In this daily Bible reading is the account of Moses when he had grown up in Egypt as Pharaoh’s adopted grandson. It seems that Moses was also aware of his Hebrew roots. One day he went out to his Hebrew brethren and saw an Egyptian beating one of the Hebrew slaves. Moses killed the Egyptian and buried him. The matter became known to Pharaoh, so Moses fled Egypt to the land of Midian.
In Midian Moses married the priest of Midian’s oldest daughter and had two sons. Moses tended flocks for his father-in-law. One day while tending the flocks on Mount Horeb, Moses observed a burning bush that was not being consumed by the flames. When Moses approached the burning bush, God spoke to Moses from the midst of the flames.
God told Moses that God was aware of the distress of His people Israel, who were slaves in Egypt. God told Moses that He wanted Moses to lead Israel out of Egypt to the land God promised to Abraham Isaac and Jacob. Moses was reluctant and said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh, and that I should bring the sons of Israel out of Egypt?” Moses did not feel worthy. He was humble. Evidently that was the attitude that God desired. Moses was ready in God’s eyes to do the task that God wanted Moses to do.
Moses was about 80 years old when God spoke to him. He was about 40 years old when he killed the Egyptian, trying to help the Hebrews. At that age, he evidently felt that he had responsibility or perhaps a calling to protect Israel. However, Moses was following his own path and not the path prescribed by God. It took 40 more years for Moses to lose his pride and be useful to God.