Exodus Chapter 2
Moses’ Birth and Early Career
A. Moses’ Birth and Childhood
(Exodus 2:1–2) says, “And a man of the house of Levi went and took as wife a daughter of Levi. So the woman conceived and bore a son. And when she saw that he was a beautiful child, she hid him three months.”
Moses was born during one of the darkest times in Israel’s history. Though he entered the world in bondage, he was born into a believing family from the tribe of Levi. This tribe would later be set apart for the priesthood, showing that even before the Law was given, God’s providence was already at work in shaping the nation’s spiritual leadership. The newborn Moses came into a hostile world, born under a Pharaoh’s decree that all Hebrew male infants were to be cast into the Nile. Yet despite this royal death sentence, God’s sovereign plan was already unfolding through faithful parents.
His parents, later identified in Exodus 6:20 as Amram and Jochebed, acted in faith and defiance of Pharaoh’s command. According to Hebrews 11:23, “By faith Moses, when he was born, was hidden three months by his parents, because they saw he was a beautiful child; and they were not afraid of the king’s command.” Their decision to hide him was not merely maternal instinct but an act of faith in the God who preserves life. This shows that godly faith is not passive—it moves people to act with courage and conviction, even in the face of danger.
The description that Moses was a “beautiful child” signifies more than mere physical appearance. It reflects divine favor and purpose, indicating that God had chosen this child for a special destiny. Jewish tradition later embellished the story, claiming supernatural events accompanied his birth, but Scripture simply and powerfully shows that the beauty of Moses’ life lay in God’s plan for him. It is also notable that Moses was not the firstborn; his older siblings, Aaron and Miriam, both played vital roles in Israel’s redemption story.
When Jochebed could no longer conceal him, she made a fateful decision grounded in faith. Exodus 2:3–6 records, “But when she could no longer hide him, she took an ark of bulrushes for him, daubed it with asphalt and pitch, put the child in it, and laid it in the reeds by the river’s bank. And his sister stood afar off, to know what would be done to him. Then the daughter of Pharaoh came down to bathe at the river. And her maidens walked along the riverside; and when she saw the ark among the reeds, she sent her maid to get it. And when she had opened it, she saw the child, and behold, the baby wept. So she had compassion on him, and said, ‘This is one of the Hebrews’ children.’”
Jochebed’s use of an “ark of bulrushes” recalls the same Hebrew word used for Noah’s ark. Both arks were vessels of salvation, sealed with pitch, carrying life through the waters of death. In obedience mixed with faith, Moses’ mother placed her son into the Nile—the very river intended to destroy Hebrew boys. Her act symbolized surrendering him into God’s care, trusting divine providence more than her own ability to protect him.
At this moment, God’s sovereignty orchestrated every detail. The infant’s cries stirred compassion in Pharaoh’s daughter, who should have despised him as an enemy of Egypt. Yet the Lord turned her heart toward mercy. What the enemy meant for evil, God used for good. Pharaoh’s household, which decreed death to Hebrew sons, now became the very means of Moses’ preservation and education. This pattern mirrors God’s redemptive nature throughout Scripture—He brings deliverance out of destruction and raises up His chosen servants from unlikely places.
In this brief account, we see faith overcoming fear, divine providence working through human weakness, and the beginning of God’s plan to redeem His people through the one who would later stand before Pharaoh and proclaim, “Thus says the Lord God of Israel: ‘Let My people go.’”
A. Pharaoh’s Daughter Finds Moses
(Exodus 2:3–6) says, “But when she could no longer hide him, she took an ark of bulrushes for him, daubed it with asphalt and pitch, put the child in it, and laid it in the reeds by the river’s bank. And his sister stood afar off, to know what would be done to him. Then the daughter of Pharaoh came down to bathe at the river. And her maidens walked along the riverside; and when she saw the ark among the reeds, she sent her maid to get it. And when she had opened it, she saw the child, and behold, the baby wept. So she had compassion on him, and said, ‘This is one of the Hebrews’ children.’”
