Read with Me
Exodus 2:16-22 (HCSB)
Now the priest of Midian had seven daughters. They came to draw water and filled the troughs to water their father’s flock. Then some shepherds arrived and drove them away, but Moses came to their rescue and watered their flock. When they returned to their father Reuel he asked, “Why have you come back so quickly today?”
They answered, “An Egyptian rescued us from the shepherds. He even drew water for us and watered the flock.”
“So where is he?” he asked his daughters. “Why then did you leave the man behind? Invite him to eat dinner.”
Moses agreed to stay with the man, and he gave his daughter Zipporah to Moses in marriage. She gave birth to a son whom he named Gershom, for he said, “I have been a foreigner in a foreign land.”
Listen with Me
Moses had camped near a well in Midian to get his bearings. Although he had traveled a bit as part of the Egyptian royal family, most of that travel had been restricted to places in Egypt, especially along the Nile River, although he had made some trips to the copper mines in the Sinai. But now, officially beyond the boundaries of Egypt, he had to figure out where to go and what to do to earn his bread.
That was where God first demonstrated his ability to provide for Moses’ needs. As he sat in his tent near the well, he saw a group of male shepherds harassing some shepherdesses who had come to water their flocks. Moses had begun to feel his calling to be a deliverer back in Egypt, and those instincts suddenly kicked back in. He drove away the male shepherds, and then he watered the flocks of the shepherdesses. Then he went back to his tent, while the girls drove the flocks home.
The harassment at the well was a regular occurrence, forcing the girls to wait until all the other flocks had been watered before they could water theirs. So, when the girls returned quickly from the well, their father, Reuel, wanted to know why.
The girls identified Moses simply as “an Egyptian”, because he was dressed in Egyptian clothes, and even wore the dark eye makeup favored by Egyptians to protect their eyes from the glare of the sun. They had not engaged the man in conversation to learn his story. He had actually seemed a little intimidating with his sudden and effective attack on their tormentors.
Reuel was horrified that the girls had simply left this kind man at the well. That was a serious breach of the customs of hospitality. So, he sent a couple of them back to fetch him home for a meal, at least. Over the food, Moses shared some of his story. And when Reuel offered to allow him to stay in the family campsite, he quickly agreed and moved his tent.
It wasn’t long before Zipporah caught Moses’ eye, and Reuel had no problem blessing the union. When Zipporah gave birth to a son, Moses named him Gershom, which sounded like the Hebrew word for “a sojourner there”. This reflected Moses feelings that, although he had found safe haven in this foreign land, he understood that his true calling was still waiting for him back in Egypt.
Pray with Me
Father, Your word indicates in several places that we each have a calling, a role to play in Your plan to save and transform the world. And we will never find satisfaction in our lives until we live into that calling, that purpose. Moses became a shepherd for the next forty years, but that work didn’t satisfy his need to be a deliverer. But the waiting time was vital, allowing him to be shaped, and matured, and even trained by that humble work. Help me, Lord, to never fight the things that You bring into my life to shape me, but to simply wait for Your call before I act. Amen.