In the first message in a new series on Moses’ life, our pastor (Tim Strickland) brought out a point from Scripture I had never noticed before. The day after Moses kills an Egyptian for beating a Hebrew slave, he tries to intervene in a fight between two Hebrews and they have a rather indignant response to him (see Exodus 2:14).
The point I had not noticed is the Acts 7:24-25 commentary on this situation…which is not explained in the Exodus account. “Moses supposed that his brothers would understand that God was giving them salvation by his hand, but they did not understand.” (ESV)
In other words, Moses kills the Egyptian who was beating on the Hebrew slave and expects that the Hebrews will now realize that this guy who grew up in the Pharaoh’s place is really on their side and now is ready to stand up to the Egyptians and save them from the enemy. But Moses’ fellow Hebrews have no such idea. In fact, they seemingly think the opposite. “You think just cuz you’re part of the Pharaoh’s household you can kill whoever you want and nothing will happen to you.”
How often in leadership situations do we presume that others know the reason and rationale behind our actions and decisions… when they may have no clue as to why we made such a choice… and in fact, may think the opposite of our intention? A person could walk away, as Moses did, or throw his/her arms up in frustration, asking “why won’t this people respond to my leadership?” A leader needs to clearly communicate… even stating the seemingly obvious… the reasons behind an action/decision to minimize the probability of misunderstanding.
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