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Field Notes: Moses at the Well

Exodus 2

Moses arrives in Midian on the run from Pharoah…and sits down at a well.

Jethro’s daughters come to draw water, but shepherds push them aside. Moses steps in, drives them off, and helps water the flock.

That choice to defend the women changes the trajectory of Moses fortune. The daughters return home early, and soon Moses is welcomed in. He meets Zipporah, finds a place to stay, and his life begins to settle in a land he didn’t plan to be in. In fact, he had no plan. This became the plan. God’s plan.

At this well, a man in hiding becomes a man with a future. It is here that the Lord pressed and held the “start” button for ten seconds and did a hard reset on the life of Moses.

Moses Defending the Daughters of Jethro, by Nicholaas Verkolje (c. 1700s), oil on canvas