Meta Description: Discover how Moses went from an Egyptian prince to a wanted murderer, and how 40 humbling years in Midian prepared him for God's calling.
Long before Moses stood before Pharaoh and demanded freedom for his people, he was a broken man running for his life. This is the untold middle chapter of his story — the years between the palace and the burning bush, when a prince became a shepherd, and a murderer became a man God could finally use.
| Topic | Description |
|---|
| Person | Moses (early life) |
| Location | Egypt (royal court) and Midian (wilderness) |
| Time Period | Approx. 15th–13th century BC (dates debated among scholars) |
| Bible Reference | Exodus 2:1–22 |
| Key Relationships | Pharaoh's daughter (adoptive mother), Jochebed (birth mother), Zipporah (wife), Jethro (father-in-law) |
| Main Lesson | God can redeem failure and prepare us in seasons of obscurity |
Biblical Background
Historical Setting
To understand Moses, we have to understand the world he was born into. The book of Exodus opens with the descendants of Jacob multiplying rapidly in Egypt, so much so that a new Pharaoh, one who "did not know Joseph" (Exodus 1:8), grew afraid of their numbers. This fear led to forced labor, oppression, and eventually a chilling order: every Hebrew baby boy was to be thrown into the Nile (Exodus 1:22).
It was into this dangerous world that Moses was born, hidden by his mother Jochebed for three months, and then placed in a basket among the reeds of the Nile. Pharaoh's daughter found him, had compassion on him, and raised him as her own son in the Egyptian palace (Exodus 2:1–10). Readers of this series have already met the women who made Moses' survival possible — Shiphrah and Puah, the midwives who feared God rather than Pharaoh, Jochebed, his courageous birth mother, and Pharaoh's daughter, who adopted him despite the royal decree against Hebrew children.
Scholars differ on exactly which Pharaoh ruled during this period. Some point to Thutmose III or Amenhotep II of the 18th Dynasty, while others favor a Ramesside-era date in the 13th century BC. The Bible itself does not name the Pharaoh, and Egyptian records from this era do not explicitly mention Moses or the Hebrew slave population by name, which is not unusual since ancient Egyptian inscriptions rarely recorded embarrassing defeats or internal unrest. What matters most for the biblical narrative is not the exact date but the reality of oppression that frames Moses' entire life story.
Moses grew up with a foot in two worlds. Acts 7:22 tells us he "was educated in all the wisdom of the Egyptians and was mighty in his words and deeds." This means Moses likely received training in Egyptian administration, possibly military strategy, religious practices, and the Egyptian language, while also, through contact with his birth family (Exodus 2:7–9 suggests Jochebed nursed him and likely stayed connected to him in his early years), retaining some awareness of his Hebrew identity.
Geographic and Cultural Context
Egypt in this era was one of the most powerful civilizations on earth, built on the Nile River's predictable flooding, massive building projects, and a rigid social hierarchy with Pharaoh at the top, regarded as a semi-divine figure. The Hebrews, by contrast, occupied the bottom rungs of this society, forced into brick-making and construction labor, likely in the region of Goshen in the eastern Nile Delta.
This is the tension Moses lived inside: raised with the privileges of Egyptian royalty, yet biologically and, increasingly, emotionally connected to an enslaved people. Hebrews 11:24–25 gives us insight into an internal struggle that must have built for years: "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."
That single verse compresses what was likely years, maybe decades, of quiet identity crisis. Moses did not wake up one day and instantly reject his Egyptian upbringing. Exodus 2:11 tells us he was already grown when he "went out to his people and looked on their burdens." The Hebrew phrasing suggests intentional, repeated visits, not a single passing glance. Moses was watching, and something in him was breaking.
It's also worth noting that Midian, where the second half of this story takes place, was a real geographic region generally located in the northwestern Arabian Peninsula, east of the Gulf of Aqaba, though its exact borders shifted over time and among different tribal groups. The Midianites were themselves descendants of Abraham through his wife Keturah (Genesis 25:1–2), meaning that when Moses fled there, he was moving from one branch of Abraham's family into another, even if he likely did not fully appreciate that connection at the time.
The Biblical Account
Major Events
The pivotal moment of this chapter in Moses' life arrives suddenly and violently in Exodus 2:11–12. Moses, now an adult, goes out among his people and sees an Egyptian beating a Hebrew slave. Scripture says he "looked this way and that, and seeing no one, he struck down the Egyptian and hid him in the sand."
This is not a small detail to rush past. Moses committed murder. He may have believed he was defending an oppressed brother, and Acts 7:24–25 even suggests Moses "supposed that his brothers would understand that God was giving them salvation by his hand," but the method he chose was violent, secretive, and, as the next verse reveals, ultimately futile.
