Learning Humility in the Wilderness / Exodus 2:11-22

Good to see you this week, church. I hope you’re doing well. If you’re a guest among us, let me introduce myself. My name is Shay Sumlin, one of the pastors here at The Well, and we are going to continue in our study of the book of Exodus. If you have a Bible with you, turn to Exodus chapter 2. We’re going to pick up in verse 11 here in just a bit.

The entire book of Exodus is completely and devotedly about redemption. The whole book is about finding deliverance. We’re going to study an event that happened 3,500 years ago, but solely for the purpose of understanding that God purposed and planned for that event to find its ultimate fulfillment in Jesus Christ and our redemption and deliverance in Him. That’s where we’re running in this series.

Our Deep Longing for Deliverance

As we talk about redemption and deliverance, one of the things I’ve become convinced of in my short time on this earth is that we as a people—whether Christian or non-Christian—are driven at the very core of our being by an insatiable need for our own deliverance. We want our own redemption of some sort.

Here’s what I mean by that. Even this past week, I was looking at some articles talking about upcoming inventions right in front of us, stretching from 2017 into the next decade. Everything from the fields of science and medicine to industry, technology, and entertainment. In all these vast innovations of man coming across the scene, about four of the top ten revolved around VR goggles and virtual reality. Far beyond just entertainment, some of these connect to brain mapping and our biochemistry. There are so many incredible, wonderful inventions coming up, and I’m thankful for the common grace God has given us with our unique minds to think and create these things.

Yet one thing was glaringly obvious as I looked through those articles: no matter the invention, no matter the innovation, no matter the field, all of them shared a common core center. They exist to help ease or escape some sort of pain or suffering. Almost every single one of them. That points to the reality that there is an insatiable desire within us for escape and deliverance. We hope and believe that the life we have right now is not the life we’ll have one year or ten years from now, hoping improvements will be made upon the human condition. That is what drives our pursuit of innovation.

While I believe that desire for deliverance is God-ordained and good, where it goes sideways is when we misdiagnose our real problems, believing they are simply physical or circumstantial. We misunderstand that the true depth of the human condition lies far below circumstances, physical relationships, and physical suffering—it reaches deep into the recesses of our heart and the sin that dwells within. As a result, we misapply the solutions. We look to man, to innovation, and to human self-improvement apart from a dependence upon the sovereign, life-transforming power of our God.

That is exactly what we see played out in the life of Moses. We’ve learned a lot about Moses in these first couple of weeks, but today we see his pursuit of self-will, self-reliance, and self-centeredness. Ultimately, God will have to lead him away into a wilderness in order to wean him from those things and break him, so that his dependence falls rightly upon God.

Let’s read Exodus chapter 2, verses 11 through 22.

Exodus 2:11-22 (NASB)

Now it came about in those days, when Moses had grown up, that he went out to his brethren and looked on their hard labors; and he saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his brethren. So he looked this way and that, and when he saw there was no one [around], he struck down the Egyptian and hid him in the sand. He went out the next day, and behold, two Hebrews were fighting with each other; and he said to the offender, ‘Why are you striking your companion?’ But he said, ‘Who made you a prince or a judge over us? Are you intending to kill me as you killed the Egyptian?’ Then Moses was afraid and said, ‘Surely the matter has become known.’ When Pharaoh heard of this matter, he tried to kill Moses. But Moses fled from the presence of Pharaoh and settled in the land of Midian, and he sat down by a well. Now the priest of Midian had seven daughters; and they came to draw water and filled the troughs to water their father’s flock. Then the shepherds came and drove them away, but Moses stood up and helped them and watered their flock. When they came to Reuel their father, he said, ‘Why have you come [back] so soon today?’ So they said, ‘An Egyptian delivered us from the hand of the shepherds, and what is more, he even drew the water for us and watered the flock.’ He said to his daughters, ‘Where is he then? Why is it that you have left the man behind? Invite him to have something to eat.’ Moses was willing to dwell with the man, and he gave his daughter Zipporah to Moses. Then she gave birth to a son, and he named him Gershom, for he said, ‘I have been a sojourner in a foreign land.’

