Lessons of Midian
Key Passage: Exodus 2:15-20
Date: June 7, 2024
How do we know that Moses was a man? Because he was in the wilderness for 40 years and never asked directions.
But it is interesting. We said this often, but Moses’ life can be divided into three 40-year segments. Really, the first two 40 years, 80 years of his life, is covered in Exodus chapter 2. And that will take the rest of Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, to cover really the last 40 years of his life. We are nearing that. We are going to be right at the end of Exodus chapter number two after tonight. But we are in Exodus 2.
Let me just briefly kind of get us on board. Remember when he was 40 years old, he refused to be called Pharaoh’s daughter’s son. And you can’t get to Moses without separation. There was sin involved. And he said, no, I do not want to be associated with that.
And remember he went out there and he saw the Egyptian beating the Israelites. And he stepped in to defend the Israelites, and he actually ended up slaying, ended up killing the Egyptian. Pharaoh is going to get him. Pharaoh is after him. And so he took off and he went over to Midian. And that is basically where we will pick up the story tonight, Exodus 2.
Look in verse number 15, if you would please, verse number 15 of Exodus chapter number two. And if you are there, would you say amen?
Now, Exodus 2 and verse number 15: “Now when Pharaoh heard this thing, he sought to slay Moses. But Moses fled from the face of Pharaoh and dwelt in the land of Midian, and he sat down by a well.”
By the way, it is interesting how many things happened at a well in the Bible. Who was it? Jacob met Rachel, his future wife, probably he did too, at the well. And Abraham had sent his servant out to find a wife, and he found Rebecca at a well. And Moses is about to meet his future wife at a well.
Verse number 16: “Now the priest of Midian had seven daughters.” Can you imagine him trying to get dressed in the morning time? Can you imagine Sunday morning trying to get to church? How long he had to wait for the restroom? I mean, seven daughters. I do not know; it does not say anything about his sons. It is seven daughters. “And they came and drew water and filled the troughs to water their father’s flock.” It seemed like there were shepherds there, and they would go to the well and get water and pour the water into the troughs.
Here is what happened after they did the work: the shepherds came and drove them away. But Moses stood up. He had been watching this whole thing and helped them and watered their flock.
I tend to think that Moses had been trained in Pharaoh’s court, just the best they had. I tend to think he had martial arts or something like that. I mean, it was not—no, he stood up and he drove all these shepherds. I mean, I do not know, by himself, it looked like. Maybe the seven daughters helped out a little bit, but Moses took care of them, drove them away. And, man, he was the hero of the day. And let us look and see what happens, verse number 18.
“And when they”—the daughters—“came to rule their father.” Now, let me just say a note about that. Many think that he is the grandfather. There is a little debate about it all later on. It is called Jethro and different things. There are different names. And so I would not argue; it is not an arguing thing. It was a good chance to talk about the grandfather here because of the different names later on. And many times, father, those things are used very broadly. Sometimes not, according to the original word there, but it could be used very broadly. I think, Brother Frank, I do not know, maybe not, but I think, Brother Frank, I have heard him tell young men, “Hey, son, let me tell you this,” or whatnot, or something. You know, that is not his biological son, but we use the word a little lightly. And often the Bible, it could be talking about the grandfather or whatnot, even though it uses the term father, so you understand.
It could be the grandfather. It does not really matter a whole lot, but I wanted to tell you that. “And when they came to rule their father, he said, ‘How is it that ye are come so soon today?’”
And they said, “An Egyptian delivered us out of the hand of the shepherds, and also drew water enough for us and watered the flock.” So after Moses got up and he drove all the shepherds away, he got busy, did the work too, and he got the job done. And you can tell it is an ongoing problem because they said, “How did you get back so soon?” The problem solved today, it was.
Verse number 20: “And he said unto his daughters, ‘And where is he? And why is it that ye have left the man? Call him, that he may eat bread.’”
Now, I like it that the girls, the seven daughters, were not—oh, they were not leading the relationship, if you will. In our day and time, our society is after so much weakening the man. It really affects the young men a lot. And many times strengthening the girls. But it is kind of typical for the girls to lead the relationship in our day and time. I am not saying it is wrong for a girl to let a young man know she likes her or something like that, but I am just saying often the aggressor at our time is the girl.
