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Exodus 17
I'm going to get past the murmuring, chiding, crying to the bottom of this
one :-).
I don't recall seeing the word book (v14) before except as used in Genesis
where it says it is the book of the generations of Adam I believe. But
here God says (KJV) write this in a BOOK. Tablets are coming up, but
this is a book. What's up with that? Well what Easton's says is
this "This word has a comprehensive meaning in Scripture. In the Old Testament
it is the rendering of the Hebrew word sepher , which properly means a "writing,"
and then a "volume"." Smith's says "Writing is first distinctly mentioned
in (Exodus 17:14) and the connection clearly implies that it was not then
employed for the first time but was so familiar as to be used for historic
records. " These things probably just bother me, until I get some light
on the subject :-) I feel better now ;-)
In verse 15 we first see Jehovah is my banner - Jehovah-nissi . We
are reminded that God holds us up and oftentimes He uses brethren as a means
thereby. I thank God for his constant support, and for the Aaron's and
Hur's He has placed in my life.
A very interesting note regarding verse 16 in JFB says: "If the bloody character
of this statute seems to be at variance with the mild and merciful character
of God, the reasons are to be sought in the deep and implacable vengeance
they meditated against Israel (Psalms 83:4)". Look: "3 They
have taken crafty counsel against thy people, and consulted against thy hidden
ones. 4 They have said, Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation;
that the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance".
Hmmm....
Selah.
Shelz,
Normzrib
******
Exodus 17
A couple of important things here that would do us all well to keep in
mind. Oftentimes I hear believers say that if they would have been
the Children of Israel, they wouldn't have had the problems that they did;
but this is simply not true. As we walk in the Lord, we all have
times when our faith weakens and we focus more on the situation and less
on God. Here, the Children of Israel (just as we do) quickly forgot
that God had delivered them from slavery (Ch. 12), spared them from the
angel of death by the Passover (Chs. 12-13), parted the Red Sea (Ch. 14),
provided water at Marah and Elim (Ch. 15), and provided Manna and Quail
(Ch. 16); if God had proven himself in all of these situations, was he
not able to continue manifesting his power and provide for his people?
I am reminded of my own faults in this area as we recently closed a difficult
refinance of our house. Generally refinances are supposed to be simple
transactions, but this one turned into a complicated mess and there were
times that it seemed that it would not close and that would create some
financial difficulties for my wife and I. Because I only focused
on the circumstance and not God, I forgotten how it was God who made a miracle
happen for us to get the house in the first place; and why would he bless
us with a nice home if he wasn't going to give us the grace to keep it?
So just like the Israelites, by overly stressing about the refinance, I was
in effect saying to God "did you bring us out of Egypt only to slay us" (v.
3). Who of us has not slipped into disbelief from time to time?
Think about it.
Also, this passage vividly demonstrates the how important we are one
to another. When the Amalekites attacked, Moses, Aaron and Hur, took
positions that allowed them to observe the battle. As long as Moses
held his hands up (which contained the staff of God [see v. 9]), the Israelite
fared well, however, when Moses grew tired and let his hands rest, the Amalekites
began to be victorious. Seeing the problem, Aaron and Hur came up with
a wonderful solution, by sitting Moses on a rock, and holding his hands up
themselves so that the victory could be won (vs. 13-14). To me, this
passage shows the futility of trying to do it alone, for not even one such
as Moses (the meekest man on Earth) could do everything by himself and as
the chapter shows, the simple helping hand of a friend can make all the difference
in the struggle against the enemy. When we work together in Christ,
victory is ours: " For our comely parts have no need: but God hath tempered
the body together, having given more abundant honour to that part which lacked:
That there should be no schism in the body; but that the members should have
the same care one for another. And whether one member suffer, all the
members suffer with it; or one member be honoured, all the members rejoice
with it. Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular" (1
Cor. 12:24-27).
Reggie
*****
Exodus 17 Moses is beginning to get frustrated with Israel.
He deals with the grumbling again in reference to water. (The water
from the rock is a type of Christ.) Israel seems to have an extremely
short memory of the way that God has taken care of them and delivered them
from the Egyptians. I think that possible part of the reason that
there is so much contention is because they were mistreated under the Egyptians,
and lived in poverty, but they knew where each meal was coming from, had
roofs over their heads, and were into a routine in life. Now that they
have left the familiar surroundings of their homes, they are having second
thoughts, and as a result of that, every incontinence is a big deal.
Every problem seems greater than it really is because the eyes are focused
on circumstances, and not on the God who delivered them from Egypt.
Along the same lines, look at the way that God delivers them from Amalek.
As long as Moses had his hands raised, Joshua won the battle, when they drooped,
Joshua lost. Perhaps this says something for the raising of hands
to praise the Lord. Today when we raise our hands we are showing that
we surrender to the Lord, so that He can work, wasn't this also the case
with Moses? He raised his hands in surrender to the Lord, and the Lord
fought the battle. Just a thought.
Joe Turner |
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Exodus 17
December 4, 2004
Reading through
the Bible in one Year: Nehemiah 5-6
Weekly Memory
Verse: Proverbs 27:17
Good Evening
Brothers and Sisters,
I apologize,
this study is being posted a day late.
Exodus 17:1-17 (NASB95)
1 Then all the congregation of the sons of Israel journeyed by
stages from the wilderness of Sin, according to the command of the
Lord, and camped at Rephidim,
and there was no water for the people to drink. 2 Therefore the
people quarreled with Moses and said, “Give us water that we may drink.” And
Moses said to them, “Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you test the
Lord?” 3 But the
people thirsted there for water; and they grumbled against Moses and said,
“Why, now, have you brought us up from Egypt, to kill us and our children
and our livestock with thirst?” 4 So Moses cried out to the
Lord, saying, “What shall I do
to this people? A little more and they will stone me.” 5 Then the
Lord said to Moses, “Pass
before the people and take with you some of the elders of Israel; and take
in your hand your staff with which you struck the Nile, and go. 6
“Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock at Horeb; and you shall
strike the rock, and water will come out of it, that the people may drink.”
