Exodus 2:1 And a man of the house of Levi went and took as wife a daughter of Levi. 2 So the woman conceived and bore a son. And when she saw that he was a beautiful child, she hid him three months.
"Probably his mother had little joy of her being with child of him, now this edict was in force. Yet this child proves the glory of his father’s house. Observe the beauty of Providence: just when Pharaoh’s cruelty rose to this height, the deliverer was born. When she saw that he was a beautiful child- Fair to God, (Acts 7:20,) or very fair… It has been thought by some, that they had a special revelation that the deliverer should spring from their loins. Be this as it may, they believed the general promise of Israel’s preservation, and in that faith hid their child.” (Benson Commentary)
"By faith Moses, when he was born, was hidden three months by his parents, because they saw he was a beautiful child; and they were not afraid of the king’s command.” (Hebrews 11:23)
3 But when she could no longer hide him, she took an ark of bulrushes for him, daubed it with asphalt and pitch, put the child in it, and laid it in the reeds by the river’s bank.
Moses’ parents were Levites; thus, this deliverer is the fruit of Israel’s son— Levi. Not all of the Levites were faithful; but they were. They hid their son for three months. And in placing him in the ark, it was not fear that motivated them but faith in Yahweh was well as the safety of the child.
4 And his sister stood afar off, to know what would be done to him. 5 Then the daughter of Pharaoh came down to bathe at the river. And her maidens walked along the riverside; and when she saw the ark among the reeds, she sent her maid to get it. 6 And when she opened it, she saw the child, and behold, the baby wept. So she had compassion on him, and said, “This is one of the Hebrews’ children.”
"In the preservation of Moses we find that the great wheels of providence often move on the smallest pivots. See this beautiful babe, floating in an ark resembling the growing flags, watched by day and fed by night. See this hope of Israel; yes, the hope of Israel, though unrevealed; see him on the verge of perishing, when God inclined the heart of Thermutis to walk that way, to discover the ark, and to have compassion on the weeping child. Let us learn never to distrust the divine care over us and our children, even at the worst of times." (Sutcliffe Commentary)
7 Then his sister said to Pharaoh’s daughter, “Shall I go and call a nurse for you from the Hebrew women, that she may nurse the child for you?” 8 And Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Go.” So the maiden went and called the child’s mother. 9 Then Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Take this child away and nurse him for me, and I will give you your wages.” So the woman took the child and nursed him. 10 And the child grew, and she brought him to Pharaoh’s daughter, and he became her son. So she called his name Moses, saying, “Because I drew him out of the water.”
"When God has a great work to do for his church and people, he is never wanting to fit and prepare instruments to accomplish his pleasure. While the infants were destroyed very rigorously, Moses was preserved; and in this view he is a striking figure of Christ, who was saved from the infant massacre at Bethlehem. Pharaoh’s daughter adopts him; he is instructed [by his own mother] in all the literature [actually mainly consisting of oral tradition of the history of the creation and fall of mankind, as well as, Yahweh's revelations to mankind- religion] of this ancient nation… Let us not fear; the name of Israel shall not become extinct; in defiance of all foes the Lord will raise up ambassadors for his work.” (Sutcliffe Commentary)
Exodus 2:11 Now it came to pass in those days, when Moses was grown, that he went out to his brethren and looked at their burdens. And he saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his brethren. 12 So he looked this way and that way, and when he saw no one, he killed the Egyptian and hid him in the sand. 13 And when he went out the second day, behold, two Hebrew men were fighting, and he said to the one who did the wrong, “Why are you striking your companion?” 14 Then he said, “Who made you a prince and a judge over us? Do you intend to kill me as you killed the Egyptian?” So Moses feared and said, “Surely this thing is known!” 15 When Pharaoh heard of this matter, he sought to kill Moses. But Moses fled from the face of Pharaoh and dwelt in the land of Midian; and he sat down by a well.
Moses owned Egypt as a son, but due to his faith in the God of Israel, as well as his natural birth, he saw the Hebrews as his brethren.
