Moses - The Early Years

At the end of the last chapter, the Egyptians were so threatened by the good fortune of the Hebrews living in Egypt that Pharoah ordered that every Hebrew son born shall be thrown into the river, in an attempt to stop the Hebrew from multiplying. This chapter starts with Moses mother, letting the baby Moses into the river which was later found by Pharoah's daughter.

It is interesting to see that as Moses' mother unwillingly let her baby go, as when we would let go of things dearest to us, God steps in and fulfills His good purpose and stirs the baby into the hands of Pharoah's daughter, hence into the intended destiny for Moses. The Word of God says (matthew 16:25)
"For whoever wants to save his life[a] will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it."

In a further positive twist, Pharoah's daughter listened to the girl nearby, not knowing it was the baby's sister, and employed Moses' mother to raise Moses. So Moses' mother truly regained her son.

Moses grew in Egypt but it is not clear whether he knew his origin as a Hebrew. In any case, he committed murder and had to flee Egypt because Pharoah "sought to kill him". Perhaps this may suggest that his status was not a powerful Prince of Egypt as Hollywood movies often depicted. So Moses went to live among the Midianites. Throughout this it is not clear of Moses' relationship with God. In the mean time, God heard the cries of the His people under the bondage of the Egyptians.


Exodus 2

Moses Is Born

 1 And a man of the house of Levi went and took as wife a daughter of Levi. 2 So the woman conceived and bore a son. And when she saw that he was a beautiful child, she hid him three months. 3 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. 4 And his sister stood afar off, to know what would be done to him.
5 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. 6 And when she 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.”
7 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?”
8 And Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Go.” So the maiden went and called the child’s mother. 9 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. 10 And the child grew, and she brought him to Pharaoh’s daughter, and he became her son. So she called his name Moses,[a] saying, “Because I drew him out of the water.”


Moses Flees to Midian
  
11 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. 12 So he looked this way and that way, and when he saw no one, he killed the Egyptian and hid him in the sand. 13 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?”
14 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!” 15 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.
16 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. 17 Then the shepherds came and drove them away; but Moses stood up and helped them, and watered their flock.
18 When they came to Reuel their father, he said, “How is it that you have come so soon today?”
19 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.”
20 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.”
21 Then Moses was content to live with the man, and he gave Zipporah his daughter to Moses. 22 And she bore him a son. He called his name Gershom,[b] for he said, “I have been a stranger in a foreign land.”
23 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. 24 So God heard their groaning, and God remembered His covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. 25 And God looked upon the children of Israel, and God acknowledged them.