Moses’ parents, Amram and Jochebed, had done all they could to protect their son in secret. But when concealment was no longer possible, Jochebed’s faith compelled her to take a step that defied reason yet fulfilled divine instruction. She placed her infant son into the same river that had swallowed countless Hebrew children under Pharaoh’s edict of death. In doing so, she obeyed Pharaoh’s command literally—placing her son into the river—but with a faith that transcended human understanding.
The text says she “took an ark of bulrushes,” carefully sealing it with asphalt and pitch. The Hebrew term for “ark” (tebah) appears only here and in Genesis 6–7 concerning Noah’s Ark. Both were divinely ordained vessels of salvation, carrying life safely through waters of judgment. Noah’s ark preserved the human race; Moses’ ark preserved the deliverer through whom God would redeem His covenant people. Both accounts illustrate that God provides a means of salvation through faith and obedience to His Word.
Hebrews 11:23 tells us, “By faith Moses, when he was born, was hidden three months by his parents, because they saw he was a beautiful child; and they were not afraid of the king’s command.” Their action was not one of desperation, but of trust. Their faith was informed, not blind. Romans 10:17 says, “So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” This implies that the faith of Moses’ parents was rooted in divine revelation. Though Scripture does not record the exact words God gave them, it is reasonable to infer that they acted upon divine guidance—believing specific instructions had been given regarding the preservation of their son.
This decision embodies the principle expressed in 1 Corinthians 1:19, “For it is written: ‘I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent.’” To any rational observer, placing a child in a river known for crocodiles and current would have seemed insane. Yet faith obeys even when logic cannot comprehend. What seemed like an act of desperation was in truth an act of obedience to God’s greater wisdom.
When Jochebed released the small ark into the Nile, she released her fears and her control, entrusting her son’s destiny to God. Her act symbolizes the moment every believer must face—the surrender of what is most precious into God’s hands. Her faith is a model for Christian trust, which does not demand to see the outcome before obeying the command.
The intervention of Pharaoh’s daughter was not coincidental but providential. Jeremiah 10:23 declares, “O Lord, I know the way of man is not in himself; it is not in man who walks to direct his own steps.” Every event in this story—from the timing of Pharaoh’s daughter’s bath to the baby’s cry—was directed by God. Romans 8:28 confirms this divine orchestration: “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.”
Josephus identifies Pharaoh’s daughter as Thermutis, who, being barren, had no heir. Her maternal longing softened her heart toward the Hebrew child. By adopting Moses, she unknowingly placed him in line for the Egyptian throne. God thus arranged that the future deliverer of Israel would be raised under Pharaoh’s roof, educated in royal wisdom, and trained in the very court from which he would one day demand Israel’s release.
When the text says, “The baby wept. So she had compassion on him,” we see divine timing at work in the smallest detail. The cry of an infant melted the heart of a princess raised to despise Hebrews. God used a baby’s tears to break through royal pride. His providence extended to the current of the Nile, the heart of Pharaoh’s daughter, and the watchful presence of Miriam standing nearby.
The phrase “laid it in the reeds by the river’s bank” also teaches an important spiritual lesson. Moses’ mother placed the ark in the safest possible location—where Pharaoh’s daughter would come to bathe. This act combined wisdom and faith. God often works through lawful and ordinary means, not always through overt miracles. Just as Christ Himself withdrew from danger when the time for His sacrifice had not yet come (Luke 4:30; John 8:59), Moses’ parents used careful strategy in obedience to God’s plan. Faith is not reckless—it acts wisely under divine direction.
The result of this faithful obedience was the preservation of Moses’ life and the unfolding of God’s plan for national deliverance. The river that symbolized death became the cradle of salvation. In this story, we see the same redemptive pattern that runs throughout Scripture: God bringing life from death, victory from weakness, and salvation through surrender.