"It is probable that Pharaoh’s daughter had never concealed from Moses that he was not her own child, but one of the oppressed race. (Ellicott's Commentary) Or it was revealed to him by his mother. By whatever means: "Moses boldly owned the cause of God's people. It is plain from Heb 11. that this was done in faith, with the full purpose of leaving the honours, wealth, and pleasures of his rank among the Egyptians. By the grace of God he was a partaker of faith in Christ, which overcomes the world. He was willing, not only to risk all, but to suffer for his sake; being assured that Israel were the people of God...” (Matthew Henry)
"By faith Moses, when he became of age, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin, esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt; for he looked to the reward." (Hebrews 11:24-26)
"Who made thee a prince and a judge over us?—As the reputed son of a princess, Moses would be in some sort a ‘prince.' But no one had given him jurisdiction over the Hebrews. He had not really interfered as one who claimed authority, but as any man of position and education naturally interferes to stop a quarrel.
Intendest thou to kill me?—Here is the sting of the rejoinder; here was the assumption of authority—not in the interposition of today, but in the blow of yesterday. That fatal error laid Moses open to attack, and deprived him of the influence as a peacemaker which he might otherwise have exercised over his countrymen.
Surely this thing is known.—We are not told how the ‘thing' came to be known. 'Murder will out,' says the English proverb. Perhaps, though Moses thought himself unnoticed, some Egyptian had seen the deed. Perhaps the man whom he had avenged had told the tale.” (Ellicott's Commentary)
Murder was then and is today a violation of God's Law, as Abel knew.
"God guided Moses to Midian, because the Midianites were of the seed of Abraham, and retained the worship of the true God.” (Benson Commentary)
16 Now the priest of Midian had seven daughters. And they came and drew water, and they filled the troughs to water their father’s flock. 17 Then the shepherds came and drove them away; but Moses stood up and helped them, and watered their flock. 18 When they came to Reuel their father, he said, “How is it that you have come so soon today?”19 And they said, “An Egyptian delivered us from the hand of the shepherds, and he also drew enough water for us and watered the flock.” 20 So he said to his daughters, “And where is he? Why is it that you have left the man? Call him, that he may eat bread.” 21 Then Moses was content to live with the man, and he gave Zipporah his daughter to Moses. 22 And she bore him a son. He called his name “Gershom," for he said, “I have been a stranger in a foreign land.”
Gershom-- The name of Moses' son would serves to remind him of his past, as well as his mission. He had been a stranger in a foreign land.... and his people were still in bondage and oppression there. He was now at Yahweh's training camp to prepare him to be a deliverer, a prince and a judge of His children, Israel.
"Now this settlement of Moses in Midian was designed by Providence to shelter him for the present; God will find hiding-places for his people in the day of their distress. It was also designed to prepare him for the services he was to be called to. His manner of life in Midian, where he kept the flock of his father-in-law, would inure him to hardship and fatigue, and to contemplation and devotion. Egypt accomplished him for a scholar, a gentleman, a statesman, a soldier; all which accomplishments would be afterward of use to him; but yet lacked he one thing, in which the court of Egypt could not befriend him. He who was to do all by divine revelation, must know what it was to live a life of communion with God, and in this he would be greatly furthered by the retirement of a shepherd’s life in Midian [as the son-in-law of a Hebrew priest, as a mentor and adviser). By the former he was prepared to rule in Jeshurun, but by the latter he was prepared to converse with God in mount Horeb.” (Benson Commentary)
"Young people have much to learn in religion, and they need the fostering care of advanced believers. They will improve in knowledge and in every virtue, by the society and conversation of good men; and they will surmount every difficulty if they look, like Moses, at the recompense of reward." (Sutcliffe Commentary)
Exodus 2:23 Now it happened in the process of time that the king of Egypt died. Then the children of Israel groaned because of the bondage, and they cried out; and their cry came up to God because of the bondage. 24 So God heard their groaning, and God remembered His covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. 25 And God looked upon the children of Israel, and God acknowledged them.
"When one Pharaoh died, another rose up in his place, that was as cruel to Israel as his predecessors. And they cried [to Yahweh God] — Now at last they began to think of God under their troubles, and to return to him from the idols they had served, Ezekiel 20:8. Hitherto they had fretted at the instruments of their trouble, but God was not in all their thoughts.” (Benson Commentary) And then and only then did God look upon them and acknowledge them. "The miraculous action, begun in Exodus 3, is the result of the cries and groans here mentioned.” (Ellicott's Commentary)
The hard part of this story is that Yahweh God heard the cries of the children of Israel… and looked upon them and acknowledged them, but waited to deliver them from affliction, until the 400 was up and the inequity of the Amorites was complete, as God foretold to Abraham in Genesis 15:13-16. The resolution of the seeming injustice of God is that in the mean time, Yahweh God of Israel was working everything for their eternal good, at least for those who truly loved Him. (Romans 8:28)