The very next day, Moses tries to intervene again, this time between two fighting Hebrews. One of them turns on him with a piercing question: "Who made you a prince and a judge over us? Do you mean to kill me as you killed the Egyptian?" (Exodus 2:14). In that single moment, Moses realizes his secret is not a secret at all. Fear grips him. The text says plainly, "Then Moses was afraid."
Word spreads to Pharaoh, who seeks to kill Moses (Exodus 2:15). The prince of Egypt, a man who once had access to the highest levels of power, becomes an overnight fugitive. He flees east, across the desert, away from everything familiar, and settles in the land of Midian.
There, Moses experiences another dramatic reversal. He sits down by a well, and seven daughters of a Midianite priest come to draw water for their father's flock. When shepherds try to drive the women away, Moses steps in and helps them, then even waters their flock himself (Exodus 2:16–17). This act of quiet kindness, so different from the impulsive violence in Egypt, shows a man who still has instincts to protect the vulnerable, even in the middle of his own crisis.
The priest, named Reuel in this passage (also called Jethro elsewhere in Exodus, likely a title or alternate name), invites Moses to stay. Moses agrees, and eventually marries one of the daughters, Zipporah. Exodus 2:22 tells us they had a son named Gershom, and Moses named him with a phrase meaning "sojourner there," saying, "I have been a sojourner in a foreign land." That name itself is a small window into Moses' emotional state, a man who, even years later, still felt like an outsider, disconnected from both the Egypt he fled and the Hebrew people he had tried, and failed, to rescue.
According to Acts 7:30, Moses spent forty years in Midian before God appeared to him at the burning bush. Forty years is not a short detour. It is roughly half a working adult lifetime in the ancient world, spent tending sheep, a profession the Egyptians actually considered detestable (Genesis 46:34), for a man who was raised in a palace.
Key Biblical Characters
Pharaoh's Daughter raised Moses in the palace, giving him access to Egyptian education, language, and status, though Scripture does not record her direct involvement once Moses fled.
Jochebed, his birth mother, is not mentioned again by name in this section, but many Bible teachers believe her early influence, nursing and likely teaching young Moses about his heritage, planted the seeds that later grew into his identification with the Hebrew people.
The Unnamed Egyptian whom Moses killed represents the system of oppression Moses was reacting against, though his violent response was not sanctioned by God and led directly to his exile.
The Quarreling Hebrew who confronted Moses forces the turning point of the story. His pointed question exposes both Moses' secret and, in a broader sense, foreshadows the very resistance and grumbling Moses would face from his own people for decades to come during the exodus itself.
Reuel/Jethro, the priest of Midian, offers Moses refuge, family, and a completely different way of life. Some scholars suggest Jethro may have worshiped the true God in some form even before Moses arrived, since he is called "priest of Midian" without any indication of idol worship, though this remains a point of scholarly discussion rather than settled fact.
Zipporah, Moses' wife, becomes part of his new identity as a shepherd and family man. She reappears significantly later in Exodus 4:24–26, in a difficult and debated passage, but in this section she represents Moses' new, quieter life far from Egyptian politics.
Meaning and Lessons
What Can We Learn Today?
Moses' story between the palace and the burning bush offers some of the most relatable lessons in all of Scripture, precisely because it shows a man failing before he succeeds.
God does not disqualify people because of their past failures. Moses committed murder. By any modern or ancient legal standard, this was a serious crime. Yet God did not discard Moses. Instead, God took forty quiet years to reshape him before ever calling him to leadership. This doesn't mean God overlooks wrongdoing, or that consequences don't matter (Moses did lose his position, his home, and his identity as an Egyptian prince), but it does mean failure is not always the end of the story.
Good intentions do not excuse wrong methods. Moses may have genuinely wanted to help his oppressed people. Acts 7:25 even hints that Moses believed God was using him. But wanting to do good does not justify taking justice into one's own hands through violence and secrecy. This is an important distinction for readers today: motive matters, but so does method.
Seasons of obscurity are not wasted time. Forty years is a long time to spend in what looked like an ordinary, unremarkable life, tending sheep in a foreign land. From a human perspective, this could look like a waste of Moses' education, potential, and talent. Yet those same forty years taught Moses the geography of the wilderness he would later lead two million people through, taught him patience with slow-moving, easily frightened animals (not unlike a certain group of former slaves he would later shepherd), and stripped away the pride of Egyptian royalty. Many Bible teachers point out that the very skills Moses needed for the exodus were quietly built during the years he probably felt most forgotten.
