And when he was full forty years old, it came into his heart to visit his brethren the children of Israel.
This moment belongs to the defense against the charge of blasphemy before the council, spoken in a clear, thrilling voice that rang through the council hall and held the assembly spellbound. It is part of a rehearsal of the history of God's chosen people, showing thorough knowledge of the Jewish economy and its spiritual meaning now made manifest through Christ. Beginning with Abraham, the rehearsal traced down through history from generation to generation, going through all the national records of Israel to Solomon, taking up the most impressive points to vindicate the cause. The wider passage to which it belongs preaches Christ from the Old Testament Scriptures, beginning with Moses and the prophets, making the prophecies about the Messiah clear and showing their agreement with the life and teachings of Christ. It gives inspired proof of his mission, suffering, death, resurrection and ascension, proves his identity as the Messiah from Moses and the prophets, and shows that it was the voice of Christ speaking through the patriarchs and prophets from Adam to that time.
At about forty years old Moses chose to identify with Israel and seek their deliverance rather than keep the honors of Egypt where he had been trained as its prospective ruler. He sacrificed those honors for God and his oppressed people, guarding even his affections toward his adoptive mother and Pharaoh so he could remain free to do God's will, and God then undertook his further training. At forty he felt moved in his heart to visit his Israelite brethren in servitude out of concern for their suffering, encouraged them with the assurance that God would deliver them, and began his first attempt to deliver them. Though educated in Egypt and confident he was qualified to lead, he understood himself to be chosen by God yet expected to deliver Israel by warfare, leading the Hebrews against the Egyptian armies according to his own plans.
Anger at their oppression made him eager to defend them, so when he saw an Egyptian beating or abusing a Hebrew he intervened and killed the Egyptian. He acted too hastily and rashly from his own judgment, taking matters into his own hands to win his people's favor, wrongly supposing that Israel understood God had raised him up as their deliverer. The attempt to deliver Israel by force was a mistaken effort that risked everything and failed. His rash act drove him from Egypt and made him a fugitive and exile in a foreign land. God's purpose was not to free Israel through Moses' warfare, but by divine power.
The failure showed Moses was not yet prepared for his life's work and not yet fit to represent God's mercy, love and tenderness. He still needed to learn dependence on divine power, gentleness, goodness, patience, humility and patient service. He therefore had to leave Egypt and spend forty years in Midian in humble life and hardship as a shepherd, learning the lessons needed before God entrusted him with leading Israel out of bondage and prepared him to shepherd God's people. His experience teaches that confidence in one's own abilities does not mean following God's plan, and that God's work must be done by following God's direction rather than rushing ahead with human plans.
This moment belongs to the defense against the charge of blasphemy before the council, spoken in a clear, thrilling voice that rang through the council hall and held the assembly spellbound. It is part of a rehearsal of the history of God's chosen people, showing thorough knowledge of the Jewish economy and its spiritual meaning now made manifest through Christ. Beginning with Abraham, the rehearsal traced down through history from generation to generation, going through all the national records of Israel to Solomon, taking up the most impressive points to vindicate the cause. The wider passage to which it belongs preaches Christ from the Old Testament Scriptures, beginning with Moses and the prophets, making the prophecies about the Messiah clear and showing their agreement with the life and teachings of Christ. It gives inspired proof of his mission, suffering, death, resurrection and ascension, proves his identity as the Messiah from Moses and the prophets, and shows that it was the voice of Christ speaking through the patriarchs and prophets from Adam to that time.
At about forty years old Moses chose to identify with Israel and seek their deliverance rather than keep the honors of Egypt where he had been trained as its prospective ruler. He sacrificed those honors for God and his oppressed people, guarding even his affections toward his adoptive mother and Pharaoh so he could remain free to do God's will, and God then undertook his further training. At forty he felt moved in his heart to visit his Israelite brethren in servitude out of concern for their suffering, encouraged them with the assurance that God would deliver them, and began his first attempt to deliver them. Though educated in Egypt and confident he was qualified to lead, he understood himself to be chosen by God yet expected to deliver Israel by warfare, leading the Hebrews against the Egyptian armies according to his own plans.
Anger at their oppression made him eager to defend them, so when he saw an Egyptian beating or abusing a Hebrew he intervened and killed the Egyptian. He acted too hastily and rashly from his own judgment, taking matters into his own hands to win his people's favor, wrongly supposing that Israel understood God had raised him up as their deliverer. The attempt to deliver Israel by force was a mistaken effort that risked everything and failed. His rash act drove him from Egypt and made him a fugitive and exile in a foreign land. God's purpose was not to free Israel through Moses' warfare, but by divine power.
The failure showed Moses was not yet prepared for his life's work and not yet fit to represent God's mercy, love and tenderness. He still needed to learn dependence on divine power, gentleness, goodness, patience, humility and patient service. He therefore had to leave Egypt and spend forty years in Midian in humble life and hardship as a shepherd, learning the lessons needed before God entrusted him with leading Israel out of bondage and prepared him to shepherd God's people. His experience teaches that confidence in one's own abilities does not mean following God's plan, and that God's work must be done by following God's direction rather than rushing ahead with human plans.