A. The Ark of Moses and the Faith of His Parents
The word “ark” used in Exodus 2:3, where Jochebed placed Moses into the Nile, is highly significant. This is the only place in Exodus where this particular Hebrew term appears, and it is the same word used for Noah’s ark in Genesis 6–7. In both cases, the ark was a vessel of preservation through waters of judgment. However, in this instance, the “ark” was more like a basket—made of bulrushes and sealed with pitch—but symbolically it represented divine salvation. Both Noah’s ark and Moses’ basket were instruments of deliverance, carrying forward God’s covenant line and protecting His chosen servant for the continuation of His redemptive plan.
The question arises: How did Moses’ parents know what to do? The answer lies in Hebrews 11:23, which says, “By faith Moses, when he was born, was hidden three months by his parents, because they saw he was a beautiful child; and they were not afraid of the king’s command.” Their action was not merely motivated by instinct or emotion but by faith—faith that came through hearing and trusting in God’s revealed will. Romans 10:17 declares, “So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”
From these passages, we can infer that Moses’ parents did not act blindly but in obedience to divine instruction. Though the specific directions are not recorded in Scripture, it is reasonable to conclude that God communicated His plan to them in some way. Their faith was not an irrational hope but a deliberate response to God’s guidance. The fact that they placed their son into the very river intended for his destruction shows both courage and obedience to divine direction.
1 Corinthians 1:19 says, “For it is written: ‘I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent.’” From a worldly standpoint, putting a baby into the Nile was utter foolishness. Yet this “foolishness of God” was wiser than human reason. The same river that swallowed countless Hebrew infants became the means of Moses’ preservation. Faith does not operate by sight or logic but by trusting that God’s ways, though higher than man’s, always lead to fulfillment of His purpose.
This paradox—life preserved in the waters of death—echoes throughout Scripture. Just as Noah was saved through the flood, and later Israel through the Red Sea, so here the infant deliverer is saved through the very waters meant to destroy him. Each instance reflects God’s sovereign pattern: salvation through judgment, life through death, deliverance through apparent defeat.
The intervention of Pharaoh’s daughter was also not by chance. Divine providence was at work, as affirmed by Hebrews 2:10, “For it was fitting for Him, for whom are all things and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings.” Likewise, Jeremiah 10:23 declares, “O Lord, I know the way of man is not in himself; it is not in man who walks to direct his own steps.” And Romans 8:28 adds, “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.”
Josephus records that Pharaoh’s daughter was likely Thermutis, who had no children of her own. By adopting Moses, she unknowingly positioned him as heir to the throne of Egypt. This was no coincidence; it was the unfolding of God’s sovereign plan. Though Moses would later reject that throne (as seen in Hebrews 11:24–26), God used this circumstance to equip him with royal education and leadership experience for his future role as Israel’s deliverer.
In doing all this, God’s providence worked through lawful and natural means rather than through overt miracles. Moses’ parents built a physical basket, waterproofed it, and placed it strategically among the reeds. This shows that faith is not opposed to reason—it often works through it. Their obedience combined practical wisdom with spiritual trust.
Even Christ Himself, though divine, used lawful means to avoid danger when the time for His suffering had not yet come. Luke 4:30 records, “Then passing through the midst of them, He went His way.” Likewise, John 8:59 says, “Then they took up stones to throw at Him; but Jesus hid Himself and went out of the temple, going through the midst of them, and so passed by.” Although the Son of God had the power to command legions of angels, He often withdrew, using normal means to preserve His life until the appointed hour.
We also see this principle in Acts 27:31, where Paul warns the soldiers during the shipwreck, “Unless these men stay in the ship, you cannot be saved.” Even in miraculous deliverance, God expected obedience to practical instruction. Similarly, in Mark 5:43, after healing Jairus’ daughter, Jesus “commanded them strictly that no one should know it, and said that something should be given her to eat.” The miraculous does not negate the ordinary; divine power often works through common means.
