Tuesday, November 14, 2017

Essentials For A Healthy Community Of Faith: God's Power

Then Amalek came and fought with Israel at Rephidim. So Moses said to Joshua, “Choose for us men, and go out and fight with Amalek. Tomorrow I will stand on the top of the hill with the staff of God in my hand.” So Joshua did as Moses told him, and fought with Amalek, while Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill. Whenever Moses held up his hand, Israel prevailed, and whenever he lowered his hand, Amalek prevailed. But Moses' hands grew weary, so they took a stone and put it under him, and he sat on it, while Aaron and Hur held up his hands, one on one side, and the other on the other side. So his hands were steady until the going down of the sun. And Joshua overwhelmed Amalek and his people with the sword.

Then the LORD said to Moses, “Write this as a memorial in a book and recite it in the ears of Joshua, that I will utterly blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven.” And Moses built an altar and called the name of it, The LORD Is My Banner, saying, “A hand upon the throne of the LORD! The LORD will have war with Amalek from generation to generation.” (Exodus 17:8-16)


A healthy community of faith relies on God’s power. Here we see Israel’s first outside enemy after the exodus. They represent the seed of the serpent rising up against the seed of Eve. As we examine this, let us consider five questions.

Who Were They? (17:8)

The Amalekites traced their lineage back to Esau. Amalek was the grandson of Esau (Gen 36:12). They inhabited the northern Sinai Peninsula (Gen 14:7; Num 13:29).
(Douglas K.)Stuart says,

[The Amalekites] organized themselves into a very early national nomadic group (“first among the nations,” in the words of Balaam, Num 24:20) that lived partly by attacking other population groups and plundering their wealth (cf. Judg 3:13). The Amalekites had domesticated the camel and used its swiftness effectively in surprise attacks. Not only did the Amalekites attack Israel at Rephidim, but a year later they attacked them again at Hormah, when the Israelites had been driven out of southern Canaan and were on the run after their foolish attempt to enter the promised land in spite of God’s command through Moses that they could not (Num 14:43-45). (Exodus, 393)

The struggles with the Amalekites continued after Israel crossed the Jordan (Num 14:43; 1 Sam 15; 30).

Israel’s first enemy came from within. The difficulties at Marah, the Desert of Sin, and Massah and Meribah were caused by their own disbelief and discontentment. It led to grumbling against their leaders and against God. As a result, they were divided and discouraged. Here in Exodus 17:8-13, they have an outside enemy.

Healthy communities of faith must be aware of both threats. In the book of Acts, the people encountered opposition from the outside, like threats and persecution (Acts 4:29; 11:19). They also had problems on the inside, as in the case of Ananias and Sapphira (Acts 5:1-11).

Why Were They Fighting?

We cannot be sure why they were fighting. They might have felt threatened by Israel’s sudden arrival, or they might have been trying to protect their resources. They could have just seen Israel as vulnerable and attacked them. When Moses looked back on the battle in Deuteronomy 25:17-18, he said they had attacked Israel when they were weary. They attacked men, women, and children, even from behind. They had no fear of God. Clearly the Amalekites were not in God’s army, so they were taking orders from the enemy.

How Did They Engage the Enemy? (17:9-13)

Moses told Joshua, “Select some men for us and go fight against Amalek. Tomorrow I will stand on the hilltop with God’s staff in my hand” (v. 9). I am not sure if Joshua thought, “Yeah, right. I will fight while you hold up a stick!” However, we know that he obeyed, and we actually see a powerful picture here.

Israel used physical weapons led by Joshua (17:9-10, 13). Joshua was a warrior who would eventually become a dominant figure in Israel. Here he was introduced. He would be among the few who were faithful in the wilderness (see Num 14:6-9, 30) and would succeed Moses, leading Israel into Canaan (Deut 34:9; Josh 1:1-9). Later, Joshua would be known for his courage and bravery.

Throughout Exodus God was showing little flashes of things to come. There would be a prophet, like Moses, and a warrior who will fight for you, like Joshua, all together in one person: Jesus Christ.

Moses told Joshua to choose some men and go fight. So Joshua selected his team and went. Moses used spiritual weapons. He went to the hillside and raised his shepherd’s staff, a symbol of God’s presence, His promises, and His power (vv. 9-12). Moses’ actions demonstrated that he was dependent on God for victory. The battle was the Lord’s.

Notice that it was not by physical force alone that the battle was won or lost. Though some might argue that this was not really “prayer” (the text never says Moses was praying), there are two reasons we can indeed call this “intercession.”

Moses lifted up his hand(s), appealing to God to show His power. When Moses lowered his hands, they began to lose the battle (v. 11). Aaron and Hur helped Moses by giving him a seat and holding up his hands (v. 12). The result was that they overwhelmed the enemy (v. 13). This action reminds me of a roller coaster ride. Why do people raise their hands? (Well, some of them. Others of us close our eyes and hold our breath!) They are saying in a sense, “It is out of my control, and I’m OK with that.”

Raising one’s arms is a sign of dependent prayer elsewhere in the Bible. Remember Pharaoh asking Moses to pray for him?

Pharaoh sent for Moses and Aaron. “I have sinned this time,” he said to them. “Yahweh is the Righteous One, and I and my people are the guilty ones. Make an appeal to Yahweh. There has been enough of God’s thunder and hail. I will let you go; you don’t need to stay any longer.”

