Learning how to control his violent temper and learning how to serve were only the first of many lessons that Moses learned in Midian. God is never in any great hurry to prepare his servants to do his will, especially when he has some great work for them to accomplish. There is no better example of this than the prophet Moses, who spent four decades in the wilderness before beginning his public ministry. The book of Acts explains that forty years passed between Moses’ flight to Midian and his encounter with God at the burning bush (Acts 7:29, 30). Forty years! Someone has pointed out that “Moses was 40 years in Egypt learning something; he was 40 years in the desert learning to be nothing; and he was 40 years in the wilderness proving God to be everything.” Whenever we are tempted to grow impatient with God’s timetable for our lives, we should remember Moses, who spent two years of preparation for every year of ministry.
During the forty long years that Moses spent in Midian, God used three experiences to prepare him for his primary calling, which was to lead God’s people out of Egypt. The first was his living situation. The precise location of Midian is somewhat uncertain. The Midianites may have lived in Arabia, but more likely they lived on the Sinai Peninsula, near the Gulf of Aqaba. The term does not refer primarily to a place, however, but to a people group—a tribe of desert nomads. Living with the Midianites meant living in the wilderness.
Moses’ wilderness experience was of great practical significance. One of the things he learned was the wilderness itself—its geography and topography. Later, when he led God’s people out of Egypt, he knew things like where to find water and how to find his way back to God’s holy mountain. But Moses’ wilderness experience was of even greater significance spiritually, for before he led Israel out of Egypt, Moses had an exodus of his own. It was in the wilderness that he learned what it was like to be an outcast. The people of God were strangers in Egypt, but Egypt was Moses’ home—so much so that the daughters of Reuel immediately identified him as “an Egyptian” (Exod. 2:19). It was only when he went out to live in the desert that Moses experienced alienation for himself. At the birth of his first son, he said, “I have become an alien in a foreign land” (v. 22b). The foreign land Moses seems to have had in mind was not Midian but Egypt, since he was speaking in the past tense. The verse should thus be translated as follows: “A stranger I have been there,” with Moses referring back to his upbringing in Pharaoh’s palace. It was through his wilderness experience that he learned to identify with God’s people in their suffering.
The second life experience God used to prepare Moses for leadership was his family situation. Not only did Moses become a husband in Midian, but he also became a father: “Zipporah gave birth to a son, and Moses named him Gershom, saying, ‘I have become an alien in a foreign land’ ” (v. 22). The name Gershom comes from the Hebrew verb garash, which means “to drive out or to expel”; thus it may refer to Moses’ own experience in being driven out of Egypt. It also sounds like the Hebrew words ger and sham, a pun that means “an alien there.” The Bible does not include these domestic details simply out of biographical interest. Moses’ family situation was part of his preparation for ministry. As a husband, he learned how to love and serve his wife. As a father, he learned how to care for and discipline his children. By settling into the life of the home Moses learned how to be a servant-leader.
It was in the same home that Moses grew in his relationship with God, for when he accepted Zipporah’s hand in marriage, he became a member of her clan. The Midianites seem to have worshiped the one true God, the God of their father Abraham. It seems significant that Reuel was a priest and that his name means “friend of God.” In all likelihood Moses received spiritual instruction from his father-in-law, so that by the time he saw the burning bush, he had already been reintroduced to the God of Abraham.
Thirdly, Moses learned how to serve God through his work situation. Job opportunities are somewhat limited in the wilderness, and since his father-in-law was a shepherd, Moses became a shepherd. We know this because the next chapter begins with him out tending his flock (Exod. 3:1).
This was hardly the profession Moses would have chosen because he was raised in Egypt, and the Bible says that “all shepherds are detestable to the Egyptians” (Gen. 46:34b). But the Bible also shows that many great leaders got their start as shepherds. This is because there is a lot to be learned from tending sheep. For starters, sheep are not very bright, which means they need someone to lead them to food and water. They make an easy target for predators; so they need someone to protect them. They are prone to wander; so they need someone to bring them back into the fold. In short, sheep are completely dependent on shepherds for their care, which is why the Bible so often compares God’s people to sheep. In the words of the psalmist, “we are his people, the sheep of his pasture” (100:3b). Like so many sheep, we need divine guidance, nourishment, and protection. It was by tending his flock, therefore, that Moses learned how to feed, defend, and rescue the lost sheep of Israel. Since God’s people are the sheep of his pasture, there was no better way for Moses to learn how to lead them than by spending forty years as a shepherd. When Asaph later meditated on God’s saving work in bringing his people out of Egypt, he said, “You led your people like a flock by the hand of Moses and Aaron” (Ps. 77:20; cf. Ps. 78:52; Isa. 63:11).