Thus, the faith of Moses’ parents teaches a powerful lesson: true faith does not ignore reason but transcends it. It obeys God’s word even when His instructions defy human logic. Jochebed and Amram’s obedience to God’s unseen guidance set the stage for the deliverance of an entire nation. Their courage and trust not only saved Moses but also initiated the first visible step in God’s plan to redeem Israel from Egypt.
(Exodus 2:7–10) says, “Then his sister said to Pharaoh’s daughter, ‘Shall I go and call a nurse for you from the Hebrew women, that she may nurse the child for you?’ And Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, ‘Go.’ So the maiden went and called the child’s mother. Then Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, ‘Take this child away and nurse him for me, and I will give you your wages.’ So the woman took the child and nursed him. And the child grew, and she brought him to Pharaoh’s daughter, and he became her son. So she called his name Moses, saying, ‘Because I drew him out of the water.’”
In God’s perfect providence, the very mother who released her son to the waters now received him back into her arms—paid by the royal court to nurse and raise him. This was no coincidence but a divine arrangement. The faith of Jochebed was rewarded in full. She had trusted God by hiding her son and by setting him afloat upon the Nile, and now the Lord honored that faith by giving her the opportunity to raise him during his formative years.
It is reasonable to assume that during these early years, Jochebed instilled in Moses the foundational truths about the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. As Exodus 3:15 later records, “Moreover God said to Moses, ‘Thus you shall say to the children of Israel: “The Lord God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you.”’” It was likely in those early years under his mother’s care that he learned of his Hebrew heritage and covenant identity, which would later shape his calling. Exodus 2:11 later affirms that he recognized the Hebrews as his brethren, a conviction that began in his mother’s household.
When Moses grew older, he was adopted by Pharaoh’s daughter and entered into the royal family. This elevated him to the highest level of Egyptian society. According to the Jewish historian Josephus, Moses was even heir to the throne and led Egyptian armies in military campaigns against Ethiopia. Acts 7:22 confirms his exceptional education and capability: “And Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and was mighty in words and deeds.” Egypt at that time was the pinnacle of ancient civilization, known for its architecture, mathematics, astronomy, medicine, and literature. Thus, Moses would have received the best education available, trained in philosophy, writing, languages, and statecraft.
Despite this grandeur, God’s hand was upon him to prepare him not for the throne of Egypt, but for leadership over His covenant people. As a royal prince, Moses likely traveled in luxury, surrounded by servants and soldiers proclaiming his authority. Yet amid that privilege, the influence of his Hebrew upbringing remained strong. His mother’s teaching about the one true God would not fade amid the idolatry of Egypt.
It is instructive to see how God sovereignly used both a believing Hebrew home and a pagan royal palace to prepare His servant. The faith of Jochebed gave Moses spiritual grounding, while the palace of Pharaoh equipped him with the leadership skills, discipline, and education necessary to govern millions. God often works through contrasting influences to mold His chosen instruments for His divine purposes.
Ancient writers such as Origen attempted to read deep allegories into this passage, turning every character into a symbol: Pharaoh as the devil, the midwives as the Old and New Testaments, and Pharaoh’s daughter as the Church. However, such allegorical speculation strays from the literal and historical meaning of the text. As the commentator Adam Clarke warned, such interpretive liberty allows every passage to say “anything, everything, or nothing,” according to the interpreter’s fancy. Scripture must be handled with reverence and discernment, seeking the plain sense intended by God’s Spirit.
B. Moses’ Escape from Egypt
(Exodus 2:11) says, “Now it came to pass in those days, when Moses was grown, that he went out to his brethren and looked at their burdens. And he saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his brethren.”
When Moses had grown to maturity—Acts 7:23 notes that he was about forty years old—he had become a man of prominence, learning, and influence in Egypt. Yet the calling of God began to stir within him. Though outwardly he was an Egyptian prince, inwardly he was a Hebrew who knew the true God. He went out to observe the hardships of his people, no longer content to live in detached luxury.
