Chapter 2-3
Moses had just escaped capital punishment for killing an Egyptian. He ran off to Midian and ended up helping seven sisters whom the sheep herders had pushed aside so they could water their sheep without waiting for their turn.
They returned to their father whose name was Reuel, Jethro, Jether and even Hobab. The intent is not to be confusing but to let us know that this man went by each of those names in different places in the Torah. Reuel, wondered how it happened they had returned home so quickly. It normally took much more time to do their job. It seems that Jethro and his daughters had gotten used to their late return because the shepherds bullied them. But Moses had not. They told their father (2:19) “An Egyptian rescued us from the shepherds; he even drew water for us and watered the flock”.
Jethro wanted to know more, he queried as to where this man was and why they left him alone. He instructed them to ask him in to break bread or in other words, to eat with them. After all, Jethro is not stupid. He wanted his daughters to get married. And especially he wanted them to marry someone who had demonstrated such noble characteristics.
What a delight for Moses to be invited in to a home with seven eligible daughters. And just as we would have thought that man with all those names gave Moses his daughter Zipporah as wife. In Hebrew the name Zipporah is pronounced Tzeeporah. We don’t know if she was beautiful or fetching or fantastic or not. All we know is she was given to Moses to marry, and she bore him a son whose name, given by his father, was Gershom. Gershom means stranger, sojourner or in exile. Moses own words were (2:22) “I have been a stranger in a strange land”.
A long time after that, and Scripture does not say how long after that, the king of Egypt died. And the Israelites were groaning under the bondage of slavery and they cried out for help from the bondage. And God heard their cry. God remembered his covenant with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. That is what Scripture says, but we know God never forgets but he does work according to His own timetable.
The problem is that from our perspective God never seems to step in early enough. Actually, when Scripture says God remembered it does not mean God forgot. God’s remembering means God has decided to act. It is human nature to wonder why God does not step in and straighten things out. Why has God not stepped in and stopped senseless killings signally or in mass.
And then we remember. Human beings have a free will. If God always intervened to stop evil we would not have free will – we would be robots. And we know ultimate justice is waiting for us. It will be the rule of heaven and it will last forever and ever.
But at this time in Israel’s history, God looked at the Israelites, and God took notice of them.
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