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 where he grew up as 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”(Exodus 2:12). Being bold enough to stand up for the underdog was nice, but murdering the bully and burying him in the sand was not, and even Moses’ own kin didn’t appreciate his efforts.  When he tried to break up a fight between two Jewish men the next day, one 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?”(Exodus 2:14). When Pharaoh found out, he was furious, and Moses fled to Midian to be out of reach of his wrath. 

Moses knew God had put him in a special place at the palace 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 Israelites 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”(Exodus 2:12).    

Had someone been watching, 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 would see 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.