| “And he [Moses] spied an Egyptian smiting an Hebrew, one of his brethren. And he looked this way and that way, and when he saw that there was no man, he slew the Egyptian, and hid him in the sand” (Exodus 2:11-12). |
| When Moses was forty years old, and as we have seen, “mighty in words and deeds,” he knew that the Lord was going to use him to deliver his brethren, the Israelites, from the position of slaves in Egypt. As a strong young man, he was angry when he saw an Egyptian mistreating one of the Israelites. He recognized them as his brethren, and as we see in our verses today, he stepped in to protect the one who was being hurt by the Egyptian. When he did not see anyone else who was looking, he killed the Egyptian and buried him in the sand. |
| Was this the right thing to do? The Egyptians had no right to make slaves of the Israelites, and to abuse them, for God had used an Israelite, Joseph, to save Egypt from famine some years before. Then the Israelites had moved down to Egypt at Pharaoh’s invitation and had not done anything to harm the Egyptians. But when they became too numerous, the Egyptians decided to make slaves of them. Moses had a right motive in trying to help his people, but in all these things, we must wait God’s time. Moses was trying to deliver the people in his own strength, and it did not work. If you read the chapter (Exodus 2), you will see that even his own people resented Moses’ interference, and asked, “Who made thee a prince and a judge over us?” (Exodus 2:14). More than this, Pharaoh found out about Moses’ killing the Egyptian, and wanted to kill Moses. Moses had to spend forty years way out in the lonely desert before he was ready to undertake the job of delivering his people. |
| Sometimes in our lives we really want to do something for the Lord, and perhaps it is a good thing to do. But the Lord often needs to train us first, just as He trained Moses. If we attempt to act too soon, God may not bless it, for we may be acting in our own strength. The Lord wants us, as He wanted Moses, to go in His strength. God’s training may take some time, but it is worth it, for then we act in the right way, and at the right time. |