And you know the Bible says, talking to a man, “Whosoever findeth a wife.” Well, hopefully a girl is not looking for a wife, amen. But also, “findeth a wife, findeth a good thing.” And that just shows that the man is the pursuer, findeth. And that is right. And I like it that these girls, they were not just all over Moses. They left Moses. Now, Dad was wise. Dad, grandfather, whoever it was, he said, “Man, go tell him, come home. Tell him we are going to feed him.” He will come with his food, amen. That is what is going on here in the story.
Verse number 21: “And Moses was content to dwell with the man, and he gave Moses Zipporah his daughter.”
“And she bare him a son and called his name Gershom, for he said, ‘I have been a stranger in a strange land.’”
And just for a bit, we are going to talk about lessons from the land of Midian. Would you ask that God would speak to your heart as we pray? Lord, I do pray, would You use these few moments to be helpful. Lord, give us wisdom for Your word, grow us, encourage us, challenge us what we needed. And Lord, help our minds to be kind of set aright by Your thinking and what and how You want things, Lord. Bless tonight, Father, please. We will praise You for what You do. Father, we ask for this in the name of Jesus, we pray. Amen.
The first 40 years are complete. He is 40 years old. He had to flee. Moses—excuse me—Pharaoh was going to get him, and he had to flee. And he fled all the way over here to Midian.
Now we have got a little map. I just want you to kind of—sometimes a visual really helps. And I want you to see it briefly here. This is the land of Egypt here. Ramses, they built out of the pyramids up here, and then Goshen, that is where the children of Israel dwelt, and some of the other pyramid cities along here. But Moses fled from the face of Pharaoh, and he went all the way down, all the way over here, and over here is Midian in this land. And that is about—that is about, some will say about 300 miles, some will say up to 360 miles, it is according to exactly what route he went. But you are talking about, that is a good long trip. They did not have Teslas back then, amen. I mean, they did not have all that. You said the desert, they did not have Humvees back then. They did not have all the—they had, how do you call a camel Humvee? How do you put those words together? I did not even know they had a camel. He left town quick. And so Moses, it took him two or three weeks if he traveled, if he traveled 20 miles a day, that is pretty good consistently. Then it would take him weeks. And so I just kind of want you to get a little visual where he went from over here, Egypt, and he went through this desert, basically. And he is over here in another desert, basically, in this land of Midian. It is kind of a little bit of a forgotten place. It is now Saudi Arabia, where Saudi Arabia is. But I want you to get a little visual about where he is at now.
Now, I want you to think about the changes that happened in his life. I just think about it. Moses had such drastic changes in his life. Think about the first 40 years how Moses really, in so many ways, was the center of attention. I am not saying about him, just saying, just think about it. I mean, for the first three months, he was hid, and so if he just whimpered, why, man, go get that baby? I do not know how spoiled Moses was when he was a little bit. I tend to think the first three months, he just, a little bit, boom, they are on him, because they are hiding him. And I am sure he has got to be a little bit of their sin of attention because I have got to keep that baby quiet because they are hiding. Three months into it, they said, “We can’t do any more, no way.”
And you know the story, the basket there in the river, and Pharaoh’s daughter and all that, and then marrying him his sister, and then go get the biological mom, and you take care of this baby, you take care of this baby, and we will pay you for it. But think about that, she got paid. I would tend to think, I do not know, but I would tend to think she made pretty good money. And think about that family, and remember the father, Jacob, the mother, and they are a Hebrew family, probably not much, they are slaves, basically. They live in this neighborhood maybe, but they were probably the wealthiest family at that time at least because they are getting extra income from Pharaoh’s daughter herself. And so can you imagine the talk of that little neighborhood? “Well, they got a little baby, by the way.”
