Moses Flees to Midian
Exodus 2:11 - 25

And it came to pass when Moses was grown, that he went out and saw all the work that his brother, the Hebrews had to do.  And he saw an Egyptian hitting one of the Hebrews, so Moses looked one way, and then the other way, and when he saw that there was no one watching, he killed the Egyptian, and hid him in the sand.

But the Hebrew must have told someone what happened, because  when he went out the next day, two Hebrew men were fighting, and Moses said to one, "why are you hitting your fellow Hebrew?"  And the man said to him, "Who made you a prince and a judge over us? Do you intend to kill me as you killed the Egyptian?"  And Moses was afraid, and said "For certain it is known that I killed an Egyptian."

And when Pharaoh heard about it he sought to kill Moses, but Moses fled from Pharaoh and lived in the land of Midian: and he sat down by a 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.  And the shepherds came and drove them away: but Moses stood up and helped them, and watered their flock.   Even though Moses did not know them, he helped them,  what a kind person he was.

And when they came to Reuel their father, he said "Why are you coming back so soon today?" and so they told him "An Egyptian saved us from the shepherds, and also drew enough water for us, and watered the flock."  The reason why they thought Moses was Egyptian is because he was raised in the palace by the daughter of Pharaoh, and so he would have been wearing Egyptian clothes.

And so Reuel, the father, said to his daughters "And where is he? why is it that you left the man? call him, that he may eat with us."

And so Moses was content to live with the man: and Reuel gave to Moses for his wife Zipporah, his daughter.  And she bare Moses a son, and Moses named him Gershom, because, Moses said, I have been a stranger in a strange land.

And after the passing of time, the Pharaoh died: and the children of Israel cried because they were in bondage, (that means they were slaves).  And God heard their cries and God remembered the covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. 

Memory Verse:  Exodus 2:24 "And God ...remembered his covenant..."

Questions:
1.  Why did Moses kill the Egyptian?
2.  Why did Moses flee to Midian?
3.  What did Moses do for the daughters of Reuel?
4.  What did Reuel do when he heard about what Moses had done?
5.  What did God do when he heard the cries of the Israelites?

Answers:
1.  Because he was hitting one of the Hebrews
2.  Because Pharaoh wanted to kill him.
3.  He helped them when the shepherds tried to drive them away, and then Moses watered their flock.
4.  He sent his daughters to call Moses...and after a while he gave Moses his daughter Zipporah to be Moses wife.
5.  He remembered his covenant with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

Vicki C. Gross/Sept'02