Moses said to him, “When I have left the city, I will extend my hands to Yahweh. The thunder will cease, and there will be no more hail, so that you may know the earth belongs to Yahweh. (Exod 9:27-29)

Likewise, the psalmist spoke of uplifted hands, seeking God:

My lips will glorify You

because Your faithful love is better than life. So I will praise You as long as I live;

at Your name, I will lift up my hands. (Ps 63:3-4)

May my prayer be set before You as incense,

the raising of my hands as the evening offering. (Ps 141:2)

In the New Testament, Paul commanded,

Therefore, I want the men in every place to pray, lifting up holy hands without anger or argument. (1 Tim 2:8)

The text might not say “prayer,” but Moses was clearly depending on God for victory. We may fight like Joshua, but we must also cry out to God in prayer like Moses.

The idea of prayer seems to be confirmed by the last verse: “Indeed, my hand is lifted up toward the Lord’s throne” (Exod 17:16). This phrase is hard to translate, but I like the ESV’s translation: “A hand upon the throne of the Lord!” Elsewhere, the Bible describes prayer as coming to the throne. We can come to the throne because of Jesus’ work, and we are now invited to the “throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us at the proper time” (Heb 4:16).

In our battles we must fight like Joshua, but we also must hold up our hands to God’s throne and say, “It is out of my control.” We must go to the throne of grace and say, “Help me!” We need courageous, Joshua like warriors who will take the gospel to hard places, fight injustice, and serve the needy—but all of it must be done in a spirit of dependent prayer.

What Happened After the Victory? (17:14-16)

The Lord said to Moses, “Write this down on a scroll as a reminder and recite it to Joshua” (v. 14). Here we see that Joshua was to be the successor. Notice also that God said, “Write this down.” Why write it down? If anyone would remember this event, it would have been Joshua, right? We have all known those guys who used to play high school basketball who can recount specific games and how well they played back in the glory days! Why write it down? They needed to write it down because God knew that the people were going to be dealing with the Amalekites again, as well as other enemies of God. So God made them write it down so everyone might know that God fights for His people.

This is the first time we have this idea of “write this down.” God has given us the Scriptures, showing us who He is, what He has done, and who we are. The Bible is a memorial of what God has done for us. He defeated the Amalekites for us, and conquered all the other enemies, bringing forth the Messiah. The New Testament authors wrote down for us the words and deeds of Jesus, and the good news has been passed down for generations to us. The Bible is the grand story of redemptive history.

God then predicted, “I will completely blot out the memory of Amalek under heaven” (v. 14). This would happen later.

Moses went on to build an altar (vv. 15-16). He did this in order to praise God and remind His people of His power. Altars were built to express gratitude. The patriarchs sometimes named altars, as Jacob did (Gen 33:20; 35:7). Moses does the same here, calling it “The Lord is My Banner” (Yahweh-nissi). This word was used “in military contexts, where the nēs is a signal pole around which an army or army unit can rally, regroup, or return for instructions” (Stuart, Exodus, 400). The Lord is where we regroup, rally, and get instructions.

How Should We Apply This?

Consider your need for God’s power. There is a battle between the children of light and the powers of darkness. The church’s spiritual warfare with the powers of darkness is noted in the New Testament in several places (e.g., Eph 5:8-14; 6:12). Jesus conquered our greatest enemies, but because a “mop up operation” still exists, we need God’s power. 111From reading Ephesians 6:10-12 we know that our enemy is deceptive. He uses all kinds of tactics. He is aggressive. Do not be naïve. Do not forget that you are in a battle. Israel’s story is our story. They had been redeemed and were on their way to the promised land (like us), but on the way they faced enemies (so will we). Moses discovered that prayer is more powerful than the problem (cf. Eph 3:20-21; 6:18-20).

Also, consider how they got the power: a mediator. Moses interceded for them. On one hand, we can learn about seeking God from Moses, and on another, Moses points us to the ultimate intercessor, Jesus Christ. We have a greater mediator interceding for us. Many great intercessors stand out in the Old Testament—David, Solomon, Nehemiah—but none are like Jesus. How is Jesus a greater intercessor? Jesus is fully God and Man! He is the ultimate mediator. Jesus is the greater warrior than Joshua, defeating our ultimate enemies and making it possible for us to know God and commune with Him; and He is the greater Moses, praying for His people. But Jesus does not have to have His arms raised by anyone. He does not get tired of interceding! “Moses’ hands grew heavy” (Exod 17:12), but Jesus “always lives to intercede for [us]” (Heb 7:25). Jesus does exactly what Moses did. While we fight the good fight, He intercedes for us. Oh, the wonder of the interceding Son of God (Rom 8:34)!

The Lord is our banner also, but in a way even Moses could hardly have imagined. Consider Isaiah 11:10:

On that day the root of Jesse will stand as a banner for the peoples. The nations will seek Him, and His resting place will be glorious.

Jesus Christ is the banner for God’s people, who rally to Him from every nation! Around His cross we are unified, encouraged, and instructed. It is through Jesus that we experience spiritual victories. Apart from His work and His intercession, we have no hope.

Adapted from Exalting Jesus in Exodus by Tony Merida

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