there is a process...

Exodus hidden layers part 3

Have you ever been watching a game with somebody, and then you get up for a few minutes to use the bathroom or get a snack, and by the time you come back, everything feels different? 

People are reacting, yelling, celebrating, and you're just sitting there asking, what did I miss?

That has happened recently in football. 
During the first leg of the semi final in the Champions League, Bayern and Paris Saint Germain were playing, and if you got up for even one moment, you missed so much of the game because goals were happening back to back, back to back. Everything was changing so fast, even when you were actually sitting down watching it.

And honestly, reading Exodus 2 into Exodus 3 felt a lot like that.

Because at the end of Exodus 2, Moses is still being identified as an Egyptian. And that caught my attention because that was the last time he was ever called an Egyptian in the text. 

Then suddenly you move into Exodus 3, and by the very first sentence, he is already a shepherd pasturing flocks.

And I just sat there thinking, wait, what happened?

when did he get this job?

Because the text doesn't tell you anything. 
It doesn't tell you how long had passed. 

It just suddenly drops you into a completely different season of Moses’ life. One chapter ago he was the prince of Egypt on the run after killing an Egyptian, and now he is leading sheep in Midian. Then God calls him from the burning bush.

And I was like... how long has it been? 

How long had Moses been a shepherd before God talked to him?

Then I moved to Acts 7, and that is where it tells you that Moses had been shepherding in Midian for forty years before God said I'm sending you back to Egypt.

Forty years.

God did not call an Egyptian prince. Because that person was left in Exodus 2. He didn't call somebody who had just become a shepherd for one or two years. 

He commissioned somebody who had been tending flocks for forty years.

And maybe that is the lesson in all of this. That God sent a servant as his mouthpiece who had been faithful shepherd for 40 years.

And isn't that something?

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Heart Call:

Moses had to become a shepherd before God sent him. Those 40 years of shepherding were part of the process.

With God, there is often a process, and many times He uses shepherding to shape people before He commissions them. David spent over 10 years in preparation before ascending to the throne. Moses spent 40 years in Midian before being called to lead Israel. And there are so many more examples throughout Scripture.

All this to say, my friend, I’m learning that there is a process. More often than not, it takes decades. But the beauty of it is not really the timeline. It’s learning to walk closely and personally with God in the middle.

• Moses Flees Egypt After Killing an Egyptian— Exodus 2:11–15
  Moses sees an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, kills the Egyptian, realizes the matter is known, and flees to Midian.

• Moses Identified as an Egyptian for the last time — Exodus 2:19
  They describe Moses by saying, “An Egyptian delivered us…” marking the final time Moses is explicitly identified that way.

• The Burning Bush and God’s Call — Exodus 3:1–10
  Moses is now shepherding flocks in the wilderness when God appears in the burning bush and calls him to return to Egypt.

• Stephen Recounts Moses’ Forty Years in Midian — Acts 7:23–30
  Stephen explains that forty years passed between Moses fleeing Egypt and God appearing to him at the burning bush.

• How did God transform Moses throughout these 40 years?

until next time friends!

xoxo,
Lynn :)

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Photo Credits: Getty images April 28, 2026.