The Bible says several times that he is a good-looking boy. And so just the center of attention. And not only that, but I imagine Pharaoh’s daughter—we do not know how long his biological parents had him. I tend to think maybe up to seven, eight years of age at least. We talked about that. We do not know how long. The Bible was talking about how the child grew. And so there is some time lapse there. But to think about it, during that time, maybe Pharaoh’s daughter would come to visit her adopted son and she would go over there to that village maybe and the entourage and all the Hebrews say, “Well, you know where they are going. They are going to Amram and Jochebed and that little baby over there.” I am just saying Moses, I imagine, was the center of his world, someone.
And whatever age it was, we do not know, he was brought over to Pharaoh’s court. And Pharaoh’s daughter took him on as her son. He became her son. So it kind of looks like before he knew that is my mom and dad, if you will, he became her son. The Bible says we talked about that. And he grew up in the court of Pharaoh. I am talking about, we do not know tradition. Some tradition says that Pharaoh did not have any sons and only one daughter, so that could put Moses in line to be the next Pharaoh, you know. But we know from Acts 7 that he was trained in all that the Egyptians had. He was well educated. He was mighty in words. I think it is Acts 7:22, and I may be wrong with it, but he was mighty in words.
When I talked about that, I talked about how he could really speak and probably give good speeches and whatnot and lead people with his words and all that. That is probably true. But I was reading up a little bit today on this. I tend to think we tend to think he knew several languages. It is mighty in words and deeds. He was mighty in deeds. He had already done things that let him be known or noted. Trying to mix those words together, you know. I am not mighty in words. You understand that, you know. I am mighty in a few words, you know. But he was mighty in deeds. I am just talking about, Moses, we tend to think, since the Bible says he was mighty in deeds, he probably had already been given some things to lead in Egypt. He is already somewhat of a leader, I would imagine, because he is already mighty in deeds. So you understand how I am just saying the world somewhat for Moses centered around you. He was used to that. He was known. I imagine he could go anywhere and everybody would know, or if they did not, all they had to do is, “Hey, I’m Pharaoh’s daughter’s son.”
So very, very popular, very known. And now—now you talk about a change. He just went from a world where everybody knew who he was. He is mighty in words and deeds. He is known. He has got everything at his fingertips. He is a center of attention. He is 300 miles away. Nobody knows who he is. They cannot know who he is because if they do know who he is, they are going to tell Pharaoh, and Pharaoh is trying to slay him, the Bible says. And he fled from his face.
Look in verse number 22. We just read it. Look at verse number 22. It is interesting how the Bible words it, verse number 22 here. “And she bare him a son, and he called his name Gershom.” What a name to name your son, Gershom. I mean, you know, that is—I just do not name your child Gershom, all right? That is all they—Adam and Melissa and Patrick, Gershom. Y’all have y’all seven children each. Do not name any of the boys Gershom. Okay, do not do that. I mean, you know, come on now. But why, why Gershom? “For he said, ‘I have been a stranger.’”
It has been a drastic change. In a strange land, it made such an impact on him that he is naming his son a name that says, “I have been a stranger.” Look over in Acts 7. Acts chapter 7, if you would please. Acts chapter 7. And it leads us to think the same thing over here, Acts 7. And in verse number 29, Acts 7:29. When you do not get over there, would you say, “Praise the Lord,” please?
“Then fled Moses at this saying, and was a stranger in the land of Midian, where he begot two sons.” And you understand the Bible emphasis. Oh, no, no, he went from everywhere, everybody knowing about him, the sin of the world. He is all alone for a while. Well, not all the way alone. He has got the Lord. You talk about a change, friend, boom, like that. I mean, just his world changed. He had learned to lead people and be in front of people, but now for 40 years he learned to be alone with God.
By the way, you can learn how to lead people, but you cannot do without learning to be alone with God. You have got to have that part there. Moses is the man that is going to spend 40 days and 40 nights out on the mount with God. Forty years now, Moses—God said, “All right, I’ve got another school for you. This is going to be a little bit different than you thought about the first time. This time I want you to learn how nobody knows about you besides Me, for a while at least. Just learning to be alone.”
Would you look over in Luke chapter number one, please? Luke chapter number one. This is the interesting thing. Talk about John the Baptist here. John the Baptist, Jesus said about John the Baptist, “That is the greatest man born among women.” Pretty good thing if Jesus says that about you. Man, John the Baptist, this great, bold preacher. This prophet, the forerunner of Christ to prepare the way of Christ, prophesied about in the Old Testament. John the Baptist, but a great man stood up; he stood up to the king, even lost his head over it, but he did not back down a bit, old Herod.
