselves. “…and the people of Israel groaned because of their slavery and cried out for help.” The second reveals the bigger picture, that God is listening and preparing to act. His people matter to him. Let’s pare the descriptions down to the most basic elements. They are intimate and relational, and they pound like a drumbeat:
Their cry…came up to God.
And God heard their groaning…
And God remembered his covenant…
And God saw the people…
And God knew.
Deep Roots in the Desert
Moses believes that his time in the desert defines the remainder of his life. Instead, he is preparing three streams that, when combined, will create a torrent. The first, of course, is Moses himself. His time in the wasteland gives him survival skills that he will need when he leads the people from Egypt to Mount Sinai. The second stream emerges from the statement, “During those many days the king of Egypt died, and the people of Israel groaned because of their slavery and cried out for help.” In situations like this one, the rhetorical question arises. “How badly do you want it?” God is making the vision for freedom greater than anything else for the Israelites. Human nature speaks here. Whatever the “it” in the wanting happens to be, if the desire does not consume us, more than likely, we will give up before we achieve it. When the nation groans and cries out for help, they are ready to listen to news about rescue.
The third stream is one that God plants for himself, and that is the fulness of zeal. The repeated statements about God’s reactions to his people—hearing, remembering, seeing—signify his purpose to defy the Egyptian gods (with the clearly depicted demonic forces behind them) and reign supreme. We see this kind of divine zeal repeatedly in Scripture. I do not think we are out of bounds to suggest the term psyched to describe it. The narrative turns the corner with the final comment, “And God knew.” Of the four statements on God’s determination, this one alone lacks an object. What does God know? He knows that his work is ready. He knows himself, he knows his people, and he knows his servant. He is ready to act, and no natural or supernatural force will be able to stop him.
Doug Knox