Posted on by Margarita & Stace Crews

KILLED THE EGYPTIAN / EXODUS 2:12

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(KJV) Exodus 2:12

Looking this way and that and seeing no one, he killed the Egyptian and hid him in the sand.

Choosing the Hard Path: Faith in the Midst of Failure (Exodus 2:12)

We often look at the heroes of the Bible as flawless pillars of strength, forgetting that they were human beings who made messy, impulsive choices. A prime example of this is found in Exodus 2:12, during a pivotal moment in the life of Moses.

The scripture tells us that after looking this way and that and seeing no one, Moses killed the Egyptian and hid him in the sand. He saw a Hebrew brother being beaten, and he took justice into his own hands.

It was a violent, sudden action devoid of wisdom—one that would send him running into the desert as a fugitive for forty years. Yet, looking deeper into this text and how the rest of Scripture interprets it, we find a profound lesson about identity, faith, and the messy process of being broken and rebuilt by God.

A Rash Action rooted in Righteous Identity

There is no sugarcoating the act itself: Moses committed murder. He acted too quickly, driven by anger and an ahead-of-time desire to be a deliverer. But while his methods were entirely wrong, his heart was undergoing a massive shift.

Before this moment, Moses had the world at his feet. Raised in Pharaoh’s court, he enjoyed the highest status, wealth, and comfort Egypt could offer. He could have easily ignored the suffering of the Hebrew slaves. Instead, he chose to look. He chose to step down from the palace steps and stand in the dirt with the oppressed.

The New Testament gives us incredible insight into what was actually happening in Moses’ heart during this dark hour:

  • Hebrews 11:24-26 reminds us that “by faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be known as the son of Pharaoh’s daughter. He chose to be mistreated along with the people of God rather than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin.”
  • Acts 7:23-29 explains that Moses thought his own people would realize that God was using him to rescue them, but they did not.

Moses rejected the temporary pleasures of sin for the honor of suffering for God and with God’s people. His violent outburst showed a severe lack of wisdom, but it also proved a fierce, budding faith. He was willing to lose everything to identify with the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

God Uses the Broken Pieces

The beauty of Moses’ story is that his sudden, foolish mistake did not disqualify him from God’s ultimate plan. It simply meant he needed a season of preparation. The palace taught him how to be a prince, but the desert of Midian would teach him how to be a shepherd. God took his raw passion, broke his self-reliance, and remolded him into a meek and powerful leader.

Perhaps you have acted too quickly, made a complete mess of a situation, or tried to force a door open that God hadn’t yet unlocked. Take heart. Moses’ story proves that your impulsiveness cannot outrun God’s grace. If your heart is genuinely seeking to align with God’s people and His righteousness, He can take your broken, sandy messes and turn them into a message of deliverance.

A Closing Prayer

Heavenly Father,

We thank You that You do not demand perfection before You choose to use us. Lord, like Moses, we confess that we often see the brokenness of this world and try to fix it in our own strength, reacting with human anger and a lack of wisdom. Forgive us for the times we have run ahead of Your timing.

We ask that You give us the courage Moses had to reject the temporary, fleeting pleasures of this world. Help us to gladly choose the hard path of standing with Your people, even when it costs us our comfort or status. Wash away our past failures, bury our mistakes in Your grace, and teach us patience in our own desert seasons. Shape our raw passions into holy persistence, so that when You call us, we are ready to lead with Your wisdom and power.

In Jesus’ name, Amen.

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Bible Study Tools I Use

Some of our Post That Might Interest You, All Out of the Current Book / Chapter

  1. MOSES / EXODUS 2:11
  2. HEBREW BABIES / EXODUS 2:6
  3. A SON / EXODUS 2:1-2
  4. SLAVE MASTERS OVER THEM TO OPPRESS THEM / EXODUS 1:11
  5. WHO DID NOT KNOW ABOUT JOSEPH / EXODUS 1:8
  6. MULTIPLIED GREATLEY / EXODUS 1:6-7
  7. THE SONS OF ISRAEL / EXODUS 1:1-5
  8. CREWS N AWAY: ANCHORED IN GRACE

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Blessings, Margarita & Stace

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