Moses felt a zeal for God’s house that consumed him, and when he killed the Egyptian who was beating an Israelite, he made it very clear that he wanted to cut off ties with Pharaoh and re-establish the antithesis between the offspring of Eve and the offspring of the serpent. He knew that a person cannot have two masters, and he chose the Lord God of Israel as the only king he would serve. Moses believed the time had come to act, and he took matters into his own hand, relying on his own strength and wisdom. When we are tired of oppression and afraid for the well-being of God’s people, we are attracted by such zeal and bold actions that clearly re-establish the antithesis. So we are drawn into the story by the Holy Spirit to learn an important lesson. When Moses killed the Egyptian he was showing that he was not ready to lead his people yet. His zeal was praiseworthy, but he would not be ready to lead until he learned to wait for the Lord.
Moses did not have the authority of office to kill that merciless slave-master. That is why he looked this way and that
before he killed him, and why Pharaoh was angry enough that he wanted to kill Moses (Exodus 2:15). Moses also did not have the authority of ordination from God to lead the Israelites out of slavery. That is why the guilty Israelite whom Moses addressed asked him who made him ruler and judge over them (Exodus 2:14). Although he understood his role and calling, Moses had to learn that he could not serve as a leader until God himself ordained and appointed him to this task (see his understanding of this in Exodus 3 and 4 when Moses was so worried that he would not be received as God’s appointed leader), and God did not appoint him to this task until Moses learned that leaders in the church must submit to God’s plan and God’s timing. Only then are they equipped with the divine authority to lead God’s people, with the confidence they need when their decisions are unpopular, and with the assurance that God’s people will recognize the hand of God in their lives. Moses would need to face the self-imposed penalty of exile for forty years to be further refined before he or the people of Israel would be ready.
The Holy Spirit opens our eyes to see again that we are not showing that we trust in the sovereign God when we try to take deliverance into our own hands. In order to be a ruler and judge among the people of God, Moses had to learn the art of working with his hands, keeping the flock, being married to Zipporah, and having children. Obviously, as our Lord Jesus Christ and the apostle Paul showed, these are not qualifications for the office, but it does teach us that following the Lord is not separate from our daily calling. God is bringing salvation to the world, in the world, and the incarnation of the Son of God is one of the great comforts of the Christian faith for it assures us that God knows (Exodus 2:25). May he help us to be patient and wait for the Lord as he refines us for his service.
12 He looked this way and that, and seeing no one, he struck down the Egyptian and hid him in the sand.