God stripped Moses of the illusion that he could fulfill it Himself

Moses’ birth and childhood

Moses was born into a godly Levite family, his Father - Amram, and Mother - Jochebed (who was also Amram’s aunt – Exodus 6:20). His older siblings were, Miriam (born 1400 BC) and Aaron (born 1396 BC). So Moses was indeed the youngest of the three. When he was born Pharaoh had already passed a decree on the killing of all Israel boys. However, when the mother saw the boy - Moses, she saw that he was a beautiful child, and she hid him for three months. At first glance, this seems like simple parental love. But [Hebrews 11:23], gives the divine interpretation, it was an act of faith, that led her not to be afraid of the king’s command.

So the woman conceived and bore a son. And when she saw that he was a beautiful child, she hid him three months (Exodus 2:2).

This means, Amram and Jochebed, did not act from emotion or fear buy by faith. Faith always rests on something God has said, Amram and Jochebed likely believed, God’s covenant with Abraham still stood, Israel had a divine future, and the child was part of God’s plan. They looked at the same decree of Pharaoh to kill the sons and chose to trust God instead of submit to fear.

 

The Pharaoh’s command was an attempt to destroy destiny. But Moses’ parents chose, Obedience over safety, faith over fear, and purpose over preservation. They were not just saving a baby, they were preserving God’s deliverer. Faith allowed them to see what others could not see. Sometimes faith looks like, risk, resistance, and quiet disobedience to evil systems. Moses was hidden not because he was loved, but because he was believed in. Faith turned an act of protection into an act of prophecy.

 

Pharaoh’s daughter finds Moses

For God to fulfill His divine purpose, He sovereignly guided, the faith of Moses’ parents, the currents of the Nile, and the compassion of Pharaoh’s daughter. That moment was not accidental.

And when she opened it, she saw the child, and behold, the baby wept. So she had compassion on him, and said, “This is one of the Hebrews’ children (Exodus 2:6).

God used, a mother’s faith, a river’s flow, and the heart of an Egyptian princess. To preserve the life of the child who would become Israel’s deliverer. Through this divine orchestration came not only the rescue of Moses, but ultimately the deliverance of the people of Israel. We may conclude and say, God’s purposes are fulfilled through, human obedience, natural circumstances, and unexpected instruments. Even the household of Pharaoh became part of God's saving plan.

 

 

Moses’ escape from Egypt

At the age of forty, Moses had received the highest level of Egyptian education [Acts 7:22]. From a human perspective, Moses was fully prepared for leadership. Historical traditions even suggest he distinguished himself as a military leader in campaigns against Ethiopia, positioning him as a potential successor within Egypt’s royal system. He had, education, influence, power, and opportunity. Everything pointed toward a future as an Egyptian ruler.

Now it came to pass in those days, when Moses was grown, that he went out to his brethren and looked at their burdens. And he saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his brethren (Exodus 2:11).

Yet something shifted, by faith Moses refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter [Hebrews 11:24–26]. He chose, the identity over privilege, affliction over comfort, and God’s people over royal power. Moses believed his position, training, and influence could be used to deliver Israel. From a human standpoint, it made sense, a prince leading a liberation, a trained leader confronting oppression, and a reform from within the system.

 

But God’s strategy was different, Moses wanted to deliver Israel as a prince. But, God would deliver Israel through a shepherd. Moses relied on, status, strength, and strategy. But, God would later use, humility, dependence, and obedience. Faith led Moses to reject Egypt, but wisdom had yet to teach him how deliverance would come. Before God could use Moses publicly, He would first reshape him privately.

 

Moses escapes to Midian

When Moses fled Egypt, he may have believed that God’s purpose for his life had collapsed. From Moses’ perspective, he had lost position, influence, had failed to deliver Israel, and his future in Egypt was finished. What once looked like destiny now looked like defeat.

When Pharaoh heard of this matter, he sought to kill Moses. But Moses fled from the face of Pharaoh and dwelt in the land of Midian; ... (Exodus 2:15).

Moses ran from Pharaoh, but he was being led by God. Midian was not a place of escape, but a classroom. In Egypt, Moses had been trained as a prince. In Midian, he would be trained as a shepherd.

 

Israel was not a nation to be ruled like Egypt, they were a flock to be led. God needed Moses to learn, patience in obscurity, dependence instead of self-confidence, and leadership through care, not power. This was critical before he could stand before Pharaoh, he had to walk behind sheep. What seemed like, failure, rejection, and delay, was actually, preparation, reshaping, and realignment. God did not send Moses to Midian to hide him, but to form him. Egypt gave Moses competence, but Midian gave Moses character, and character was essential for the deliverer God intended him to be.

 

Moses was content to live in Midian

By settling in Midian, marrying, and starting a family, Moses may have appeared to abandon both Egypt and his earlier hope of delivering Israel. Moses was no longer striving for influence, position, or recognition. He embraced an ordinary life. To any observer, it may have looked like, the end of a destiny, fading of a calling, and the settling of a once-promising leader.

Then Moses was content to live with the man, and he gave Zipporah his daughter to Moses (Exodus 2:21).

In Egypt, Moses had learned how to be somebody, educated, powerful, and influential. But in Midian, he learned how to be nobody, unknown, ordinary, and dependent. Egypt built his confidence trained and his abilities, Midian dismantled his self-reliance and reshaped his identity. God does not use human greatness as the foundation of His work.

 

Before Moses could represent God’s power, he had to be emptied of personal ambition. Midian was not Moses giving up on God’s plan, it was God stripping Moses of the illusion that he could fulfill it Himself. God often moves us from prominence to obscurity, self-confidence to humility, and strength to dependence, so that when He works through us, and the glory is unmistakably His. Moses learned to be nobody, so God could reveal Himself as the Somebody.

 God turns His attention to the Israelites

After years in Midian, Moses may have grown distant from the daily suffering of Israel. But though Moses’ focus shifted, God’s did not. God’s response was not based on Israel’s perfection. They were oppressed, weak, and spiritually inconsistent. Yet God moved, not because they were worthy, but because He is faithful. His intervention was rooted in covenant, not conduct, promise, not performance, relationship, and not righteousness. God remembered, not in the sense of recalling forgotten information, but in the sense of acting upon His promises.

So God heard their groaning, and God remembered His covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob (Exodus 2:24).

Just as Israel stood in relationship with God through Abraham’s covenant, we now stand in relationship with God through a new covenant established by Jesus Christ. God’s favor toward us is not earned by flawlessness, but grounded in covenant grace. God’s faithfulness sustains the covenant even when human strength fails.

George G. Ruheni, PhD.