Exodus 2:15-22 (NRSV)
Read Exodus 2:15-22 on biblegateway.com
Verse 15When Pharaoh heard of it, he sought to kill Moses. But Moses fled from Pharaoh. He settled in the land of Midian, and sat down by a well.
Verse 16The priest of Midian had seven daughters. They came to draw water, and filled the troughs to water their father's flock. Verse 17But some shepherds came and drove them away. Moses got up and came to their defense and watered their flock. Verse 18When they returned to their father Reuel, he said, "How is it that you have come back so soon today?" Verse 19They said, "An Egyptian helped us against the shepherds; he even drew water for us and watered the flock." Verse 20He said to his daughters, "Where is he? Why did you leave the man? Invite him to break bread." Verse 21Moses agreed to stay with the man, and he gave Moses his daughter Zipporah in marriage. Verse 22She bore a son, and he named him Gershom; for he said, "I have been an alien residing in a foreign land."
Devotion
This story of Moses at the well—like the story of his birth—again foreshadows Moses' calling of liberation through water.
Two other interwoven themes also mark this meeting: hospitality and identification with the stranger. Moses the stranger, misidentified as an Egyptian, is invited to break bread with this Midianite family. Reuel, the priest of Midian, offers Moses not only a meal, but also the hand of his daughter in marriage. But the real climax of this encounter comes with the birth and naming of the child. Just as Moses' name had significance, so also does the name of Moses' son, Gershom. The Hebrew word ger means "stranger" or "alien resident." Though Pharoah feared the Hebrews, Reuel sees the stranger Moses not as one to fear but as one in need of hospitality. Through the naming of Gershom, Moses—as well as all of his Hebrew people—are marked forever with this alien-resident identity.
Like Moses and the people of Israel, we are invited to identify with the strangers in our midst and invite them to feast at our table.
Prayer
Lord, teach us to identify with the stranger, and help us both to give and receive hospitality. Amen.