Sermon Tone Analysis

Exodus 17:8–16 (ESV)

Israel Defeats Amalek

8 Then Amalek came and fought with Israel at Rephidim.

9 So Moses said to Joshua, “Choose for us men, and go out and 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, while 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 going down of the sun.

13 And Joshua overwhelmed Amalek and his people with the sword.

14 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Write this as a memorial in a book and recite it in the ears of Joshua, that I will utterly blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven.”

15 And Moses built an altar and called the name of it, The Lord Is My Banner, 16 saying, “A hand upon the throne of the Lord!

The Lord will have war with Amalek from generation to generation.”

Most People know who Josuha was, but who was Hur?

According to Dake’s Bible, [Hur] Hur was the son of Caleb of Judah (1Chr.

2:19–20).

He was closely associated with Moses and Aaron (Ex.

17:10–12; 24:14; 31:2; 35:30; 38:22).

Josephus (Antiquities, Book 3, 2:4) and the rabbis say he was the brother-in-law of Moses and Aaron, having married Miriam.[1]

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I. To move in God’s AUTHORITY, you must be under his banner

The defeat of the Amalek was only possible by moving in God’s authority.

Today, the church must understand how to move with God’s authority when we face todays Amalekites.

Who was Amalek and the Amalekites?

Amalek was a grandson of Esau, the son of Eliphaz and his concubine Timna (Gen.

36:12).

While nothing is known of his own life, his descendants became the clan of the Amalekites, bitter enemies of the Israelites.

This traces the origin of the Amalekites to Edom, the land of the descendants of Jacob’s twin brother Esau.

They were a fierce nomadic tribe that roamed through southern Palestine and the Sinai Peninsula, surviving by attacking and plundering whomever they met.

Because they attacked Moses and the Israelites at Rephidim, God cursed them, saying that he would be their enemy forever (Exod.

17:8ff.).

In many references the clan is referred to as Amalek, the name of their patriarch, rather than as the Amalekites.[2]

The Amalekites represent the enemies of God and his purposes.

They are the descendants of Esau.

Esau is the grandfather of Edom.

God rejected Edom:

The Edomites did not migrate to Egypt during the famine that sent Jacob there, and after the Hebrews (Jacob’s descendants) returned to Canaan the Edomites remained their enemies for centuries.

The Jews considered them barbarian and immoral.

Paul cited Esau (and thus the Edomites) as an example of those whom God has rejected[3]

Are there any Amalekites today?

Any who reject God and His purposes?

Those who stand against God’s Church?

We live in a day where many people are rejecting God and his purpose.

The following is from: WND News -- Joseph Farah -- Wed Oct 13, 2021

The current global crisis stems from a rejection of God

we were divided by vaccination status.

If we had a card from the authorities indicating we received the shot, then we could get food, we could travel, we could keep our job.

Otherwise, we would be canceled.

It reminds me of something I heard about the Antichrist in the end of days.

. . .

But today we’re living amongst a generation doesn’t know Jesus – and things are getting worse.

The great British journalist-theologian G.K. Chesterton had it just about right when he explained what happens when people stop believing in God.

It’s true.

They don’t just believe in nothing.

They believe in anything and everything – every absurd notion, every myth and the perpetration of every unspeakable horror.

Chesterton was merely echoing biblical truths:

Genesis 6:5: “And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.”

Jeremiah 7:24: “But they hearkened not, nor inclined their ear, but walked in the counsels and in the imagination of their evil heart, and went backward, and not forward.”

Romans 1:21: “Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.”

. . .

The prophet Jeremiah explains what it looks like when people turn away from God. . .

Jeremiah 18:12: “And they said, There is no hope: but we will walk after our own devices, and we will every one do the imagination of his evil heart.”

2 Timothy 3:13 “But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived.”

Let’s face it, we live in an age of deception unparalleled since the Tower of Babel.The Tower of Googlemay indeed be worse.

It’s not just fake news, it’s false prophets and phony gods.

It’s idol worship and fake religions.

It’s a return to Baal.[4]

A recent article in the Los Angeles Times and Yahoo News is headlined, “Why America’s Record Godlessness is Good News for the Nation.”

In part it reads,

“The secularization of U.S. society—the waning of religious faith, practice and affiliation—is continuing at a dramatic and historically unprecedented pace.

While many may consider such a development as a cause for concern, such a worry is not warranted.

This increasing godlessness in America is actually a good thing, to be welcomed and embraced.”[5]

Do you realize that the secular media no longer hides the fact that they despise God and the Church.

· As recently as 1976, nearly 40% of Americans said they believed that the Bible was the actual word of God—to be taken literally.

Today, only about 20%of Americans believe that.

More believe the Bible is a collection of fables, history and tales written by men.[6]

· The percentage of Americans who confidently believe in God’s existence, without a doubt, has declined from 63% in 1990 to 53% today.[7]

· Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-NY) recently proclaimed that God’s will was of no concern to this Congress.

· First, the liberals kicked God out of the Pledge of Allegiance and then out of their Democrat National Conventions since 2012.

Until recently, they did not make an effort to force the rest of the nation to also abandon God.[8]

A. To be under His banner comes from your total identification and surrender to Jesus

You are only prepared for the coming days of conflict when you have totally given your life over to His purpose and will.

Are you willing to be identified with Jesus?

Psalm 60:1–5 (ESV)

1 O God, you have rejected us, broken our defenses; you have been angry; oh, restore us.

2You have made the land to quake; you have torn it open; repair its breaches, for it totters.

3You have made your people see hard things; you have given us wine to drink that made us stagger.

4You have set up a banner for those who fear you, that they may flee to it from the bow.

Selah

5 That your beloved ones may be delivered, give salvation by your right hand and answer us!

Psalm 60:3–5 (The Message)

3–5 You made your people look doom in the face, then gave us cheap wine to drown our troubles.

Then you planted a flag to rally your people, an unfurled flag to look to for courage.Now do something quickly, answer right now, so the one you love best is saved.

The-LORD-Is-My-Banner (Hebrew YAHWEH NISSI): A banner is the polelike standard beneath which armies or communities rallied.

When lifted up, it called the people together for battle, for meeting, or for instruction.

This phrase also could have been a battle cry.

Erecting an altar was Moses’ recognition of the presence of God.

At this altar, he was honoring God as the giver of victory over the Amalekites.[9]

B. Our only hope is An Appeal to Heaven

An Appeal to Heaven.

Moses lifting up his hands is an appeal to heaven.We also see this in Washington's Battle Flag:

The Tree Flag, featuring a pine tree with the motto “An Appeal to Heaven” or sometimes “An Appeal to God” was used originally by a squadron of six cruiser ships commissioned under George Washington’s authority as commander in chief of the Continental Army in October 1775.

The design of the flag came from General Washington’s secretary, Colonel Joseph Reed.

The pine tree had long been a New England symbol being depicted on the Flag of New England flown by colonial merchant ships dating back to 1686.

Leading up to the Revolutionary War it became a symbol of Colonial ire and resistance.

The colonists resented the restrictions on the timber used for their needs and livelihoods.

Prohibitions were disregarded and they practiced “Swamp Law,” where the pines were harvested according to their needs regardless of statutes.