Sermon Tone Analysis

Jehovah Nissi (The Lord My Banner)

Recap of the Hardship Highway:

Grumbled because they were about to die at Red Sea ()

Grumbled for lack of water in Wilderness of Shur ()

Grumbled for lack of meat in wilderness of Sin ()

Once again Israel revealed a heart of faithlessness and ingratitude.

The song of victory at the banks of the Red Sea had fully faded from their memory and from their lips.

In the desert the whole community grumbled against Moses and Aaron.

The Israelites said to them, “If only we had died by the LORD’s hand in Egypt!

There we sat around pots of meat and ate all the food we wanted, but you have brought us out into this desert to starve this entire assembly to death.”

()

They were no longer exalting God and trusting in Moses; they were bitterly complaining against God and ready to rebel against Moses.

Once again Israel revealed a heart of faithlessness and ingratitude.

The song of victory at the banks of the Red Sea had fully faded from their memory and from their lips.

They were no longer exalting God and trusting in Moses; they were bitterly complaining against God and ready to rebel against Moses.

But once again God met the needs of his people.

Look at

He delivered them from their hunger by giving them meat to eat in the evening and bread to eat in the morning.

Each evening the skies rained quail and each morning the ground was rife with manna.

The manna would come to represent the entire wilderness wanderings of the Israelites.

They would eat it for forty years, until they reached the borders of the land of promise ().

God once again provided for his people.

THE DESERT OF REPHIDIM

After leaving the desert of Sin, the Israelites next camped at the city of Rephidim.

Like their experience in the desert of Shur, Rephidim was a place without water.

Israel was once again suffering from thirst, and they made their displeasure known to Moses: “So they quarreled with Moses and said, ‘Give us water to drink’ ” ().

Can any of you relate to the exchange between Moses and the people in ?

This is a different episode than when Moses struck the rock twice.

This instance happens on route to Sinai and the other after Sinai at Meribah, which is covered in

Moses was miffed and even a bit afraid.

The crowds were angered and restless.

Moses did the only thing he could do.

He sought God for help.

“Then Moses cried out to the Lord, ‘What am I to do with these people?

They are almost ready to stone me’ ” ().

God answered Moses’ concerns and the needs of his people by instructing Moses to strike a rock with his staff.

Upon his striking the rock, water flowed from it to quench the parching thirst of the Israelites ().

But Moses was getting a bit fed up with the behavior of the Israelites, and he named the location where this occurred Massah (which means “testing”) and Meribah (which means “quarreling”) “because the Israelites quarreled and because they tested the LORD saying, ‘Is the LORD among us or not?’ ” ().

The pattern here is the same, Israel grumbled and God provided.

Israel’s trials at Rephidim were not over.

After quenching their thirst with the water from the rock, the Israelites were confronted by another military challenge.

The Amalekites came and attacked them.

THE AMALEKITES

Let’s go to

Verse 9 represents the first time Joshua is mentioned in the OT.

Who were the Amalekites?

The Amalekites were descendants of Esau (Edom) (, ).

The territory of the Amalekites was situated in the desert south of Canaan, north of the Israelites’ location at this time .

God’s plan was for Israel to eventually wipe them out completely (see

Moses refers to what he once called an ordinary staff () to the “staff of God” in verse 9. What significance can you draw from this?

page 39 in your guide asks you, “When have felt being under attack?

Let’s move on to

Raising one’s hands in the air during that time was common when one was praying.

What can we take way from this today?

It was great encouragement to the people to see Joshua before them in the field of battle, and Moses above them on the hill.

Christ is both to us; our Joshua, the Captain of our salvation, who fights our battles, and our Moses, who ever lives, making intercession above, that our faith fail not.

Note on Hur: Hur would later be one of the leaders who assisted Aaron in governing the people while Moses was on Mount Sinai (24:14).

Later tradition names Hur as the husband of Miriam, the sister of Moses and Aaron (Josephus, Antiquities 3.54).

These verses prove a couple of things:

Moses is clearly shown to be who the Lord has chosen to lead Israel and serves as an intercessor between the nation and God

God is in control and will deliver them through Moses, even in his human weakness.

Notice Scripture did not provide a rationale for Moses raising his arms.

Moses acted on God’s authority.

The staff is symbolic of God’s power and served as an object lesson to trust God

Somebody go to and read

How can you relate this to the actions of Moses on the hill?

We prevail in spiritual battles because of God’s presence and power in our lives.

God provides the weapons for our battles, but we must use them to receive the benefit.

Are you limiting His power through trying to be strong on your own?

What about symbols?

what symbols do we have today of God?

When can these symbols become bad?

Faith in God provided Joshua’s victory.

Compare verse 13 with

Israel prevailed in their conflict with the Amalekites.

Moses went to the top of a hill and, as long as his hands were held up, the Israelites gained the upper hand in the battle.

Aaron and Hur helped to keep Moses’ arms up until the victory was won ().

Moses built an altar there and worshipped the Lord.

He called the place “The LORD is my Banner” ().

Moses, and the Israelites, had once again been delivered by their Lord.

The Amalekites were descendants of Esau (Edom) (, ).

The territory of the Amalekites was situated in the desert south of Canaan, north of the Israelites’ location at this time

17:9–13 The focus on Moses’ hand(s) (vv.

9, 11, 12) manifests two things that the people of Israel need to take to heart: (1) Moses is the one whom the Lord has chosen to lead Israel (notice that Moses’ hands relate to who prevailed; v. 11); and (2) the Lord is responsible for working their deliverance through Moses (signified by the staff of God in Moses’ hand [v.

9] and the fact that his hands grew weary [v.

12], showing his human weakness).

17:14–16 No explicit reason is given for the severity of the Lord’s judgment on Amalek.

A later reference to the event () says that Amalek “did not fear God,” having attacked the people of Israel who were trailing behind and tired from the journey.

The Amalekites still posed a threat to Israel in the days of Saul and David ().

For a longer discussion of a similar matter, see Introduction to Joshua: The Destruction of the Canaanites.

17:8–16 When the Amalekites attack them, the Israelites encounter their first opposition from other people since arriving in the wilderness.

The Amalekites apparently interpreted the appearance of the Israelites as a threat to their territory and its resources.

Other details of this conflict are found in , which describes a surprise attack by the Amalekites at the back of Israel’s wandering assembly.

Amalek (Person) AYBD

17:9 The first reference to Joshua in the ot.

He will become Moses’ commander-in-chief and lead the Israelites’ conquest of Canaan.

Joshua DOT: HB

Joshua (Person) AYBD

God had not instructed Moses to hold up or point the staff of God over the battle scene.

However, God had previously done miraculous things when he did so (; , ; ; ; ).

17:11 The significance of the gesture is never explained.