Bible ReadingExodus 2:11-25 “One day, when Moses had grown up, he went out to his people and looked on their burdens, and he saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his people. He looked this way and that, and seeing no one, he struck down the Egyptian and hid him in the sand. When he went out the next day, behold, two Hebrews were struggling together. And he said to the man in the wrong, ‘Why do you strike your companion?’ He answered, ‘Who made you a prince and a judge over us? Do you mean to kill me as you killed the Egyptian?’ Then Moses was afraid and thought, ‘Surely the thing is known.’ When Pharaoh heard of it, he sought to kill Moses. But Moses fled from Pharaoh and stayed in the land of Midian. And he sat down by a well. Now the priest of Midian had seven daughters, and they came and drew water and filled the troughs to water their father’s flock. The shepherds came and drove them away, but Moses stood up and saved them and watered their flock. When they came home to their father Reuel, he said, ‘How is it that you have come home so soon today?’ They said, ‘An Egyptian delivered us out of the hand of the shepherds and even drew water for us and watered the flock.’ He said to his daughters, ‘Then where is he? Why have you left the man? Call him, that he may eat bread.’ And Moses was content to dwell with the man, and he gave Moses his daughter Zipporah. She gave birth to a son, and he called his name Gershom, for he said, ‘I have been a sojourner in a foreign land.’ During those many days the king of Egypt died, and the people of Israel groaned because of their slavery and cried out for help. Their cry for rescue from slavery came up to God. And God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. God saw the people of Israel—and God knew.”
[16:27]Hebrews 11:24-26 “By faith Moses, when he was grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, choosing rather to be mistreated with the people of God than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. He considered the reproach of Christ greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking to the reward.”
[26:26]Exodus 2:1-10 “Now a man from the house of Levi went and took as his wife a Levite woman. The woman conceived and bore a son, and when she saw that he was a fine child, she hid him three months. When she could hide him no longer, she took for him a basket made of bulrushes and daubed it with bitumen and pitch. She put the child in it and placed it among the reeds by the river bank. And his sister stood at a distance to know what would be done to him. Now the daughter of Pharaoh came down to bathe at the river, while her young women walked beside the river. She saw the basket among the reeds and sent her servant woman, and she took it. When she opened it, she saw the child, and behold, the baby was crying. She took pity on him and said, ‘This is one of the Hebrews’ children.’ Then his sister said to Pharaoh’s daughter, ‘Shall I go and call you a nurse from the Hebrew women to nurse the child for you?’ And Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, ‘Go.’ So the girl went and called the child’s mother. And Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, ‘Take this child away and nurse him for me, and I will give you your wages.’ So the woman took the child and nursed him. When the child grew older, she brought him to Pharaoh’s daughter, and he became her son. She named him Moses, ‘Because,’ she said, ‘I drew him out of the water.’”
[24:47]Observation questions- In Exodus 2:11-14, what details show that Moses identifies with the Hebrews as “his people,” even though he was raised in Pharaoh’s house? [25:48]
- What repeated kinds of situations in Exodus 2 show Moses stepping into conflict and trying to rescue others? [38:10]
- What happens to Moses after he kills the Egyptian, and what words in the passage show his change in circumstances from Egypt to Midian?
- In Exodus 2:23-25, what four things does God do in response to Israel’s suffering? [48:12]
Interpretation questions- Hebrews 11 says Moses’ choice to identify with God’s people was an act of faith. What does that show about how faith values God’s promises over comfort, status, and security? [27:00]
- The Hebrew man asks, “Who made you a prince and a judge over us?” Why does that question expose the limits of Moses’ efforts, even though his instincts were moving in the right direction? [31:00]
- Moses sitting by the well looks like failure and exile. How might that moment actually be part of God’s preparation rather than the end of Moses’ usefulness? [35:17]
- God’s remembering in Exodus 2 is tied to his covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. How does that shape the way God’s people should understand his timing when deliverance seems delayed? [44:05]
Application questions- Moses chose the reproach of God’s people over the treasures of Egypt. Where is the pull of comfort, approval, or status making it hard to identify clearly with Christ and his people right now? [26:41]
- Moses had real concern for justice, but he acted recklessly and took matters into his own hands. When is there a temptation to do the right kind of thing in the wrong kind of way? What might patient obedience look like instead? [29:16]
- God may be removing “Egypt” from a person even in seasons that feel like loss, weakness, or disappointment. Has there been a season that looked like defeat at first but later proved to be a place of preparation? [35:33]
- Moses knew who he was even when he could not tell what God was doing. In what area of life is identity in Christ clearer than God’s purpose right now, and what would simple faithfulness look like there? [41:53]
- It is easy to think that what is really needed is more influence, more resources, more giftedness, or better circumstances. What is something personally being treated as if God cannot work without it? [50:08]
- Faithfulness belongs to the servant, but fruitfulness belongs to God. Where is there a need to stop trying to control outcomes and instead focus on the next act of obedience? [52:06]
- Israel’s hope was not Moses but God himself, and the final deliverance comes through Christ. When fear or discouragement rises, what helps re-center hope on God rather than on human strength or human helpers? [49:07]
