This personal Bible reflection explores how God prepared Moses through three distinct seasons: his early life in Egypt, forty years in Midian and forty years leading Israel through the wilderness. It also considers what Moses may have learned in a priestly household while carefully separating what Scripture states from devotional interpretation.
This meditation began after I read United Christian Broadcasters’ devotional Leave Your Comfort Zone (1). That message focused on Moses leaving comfort and security to obey God. As I reflected further, another pattern stood out to me: God had been preparing Moses through every major season of his life.
“I will lead them in paths they have not known. I will make darkness light before them.”
Moses could not fulfil God’s call while clinging to the identity, status and security of Pharaoh’s household. Hebrews tells us that, by faith, he refused to be known merely as the son of Pharaoh’s daughter and chose to identify with God’s people (Hebrews 11:24–27).
Yet leaving Egypt did not mean Moses was immediately ready to lead Israel. Between the palace and the Exodus came Midian: marriage, family life, shepherding, obscurity and the wilderness. What appeared to be a long detour became part of his preparation.
Three Forty-Year Seasons in the Life of Moses
Stephen’s speech in Acts 7 helps us see a striking pattern. Moses was about forty when he visited the children of Israel; another forty years passed before God called him at the burning bush; and Moses then led Israel during forty years in the wilderness. Exodus says he was eighty when he stood before Pharaoh, and Deuteronomy records that he died at 120.
| Life season | Setting | What Scripture states | Possible preparation |
|---|---|---|---|
| First forty years Birth to about age 40 |
Egypt and Pharaoh’s household | Moses was raised by Pharaoh’s daughter and became learned in the wisdom of the Egyptians. | Exposure to language, administration, public life and the workings of a powerful nation. |
| Second forty years About age 40 to 80 |
Midian and the wilderness | Moses settled in Midian, married Zipporah, had children and tended Jethro’s flock. | Shepherding, patience, desert knowledge, family responsibility, humility and dependence on God. |
| Third forty years About age 80 to 120 |
Egypt, Sinai and the wilderness journey | God sent Moses to confront Pharaoh, lead Israel out of Egypt and guide the people through the wilderness. | Earlier experiences were brought together in a calling that still required daily obedience and God’s presence. |
The “possible preparation” column is devotional interpretation. Scripture gives the events, settings and timing, but it does not provide a detailed list of every skill Moses learned in each season.
First Formation: Moses in the Palace
“And Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and was mighty in words and deeds.”
My first thought was that God allowed Moses to see first-hand how a nation functioned. He grew up close to royal power and was educated in Egyptian wisdom. This does not mean Scripture tells us the exact subjects he studied or formally says he was “trained to rule Israel.” Nevertheless, it is reasonable to recognise that his upbringing exposed him to a world of leadership, authority, communication and national affairs.
There is also a warning in this part of his story. Knowledge and position were not enough. At about forty, Moses tried to defend an oppressed Hebrew and killed an Egyptian. He may have understood something of Israel’s need, but he was not yet commissioned to deliver the nation in his own strength. His palace formation had value, but it could not replace God’s timing or God’s way.
Second Formation: Moses in Midian
“Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian.”
Moses went from Pharaoh’s household to tending sheep. To human eyes, that could look like a fall in status. Yet shepherding required watchfulness, patience, endurance and responsibility for vulnerable lives. The wilderness also became familiar ground.
Later, Moses would lead an entire people through a wilderness for forty years. He would face thirst, hunger, uncertainty, conflict and repeated complaints. His years in Midian did not make that task easy, but they meant the desert was no longer completely unknown to him.
This is the part of the story that speaks most strongly to me: the length of Moses’ hidden season matched the length of his later wilderness leadership. He spent forty years living in Midian before spending forty years guiding Israel in the wilderness (Acts 7:29–36). What may have felt like delay was not necessarily wasted time.
God did not begin preparing Moses at the burning bush. The palace, the exile, the family years, the flock and the wilderness all came before the public assignment. A season that looks unrelated to our calling may still be forming the patience, understanding or endurance that the calling will require.
Reuel, Jethro and a Priestly Household
Another detail caught my attention. Exodus 2:18 names Reuel as the father of the seven daughters, including the woman Moses later married. Exodus 3:1 calls Moses’ father-in-law Jethro, the priest of Midian. A Bible encyclopaedia explains Reuel/Jethro as double names and gives the meaning of Reuel as “friend” or “companion of God.”