And I want you to notice something about John the Baptist. Would you do that? Would you look in Luke 1? Would you look down almost to the end of it? Look in verse number 80, if you would please. Luke 1 and verse number 80. Speaking of John the Baptist: “And the child grew, and waxed strong in spirit, and was in the deserts till the day of his showing unto Israel.”
Now, I am just saying, John the Baptist, he was used to just being in the woods if he were. Now, I am not saying you have got to be out in the woods to be a great man of God or anything like that, but I am saying he learned from an early age just to be alone. Just went around a crowd of people, all the rest of that. He just learned to be—he was in the wilderness, in deserts. Many times it mentions John the Baptist. He is preaching in the wilderness and baptizing in the wilderness. John the Baptist was used to being alone. Moses hadn’t gotten that yet, but he is headed for 40 years now.
You know, even raising children, I think it is good if children learn to be alone. Now they need to learn how to interact with adults and be respectful and talk to them and all that, and with other children. All that is very, very important also. But a child needs to know how to be alone. You know, I worry—that is just a brief moment. I left this light on. I have got to turn this light off here, but it has got all kind of lights on me. Oh, just kind of laid aside, children, for all of us, you know, the thing that I really am concerned a little bit about in our day and time for us in America: we are never alone. You know why? Because we have got that little gadget always.
I have not mentioned it, and shame on me. I should on this Sunday morning series about being a little of God. Man, turn that stinking thing off. You are not alone with God when you have got that thing. You are connected to the world. And I really am concerned that—and by the way, we waited for a good long time before our children had cell phones, and I almost wish we had waited longer because I wanted to be used to being alone. And we are not careful in our day and time because we are always connected. We are never alone.
And Moses for 40 years, he had learned to be with people. He learned to lead people. He learned how to talk and all the rest of that. But God said, “All right, enough of that. And now you need to learn to just get alone and be a stranger to everybody else where you’re just Me and You, Moses.” The school of Christ, just being alone with God. Learning to be with people is important. I saw a part of it, but being alone with God, learning to get to know God is more important. Moses, you are not going to be able to handle the man that knew God face-to-face. He would not be able to say all that, I do not believe, if he had not had these 40 years learning to be alone with God. That is Moses: a stranger in a strange land.
God can teach you how to deal with people if you learn to walk with Him. By the way, if I get too in tune with people and not walking with the Lord, that can lead to me being a lover of the attention of people. That is a danger. Some people—some people just always like the light. Now somebody has got to be in the limelight. God calls people to be in the limelight and all that. But if somebody just always wants to be—something is wrong, my friend. The big thing is wanting to be alone with God.
Moses for 40 years is in this thing learning to be alone with God. My former pastor for years by the house, he was in perfect health—no, he had problems just like all of us had problems. But God had used him greatly. Pastor in five different churches, every one of them, God just blessed, and many, many got saved and baptized and all the rest of that. But people had often asked him, “Hey, what is your secret? All the churches you pastor, God has blessed.” And he would always say the same thing: “Walk with God. Walk with God. Walk with God.”
Hey, you know the best dads in the world are dads that walk with God. The best husbands, the best moms, the best wives, are those that walk with God. He said, “How do you become a good Sunday school teacher? Walk with God.” How do you become a good soul winner? How do you make a difference in your ministry, whether it be primary church, junior church, whatever it may be? Walk with God. Walk with God, walk with God. We were studying about it on Sunday morning. That is the key. It is just walk with God.
Your time alone with God, you can see there is going to be a ceiling where you cannot go higher, or it is going to be the thing that God uses. He sees in secret; every word is open. You walk with God. And Moses, if you had enough time in front of everybody, now you need to be a stranger in a strange land. And he just—he is learning to walk with God.
Lessons from Midian: Number one, he learned to be alone with God.
Number two, number two, what were the lessons from Midian? What did he do? What did he do? Look in chapter number three of Exodus, chapter three. And let us find out what Moses was doing.