The phrase “looked at their burdens” implies more than casual observation. It suggests that Moses looked with deep compassion and emotional involvement. As Genesis 21:16 uses the same expression for Hagar’s grief in watching her son suffer, this phrase conveys a heart moved with empathy and moral outrage. Moses shared God’s heart for the oppressed, feeling their pain as his own.
Hebrews 11:24–26 reveals what was happening in Moses’ heart: “By faith Moses, when he became of age, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin, esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt; for he looked to the reward.” His faith led him to make a deliberate choice—to turn away from the fleeting luxuries of Pharaoh’s court and identify himself with the enslaved people of God. This act of faith was costly, for it meant exchanging privilege for persecution and wealth for hardship.
Moses’ compassion was not theoretical; it drove him to act. Seeing an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, he intervened. His reaction stemmed from a righteous sense of justice and identity—he could not remain neutral while his brethren suffered. This defining moment revealed that Moses understood who he truly was. The world may have viewed him as an Egyptian prince, but faith had revealed to him that he was a Hebrew and a servant of the Most High God.
(Exodus 2:12) says, “So he looked this way and that way, and when he saw no one, he killed the Egyptian and hid him in the sand.”
This verse reveals both the zeal and the immaturity of Moses’ early attempt to deliver Israel. His intentions, though rooted in justice, were carried out in the flesh rather than by the Spirit of God. When Moses “looked this way and that way,” it demonstrated that he knew he was about to do something wrong. He was motivated by compassion for his people and a sense of divine calling, but he acted before God’s timing. His effort to take vengeance into his own hands showed a mixture of righteous indignation and human impulsiveness.
This incident reminds us that human passion, even when aimed at a just cause, cannot accomplish the purposes of God apart from His direction. Moses sought to begin Israel’s deliverance through violence, yet God would later accomplish it through signs, wonders, and judgment executed by His own hand. His looking “this way and that way” symbolizes man’s attempt to act under his own strength rather than looking upward for divine guidance.
Acts 7:23–25 sheds light on Moses’ thoughts at this time: “Now when he was forty years old, it came into his heart to visit his brethren, the children of Israel. And seeing one of them suffer wrong, he defended and avenged him who was oppressed, and struck down the Egyptian. For he supposed that his brethren would have understood that God would deliver them by his hand, but they did not understand.” Moses’ heart was in the right place—he wanted to free his people—but his method was wrong. His presumption that Israel would recognize him as their deliverer was premature. Like many of God’s servants, he needed to learn that deliverance is not achieved by human strength or political position, but by obedience to God’s will and timing.
In many ways, Moses’ story parallels that of Christ. Just as Jesus could not deliver humanity while remaining in the glory of heaven, Moses could not deliver Israel from the comfort of Pharaoh’s palace. Both had to leave their exalted positions and identify with the suffering people they came to save. Moses’ descent from the palace to the wilderness was a foreshadowing of the Messiah’s humility in coming from heaven to earth.
(Exodus 2:13–14) continues, “And when he went out the second day, behold, two Hebrew men were fighting, and he said to the one who did the wrong, ‘Why are you striking your companion?’ Then he said, ‘Who made you a prince and a judge over us? Do you intend to kill me as you killed the Egyptian?’ So Moses feared and said, ‘Surely this thing is known!’”
Here we see Moses’ rejection by his own people—the very ones he sought to deliver. He had assumed that his education, royal background, and sympathy would earn him credibility, yet they dismissed him entirely. By trying to intervene between two Hebrews, Moses revealed both his sense of justice and his leadership instinct. However, he was not yet the man God intended him to be. His timing was off, his authority was self-assumed, and his credibility was unrecognized.
When the Hebrew man retorted, “Who made you a prince and a judge over us?” he unknowingly spoke prophetically. Moses would indeed become both prince and judge over Israel, but only after forty years of humbling and preparation in the wilderness. His rejection mirrors that of Christ, who was despised and rejected by His own people at His first coming. Both Moses and Jesus were favored by God from birth, miraculously preserved in infancy, mighty in words and deeds, and offered deliverance to Israel, only to be rejected by those they came to save.
