I always find it helpful to understand the timeline when reading the Bible. The Israelites lived in Egypt for 430 years to the day. (We will get to that in Exodus chapter 12, so you'll have to take my word for it right now) We know and remember that Jacob was 130 when he moved to Egypt and lived there seventeen years before he died. We also know (or will shortly) that Moses was eighty when he led the people out of Egypt. That means between the death of Jacob in Genesis 50 and the birth of Moses in Exodus 2, 333 years pass.

Left to the records of Exodus, we find the story of Moses to be lacking in essential clarifying details. Here are the basics we're offered: Moses, though a Hebrew, grew up as the son of Pharaoh's daughter. One day, he witnessed a Hebrew slave being beaten by an Egyptian and, making sure he was not being watched, killed the Egyptian. The next day, Moses came across two Hebrew men fighting and went to separate them. One said, "Who made you a prince and a judge over us? Do you mean to kill me like you killed the Egyptian?" Moses, fearful for his life and the wrath of Pharoah, fled the land of Egypt. It is only five verses of the text. (And it leaves out significant pieces.)...