Chapter number three of Exodus, verse number one: “Now Moses kept the flock of Jethro, his father-in-law, the priest of Midian.” So, Jethro’s father-in-law, the priesthood, and so on and so on. Many think that it was a little bit like Jacob working for Rachel and getting Leah and you know the whole story, some 14 years altogether. Many think it was that type of deal that he is working for the dad as a shepherd, and that is why he gave him support, or at least part of it. But he is a shepherd. He is just watching sheep. Put it this way: Number one, we said he learned to be alone with God. Number two, he is learning to care for a flock.
We talk about sheep. I have heard many, many times, many preachers, many of us—and I used to say this thing—but sheep are really dumb until we had a sheep for about a year or so. And I learned a lot about sheep. One thing: sheep are not dumb. They are pretty smart, but they are stubborn as the day is long. I never forget Snowball was our sheep. And I would be way over on this side of the yard, and Snowball would be over there, and she would be eating my wife’s flowers. She knew better, her bushes and all that, and I would yell, “Snowball, quit eating that!” And Snowball would twitch her ear just a little bit, but she did not pay me any attention at all. And as I would be yelling at her, yelling at her, “Snowball!” And Snowball would not move until I got just close enough where I could kick her—well, would you do that? Well, maybe a little bit, not bad, you know, or hit her or something, you know, to where I could physically get her, and she knew about the time, and boom, she was gone. She is smart, man. She knew exactly what was going on. She was her pet. We had her side of the house probably too much. She was stubborn and strong-willed, wanting to have her own way.
And Moses had to learn to care for a flock of sheep. Well, wait a second, 40 years of that—he may be pretty well or somewhat training to ready to take care of 40 years of stubborn, strong-willed Israelites. Anybody not know? You have read the story of Moses? By the way, I read that and I think, “Why could they do that?” And the Lord says, “You do the same thing.” And I am like, “Yeah, you’re right, I do.”
But Moses is getting trained. He is learning to care. He is just—by the way, shepherds are continually thinking about their sheep. Sheep have to be moved from pastures often. If they are left in one pasture, they will eat the grass down to the roots, and that grass will just—it will be gone, and it will not grow back because they eat down to the roots; they eat too far. And then they do not have any grass. And so shepherds have to be constantly moving their sheep to a new pasture.
And shepherds are always watching for those things. They get parasites on them. They have to make sure they get the parasites off. They have to anoint them with the salve and the oil. And so many things going on to shepherding, and shepherds just continue—they have to protect them. I mean, I remember reading a book about shepherding, and there was a—a wolf or something in the neighborhood. And that shepherd said, “I had my gun.” I think it was a .308 or somebody. He said, “I always had it there. If I heard anything, I would get up. I would take my flashlight and my gun. I was ready,” you know, because he is concerned about his sheep.
And Moses is getting trained just to care for a flock. I mean, nighttime, morning time, he is just—he is learning. He is learning to always be constantly, “What do they need?” and “What is best?” And he is learning these—God is teaching Moses so much. He is learning to care and watch out for them.
And by the way, notice this, did you read that verse number one right there, chapter number three? Look at that one more time, won’t you notice something about it? “Now Moses kept the flock of Jethro.” So, poor Jethro—it was not even his sheep. He had to watch the sheep of somebody else. He was a shepherd of somebody else’s sheep. And he is going to be the shepherd of all these Israelites. That was not his people. That was not his peeps, if you will. That is God’s. And Moses is learning how to take care of someone else’s flock. And for 40 years he is going to learn how to take care of God’s flock. God is teaching him all these things.
He was the center of the world, Moses, mighty in words and deeds. Moses, that mighty man. Moses, it is not going to be about you now. It is going to be about the sheep now. And you have to learn to focus on others. You have to learn not about you, what you get, what you want. You have to learn, “Hey, you’ve got to take care of—you’re responsible for that flock.”
Can I just say this? I am trying to move on quick. We have four things tonight. But can I say this? I think it is good for every single Christian to have someone they shepherd. I thought about Brother Frank. He—trying to get somebody to kind of go see Brother Dylan on Monday. And I was here preoccupied, whatnot, and I could not. And Brother Frank, he’s often—he’s kind of been a little bit of a shepherd. He is the one often that has one. Brother Dylan lived down for me. He would often go down there and take care of Brother Dylan. And just finding someone to shepherd.
