He was sitting on a well in Midian, when he perceived the approach of the seven daughters of JETHRO[55], the chief and priest of that country, to draw water for their flocks. They were in the act of filling the troughs, when certain Arabian shepherds rudely tried to drive them away. Thereupon, with the same zeal he had shown in behalf of his own countrymen, Moses intervened, and defended the maidens against the intruders. Their unusually early return prompted the enquiries of their father, and led to his introduction to the chivalrous stranger. Moses was contented to dwell with the Midianitish chief, and kept his flocks, and afterward married his daughter ZIPPORAH, by whom he became the father of two sons, GERSHOM (_stranger_) and ELIEZER (_God is my help_). And here amidst “the granite precipices and silent valleys of Horeb,” in quiet and seclusion, forty years of his life passed away (Acts vii. 30). Here, as nowhere else, he could commune alone with God, and know himself, and learn the lessons of patience and self-control, and dependence on the Unseen, while the daily duties of his shepherd life made him acquainted with every path and track and fountain in a region, which he was afterwards to revisit under such different circumstances. Meanwhile, though there was a change of ruler, the lot of the Israelites experienced no alteration. Still they toiled in cruel bondage, still their cry went up to the God of their fathers. At length the time drew near when the Promise made to Abraham was to be fulfilled, the oppressing nation _judged_, and the people delivered (Gen. xv. 14). One day Moses was leading the flocks of Jethro some distance from the spots, where he seems to have usually tended them, _to the back of the wilderness_, and came to _the mountain of God, even to Horeb_, when a marvellous sight arrested his attention. He looked, and behold! before him burning with fire was a bush of wild acacia[56], “the shaggy thorn-bush of the desert.” But though enveloped in flames, it was not consumed! It remained unsinged and uninjured by the fiery element which played around it! Astonished at the prodigy, Moses determined to draw near and ascertain the cause of this _great sight_, and as he approached, lo! a Voice, the Voice of God, called unto him out of the midst of the bush, saying, _Moses, Moses!_ The awe-struck shepherd answered the Voice, and then was directed to draw not nearer, but take his shoes from off his feet, for the place on which he stood was _holy ground_. Moses complied, and hiding his face, for _he dared not look upon God_, listened, while the Lord spake again, assuring him that He was the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob; He had not been unmindful of the sufferings of His people in Egypt; He had seen their affliction; He had heard their cry; He had come down to deliver them from their oppressors, and to bring them up into a land _flowing with milk and honey_, and He had appointed no other than Moses himself