Exodus 2:14
And he said, Who made thee a prince and a judge over us? intendest thou to kill me, as thou killedst the Egyptian? And Moses feared, and said, Surely this thing is known. And he said, Who made thee a prince and a judge over us? intendest thou to kill me, as thou killedst the Egyptian? And Moses feared, and said, Surely this thing is known.
The words are the defiant answer of the Hebrew whom Moses reproved for wronging his fellow, throwing back who had made him prince and judge and charging him with killing the Egyptian, which told Moses his deed was no longer secret and filled him with fear. Through that envious informer the report reached the Egyptians and was greatly exaggerated to Pharaoh, who treated Moses as a danger to his kingdom and sought his life, forcing him to flee. It belongs to Moses's first, unready attempt to deliver Israel in his own strength, when his training in Egyptian wisdom and warfare led him to right his brethren's wrongs by killing their oppressor and hiding the body in the sand, expecting them to recognize him as deliverer. He meant to free them by human force and warfare rather than by dependence on divine power, but the rash, self-confident act showed the spirit of murder and proved him unfit to represent a God of mercy, so it ended in defeat and flight as a fugitive exile. It was not God's will to deliver by warfare or human planning but by His own mighty power alone, so He permitted the failure and overruled it to teach Moses dependence, humility, meekness and patient faith through forty years as a keeper of sheep, until tempered and harmonized with God he was fitted to be sent at the bush as a tender shepherd of Israel.
Challenge, Exposure, Flight
The speaker was a Hebrew whom Moses reproved for doing wrong, the very man he had rescued, who answered by challenging his right to set himself up as prince, ruler, leader and judge over them and to judge and control them, and by accusing him of killing the Egyptian. His rejection of Moses' authority to intervene exposed that the violent defense of his people was not recognized as the appointed way to deliver Israel. The retort proved the killing had become publicly known and was no longer secret, for it was known beyond the only witness, and Moses became afraid because he realized the deed was exposed and the matter had become public.
Through the envious Hebrew the report reached the Egyptians and was carried to Pharaoh in greatly exaggerated form. Pharaoh took it as a threat to his kingdom, regarded Moses as dangerous to his rule, sought his death and ordered him killed. That sentence forced Moses to flee for his life.
Premature Deliverance Attempt
Exodus 2:14 belongs to Moses's first, unready attempt to deliver Israel in his own strength, when his schooling in Egyptian wisdom and training to command armies made him feel qualified to free the slaves. He tried to gain his brethren's favor by righting their wrongs, killing an Egyptian who was oppressing an Israelite. He slew the Egyptian who was fighting with a Hebrew and hid the body in the sand, thinking the Israelites ought to recognize him as their deliverer and trying to begin the work at once in haste. He expected to deliver by warfare and human force rather than by dependence on divine power. His effort did not bring the expected deliverance, but he risked all on his own strength and failed, and in defeat and disappointment became a fugitive and exile in a strange land.
The rash killing was driven by self-confidence and a presumptuous spirit in the height of his human glory. In that act he manifested the spirit of him who was a murderer from the beginning and proved himself unfit to represent the God of mercy, love and tenderness. The Israelite's challenge exposed the failure of his human wisdom and strength, revealing the foolishness of man's wisdom, the weakness of human strength, and his utter helplessness and inefficiency without being upheld by the Lord. It was not God's will to deliver by warfare or by human inventions and planning, but by His own mighty power alone, that the glory might be ascribed to Him alone. Even this rash act was overruled by God to accomplish His purposes and serve His purpose.
Hasty, forceful human effort cannot do God's work, which requires faith moving and acting in God's strength and wisdom and pressing through difficulties by simple faith without trusting to one's own power. Men gain nothing by rushing on before the Lord in their own ways. When the deed became known Moses at once lost his confidence in God, turned back and turned his back on his appointed work, and fled from Pharaoh's wrath for his life. He concluded that his great sin and mistake in taking the life of the cruel Egyptian had shut him out from any part in delivering his people from cruel bondage.
God permitted the miserable failure to teach him dependence, simple faith, gentleness, goodness, long-suffering, patience, humility and meekness. He had yet to learn the lesson of faith taught to Abraham and Jacob, not to rely upon human strength or wisdom but upon the power of God for the fulfillment of His promises. This required forty years in humble work as a keeper of sheep in solitude among rocks, mountains and desert, patiently hunting stray sheep until he learned to be a tender, patient, loving and faithful shepherd. There in the school of self-denial and hardship he tempered his passions, learned to obey before he could govern wisely, brought his own heart into full harmony with God, and by his own experience was prepared to exercise fatherly care, while time, change of surroundings, communion with God, and struggle as for life unlearned what Egypt had molded into his habits and character. The habits of care-taking, self-forgetfulness and tender solicitude for his flock prepared him to become the compassionate, long-suffering shepherd of Israel.
Only with that education was he fitted and ready to be sent to deliver the children of Israel when God revealed Himself in the bush as the I AM. He learned his lesson so perfectly that afterward, though the Lord revealed Himself to Moses and spoke with him face to face as a man speaks to a friend, he was not lifted up to think he could teach the Lord how to work in behalf of His people. The same charge that Moses arbitrarily set himself up as prince and ruler over them reappears when appetite is restricted or when a close requirement is brought to bear upon the people. He was not seeking to rule them but was only an instrument in God's hands to bring His people into submission and obedience to God's voice, and the same jealous, suspicious murmuring is repeated by modern Israel against those God has selected to lead His people in the advance work when liberality is encouraged and love of the world and selfishness are rebuked.