I thought about Brother Eddie. He sits over here on Sunday morning, and he is over here in this Friar Tuck neighborhood, assisted living. And boy, I went over there and visited some of those people, whatnot. And Brother Eddie is a little bit—a little bit, I am trying to use his word lightly, don’t tell Brother Eddie I said this—but he is a little bit of the mom of the neighborhood. He kind of keeps track of all of them, and he knows that they are sick. And he takes—you know, he is a little bit caring for a flock. I think everybody ought to have a flock. Everybody ought to have somewhat of a flock.
I thought about Miss Brenda. Ms. Brenda, she is not here tonight, but Miss Brenda for years and years, she loves those kids and those bus kids. I mean, she is just like, man, she is on it, you know, having a yard sale and everything else for the teeth. I mean, she just, for years, she is a little bit shepherding up there. I thought about Brother Bill and Miss Tabitha having activities for third to the sixth-grade boys, Sunday school class, or their neighbors, the Kents, they will go over there and check on them sometimes. It is a good thing. I thought about Brother Glen, he is not feeling well right now, and Miss Barb helps with that, you know, just kind of make sure—but I thought about what right after Miss—Miss Wratha passed, for weeks and weeks, Brother Glen told me himself, he said, “You know,” he said, “Brother Donnie, big old Brother Donnie,” he said, “they called me about every day without fail.”
But just finding someone, somewhere—it may be a neighbor, a coworker, someone in the hospital, someone in an assisted living, nursing home—just, I think every Christian ought to somewhat have a flock of them. I thought about Betty Gammon years ago, she is in heaven now, but the older ladies in our church, Betty Gammon was a little bit of their mom. And she made sure—it was smaller at the time—but she made sure the widows, a couple widows in our church, that, man, they were taken care of. Just shepherding. And it is so important. Moses is learning to care for a flock. Nice, in Midian.
Let us go on. Number one, I said, learn to be alone. Number two, learn to care for a flock. Number three, number three, would you look at verse number 21, Exodus 2, in verse number 21? This would be a hard lesson for a man like Moses that grew up with everything, everything, everything. Look at this in verse number 21. Exodus 2, verse number 21: “And Moses was…” What is the next word?
Content? Moses, you have been in Pharaoh’s court, you had everything offered to you, anything in the world, and you are content in the desert watching a bunch of sheep? I ain’t working for a man that’s, you know, got seven daughters and just giving you one of the daughters. I mean, just—Moses, you’re out of the desert with a bunch of things, and you’re content.
But Paul, “Whatsoever state I am in, therewith I have learned to be content.” Look over, if you will, in First Timothy, First Timothy chapter number six, please. First Timothy chapter number six. First Timothy chapter number six. Y’all out there tonight, y’all are quiet tonight. I heard—I think Brother Tim—anybody else awake out there? A couple people, good, good, good. I just want to make sure y’all look quiet. I get that. We are all tired. But not—Melissa is the only one got permission. And she is staying awake. What about that? My goodness. Because Brother Adams elbowed her every once in a while, I see that, you know. Because her phone’s ringing. No, it wasn’t hers; it was somebody else’s.
1 Timothy chapter 6. 1 Timothy chapter 6. Would you look at verse number 6? 1 Timothy 6 and verse number 6: “But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out.” You have heard it said there are no U-Hauls behind hearses for him.
Verse number 8 is amazing: “And having food and raiment, let us be therewith content.” Moses had food. They are feeding him. He has got some clothes to put on him. Watch this, verse number 9: “But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition.” For the love of money is the root of all evil, which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.
Oh, friend, somewhere along the line, you have got to stop wanting more, more, more, more, more, more, and just say, “I am going to stop where I am at, and I am going to be happy with what I have.” I say it so often over the years: two ways to be rich. Either get what you want—that will be short-lived because pretty soon you want more—or want what you have. Man, I like what I have. This is what I have. I am happy with it. I do not want anything else. I am just content.
