this blog post is about moses’ voice. ironically, the torah recounting of the espisode does not have moses speaking at at? thus, if one does not speak, how can their voice mature?
after moses murdered the task master and had controntation with the hebrew who successfully questioned moses’ moral authority, he fled to the land of midian. while in midian, he had an encounter at a well.
the torah states: “now the chief of midian had seven daughters, and they came and drew [water], and they filled the troughs to water their father’s flocks. but the shepherds came and drove them away; so moses arose and rescued them and watered their flocks. They came to their father reuel, and he said, “why have you come so quickly today?” they replied, “an egyptian man rescued us from the hand[s] of the shepherds, and he also drew [water] for us and watered the flocks.” exodus 2:16-19
moses, in this instance, defended women versus multiple shepherds. he, brave or foolish, took on a number individuals to defend them. not only did he defend them, he then assisted them in watering their flocks.
what was moses’ intent? justice? compassion for the vulnerable?
one can argue that moses’ voice was improving. the incident does not report any violence happening. the incident involved an injustice which he sought to right. finally, the incident shows moses assisting and providing service to the daughters. this possibly significant is you assume that a being an egyptian was considered by the midianites as a person of status.
this episode marked moses’ further development towards being as a leader.
at this point in moses’ life, we know that he had a sense of justice for the underdog. he saw wrong and right and was willing engage in the dispute. moses may not have had a “spoken” voice to this effect. moses showed, compassion, restraint, fearlessness, and humility. it was a step towards his becoming a great leader.
do we grow in our lives as far as our moral voice? do we grow in our lives as far as our moral actions? these are difficult questions we must confront in our life.
in the end, we all need to take the time and look into our mirror as to see what we are about. this viewing can be a painful experience. we all have many missed opportunities which would have made us a better person. taking the opportunity to view our past is an important step for us to improve and make a better future. we can all transform. we all have elements of goodness that can be refined and amplified.
moses’ story is an example how a person who started his entrance into society as an epic failure was able to transform into greatness. it can be argued that his missteps led to his development.
be well!
The Ten Commandments Project 