God meets us in unexpected places. Moses did not encounter God in the halls of Pharaoh's palace, surrounded by wealth and status. He encountered God while doing ordinary shepherd work in the wilderness (a moment covered in the next article in this series). This reminds readers that God is not confined to impressive settings, and that ordinary daily work can become the exact place where God shows up.
Identity crisis can lead to genuine transformation. Moses' journey from confused prince to humbled shepherd mirrors something many people experience today, a season of not quite fitting anywhere, caught between two worlds or two versions of themselves. Moses' story suggests that this uncomfortable in-between season can be exactly where God does His deepest work.
Frequently Asked Questions
Was Moses a real historical person?
Most scholars agree that the biblical narrative describes an early, formative figure central to Israel's identity, though direct extra-biblical (outside the Bible) archaeological evidence naming Moses specifically has not been found. This is common for many ancient figures whose stories were passed down through religious and oral tradition rather than royal inscriptions. Christians and Jews affirm Moses' historical reality based on the consistent scriptural witness across both the Old and New Testaments.
Why did Moses kill the Egyptian?
Exodus 2:11–12 says Moses saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew slave and, after checking that no one was watching, struck the Egyptian down and hid his body. Acts 7:24–25 suggests Moses acted to defend his fellow Hebrew and may have believed he was fulfilling God's plan to deliver his people, but Scripture does not excuse the act itself, and the very next events show serious consequences for what Moses did.
How long did Moses live in Midian before returning to Egypt?
According to Acts 7:30, Moses spent forty years in Midian before God spoke to him through the burning bush in Exodus 3. This means Moses was likely around 80 years old when he eventually confronted Pharaoh, a detail confirmed in Exodus 7:7.
Who was Zipporah, and how does she fit into Moses' story?
Zipporah was one of the seven daughters of Reuel (also called Jethro), the priest of Midian. Moses met her at a well after helping her and her sisters water their father's flock, and the two later married and had at least one son, Gershom (Exodus 2:16–22). Zipporah later plays a significant, though debated, role in Exodus 4:24–26.
Why is Midian important in the Bible?
Midian was the region east of the Gulf of Aqaba where the Midianites, descendants of Abraham through Keturah (Genesis 25:1–2), settled. It became Moses' place of refuge, marriage, and spiritual preparation for forty years, and it was in this region, at Mount Horeb, that God first appeared to Moses in the burning bush (Exodus 3:1).
Conclusion
Moses' journey from Egyptian prince to wilderness fugitive is one of the Bible's most honest portraits of human failure and divine patience. He was raised with every advantage Egypt could offer, a royal education, court status, and access to power, yet one impulsive, violent choice cost him his position, his home, and forty years of what looked, on the surface, like an ordinary, forgotten life. There is nothing glamorous about the way this chapter unfolds. Moses does not walk off the palace steps into instant greatness. He walks off into fear, hiding, and decades of anonymous shepherd work in a land that was not his own.
But nothing about those forty years was wasted. The wilderness that swallowed Moses' pride also prepared his character, his knowledge of the land, and his patience for the far greater calling still waiting for him. The very terrain Moses wandered as a shepherd would later become the route he led two million former slaves through. The patience he learned managing a flock of easily frightened, slow-moving sheep would later be tested, and tested again, by an easily frightened, slow-moving nation of people he was called to lead. Moses' story reminds every reader that failure, even serious failure like the murder recorded in Exodus 2, is not necessarily the final chapter of a person's story. Seasons that feel like exile or obscurity can be exactly where God does His quiet, unseen work of preparation, even when the person going through it cannot see any purpose in it at all.
This chapter of Moses' life also matters because so many people today experience the same in-between feeling Moses did: caught between who they used to be and who they are becoming, uncertain of their place, wondering if their best years have already passed them by, or if a past mistake has permanently closed a door. Moses' forty years in Midian say otherwise. Sometimes the most important preparation happens far from the spotlight, in ordinary days that don't feel significant at all, tending to daily responsibilities, raising a family, and simply showing up. Moses could not have known, sitting by that well in Midian or watching his flock graze near Horeb, that God was quietly building him into exactly the leader Israel would need. Neither can we always know, in our own quiet seasons, what we are being prepared for.
For parents, teachers, and Bible study groups reading this account together, Moses' Midian years offer a gentle but honest talking point: it's possible to make a serious mistake and still have a future with God. It's possible to feel forgotten and still be exactly where you need to be. And sometimes the most ordinary-looking years of life are doing the most important work behind the scenes.
In the next article in this series, we'll follow Moses to the base of Mount Horeb, where an ordinary shepherding day turns into one of the most extraordinary encounters with God in all of Scripture: the burning bush that would not burn up, and the call that would change the course of history.
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