Moses had everything for 40 years. I mean, anything this old world offers, he had it all. And God says, “All right now, buddy. We are going to teach you how to be content with just food and raiment.” He learned to be content materially. He learned to be content without the limelight. He is a stranger in a strange land. He was not in the center of the road now, and maybe the center of the sheep world, you know, that is about it. But he has learned to be content. He did not have to be in the limelight.
This is an interesting story. I read it today about a first-grade field trip. That is interesting because tomorrow was our school’s first field trip after chapel. And they took these first graders—the thing was, it is in Milwaukee, so it is cold up there, you know—and they took them to a dairy farm, a little plant. And there was a guide there that made them take a school tour, and they showed them all the cows and the whole process, how they got milked by the machine, and how they processed the milk and all that. And they showed the children all those things, and they got to the end of the tour, and the guide said, “Now, does anybody have a question?” She just spent a long time showing this whole plant. And a little girl raised her hand and said, “Did you notice my new snowsuit? Did you get that?”
We all are like that. God is teaching Moses. Moses should just be content without being the center of your world. He learned to be alone with God. He learned to care for a flock. He learned to just be content.
This fourth thing we will be done tonight. Really, I do not have a verse; I have to look at it. Just think with me for a second. We have already looked it up on the map there. He is 300 miles away. If he got in need of something, he could say, “Hey, I’m Pharaoh’s daughter’s son, so give me that,” you know. Well, boom, man, you just told him yourself that, you know. It is a good chance that some of these travelers are going to find out about it; they are going to tell Pharaoh, you know. I mean, problems are going to visit.
He is 300 miles away from his biological parents. He is 300 miles from all his friends in Pharaoh’s court. He is 300 miles away from the Hebrews. I mean, he is just—he is just alone with God. I mean, for weeks, maybe he did not even know Jethro or the seven daughters or any of them.
Did you notice what they called him in verse number 19, verse number 19 of Exodus 2? Look at that. This is interesting. Verse number 19 here. Let’s see if we get back there. Exodus 2 in verse number 19: “And they said, ‘An Egyptian delivered us out of the hand of the shepherds, and also drew water enough for us and watered the flock.’” He actually was not an Egyptian; he is a Hebrew. But he did not even correct them. He was just a little bit more insignificant as far as you know.
Here is what I am getting at: Moses had to learn that God can provide. When you are 300 miles away from home, nobody knows you are a stranger in a strange land. There is a good chance they were speaking a different language than Hebrew or Egyptian. A real good chance. There is debate about all that. I think chances are greater that there is a different language. Moses might not have been able to speak the language in that area at the time anyway. If that be true, he is 300 miles away.
And 300 miles to us is not that big of a deal. You know, I mean, we can drive that, what, six hours or whatever it is? You know, but they cannot do that. That is weeks of travel, you know. If you do make the trip and you live through the trip, you do not get scorched by the sun and nobody robs you, you know, all the rest of that. I mean, you are just alone in the world. You do not know anybody. Good chance you cannot speak through language. And God took care of Moses.
And he sat down by a well, and God provided. It was not a coincidence. Moses is learning. How do you think Moses had the faith to say, “Hey, God couldn’t feed you meat or manna, whatever. He can give you water from a rock”? Moses is learning all this now. He is learning that he is below nowhere, and yet God will take care of you. Through every day or all the way, He will take care of you. God will take care of you. Moses is learning that. God is God at Moses. He can take care of all your problems.
Hey, let me ask you. Let me ask you. We are almost done. Let me ask you: Is there a worry that is robbing you of joy and peace? Is there a fear or a worry? You are worrying about something that is just robbing you of your joy and your peace. Moses was learning, “Hey, in the middle of nowhere, nobody knows you. They don’t even know your true nationality. And in the middle of nowhere, you probably can’t speak their language.” And in the middle of all that, God can take care of it. He can provide it. You do not have Pharaoh taking care of me anymore, Pharaoh’s daughter, but God can. God will take care of you.
What is the verse? You know what? “For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.” He has got it for you.
Original File: Lessons of Midian - Pastor Paul Chisgar - Sunday PM 1122022