“Then Moses was content to live with the man, and he gave Zipporah his daughter to Moses.” Exodus 2:21 (NKJV)
Moses messed up in Egypt by killing an Egyptian who had been beating a Hebrew slave. So Moses fled Egypt and ended up in the land of Midian. One day some shepherds bullied seven sisters who were bringing their flock of sheep to the well to get water. Moses stood up to the bullies and chased them away. He watered the sheep and they got home sooner than their father expected them to arrive. They told their father what had happened. The father invited Moses to come and eat with them.
Moses had shown the seven sisters a great courtesy seeing as the Bible notes shepherds rather than a shepherd. Moses was out-numbered yet that didn’t stop him. He had been trained in Egypt for all types of warfare.
Then comes the verse above. Surely a lot happened that the Bible doesn’t tell us about between Moses eating with the family and Zipporah becoming his wife. Arranged marriages happened a lot in Bible times, so the details might not have been considered important to include. Zipporah and Moses had a son and they named him Gershom.
The Bible doesn’t tell the details of why Zipporah had been chosen as a wife for Moses. It is possible that she was the oldest sister and in the custom of the time the oldest daughter was to be married before the younger daughters. What is evident is that Zipporah was willing to become Moses’ wife in obedience to her father’s wishes.
We may not always agree with everything our parents say or do as there seems to be a wide gulf between generations for understanding and social nuances. However, whenever possible I need to respect and honor my parents and elders as long as what they want me to do is consistent with God’s laws and how God is directly leading me at the time.
Listen to Selah as they sing “God Leads His Dear Children Along.”
Published on MyBibleRoom.com 1/20/24, 6:00 am