“And he said, Who made thee a prince and a judge over us? intendest thou to kill me, as thou killedst the Egyptian? And Moses feared, and said, Surely this thing is known.”
My Notes
What Does Exodus 2:14 Mean?
Moses' first attempt at liberating his people fails catastrophically. He kills an Egyptian (verse 12) and the next day tries to mediate between two Hebrews — and is met with this devastating question: "Who made thee a prince and a judge over us? Intendest thou to kill me, as thou killedst the Egyptian?"
The question exposes Moses on two levels: his authority (who appointed you?) and his method (murder?). His own people reject him not because he's wrong about the injustice but because his approach is wrong and his credentials are missing. The calling is genuine; the timing and method are premature.
Stephen, in his speech in Acts 7:35, quotes this rejection and then identifies it as the pattern Christ fulfilled: "This Moses whom they refused... did God send to be a ruler and a deliverer." The one the people rejected the first time was the one God sent. The rejection of Moses' first attempt is the prototype for Israel's rejection of Christ's first coming. Rejected. Then sent. Then recognized.
Reflection Questions
- 1.When has a genuine calling been rejected because the timing or method was wrong?
- 2.What does the forty-year gap between Moses' first attempt and God's commission teach about preparation?
- 3.How does the 'who made you?' question find its answer in God's later commissioning?
- 4.Where are you running ahead of a calling that's genuine but not yet authorized?
Devotional
"Who made you a prince and a judge?" The Hebrew man's question cuts Moses to the bone — because the answer is: nobody. Nobody appointed Moses. Nobody authorized his intervention. Nobody asked him to kill the Egyptian or mediate the dispute. He acted on genuine compassion with zero authority, and the people he tried to help threw it back in his face.
Moses' first attempt at deliverance fails because it's premature, unauthorized, and violent. The calling is real — God will send Moses back to Egypt forty years later with a rod instead of a sword and a divine commission instead of self-appointment. But this first attempt is Moses running ahead of the calling, using the wrong method, at the wrong time.
The fear — "Moses feared, and said, Surely this thing is known" — reveals that the murder wasn't a considered act of liberation. It was an impulse Moses immediately regretted. The deliverer who will part the Red Sea is, at this point, a fugitive who made a fatal mistake and got caught. The gap between Moses' identity (future deliverer) and Moses' current condition (frightened murderer) is the gap where forty years of wilderness preparation will fit.
The question "who made you?" is answered by God in chapter 3: I made you. I'm sending you. Here's your authority. The same question that rejected Moses in chapter 2 is answered by God in chapter 3. But the answer takes forty years and a burning bush to arrive.
Have you been rejected for a calling that was genuine but premature? The people you tried to help threw your help back in your face? Moses says: the rejection isn't the end of the calling. It's the beginning of the preparation.
Commentary
Trusted original commentary from respected historical Bible scholars and theologians.
And he said, who made thee a prince and a judge over us?.... God had designed him for one, and so he appeared to be…
And Moses feared - He saw that the Israelites were not as yet prepared to leave their bondage; and that though God had…
Moses had now passed the first forty years of his life in the court of Pharaoh, preparing himself for business; and now…
Cross References
Related passages throughout Scripture