It is meaningful that Moses lived within the household of a priest of Midian. He later stood before Israel as God’s appointed leader and covenant mediator. He received God’s instructions for worship and carried out the consecration of Aaron and his sons.
Scripture does not say that Reuel or Jethro trained Moses in the priesthood that God later established for Israel. It also does not identify Moses as Israel’s high priest. God appointed Aaron and Aaron’s sons to serve as priests (Exodus 28:1–3), while Moses served in his unique role as prophet, leader and mediator. Moses then consecrated Aaron and his sons according to God’s command (Leviticus 8:1–13).
Therefore, living in a priestly household may have given Moses some exposure to religious leadership, but that remains a thoughtful possibility rather than an explicit statement of Scripture.
Prepared, Yet Still Dependent on God
Even after all those years of life experience, Moses did not feel ready. At the burning bush, he asked:
- Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh?
- What shall I say when Israel asks who sent me?
- What if they do not believe me?
- How can I speak when I am slow of speech?
- Could God send someone else?
These questions in Exodus 3:11–4:17 show that preparation does not always feel like confidence. Moses still needed God’s presence, God’s words, God’s signs and the support of Aaron. His calling was not the reward for becoming self-sufficient. It required him to trust the One who called him.
At eighty years old, Moses returned to face Pharaoh (Exodus 7:6–7). He left the security of his Midian life, but he did not go alone. God promised to be with him.
What Moses’ Preparation Teaches Me
- God can use more than one kind of training. Formal learning, ordinary work, family responsibility and difficult seasons may each form something different in us.
- A hidden season is not automatically a wasted season. Moses’ shepherding years looked far removed from national leadership, yet the wilderness later became the setting of his service.
- Earlier failure does not have to be the end of the calling. Moses’ first attempt to intervene in Egypt went terribly wrong, but God later sent him back under divine instruction.
- Preparation does not remove the need for dependence. Moses’ background could not deliver Israel; God did.
- Obedience may require leaving a new comfort zone. Moses first left Egypt as a fugitive, but decades later he had to leave the settled life he had built in Midian and return.
Questions for Personal Reflection
- Is there a past season I have dismissed as wasted, even though God may still use what I learned there?
- Am I relying on experience alone, or am I still depending on God’s presence and direction?
- Has a place of obscurity been developing patience, courage or compassion in me?
- Is God asking me to leave a familiar form of comfort or security in order to obey Him?
- What is the next faithful step I can take without needing to know every future detail?
Prayer
Lord, thank You that no season surrendered to You has to be wasted. Help me recognise what You have been teaching me through places of learning, waiting, work, family responsibility and wilderness. Keep me from trusting only in my own experience, and give me courage to obey when You lead me along an unfamiliar path. Form in me the humility, patience and faith needed for the work You have prepared. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Frequently Asked Questions
Did Moses spend forty years in Midian?
Acts 7 places Moses at about forty when he visited his fellow Israelites and says another forty years passed before the burning-bush encounter. Exodus 7:7 then records that Moses was eighty when he and Aaron spoke to Pharaoh.
Was Moses Israel’s high priest?
No. Moses was Israel’s prophet, leader and covenant mediator. Aaron and his sons were appointed to the priesthood, and Aaron served as high priest. Moses did, however, consecrate Aaron and his sons according to God’s instructions.
Are Reuel and Jethro the same person?
Exodus 2 uses the name Reuel in the family account, while Exodus 3 calls Moses’ father-in-law Jethro. Many biblical reference works understand Reuel and Jethro as double names for the priest of Midian, although the family terminology has also been discussed by interpreters.
References and Further Reading
- United Christian Broadcasters, “Leave Your Comfort Zone (1),” 13 May 2016
- Exodus 2:11–3:22 — Moses in Egypt, Midian and the burning bush (NKJV)
- Acts 7:20–36 — Stephen’s account of Moses’ forty-year seasons (NKJV)
- Hebrews 11:24–27 — Moses’ choice of faith (NKJV)
- Exodus 28:1–3 — Aaron and his sons appointed as priests (NKJV)
- Deuteronomy 34:5–7 — Moses’ age at his death (NKJV)
- Encyclopedia of the Bible — Reuel
Topics Covered: Moses, palace preparation, Midian, wilderness training, forty-year seasons, Reuel, Jethro, Aaron, priesthood, obedience, comfort zones, spiritual preparation