In rejecting Moses, the Israelites declared their unwillingness to submit to divine authority. A prince commands loyalty and obedience; a judge discerns right from wrong and calls men to accountability. Their defiance—“Who made you a prince and a judge over us?”—echoes the human heart’s rebellion against God’s rule. In the same way, people reject Jesus Christ, refusing His lordship and moral authority over their lives.
Moses’ fear and recognition that “surely this thing is known” demonstrated that his act of killing the Egyptian had been exposed. This marked the end of his self-appointed mission and the beginning of his exile. God would use this failure to humble and prepare him for true leadership. Before he could stand before Pharaoh with divine power, he had to be broken of self-reliance in the solitude of Midian.
Moses’ attempt at deliverance was logical from a human standpoint. With his royal training, courage, and empathy, he seemed the ideal candidate to free his people. Yet God’s ways are higher than man’s ways. The Lord would wait forty years to call Moses back, this time armed not with the sword of an Egyptian, but with the staff of God. What began in failure would end in divine triumph, proving that salvation belongs to the Lord alone.
C. Moses’ Flight to Midian and Preparation for Service
(Exodus 2:15–19) says, “When Pharaoh heard of this matter, he sought to kill Moses. But Moses fled from the face of Pharaoh and dwelt 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 they filled the troughs to water their father’s flock. Then the shepherds came and drove them away; but Moses stood up and helped them, and watered their flock. When they came to Reuel their father, he said, ‘How is it that you have come so soon today?’ And they said, ‘An Egyptian delivered us from the hand of the shepherds, and he also drew enough water for us and watered the flock.’”
When Pharaoh heard of Moses’ killing of the Egyptian, his immediate response was to seek Moses’ life. The same royal house that once protected him now became his enemy. Moses, once a prince of Egypt, was now a fugitive. As he fled to the wilderness of Midian, he likely felt defeated and disillusioned. His attempt to deliver Israel had failed, and he probably assumed that his usefulness to God had come to an end. Yet in reality, Moses was exactly where God wanted him.
Moses’ problem was not his zeal but his dependence on human strength. God had to strip away his self-sufficiency, pride, and reliance on royal privilege before He could use him as His instrument of deliverance. As the saying goes, “Moses spent forty years thinking he was somebody, forty years learning he was nobody, and forty years discovering what God can do with somebody who knows he is nobody.”
The text tells us that “Moses fled from the face of Pharaoh and dwelt in the land of Midian.” Historically, Moses’ route was likely southeast toward Midian, rather than north toward Canaan or Syria. In those northern regions, a treaty existed between Rameses II and the Hittite Empire, ensuring fugitives would be extradited. Therefore, Moses went where no treaty existed—into the desert wilderness. The land of Midian lay along both sides of the Red Sea, covering territory that today includes parts of northwestern Saudi Arabia and the Sinai Peninsula.
God sovereignly led Moses to a well—a common setting in Scripture where divine appointments occur. At this well, he encountered the seven daughters of Reuel, the priest of Midian, who had come to draw water for their father’s flock. When local shepherds attempted to drive the women away, Moses immediately intervened, defending them and watering their flocks himself. This act of courage and service demonstrated a transformed heart beginning to take shape. In Egypt, Moses had been served; in Midian, he became a servant. This was God’s school of humility.
Moses’ Egyptian appearance explains why the women later told their father that “an Egyptian” helped them. His clothing, speech, and bearing all reflected his former royal life. Yet God was already reshaping him into a shepherd—the very role he would later fulfill on a national scale as the shepherd of Israel.
(Exodus 2:20–22) continues, “So he said to his daughters, ‘And where is he? Why is it that you have left the man? Call him, that he may eat bread.’ Then Moses was content to live with the man, and he gave Zipporah his daughter to Moses. And she bore him a son, and he called his name Gershom; for he said, ‘I have been a stranger in a foreign land.’”
