Victory in In Your Hands

How Many Did You Count For Me

The Preacher’s Notebook: The Collected Quotes, Illustrations, and Prayers of John Stott “How Many Do You Count Me For?”

“Napoleon on one occasion led his army into what seemed a veritable death-trap. Ten thousand men with no cavalry were face to face with an enemy of fifteen thousand men and several regiments of cavalry! On the night before the battle the Emperor was walking through the lines. He heard two soldiers discussing the situation. It was hopeless, they said. How could they fight against such odds? And they calculated by how many hundreds of men they were outnumbered.

“Napoleon turned to them, and showing them who he was, quietly said, ‘And how many do you count me for?’ They had left him out of their reckoning, and so their calculation was all wrong. On the morrow, with Napoleon as leader, they won the seemingly impossible victory.”

Context of Chapter 17

Israel is in the wilderness of Sin and God commanded them to camp at Rephidim, and again to a place where there was no water. The people complained, and Moses had a moment where he simply asked them, “why you got beef with me?” Moses showed that he knew that the protest represented an attempt to manipulate God. As a leader, you must beware of those who always have a problem with leadership and how you lead. It’s not that they would do a better job, but they do not want you to have the job. Some people just don’t want to follow leaders.

Moses has a conversation with God about the people and this water situation, and he asks God what to do about the people because they were about to vote him out and hike back to Egypt. God provides instructions for hydration to quench their thirst and quarreling, and Moses called that place Massah and Meribah because of their contention and wanting to know if the Lord was among them or not. God bring them to Rephidim, which was located between the Wilderness of Sin and Sinai. The path God chose should have been the path of least resistance, but it turns out that God led them to their first “holy war.” Amalek was the grandson of Esau, the continuation of the Esau-Jacob rivalry. They were a nomadic tribe that lived by attacking other population groups and plundering their wealth. They lost this first encounter against the Amalekites because they attacked first…yet God would have the last word. A holy war is a war that God starts and finishes in his favor.

Moses was in position for victory — vs. 9-10

God chose the path of least resistance by steering them away from Philistines’ land because of the threat of war and they would return to Egypt. It would have been a shorter trip, but they would not have made it to the Promised Land. Israel does not have a military or any type of military experience to stand up to the Philistines. Yet, they find themselves in a fight on the very path God ordained for them. Israel has no experience, but God says fight..They have no army, yet God says fight..they have no weapons but God says fight..Israel has no military experience, yet they find themselves in a fight.

The fight they would fight is a holy war: there are twelve propositions, yet these are specific to the text:

No standing army was allowed — This meant that the battles were fought by amateurs, volunteers, who had to depend on God for their success and could not boast in their own accomplishments or claim special military prowess. A potential soldier was allowed—indeed invited—to give virtually any excuse for not serving in a battle because God wanted only those who desired to be used by him as his warriors.

No pay for soldiers was permitted — they were to understand themselves as responding to God’s call and not to any other incentives.

Yahweh did the real fighting in holy way because the war was always his.

Here is the battle plan: Moses would stand on the hill, Joshua and his men would go down and fight the Amalekites. The caveat is that Joshua and the men’s success was dependent on what Moses The battle plan was for Moses to stand on top of the hill with the staff of God in his hand, and Joshua and the men go down into the valley and fight the Amalekites. Moses would raise his hands with the staff of God in his hand What kind of battle plan is this? What tactical advantage did Israel have with Moses on the hill and Joshua in the valley. Their inexperience alone would no doubt result in defeat.

The phrase “I will stand” is verbal phrase that is absolute meaning, to be in a standing position, this position can mean to attend to a superior, or in an opposite meaning be prominent, or even in a position of action and life. Moses stood above the fight, while under the presence and protection of God. Moses stands in authority over the people, while God’s staff is above him signifying God’s sovereignty in the consequences of the battle.

Moses’ position required support — vs. 10-13

Richard Lovelace in Dynamics of the Spiritual Life said:

“It seems to me that much of the church’s warfare today is fought by blindfolded soldiers who cannot see the forces ranged against them, who are buffeted by invisible opponents and respond by striking one another.”1

It funny how Jesus built the church so that the gates of hell will not prevail, yet there is still hell in the church… Aaron, his brother from whose line the priest would descend and Hur, the friend of Moses went to the mountain with up the hill with him. Aaron was the coleader of the Israelite exodus. Hur was the husband of Miriam. He was most likely an appellate judge during Moses’ absence in Ex. 24:14. It was these two men that accompanied Moses up the hill while Joshua and the men fought below.

“It is important to know that just because you’re on the hill with the pastor does not mean you’re in charge of the pastor.”

As long as Moses stood strong and held the staff of God above, victory was assured. The men below did not have time to look at the hill, nor were they told how or if they would win the battle. They lost the ensuing encounter with the Amalekites, so what kind of hope did the rag tag band of volunteers have in defeating them? The difference was Moses’ position, but even leaders get weary in well doing. Most dissension in the church comes when those who are supposed to be supporting you are waiting on your human moment to pounce for their pound of flesh. There were moments during the battle that his hand dropped….this was not a five minute battle… the battle from sun up to sundown. Humanity played a role in Moses’ arms becoming weary. The Hebrew here is kābēd (כָּבֵד ) meaning weary, The leader’s arms will tire under the burden of ministry.

“Often we lose the battle because we lose elevation.”

Decisive, rapid victory characterized faithful holy war. It was the expectation that if God was behind a war, that war would essentially be concluded in a day, the “Day of Yahweh” or “Day of the Lord.” In the ancient world there is a somewhat fuzzy distinction between a “battle” and a “war” because each military encounter with each new ethnic group or city state could be considered either a separate war or a separate battle within a protracted war of conquest. Nevertheless, God was regarded as capable of vanquishing all his foes in a single day. That Moses should anticipate a battle against the Amalekites in a single day is consistent with this understanding of holy war.

Moses created a place for prayer and praise — vs. 14-15

The Lord commands Moses to write this as a memorial to share with Joshua. The word “write” here is in the imperative tense meaning to make marks which communicate by signals, symbols, or alphabet, on any of various materials. This was not up for debate, but God want Joshua to remember what happened this day that God blotted out their adversaries. When God finishes a fight, you won’t even remember who it was you fought. When God is done with your enemy, then you are done with you enemy and you shall not remember them. After this battle…..

I've had many tears and sorrows I've had questions for tomorrow There's been times I didn't know right from wrong But in every situation God gave me blessed consolation That my trials come to only make me strong Through it all Through it all I've learned to trust in Jesus I've learned to trust in God Through it all Through it all I've learned to depend upon His Word I've been to lots of places I've seen a lot of faces There's been times I felt so all alone But in my lonely hours Yes, those precious lonely hours Jesus lets me know that I was His own Through it all Through it all I've learned to trust in Jesus I've learned to trust in God