Now, up to verse 11, we have seen an interesting setup to this story. By the time you get to verse 11, Israel has been enslaved under Egyptian rule for 350 years. Three hundred and fifty years of slavery, and they are crying out for release and redemption.

Before Moses arrives on the scene as a grown man, Pharaoh’s hysteria leads him to fear that these people will multiply and overtake the Egyptian empire. In his paranoia, Pharaoh resorts to two wicked solutions: first genocide, and when that fails, infanticide, attempting to wipe out all the young Hebrew boys. But God in His sovereignty protects one little baby boy. And of all the ways God could rescue this child, He rescues him through Pharaoh’s own daughter, who takes Moses and raises him as her own.

Brad left off at verse 10 last week, where Moses was just a young child. One verse later, in verse 11, Moses is 40 years old. We know this because Stephen tells us in Acts chapter 7 that Moses was 40 years old when this stage of his life takes place.

The Qualified Deliverer (On Paper)

If there was ever a human being fit by human standards for the role of deliverer of Israel out of Egypt, it was this 40-year-old Moses. On paper, nobody was more qualified. Think about his resume for a moment.

For 40 years, Moses grew up under Pharaoh’s care in the royal household. Stephen tells us in Acts 7:22 that Moses was educated in all the learning of the Egyptians and was a man of power in words and deeds.

Acts 7:22 (NASB)

’Moses was educated in all the learning of the Egyptians, and he was a man of power in words and deeds.

Moses possessed immense influence. He was trained in the best educational system the wealthiest, most powerful empire on earth could provide. If Moses was going to seek deliverance through political power, nobody was better groomed. He was likely fluent in both Egyptian and Hebrew. If anyone could serve as an arbiter between master and slave to negotiate freedom, it was Moses.

If political arbitration didn’t work, what about military might? Many commentators believe Moses may have served as a general in Egypt’s armies. Some even believe that, had circumstances been slightly different, he might have been in line for the throne. Growing up for 40 years in Pharaoh’s court gave him access to vast resources. If he wanted to lead a military coup, he had the connections and tactical knowledge to attempt it.

I also started thinking that at 40, Moses was probably at his physical peak. Then I remembered that I’m 42, and I’m pretty sure my 20-year-old self could take me easily right now, so scratch that! But physical peak aside, Moses was certainly at the peak of his leadership influence, wisdom, and standing.

Most importantly, when you look at the qualifications needed for a redeemer, Moses had something no Egyptian prince had: he was one of them. He was a Hebrew.

You might think that after 40 years of being sheltered in Pharaoh’s palace, eating royal food, and looking down into the valley at the hard labor of his people, he might have thought, “Thank God I’m not them. Sucks to be them, but God rescued me and put me up here in the palace.” But that was not his mentality. God had softened his heart toward the afflictions of his people.

Look at how verse 11 describes his relational identity: when Moses had grown up, he went out to his brethren and looked on their hard labors, seeing an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his brethren. He never referred to them as “those people.” They were his people. The author of Hebrews describes Moses’ heart in Hebrews chapter 11.

Hebrews 11:24-25 (NASB)

By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, choosing rather to endure ill-treatment with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin,

Think about that. After 40 years, Moses effectively said, “Pharaoh’s court is not my true family. My greatest allegiance isn’t to this affluence; it’s to the lineage of Abraham and the promises God made to us.”

Along with this devotion, we see three demonstrations of Moses’ human strength and his desire to stamp out injustice in chapter 2.

First, in verses 11 and 12, Moses takes on the Egyptian taskmaster. He sees the taskmaster beating a Hebrew slave, and years of simmering indignation boil over. Moses does what he should not have done—there is no excuse for murdering this man, hiding the body, and covering his sin. It was an atrocity. But from a purely human leadership perspective, you see a man willing to step into the gap, exert physical strength, and try to free his people.

Second, in verse 13, two Hebrews are fighting. Moses steps up to arbitrate, trying to make peace and confront the offender. He attempts to exert leadership over his own people.

Third, in verses 16 and 17, Moses is in the desert of Midian. Seven daughters of the priest of Midian come to draw water, and bully shepherds drive them away. Moses steps in, confronts the shepherds, and waters their flock.

