This section introduces some of the secondary characters in Exodus and sets the stage for Moses' call. Its purpose is primarily transitional.
Moses provided water for Jethro's daughters and their sheep in the wilderness (vv. 16-17). Later he provided water for God's people and their flocks in the wilderness (cf. 17:6; Num. 20:7-11). This was the third time that Moses sought to deliver others from harm (v. 17; cf. vv. 12-13).
As "the priest of Midian"(v. 16) Reuel (v. 18) was the spiritual head of his branch of the Midianites.51He appears to have been a worshipper of the true God (cf. 18:12-23). At this time he may simply have been a God-fearing Semite.
Moses' years in Midian were years of bitter humiliation. He gave expression to his feelings by naming his first son Gershom (v. 22), meaning "banishment."
"The pride and self-will with which he had offered himself in Egypt as the deliverer and judge of his oppressed brethren, had been broken down by the feeling of exile."52
Moses lived in Midian "many days"(v. 23) before Pharaoh (Thutmose III) died. Stephen said it was a period of 40 years (Acts 7:30).
". . . Moses is at home in the author's view because he has come at last to a people who worship the God of his fathers. The Moses-Midian connection is theological. Suggested deftly in this climactic section of the narrative of chap. 2, that connection will be affirmed in chaps. 3-4 and 18."53
The prayers of the Israelites in their bondage touched God's heart, and He began anew to work for them (cf. 3:7-9). This is another of the many references in Scripture that indicate that prayer affects some of God's actions. Remembering His covenant with the patriarchs God acted for the Israelites by commissioning Moses.
God graciously and sovereignly used Moses' sin (evidently manslaughter, v. 12) to bring ultimate blessing for His chosen people (cf. Rom. 5:20). This is important to observe as we seek to understand God's ways.
