Exodus 2:11-22
Moses’ Violent
and Confused Adulthood
Moses is a grown-up adult by now. His
life at this stage is being narrated at two different locales; Egypt and
Midian.
2: 11-15 is the Egyptian scene. Moses’
young, adventurous, and inquisitive mind engages in the exploration of the
outside world. Bible tells us that “One day, after Moses had grown up, he went out to his
people and saw their forced labor.”[1] He was trying to grasp the dynamics of forced
labor and had seen an Egyptian beating a Hebrew man. It is an instance of Moses
coming in intimate knowledge of the abusive strategies of oppressing and
killing the slaves. The sight was deep that it exposed the worst part of it. It
was the systemic oppression imposed on people by the imperial power through mandatory
hard labor. Hebrews are depicted by the biblical narrator as Moses’ brothers/kinsmen.
It shows Moses’ clear solidarity with the Hebrew slaves though he was part of
the life in the royal palace. He was not ignorant about his ancestry as that
knowledge would have driven him straight to see the plight of his people. Moses
easily identifies the aggressor in this unjust relationship and interferes to strike
the Egyptian aggressor. But his identity was not acceptable for both Egyptian
taskmasters and the Hebrews alike. Since Moses was a Hebrew by origin he would
have racially discriminated among the Egyptians. On the other hand, as he was
brought up in the palace and not part of the salve community, his acceptance into
the community turns out to be a problem for the Hebrews. It was in fact this
identity crisis of this young adult that makes him the subject of deadly,
violent crime of killing the Egyptian taskmaster. The fight between the Hebrew
slaves is also explained as because of the unresolved violence in their life. They
cannot strike back at the master who oppresses them badly, but they attempt to
vent anger by directing that resentment against their brothers. When Moses
interferes to pacify them, the fellow Hebrew shouts at him, “Who made you a ruler and judge over us? Do you mean to kill me as you
killed the Egyptian?”[2]
This brings to Moses the realization that he is cut off both from his belongingness
to the Egyptian royal family as well as his solidarity with the Hebrew slaves. The
fact is that solidarity is very essential for any liberation to happen. He is
alone and is in fear of his life. Moses is a criminal in the territory of Egypt
and his crime is against the royal throne. His fear is so real that the Pharaoh
issues a death sentence against Moses, he has no options but to flee from the
reach of the imperial power of Pharaoh. But this conflict was inevitable as the
Egyptian ways and the ways of the Hebrews are also highly conflicting too.
At last, Moses finds a home
This fleeing from Pharaoh lands him in Midian, the land where God prepared
him to take up the role of leading God’s deliverance for the people. Midianites
are usually referred to as a nomadic group and hence an exact identification of
the geography is not a possibility. Another problem is in wait for Moses in
Midian. The seven daughters of the priest of Midian had issues with the rogue
shepherds of the territory. Moses interferes and “snatches them out” from the
injustices of the shepherds. The word used to rescue has a resemblance to the
rescuing acts of God to “snatch” God’s people from the clutches of Pharaoh. The
excited daughters return to their father in joy and report the incident. An
interesting thing to note here is that the daughters of the Midianite priest
also identify him as an Egyptian (v.19). His features were not that suits a
Hebrew man. He needed to transform himself by identifying with the pain and
struggles of ordinary folks out in the fields to take up the mantle of a leader
for the deliverance of his kinspeople. Reuel directs his daughters to invite Moses
for a meal. The meal turns to be an occasion of settlement between Moses and
Reuel. Zipporah was given to him as his wife. Moses for the first time in his
life finds a home in Midian. Egypt has never been a home for him as it had
never been a home for any of the Hebrew slaves. This is reflected by the naming
of his first child as Gershom meaning “a stranger there.” But Midian invites
him into the inner core of its fellowship and life. He is one in the family of
the Reuel the Midianite priest. Moses in Egypt was a nonperson, a foreigner
without status; here in Midian, where he belongs, and always has belonged, he
is at home.[3]
He is among a people who worship their God in freedom. This sense of freedom in
worship will definitely inspire Moses to initiate a deliverance for his people
to worship their God in absolute freedom.
[1] The Holy Bible: New
Revised Standard Version. (1989). (Ex 2:11). Nashville: Thomas
Nelson Publishers.
[2] The Holy Bible: New
Revised Standard Version. (1989). (Ex 2:14). Nashville: Thomas
Nelson Publishers.
[1] The Holy Bible: New
Revised Standard Version. (1989). (Ex 2:11). Nashville: Thomas
Nelson Publishers.
[2] The Holy Bible: New
Revised Standard Version. (1989). (Ex 2:14). Nashville: Thomas
Nelson Publishers.
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