This Way and That

“Glancing this way and that and seeing no one, he killed the Egyptian and hid him in the sand.”  Exodus 2:12

 

When weaned by his mother, Moses was taken to the palace and grew up a privileged prince. “He was educated in all the wisdom of the Egyptians and was powerful in speech and action”(Acts 7:22).  But his heart was not at home among royalty, and when Moses was forty years old, “he decided to visit his fellow Israelites”(Acts 7:23).  Their hard labor and harsh mistreatment made him mad, and when he saw one of his own being beaten up, he couldn’t calm down.

“Glancing this way and that and seeing no one, he killed the Egyptian”(Ex 2:12). Being bold enough to stand up for the underdog was nice.  Murdering the bully and burying him in the was not, and even Moses’ own kin didn’t appreciate his efforts.  When he tried to break up a fight among two Jews the next day, they threw his good intentions back in his face. “Who made you ruler and judge over us? Are you thinking of killing me as you killed the Egyptian?”(Ex 2:14). When Pharaoh found out, he was furious, and Moses fled to Midian to be out of reach of his wrath.  

But let’s not rush to the burning bush.  A lot happened in a little time, and if we slow down to rewind, we can see where things went awry.  The answer is in black and white. 

Moses knew God had put him in a special place for a specific purpose, and he “thought his own people would realize that God was using him to rescue them”(Acts 7:25), but murder wasn’t right.  Pharaoh knew it.  The Jews knew it.   And Moses knew it.  That’s why he looked around before he did wrong.   “Glancing this way and that and seeing no one, he killed the Egyptian and hid him in the sand”(Ex 2:12).   

 

Had someone been looking, Moses wouldn’t have taken a life.  Had he known others would find out, there wouldn’t have been a funeral.  Moses’ motive was right, but his method was wrong, and he wanted to make sure no one saw his sin.  

If you have to look both ways before you start, stop.

You don’t need to glance around when you’re doing good.