This is meant to be a fun reading (with some commentary) for all ages through Scripture. Please do not take this as a substitute for reading through the Bible on your own.
Previously, we heard the story of Joseph. Thanks to his father Israel spoiling him, Jospeh was a little brat. His brothers got fed up with his behavior towards them. Even though Joseph was their brother, these boys did something horrible and despicable to him. They sold Joseph into slavery.
Through God's help and his gift for interpreting dreams, Joseph rose to help save Egypt from famine. As a result, Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, gives Joseph so much authority over the land of Egypt that only Pharaoh himself outranks Joseph. Joseph then, at just 30 years of age, prepares Egypt, in its time of plenty, for the famine that is coming ahead.
The famine doesn't just impact Egypt, though. The famine spreads to the other lands as well. Joseph sells the grain Egypt has stored up in preparation to those who come to him, making Egypt more prosperous than it was before.
One of the lands impacted by the famine is Joseph's own home. Israel, once again referred to by his old name Jacob, on hearing of Egypt's storerooms, sends his sons to see if they can get some of this grain. Joseph recognizes his brothers, and is conflicted over his emotions towards them. He isn't sure, at first, what to do.
Finally, Joseph forgives his brothers telling them not to fear any longer. Through they did wrong, he declares to his brothers that God used their action to help save lives by preparing for the famine. They all come together, crying and hugging, and Joseph asks that they bring their father down too. They return and tell their father that Joseph is, in fact, alive and thriving in Egypt. Israel returns with them, and Pharaoh, being ecstatic, provides for all of Joseph's family.
Israel has aged and become an old man at this point, and not long after coming to Egypt prepares himself to die. Before doing so, he asks something of Joseph. At this point in time, Joseph had two sons of his own: Manasseh and Ephraim. These are names to remember when we later hear of the tribes of the Nation Israel. For now, Israel calls his grandsons to bestow on them a blessing. However, Israel places his right hand on the youngest, Ephraim, instead of on the oldest, Manasseh, as was custom. Joseph tries to correct him, but Israel says he knows what he is doing. This mirrors his own receiving the firstborn blessing from his father Isaac, though Israel is the younger twin.
When Israel dies, his sons grow concerned. They fear Joseph now will take vengeance on them. Yet Joseph assures them, once again, that while they intended to harm him, "God intended it for good."
Eventually Joseph himself dies and is given an Egyptian burial. He did much good for the Egyptians. Yet time passed, and the Egyptians forgot the good Joseph had done. The Israelites grew in number, and that caused the new Egyptian Pharaohs to fear.
As a result, they set taskmasters over the Israelites so that they would not rise up against the Egyptians and conquer them. Yet the Israelites continued to grow in number, and the Egyptians fear only increased.
Though God continued to look after the Israelites, Pharaoh eventually decided to take drastic action. He issued a command to all the people that every boy born to the Israelites, or Hebrews as they are also called, be thrown in the River Nile, though all the girls would live.
It is in this time that we turn to a Levite family, that is descendants of Israel's son Levi, who gave birth to a son. They hid him as long as possible so that he might live. When they could hide him no longer, his mother put the boy in a basket, placed it at the bank of the river, and let it float along. His sister was told to follow the basket and see what would happen.
Lo and behold, Pharaoh's daughter was out for a swim by the river and saw the basket float by. She asked one of her servants to bring the basket to her. When she opened it up, she saw the baby crying. Though she knew this baby must be a Hebrew, she took pity on the child.
At this time, she also saw the baby's sister, who offered to find a nurse for the baby. Pharaoh's daughter thought this would be a good idea, so the sister went back to her mother, who was hired by Pharaoh's daughter to help take care of the child, her own child in fact.
Thus Pharaoh's daughter raised the child as her own. And she called him Moses which means "to draw out" for she drew him out of the water.
Now Moses, though raised Egyptian, must have had some sense of his true heritage, whether from his true mother acting as a nurse for him or by some other way, for he went out to see his people. He saw the labor they were forced into. He even saw an Egyptian mistreating one of his fellow Hebrews. Moses looked around, finding no one around. In the absence of any witnesses, Moses decides to do something he knows is wrong. He kills the Egyptian torturing the Hebrew. Then to cover up his crime, he buries the Egyptian in the sand.
However, it is incredibly difficult to hide wrong. Often the truth comes out, and such was the case with Moses. The next day, he went out to be among his people again. This time, he saw two Hebrew men fighting with each other. He came up to them, trying to stop the fight. He even asks the two men, "Why do you strike the other?" Yet one of the men says to Moses, "Who made you the boss of me? Are you going to kill me like you did to that Egyptian?" Moses realized his crime had been discovered, and he was very afraid.
It turns out Moses had a lot of reason to fear. When Pharaoh heard what had happened, he sought to punish Moses for his crime. Moses, however at this point, had fled.
Moses eventually made his way to the land of Midian, a place not terribly far from Egypt. In modern times, this would just be south of Israel and Jordan in the upper west corner of Saudi Arabia. It was here that Moses found a well.
Now as we have learned from our previous stories, wells are very important places, especially when it comes to relationships. After all, Abraham's servant arranged for Rebekah's marriage to Isaac at a well. Israel, when he was still known as Jacob, met Rachel, the love of his life, at a well too. Moses has a similar experience at the well now.
This particular well was frequented by the seven daughters of a priest of that region. This priest is, at first, called by the name Reuel, but shortly thereafter is known as Jethro. Why this change occurs, we do not know.
The day Moses happened to be at the well also happened to be the day a group of shepherds was there also. When these shepherds saw the seven daughters, they tried to chase them away. Moses once again charges in as the hero, defending the ladies and helping water their flock.
As his daughters return, Jethro is surprised at how quickly it took them to get the water. When they tell their father what had happened, Jethro immediate seeks Moses out to invite him to eat. Moses agrees, and stays with Jethro and his family for some time. Eventually, Moses marries Jethro's daughter Zipporah and they start to have a family together. Moses slowly starts to settle in his new life tending Jethro's sheep.
Eventually Pharaoh died, but that did not end the destress of the Israelites. They continued to suffer in slavery and captivity, and they cried out to God for help. God heard their cry, remembering the covenant made between Abraham and God, as well as God's covenants with Abraham's son Isaac and grandson Jacob (a.k.a. Israel). God knew this was the time to do something.
It is at this time that Moses takes Jethro's flock near Mount Horeb.