Life in the palace was a privilege. Moses had a privileged position, and he could go out to see whatever he wanted to. Then he could return to enjoy the comforts of palace living.

One day, however, Moses saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew— an Israelite (one of his own people)—and he felt compelled to step in. Moses killed the Egyptian and buried him in the sand. But that violence became the reason why Moses had to separate from Pharaoh and run for his life out into the wilderness.

Like all of us, Moses could do bad things as well as good things. He had killed a person— and that was bad, even if the man he killed was beating a fellow Hebrew. Moses also came to the rescue of the daughters of a priest in Midian. And that kindness led him to become part of a family, marrying one of the priest’s daughters and becoming the father of a baby boy.

Yet something was missing. Moses named his son Gershom, saying, “I have become a foreigner in a foreign land.” Though he had a new family, Moses was not living with his people, the Israelites. Back in Egypt, while he lived in the king’s palace, Moses had not lived with his people either. He had not yet received his calling from God.

These wilderness years were a time of preparation for Moses, as God heard the cries of his covenant people and arranged to deliver them.