..,.God is always with you...

Amalek Attacks Israel and Is Defeated

“8 Then Amalek came and fought with Israel at Rephidim. 9 Moses said to Joshua, ‘Choose some men for us and go out; fight with Amalek. Tomorrow I will stand on the top of the hill with the staff of God in my hand.’ 10 So Joshua did as Moses told him, and fought with Amalek, while Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill. 11 Whenever Moses held up his hand, Israel prevailed; and whenever he lowered his hand, Amalek prevailed. 

12 But Moses’ hands grew weary; so they took a stone and put it under him, and he sat on it. 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 sun set. 13 And Joshua defeated Amalek and his people with the sword.

14 Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Write this as a reminder in a book and recite it in the hearing of Joshua: I will utterly blot out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven.’ 15 And Moses built an altar and called it, The Lord is my banner. 16 He said, ‘A hand upon the banner of the Lord!The Lord will have war with Amalek from generation to generation’”

Exodus 17:8-16.

This is the first account in Exodus of any sort of military attack against the Israelites, and it is the first account of Moses making special use of the staff of God. Now while there is no mention of Moses being instructed by God to use the staff, be assured that Moses would never use the staff unless commissioned by God to do so. In this relatively brief account of Israel's first warfare, many details are omitted, and one of them surely is the fact that God was behind the call to battle and the determination to use the divine staff as a symbol of God's presence with the people during the battle.

This was a holy war, and if you are interested in more details about such military battles and wars with the Israelites, read Deuteronomy 20:1-20.

What strikes me are these details in particular: No standing army was allowed. Battles were fought by amateurs and volunteers, who had to depend on God for their success and could not boast in their own accomplishments or claim special military prowess. Furthermore, no pay for soldiers was permitted, and no plundering could take place at the conclusion of the battle. But of greatest interest to me was that battles or holy wars could be fought only for the conquest or defense of the promised land. Israel had no right to any other land or to warfare for any other purpose.

Despite all the problems Israel had in their 40 years traveling the desert, they wanted only to enter the Promised Land. Nothing else mattered.

But it is the staff, that represented Yahweh’s presence, that is of interest to me. Israel was lead by Moses never to forget that Yahweh, the Lord, was always with them. Never in the 40 years traversing the desert did the Lord abandon the Israelites. Dear friends, God is always present in your life. Never forget that! No matter what happens in your life, no matter how much suffering you experience, the Lord is always with you.

When you pray today, keep this truth front and center. God is with you!

ALWAYS!

Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the Living God, have mercy on me a sinner.