On paper, this 40-year-old Moses seemed completely ripe and ready to be Israel’s deliverer. Not only would we think that, but Moses thought that of himself. Stephen tells us in Acts 7:25 that Moses supposed his brethren would understand that God was giving them deliverance by his hand.

Acts 7:25 (NASB)

’And he supposed that his brethren understood that God was granting them deliverance through him, but they did not understand.

He assumed they would look at him and say, “Moses, our redeemer, we’ve been waiting for you!” He had it all figured out.

The Glory Thief and the Resignation to Defeat

Here is the kicker: God didn’t want to use this 40-year-old Moses. As gifted as he looked on paper, God could not use him yet, primarily for two reasons.

First, this 40-year-old Moses was a glory thief. He honestly believed he was going to bring about deliverance through his own might. Suppose hypothetically that his plan had worked. He kills the taskmaster, the Hebrews rally behind him, they overthrow Egypt, and march out free. Who gets the glory in that scenario? Moses does, not God.

God is jealous for His own glory, and unlike fallen human beings, He alone is righteously deserving of it. God does not share His glory with fallen men who try to steal it. We see this same impulse in Peter in the Garden of Gethsemane. When Jesus is arrested, Peter pulls his sword and chops off a servant’s ear. Jesus immediately stops him: “No, we are not bringing in the kingdom this way. The kingdom comes tomorrow morning when I go to the cross and die for your sins, not through human aggression and sword-swinging.”

Second, despite all his outward leadership capabilities, Moses was entirely impotent to provide true redemption. His self-reliant effort backfired completely.

He killed the Egyptian, thinking it would spark reformation. Instead, his sin was exposed, Pharaoh sought his life, and Moses had to run for his life. Strike one: Egypt rejects him.

The next day, he tries to mediate between two Hebrews, expecting gratitude. Instead, they sneer, “Who made you a prince and a judge over us? Are you going to kill me like you killed the Egyptian?” Strike two: Israel rejects him.

When we try to bring about deliverance through our own strength, failure is inevitable. Eventually, even we reject ourselves. That is what happened to Moses. This confident leader tucks his tail between his legs and flees hundreds of miles into the Midian desert, resigning himself to defeat.

Notice verse 21: Moses was content to dwell with the man Reuel. He ran away to escape his pain, pouting in the wilderness, ready to set up camp and never look back at Egypt. He marries Zipporah, a Midianite woman from an ancient enemy people of Israel. When his first son is born, he names him Gershom, saying, “I have been a sojourner in a foreign land.” Gershom means “exile.” Moses’ identity has become that of a defeated exile who has surrendered to despair.

The Purpose of the Wilderness

Moses ran to the wilderness to escape his failure, the injustice, and in many ways, to escape God—much like Jonah. But in God’s sovereignty, God brought Moses to the wilderness so Moses could truly find Him.

Of all the world-class education Moses received in Egypt, there was one thing Egypt could never teach him: how to depend entirely on Yahweh, the sovereign God of the universe. God had to bring him into the wilderness so Moses would come face to face with his own sin, unrighteousness, powerlessness, and weakness—so that in his weakness, the strength of God could be magnified.

Scripture is filled with these wilderness journeys.

Abraham had comfort and stability in Ur, yet God called him into an unknown wilderness, stripping away his self-reliance so he would learn by faith that the God who makes promises keeps promises.

Joseph was betrayed by his brothers and had to learn dependence in a pit, in slavery, and in prison before God elevated him to bring deliverance to the very brothers who betrayed him.

Joshua was developed and refined in the desert before leading Israel into the Promised Land.

Elijah had to go to the desert to tune out the loud noises competing for his heart and hear the still, small voice of God.

Ruth experienced the bitter desert of loss before discovering the sweetness of God’s provision through a kinsman redeemer.

Jesus Christ Himself, the epicenter of all wilderness narratives, entered the desert and proved that God’s Word is fully sufficient against the fiercest temptations, qualifying Him to deliver us from our sin.

In every instance, men and women had to confront their own inability so they could rest in the sufficiency of God. A.W. Tozer put it well when he wrote that it is doubtful whether God can bless a man greatly until He has hurt him deeply. Some of the greatest spiritual heroes in my life are those who have walked through profound suffering, because when everything was stripped away, they learned that God was everything.

