Life in the palace was a privilege. Moses had a privileged position, and could go out to see whatever he wanted. He could then return to enjoy the comforts of living in the palace.
However, one day, Moses witnesses an Egyptian beating a Hebrew – an Israelite (one of his own people) – and is forced to intervene. Moses killed the Egyptian and buried him in the sand. But that violence was the reason why Moses had to separate from Pharaoh and run into the wilderness to save his life.
Like all of us, Moses could do good things as well as bad things. He had killed a man – and it was bad, even though the man he killed was beating a fellow Hebrew. Moses also came to the rescue of a priest’s daughters in Midian. And that kindness led him to become part of a family, marry one of the priest’s daughters, and father a child.
Still there was something missing. Moses named his son Gershom, saying, I have become a stranger in a foreign country. Although he had a new family, Moses was not living with his people, the Israelites. In Egypt, Moses did not even live with his people when he lived in the king’s palace. He had not yet received a call from God.
These years in the wilderness were a time of preparation for Moses, as God heard the cries of His covenant people and provided for their deliverance.