And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel. 7 He named
the place Massah and Meribah because of the quarrel of the sons of Israel,
and because they tested the Lord,
saying, “Is the Lord among us,
or not?” 8 Then Amalek came and fought against Israel at Rephidim.
9 So Moses said to Joshua, “Choose men for us and go out, fight
against Amalek. Tomorrow I will station myself on the top of the hill with
the staff of God in my hand.” 10 Joshua did as Moses told him,
and fought against Amalek; and Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of
the hill. 11 So it came about when Moses held his hand up, that
Israel prevailed, and when he let his hand down, Amalek prevailed. 12
But Moses’ hands were heavy. Then they took a stone and put it under
him, and he sat on it; and Aaron and Hur supported his hands, one on one
side and one on the other. Thus his hands were steady until the sun set.
13 So Joshua overwhelmed Amalek and his people with the edge of
the sword. 14 Then the Lord
said to Moses, “Write this in a book as a memorial and recite it to Joshua,
that I will utterly blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven.”
15 Moses built an altar and named it The
Lord is My Banner; 16
and he said, “The Lord
has sworn; the Lord will have
war against Amalek from generation to generation.”[1]
Remember back
when Moses felt that he did not have the ability to stand before Pharaoh to
speak with him, and Aaron acted as his mouthpiece? The situation has
changed, Moses is speaking directly with the people, and speaking forcefully
according to the word that the Lord has given to him.
Notice the way
that he turns the responsibility for not having water over to the Lord.
Moses did not have any control over where they were camping at, it was
strictly up to the Lord. He quickly passed the buck, the Lord had drawn
them there, therefore they were battling with the Lord, not with Moses.
Verse 1 can be translated as "why are you so dissatisfied with me? Why are
you putting Yahweh on trial?" (Word Biblical Commentary). That gives a
different twist to the text, establishing that Moses was frustrated with the
people for failing to put their trust into God.
This is
significant because in these verses they are doing spiritual battle with the
Lord. In the last section of this chapter, the people are doing physical
battle and they are empowered by the spiritual battle. Moses stood as
their spiritual leader, they held him responsible for the lack of water.
God intervened and provided water, but made Moses an example to them by
causing the battle with the Amalekites to be won as a result of Moses'
intervention. The battle depended upon his arms being held high for
Israel. Quite a contrast, and quite a rebuke for Israel, the man that they
wanted to stone was the man who stood in the gap of the battle and
determined if it was won or lost. This is interesting because there isn't
many battles recorded during the Exodus, and especially the way that this
one came on the heels of Israel quarrelling with Moses.
Returning to
the rock, God required that Moses take the elders of the people with him.
This is important because it symbolized that Moses was not the only one
responsible for the working of God, it fell upon their elders as well. In
other words, they shared the responsibility for standing before God. This
was God's way of starting to build the leadership into Israel. At this
time, God wanted to have a personal relationship with Israel.
Later in the
chapter, notice that it is through divine strength that the warriors won the
battle. Amalek was obviously stronger because when Moses lowered his hands,
they started winning. There isn't any indication as to how well Israel was
equipped for battle, or even how well trained they were. The only
indication that we have is how that the Lord intervened through Moses for
Israel.
That brings to
mind one important fact about this chapter. Israel was not the focal
point. Their belly-aching was not the focal point. Their great heroics in
war was not the focal point. Moses was not even the focal point, he was an
"oh, by the way." The only focal point in this chapter is the Lord and how
He worked to provide water and victory in battle. Moses was required to
take the "staff of God" and strike the rock to bring forth water, later he
was required to hold the "staff of God" in the air for victory to be won.
God was the one exalted, not Moses.
Another thought
on this, Moses needed help to hold his hands high. He wasn't able to do the
work alone, he needed help from other leaders. Joshua may have been
included in this battle to prepare him for leading God's people to many
victories later. Moses could not do it all by himself, God was starting to
show him that in this chapter. He was required to draw in the elders to aid
him with the water problem, and he was required to draw from the strength of
Aaron and Hur when he held his hands high. Both times that he drew on the
strength of other men, he was required to draw from the Lord.
To close this
section of today's study, keep in mind that God wants to be first in
everything. He wants us to trust Him in every area of our lives from the
basic needs, such as water to our preservation, as in military protection.
If anyone would
like to add to the study, all comments are welcomed.
Father, as we
consider Your word today, enlighten each one of us and cause us to consider
how to apply the scriptures to our daily lives.
In Him,
Joe Turner.
[1]
New American Standard Bible : 1995 update. 1995. LaHabra, CA: The
Lockman Foundation.
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Joe,
Thanks.
I reflect on what it was about
the raised arms of Moses that figured into the victory of Israel over
Amalek. The staff seems vital. It was often the instrument God used for
His intervention. But I wonder, was Moses praying, appealing to God on
behalf of Joshua and Israel during the battle? I think that quite likely.
Seems like that has powerful application to today. More and more, I ask
God to intervene in situations as they develop. Makes me more sensitive to
watch for God's intervention. Might not be in a manner that I would
anticipate, but always exciting and appropriate. (It might take the
perspective of time to make that abundantly clear in every case, but it
does come across as apt and appropriate and good.)
Lifted up the requests.
IHG,
Erik
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Hi Erik,
Thanks for the response! Wow, I am blessed by
your pondering.
Thanks,
Joe.
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Last changed:
09/17/08
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