Personal Testimony: Crushed in the Desert

I think about my own wilderness journeys, especially the one the Lord took me through in college. I didn’t grow up in a Christian home. The Lord saved me in high school, but in college, things really took off. I was being discipled and invested in, and leadership doors swung wide open.

I started sharing the gospel in my fraternity, and dozens of men came to faith. That spread into the wider Greek system, and more men and women met Jesus. I was given platforms to speak at churches and college ministries across the area. It was exciting, but there was a fatal flaw: the breadth of my ministry was growing much faster than the depth of my heart. My influence was outpacing my maturity.

Because the outward fruit was so tangible and immediate, I became a glory thief like Moses. Arrogance and cockiness crept in. I loved the applause of men. Underneath the external success was a crippling hypocrisy, because my heart was deceitful above all things.

Jeremiah 17:9 (NASB)

’The heart is more deceitful than all else And is desperately sick; Who can understand it?

In His mercy, the Lord did not let me continue down that road before He crushed me.

While evangelizing men in my fraternity, I was secretly living in sexual immorality. One night, a guy I had been sharing the gospel with walked into a room and caught me in the act with a girl. In an instant, my credibility and witness were completely shattered.

That same semester, I failed all four of my classes at the University of North Texas—a 0.0 GPA. I was so ashamed that I intercepted the mail at Christmas so my parents wouldn’t see the report card, lying to them about my grades. I was placed on academic probation: fail one more class, and you are expelled.

Naturally, the next semester I took just one class—intramural basketball. I nailed that sucker with a straight A! But the following semester, needing to make real progress, I took a full load and failed two classes. One of them was Art Appreciation. I had to read a book and draw a picture, and I failed. That’s the depth of my depravity right there.

I was formally expelled from the University of North Texas. I couldn’t attend school for a semester, and I had to face my parents and admit that after a full year of college, I had exactly one credit hour to my name.

Around the same time, the godly leaders at my church sat me down and said, “Shay, we cannot affirm a dualistic life where you serve publicly in ministry while living apathically in your studies and compromised in your character. You are benched from all leadership.”

For six months, I had no school, no ministry, and no platform. I was deeply bitter. I told God, “I did all this for You, and this is what I get?” I wanted to walk away from church, ministry, and faith altogether.

Thankfully, godly men and women pulled me close and said, “Shay, God did not lead you into this desert to end you. He brought you here to teach you a dependence you’ve never had. If you submit to His loving discipline, His strength will be made perfect in your weakness. But if you kick against the goads and run, you’ll remain broken.”

By God’s grace, He began stripping away the pride, entitlement, and self-sufficiency. In Christ, His grace proved sufficient to shape me into a man who longed to depend on Him rather than rob Him of His glory. God lovingly prunes us in the wilderness to cultivate absolute dependence on Him.

We live in a culture that despises suffering and avoids corrective discipline at all costs. We want control and self-sufficiency. We run the moment someone challenges us. That isn’t just a generational issue; it is a human heart issue. We run from God instead of leaning into His discipline.

The God-Dependent Leader

Wilderness journeys can last for weeks, months, or years. Moses spent 40 years in Midian. When he finally emerges in Exodus chapter 5, no one looking at him on paper would choose the 80-year-old Moses as a deliverer. He is old, frail, slow of speech, and wrestling with insecurity. He is no longer the punchy, self-confident 40-year-old of chapter 2.

Yet that is precisely whom God uses. God does not want the self-reliant Moses of chapter 2; He uses the God-dependent Moses of chapter 5. It took 40 years of desert wandering to bring him to that place.

God is not ultimately looking for our talent, intellect, power, or eloquence. What He desires is a broken, contrite, and submitted heart that yields fully to His sovereign power.

Who Are You Trusting In?

This passage presses an essential question upon us: where does your dependence lie for the rescue and redemption you need?

First, consider your salvation. What are you trusting in to be reconciled to God? Do you believe you must clean yourself up and jump on a religious performance treadmill to earn God’s acceptance? If so, you are relying on human strength. God invites you to step off that treadmill and trust the perfect Substitute, Jesus Christ, who ran the race for you. When you transfer your trust from your works to Jesus, you find true deliverance.

