From Prince to Shepherd

Moses had fled Egypt to Midian.  There,  he meets Jethro, a Medianite  priest, married Jethro's daughter, and transforms his life from a prince in Pharaoh's Kingdom to a shepherd in the desert.

One third of his life was spent in luxury.  He had the best food,  servants, power, the best education.   But  his heart was still with his people,  the Hebrews... The slaves. In a moment of anger,  Moses had killed a man.  Now, he had fled to escape the wrath of Pharaoh.  Can you imagine the closeness he might have once felt with the Pharaoh?  Now gone, had that left Moses feeling sad? Yet Moses knew the authority and decisions of Pharaoh would be carried out without question.  No doubt Moses had witnessed the "justice" of Pharaoh before,  and knew that his life wouldn't be spared just because he had grown up as a prince.   After all,  the Pharaoh was considered a god, not just a king.

Moses ran for his life.  He became a shepherd.  After all,  the Egyptians had no use for shepherds. That is why the Hebrew people were originally given land by a Pharaoh of the past during Joseph's life.  Goshen kept the shepherds separate from the Egyptian people, in a place with grazing for sheep.  As slaves, they now worked for Pharaoh, but Moses would learn the trade of his ancestors after he fled Egypt.   He would become a shepherd.

Moses was a prince, a shepherd, and eventually a savior for his people.  Christ was also all three.

And so, we pause now in the study of Moses' life to study shepherding.  Like studying Egypt to learn more about the Bible,  studying shepherding brings the Bible to life.   We catch glimpses of the forty years of the life of the shepherd Moses.   He was humbled there.  The arrogant prince changed his fine clothes for rough robes.  I'm certain the changes on the inside were just as drastic,  the contrast just as strong. 

The Lord is my shepherd,  I shall not want.

I was blessed to learn that my library has a book on Psalm 23 by Philip Keller.   I am also reading Traveling Light by Max Lucado to my daughters. We will spend the next three and a half weeks engrossed in sheep,  shepherds,  mammals,  deserts,  and maybe even the weather.   The Bible is coming alive for us as we study, read, watch videos,  and learn.  

Psalm 23 was written by David,  but so exemplifies Christ.   I look forward to all that God has in store over the next few weeks! I look forward to blogging about our adventures!