During the forty long years that Moses spent in Midian, God used three experiences to prepare him for his primary calling, which was to lead God’s people out of Egypt. The first was his living situation. The precise location of Midian is somewhat uncertain. The Midianites may have lived in Arabia, but more likely they lived on the Sinai Peninsula, near the Gulf of Aqaba. The term does not refer primarily to a place, however, but to a people group—a tribe of desert nomads. Living with the Midianites meant living in the wilderness.
Moses’ wilderness experience was of great practical significance. One of the things he learned was the wilderness itself—its geography and topography. Later, when he led God’s people out of Egypt, he knew things like where to find water and how to find his way back to God’s holy mountain. But Moses’ wilderness experience was of even greater significance spiritually, for before he led Israel out of Egypt, Moses had an exodus of his own. It was in the wilderness that he learned what it was like to be an outcast. The people of God were strangers in Egypt, but Egypt was Moses’ home—so much so that the daughters of Reuel immediately identified him as “an Egyptian” (Exod. 2:19). It was only when he went out to live in the desert that Moses experienced alienation for himself. At the birth of his first son, he said, “I have become an alien in a foreign land” (v. 22b). The foreign land Moses seems to have had in mind was not Midian but Egypt, since he was speaking in the past tense. The verse should thus be translated as follows: “A stranger I have been there,” with Moses referring back to his upbringing in Pharaoh’s palace. It was through his wilderness experience that he learned to identify with God’s people in their suffering.
The second life experience God used to prepare Moses for leadership was his family situation. Not only did Moses become a husband in Midian, but he also became a father: “Zipporah gave birth to a son, and Moses named him Gershom, saying, ‘I have become an alien in a foreign land’ ” (v. 22). The name Gershom comes from the Hebrew verb garash, which means “to drive out or to expel”; thus it may refer to Moses’ own experience in being driven out of Egypt. It also sounds like the Hebrew words ger and sham, a pun that means “an alien there.” The Bible does not include these domestic details simply out of biographical interest. Moses’ family situation was part of his preparation for ministry. As a husband, he learned how to love and serve his wife. As a father, he learned how to care for and discipline his children. By settling into the life of the home Moses learned how to be a servant-leader.
It was in the same home that Moses grew in his relationship with God, for when he accepted Zipporah’s hand in marriage, he became a member of her clan. The Midianites seem to have worshiped the one true God, the God of their father Abraham. It seems significant that Reuel was a priest and that his name means “friend of God.” In all likelihood Moses received spiritual instruction from his father-in-law, so that by the time he saw the burning bush, he had already been reintroduced to the God of Abraham.
Thirdly, Moses learned how to serve God through his work situation. Job opportunities are somewhat limited in the wilderness, and since his father-in-law was a shepherd, Moses became a shepherd. We know this because the next chapter begins with him out tending his flock (Exod. 3:1).
This was hardly the profession Moses would have chosen because he was raised in Egypt, and the Bible says that “all shepherds are detestable to the Egyptians” (Gen. 46:34b). But the Bible also shows that many great leaders got their start as shepherds. This is because there is a lot to be learned from tending sheep. For starters, sheep are not very bright, which means they need someone to lead them to food and water. They make an easy target for predators; so they need someone to protect them. They are prone to wander; so they need someone to bring them back into the fold. In short, sheep are completely dependent on shepherds for their care, which is why the Bible so often compares God’s people to sheep. In the words of the psalmist, “we are his people, the sheep of his pasture” (100:3b). Like so many sheep, we need divine guidance, nourishment, and protection. It was by tending his flock, therefore, that Moses learned how to feed, defend, and rescue the lost sheep of Israel. Since God’s people are the sheep of his pasture, there was no better way for Moses to learn how to lead them than by spending forty years as a shepherd. When Asaph later meditated on God’s saving work in bringing his people out of Egypt, he said, “You led your people like a flock by the hand of Moses and Aaron” (Ps. 77:20; cf. Ps. 78:52; Isa. 63:11).
God used the experiences Moses had along his spiritual journey to prepare him in a special way for a special work. By being faithful in small things, he was prepared for something big. It is doubtful whether we will ever lead God’s people out of bondage. But even if we are not named Moses, God has a plan for us. The Bible says that “we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do” (Eph. 2:10). When the Scripture says that “we are God’s workmanship,” it means that God is at work in our lives to prepare us for his service.
Not only has he prepared good works for us to do, but God is also preparing us to do them, and he does this through the ordinary experiences of daily life. God uses our mistakes, even the kinds of mistakes that send us into the wilderness for decades. In order to become the man God intended him to become, it was necessary for Moses to go out into the wilderness and take care of sheep. Even if we are working a job that does not seem to match our gifts or our interests, God will use it for our good and for his glory.
- P. G. Ryken & R. K. Hughes. Exodus: Saved for God’s Glory, p71–74.