Reuel, also known later as Jethro, extended hospitality to Moses, inviting him into his home. In God’s providence, this meeting would shape Moses’ life for the next four decades. Moses accepted a humble life in Midian, working as a shepherd for his father-in-law. His marriage to Zipporah, one of Reuel’s daughters, marked his full separation from Egypt and the beginning of a new phase of divine preparation.
The name Zipporah means “bird,” possibly reflecting her gentle nature or light spirit. Together they had a son, whom Moses named Gershom, meaning “stranger.” Moses’ choice of name reveals his heart—a man caught between two worlds, no longer at home in Egypt, yet not fully among his own people. It reflected his loneliness and his awareness that his destiny was suspended between what had been and what was yet to come.
However, these were not wasted years. Scripture never portrays Moses’ time in Midian as mere waiting; it was a season of hard work and inner refinement. He was not “on the shelf,” but in training. In Egypt, Moses learned the wisdom of the world; in Midian, he learned the wisdom of God. In Egypt, he learned leadership; in Midian, he learned servanthood. The desert became God’s classroom, where Moses was taught patience, humility, and dependence on the Lord.
As Trapp wisely wrote, “Much he had learned in Egypt, but more in Midian.” Here, the proud prince of Egypt became a lowly shepherd, and the ambitious deliverer became a humble servant. The Lord was molding him into a vessel fit for His use, preparing him to one day stand before Pharaoh not as a self-reliant man, but as God’s chosen prophet.
D. God Remembers Israel and Prepares to Act
(Exodus 2:23–25) says, “Now it happened in the process of time that the king of Egypt died. Then the children of Israel groaned because of the bondage, and they cried out; and their cry came up to God because of the bondage. So God heard their groaning, and God remembered His covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. And God looked upon the children of Israel, and God acknowledged them.”
With the death of the Pharaoh who had sought Moses’ life, a new period began in Egypt’s history—and in God’s redemptive plan. Though the Israelites had been enslaved for centuries, Scripture now highlights a shift in divine activity. Their groaning under bondage became the catalyst for God’s visible intervention. Their misery finally found a voice. What they had endured silently for generations now rose to heaven as a desperate cry for deliverance.
The text tells us, “So God heard their groaning, and God remembered.” This does not mean that God had literally forgotten His people or His promises. In biblical language, when God “remembers,” it signifies that He turns His active attention toward fulfilling His covenant and intervening in history. Though Moses had grown content in Midian and the people of Israel had likely lost hope, God had not been idle. His timing, though unseen, was perfect.
God’s remembrance was rooted in His unchanging covenant with the patriarchs—“God remembered His covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob.” This covenant, first given to Abraham in Genesis 12:2–3, declared, “I will make you a great nation; I will bless you and make your name great; and you shall be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” Though Israel had long been enslaved and humiliated, the covenant promise remained intact. God’s faithfulness is never dependent on human merit, but on His divine character and sworn word.
Israel’s deliverance, therefore, would not come because of their righteousness or strength, but because of God’s steadfast love and faithfulness. Just as believers today are saved and kept not by their own goodness, but by the covenant established through the blood of Jesus Christ, Israel’s redemption rested on the unbreakable word of God.
The passage concludes with a profound statement: “And God looked upon the children of Israel, and God acknowledged them.” This indicates divine compassion and recognition. God saw their affliction, heard their cry, and chose to act on their behalf. The Hebrew verb translated as “acknowledged” (literally, “knew”) carries the sense of intimate concern—God was not distant or indifferent; He was personally involved.
In His sovereign timing, the Lord was preparing both His people and His chosen servant. While Israel suffered in Egypt, Moses was being shaped in Midian. When both were ready—Israel desperate for deliverance and Moses humbled into obedience—God would reveal Himself as the covenant-keeping Redeemer through the burning bush and the plagues of Egypt.
This closing section of Exodus 2 reminds us that divine delays are not divine denials. When God seems silent, He is often at work behind the scenes, preparing the way for His promises to be fulfilled. His faithfulness to His covenant ensures that not one word of His promise will fail.
