I’m currently reading through the Bible in a year (or two?) being guided by a Devotional I’m using for 2022. You know, it’s one of those read parts of the Old and New Testaments each day. I’ve always loved the New Testament for obvious reasons – Jesus – and I’m falling deeper in love with the Old Testament. If you think the Lord can only speak in the Old or the New Testament, wise up. He speaks so loud and clear from Genesis to Revelation, every single page, every single word – inspired by Him. That is my passionate belief, as if you couldn’t tell.
The Word is a book from God, to teach us about God, to the glory of God. Every printed Word is meant to draw us into communion with Him, to change our hearts, and in turn to form us into the image of His Son, our sole purpose for being created, our sole purpose on this earth.
I’m currently reading in the book of Exodus. What an amazing book! It is action packed, God’s power on complete display, and I recently came across one of my all time favorite stories:
While the people of Israel were still at Rephidim, the warriors of Amalek attacked them. Moses commanded Joshua, “Choose some men to go out and fight the army of Amalek for us. Tomorrow, I will stand at the top of the hill, holding the staff of God in my hand.”
So Joshua did what Moses had commanded and fought the army of Amalek. Meanwhile, Moses, Aaron, and Hur climbed to the top of a nearby hill. As long as Moses held up the staff in his hand, the Israelites had the advantage. But whenever he dropped his hand, the Amalekites gained the advantage. Moses’ arms soon became so tired he could no longer hold them up. So Aaron and Hur found a stone for him to sit on. Then they stood on each side of Moses, holding up his hands. So his hands held steady until sunset. As a result, Joshua overwhelmed the army of Amalek in battle.
After the victory, the LORD instructed Moses, “Write this down on a scroll as a permanent reminder, and read it aloud to Joshua: I will erase the memory of Amalek from under heaven.” Moses built an altar there and named it Yahweh-Nissi (which means “the LORD is my banner”). He said, “They have raised their fist against the LORD’s throne, so now the LORD will be at war with Amalek generation after generation.”
Exodus 17:8-16
So many lessons here. The obvious, pray when you’re attacked, and don’t stop until the battle is done. That seems to be the long and the short of it. I know and understand that teaching even when I oft times fail at it. But for some reason when I read it again this week, it pierced my heart. I just don’t know how else to say it. I’ve been thinking of little since.
One of the notes from The Pentateuch made a point I hadn’t thought of before:
…then came Amalek…
The Rabbis note: As an immediate sequence of the murmuring on the part of the Israelites…then came Amalek. It is the invariable lesson of Jewish history that whenever Israel begins to doubt God and itself, asking, Is the Lord among us or not? An Amalek unexpectedly assails it.
The Pentateuch and Haftorahs, Edited by J.H. Hertz
This lesson is not just for the Israelites, but for all believers, right? When we take our eyes off of God, when we fail to spend time with Him, when we fail to remember His goodness and His mercy toward us, when we buy into the world by our grumbling and complaining, doubts will assail us and even the most devout believer may murmur “Is the Lord among us or not?” That’s the sequence.
Next lesson…
“Never forget what the Amalekites did to you as you came from Egypt. They attacked you when you were exhausted and weary, and they struck down those who were straggling behind. They had no fear of God. Therefore, when the LORD your God has given you rest from all your enemies in the land he is giving you as a special possession, you must destroy the Amalekites and erase their memory from under heaven. Never forget this!
Deuteronomy 25:17-19
The Rabbi notes: “While Israel was to make justice and brotherly love its guiding rule, it was not to forget that Amalek had perpetrated a cowardly and unprovoked attach on the feeble and hindmost when the Israelites were marching from Egypt.”
Amalek waged war on the Israelites, but instead of fighting the young, the strong, those capable of fighting back, they attacked the rear, those falling behind, “the faint and weary stragglers enfeebled by the march,” the march from Egypt, through the Red Sea on their journey to the promised land.
I’ve struggled much this last week as I’m sure you have too. I feel as if Amalek is on the move. I won’t pretend to know all the ins and outs of war. But, what I do know is that God loves innocent people. He loves the weak, the faint, the weary, the stragglers, those falling behind because of life’s twists and turns. For that matter, God loves guilty people just as much, we tend not to want to remember that.
When the Amaleks of life, internally or externally, at home or abroad leave us feeling helpless and hopeless, we must raise our staff like a banner, offer our prayers and our praises to the Lord and not stop. When the staff gets heavy and our arms grow weak, we must remember that Jesus and the Holy Spirit are on either side of us, propping us up, interceding on our behalf as we intercede on the behalf of others.
When the weary, the feeble, the downtrodden, the broken, the faint, the hurting, those at the end of the line, those left behind, the stragglers say “Is the Lord among us or not?” We must always say God is our victorious Banner, the rod of God is in our hands.