Why did Moses find himself in the house of the Priest of Midian?
First,who was Midian? Midian was actually the son of Abraham’s concubine.
“Abraham married another wife, whose name was Keturah.She gave birth to Zimran,Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak, and Shuah.”-Gen 25:1-2
Abraham sent all these children towards the East away from Isaac.However,he didn’t send them away empty-handed.He gave them ‘gifts’.
“Abraham gave everything he owned to his son Isaac.But before he died, he gave gifts to the sons of his concubines and sent them off to a land in the east, away from Isaac.”-Gen 25:5-6
Midian,one of Abraham’s son got to the East,became fruitful like the descendants of Isaac did in their own territory.He then became the father of the Midianites.
Moses fled to the land of Midian and stayed in the house of the Priest who was the custodian of the gifts Abraham handed down to his son.
So,Jethro,the Priest of Midian,further trained Moses for another 40 years!Apart from the divine instructions he learnt from Jethro who doubled as his father-in-law,Moses learnt how to shepherd the flocks.As a child raised in the palace of Pharaoh,he never had such training.
God knew the hearts of those Moses would lead as obstinate.Therefore,he needed to know how to control and guide the flocks.That he did well,till he shepherded the flocks to the desert where God appeared to him:
“Now Moses kept the flock of Jethro his father in law, the priest of Midian: and he led the flock to the backside of the desert, and came to the mountain of God, even to Horeb.”-Exo 3:1
Together,Moses had 40 years of training under Pharaoh’s roof and another 40 years with the priest of Midian before he could lead the Israelites out of Egypt.
“Moses was eighty years old, and Aaron was eighty-three when they made their demands to Pharaoh.”-Exo 7:7