Zipporah gave birth to a son, and Moses named him Gershom, saying, “I have become a foreigner in a foreign land.”
(Exodus 2:22 NIV)
In a foreign land, the fugitive Moses started a family. However, as a reminder of his present condition, Moses named his firstborn son Gershom meaning, “an alien.” In fact, most of the heroes of faith viewed themselves as such. The author of Hebrews reminds us, “All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance, admitting that they were foreigners and strangers on earth” (Hebrews 11:13). While on earth, we, too, must realize that we’re only aliens and strangers here. We don’t belong here because this isn’t our real home.
Until we get to heaven, we remain Gershoms.
Rising with the Son 