What happened to Moses between Exodus chapter 2 and the very next chapter? What happened to the self-confident prince of Egypt who beat the task master to death for striking a Hebrew? Why do we have in chapter 3 a man claiming to be incapable of delivering God's people from bondage when, according to all human reason, he is the clear choice for the job?
Moses was miraculously spared from Pharoah's decree to kill every male baby. I'm sure that as a good Hebrew mother, Jochebed continually reminded him of this fact and told him that God had spared his life for a reason. I can even imagine her using words similar to those used by Mordecai when talking to Esther centuries later: "And who knows whether you have not attained royalty for such a time as this?" Having grown as a Hebrew for the first twelve years and then suddenly finding himself in the Egyptian court had to cause him to go looking for answers as to what his purpose might be. I think that it is for this reason that Moses killed the Egyptian. I think that even at this early stage in his life, he recognized that God drew him out of the Nile to lead God's people from captivity.
The only problem is that failed to understand that he was not the entire plan. He approaches the issue from the perspective of "I'm going to do this great thing for God" rather than the perspective of " I'm going to humbly allow myself to be the instrument through which God accomplishes HIS plan."
We all know the story. After having to flee Egypt as a result this incident, Moses ended up in Midian. While in Midian, he took up the most lowly job an Egyptian could ever take up: watching sheep. This served two purposes. First, it served to humble him. Second, it served to put Moses in a still and quiet environment in which God could speak to him. And Moses listened. This is evident by the fact that when God spoke to him from the burning bush, Moses recognized the voice for what it was.
When God informed Moses that he was to lead the people out of Egypt, Moses responded not out of self-importance, but with recognition that he was incapable of the task. He essentially responded "God, You remember what happened when I tried this forty years ago." God says "you're not going to deliver my people. That's my job. You're just the instrument through which I'm going to work." It was only when Moses understood this that he agreed to go.
I am a lot like Moses. I have often had grand plans of what I was going to do for God. In my pride I thought that He couldn't accomplish these things without me, when instead, the only reason that He chooses to use me as His instrument is so that I can grow closer to Him in the process.
