2 Mar. Exodus 2:11-15

2 Mar. Moses is forced to flee from Egypt

“Moses grew and became a man. One day he visited his people and saw that they were forced to work very hard.”

“He saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew man, one of Moses’ own people. Moses looked all around and saw that no one was watching, so he killed the Egyptian and hid his body in the sand.”

“The next day Moses returned and saw two Hebrew men fighting each other. He said to the one that was in the wrong, ‘Why are you hitting one of your own people?’ The man answered, ‘Who made you our ruler and judge? Are you going to kill me as you killed the Egyptian?’”

“Moses was afraid and thought, ‘Now everyone knows what I did.’”

“When the king heard what Moses had done, he tried to kill him. But Moses ran away from the king and went to live in the land of Midian.”

          (Exodus 2:11-15)

 


 

In c.1508BC, as a young man of 20, Prince Moses saw a Hebrew slave being beaten by an Egyptian overseer. In anger, Moses killed the Egyptian official.

Unbeknown to Moses at the time, someone had seen him burying the dead Egyptian in the sand, and the next day, when Moses intervened in a dispute between two Hebrew men, the unpleasant truth of the murder was revealed by one of the men.

Fearing retribution from the pharaoh (and, perhaps, death threats from his jealous stepbrothers), Moses decided to escape Egypt immediately and fled to Midian, near the Gulf of Aqaba (see 3 on the map on 27 Feb.).

The people of Midian were distant relatives of the Israelites – which may explain why Moses (born of Hebrew parents) fled from the well-watered lands of the Nile Delta to the semi-arid coastal lowlands of Midian and remained there for many years.

The Midianites were descended from Midian, the fourth son of Abraham and his second wife Keturah, born in c.1819BC (see Genesis 25:1-6). During Abraham’s lifetime, Midian and his five brothers were sent "to the east" (Genesis 25:6), and settled in territory to the east and south of the Dead Sea.

It was Midianite traders who took Joseph to Egypt as a slave in c.1679 BC, and sold him to Potiphar, the captain of Pharaoh’s guard (see Genesis 37:36).

The photo shows the sun setting over the River Nile.

You can read more about Midian @ https://www.thebiblejourney.org/biblejourney2/25-the-israelites-journey-from-egypt-to-mt-sinai/prince-moses-escapes-to-midian/

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