Second, consider your sanctification. If you are already a believer, do you believe the grace that saved you is the same grace that sustains you? In your marriage, your workplace, your parenting, or your schoolwork, are you trying to manufacture spiritual breakthrough in your own strength? Peter reminds us that His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness.

2 Peter 1:3 (NASB)

seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence.

God loves you enough to pursue you into the wilderness to strip away your self-reliance so that you will lean fully on Him.

The Greater Moses

Ultimately, this entire narrative points us to Jesus. In Luke 24, on the road to Emmaus, Jesus told His disciples that everything written about Him in the Law of Moses had to be fulfilled.

Luke 24:44 (NASB)

Now He said to them, ‘These are My words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things which are written about Me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.’

When Moses wrote Exodus chapter 2, he was writing a story that pointed directly to the true Deliverer. In Deuteronomy 18, Moses told the people that the Lord would raise up a prophet like him from among their brothers, to whom they must listen. In Acts chapter 3, Peter proclaims that this promised Prophet is Jesus Christ.

Deuteronomy 18:15 (NASB)

’The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your countrymen, you shall listen to him.

Acts 3:22-26 (NASB)

’Moses said, ’THE LORD GOD WILL RAISE UP FOR YOU A PROPHET LIKE ME FROM YOUR BRETHREN; TO HIM YOU SHALL GIVE HEED to everything He says to you. ‘And it will be that every soul that does not heed that prophet shall be utterly destroyed from among the people.’ ’And likewise, all the prophets who have spoken, from Samuel and [his] successors onward, also announced these days. ’It is you who are the sons of the prophets and of the covenant which God made with your fathers, saying to Abraham, ‘AND IN YOUR SEED ALL THE FAMILIES OF THE EARTH SHALL BE BLESSED.’ ‘For you first, God raised up His Servant and sent Him to bless you by turning every one [of you] from your wicked ways.’

Moses went into the wilderness reluctantly and imperfectly to learn dependence. Jesus entered the wilderness of our broken world willingly and perfectly. He humbled Himself, perfectly dependent upon the Father, even unto death on a cross, so that you and I might be redeemed. Jesus is the far superior Deliverer, and He is entirely worthy of your trust.

Psalm 146 captures this truth powerfully. In what I’ll call the New Shay Texan Translation, the psalmist writes:

Psalms 146:3-10 (NASB)

Do not trust in princes, In mortal man, in whom there is no salvation. His spirit departs, he returns to the earth; In that very day his thoughts perish. How blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob, Whose hope is in the LORD his God, Who made heaven and earth, The sea and all that is in them; Who keeps faith forever; Who executes justice for the oppressed; Who gives food to the hungry. The LORD sets the prisoners free. The LORD opens [the eyes of] the blind; The LORD raises up those who are bowed down; The LORD loves the righteous; The LORD protects the strangers; He supports the fatherless and the widow, But He thwarts the way of the wicked. The LORD will reign forever, Your God, O Zion, to all generations. Praise the LORD!

Don’t put your trust in mortal men who die and take their human wisdom to the grave with them. Put your hope in the God of Jacob! He is the Maker of heaven and earth, the sea, and everything in them. He keeps faith forever. He executes justice for the oppressed, gives food to the hungry, sets prisoners free, and opens the eyes of the blind. He lifts up those who are bowed down, watches over the stranger, sustains the fatherless and the widow, and reigns forever and ever.

That is our God. Put your hope in Him.

Let’s pray.

Father, we confess our complete dependence upon You. You sustain the breath in our lungs and have numbered our days. You are sovereign over all things. Who are we to steal Your glory or seek redemption apart from You? As Jesus reminded us, He is the vine and we are the branches; apart from Him, we can do nothing.

John 15:5 (NASB)

’I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.

Lord, prune us. Shape us. Where needed, lead us through the wilderness to break our self-reliance and magnify Your strength in our weakness. Strip away our pride and teach us to rest in Your promises. We would rather be an 80-year-old dependent Moses than a 40-year-old self-sufficient one wandering in futility. Be our refuge, Lord. In Jesus’ name, Amen.