It’s hard to believe, but by the time Moses flees from Egypt, he’s almost forty years old (Exodus 2:11-12). It’ll be another forty years before he returns back to lead the Israelites out of Egypt and towards the promised land (Exodus 7:7).
Truthfully, it doesn’t sound like Moses ever wanted to go back. In Exodus 2:15, it says that Pharaoh is clearly seeking his life, so any return trip would be a death sentence. Moses is in a form of self-imposed exile, a fugitive on the run from anyone who would recognize his name.
But perhaps even more, Moses’ purpose for going back is long gone, as well. According to Acts 7:25, Moses thought killing the Egyptian was a sign to everyone that deliverance was close at hand! In reality though, they rejected him and his salvation. Why go back when the Israelites clearly don’t want to be rescued?
And possibly as a third point, Moses recognizes the strife that existed between his people. The day after he kills the Egyptian, he notices two Israelites fighting and tries to “reconcile them to peace” (Acts 7:26). They don’t want to do that either; as Moses will find out soon enough, most of those people would rather fight and bicker than move towards a common goal.
So, Moses sits in Midian, a journey that, according to Josephus, took him nearly three months of travel time. He’s so far removed from everything in his old life that he’s forced to start completely over.
Ironically, his new life also begins with violence – sort of. He sits by a well in Midian, when the seven daughters of Reuel arrive with their flocks. Local shepherds try to drive them away, but Moses defends the girls and helps them with their animals.
This action endears him to the father, who gives him his daughter Zipporah as a wife. They have a son named Gershom, named for his new life as a foreigner. It probably wasn’t as glamorous as his old life in Pharaoh’s house, but it was peaceful – and for a man looking to start over, that’s all he could ask for.
