Therefore, I want the men in every place to pray, lifting up holy hands...  1 Timothy 2:8

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January 2025

Man Builders, Part 11

Exodus 17:1-13

Joshua—Equipped to Fight, Part 1

A WARRIOR AMONG LAMBS

The Law of Diminishing Returns
How easy it is for nation to squander its history. The first fourteen and a half chapters of Exodus record Israel’s remarkable journey from Egyptian bondage to becoming a free nation. The sheer magnitude of LORD’s work to deliver Israel shows a God who cannot be stopped.

  • Through God’s power, Moses topples the demonic powers behind the Egyptian gods.
  • When the LORD is ready to take his people from Egypt, the Pharaoh drives them out.
  • Finally, when the Pharaoh changes his mind and sends his army against Israel, the LORD drowns the entire force in the Red Sea.

The section of Exodus that deals with Israel’s deliverance, from the plagues to the drowning of the Egyptian army in the Red Sea, runs from Exodus 4:18 to 14:31. Moses’s song of triumph to the LORD (Exodus 15:1-21) stands as the capstone to Israel’s deliverance from bondage. They emerge as a free nation, guided and protected by the God who loves them.

Portents of Rebellion to Come
Unfortunately, Israel fails to understand what God has done for them. In a stark foreshadowing, a trio of examples illustrates the people’s inability to trust their God to protect them. All three events feature a complaint in response to a difficulty, followed by Gods’ response:

  • Complaint: The people find undrinkable water in the wilderness of Shur, (Exodus15:20-24)
    Response: The LORD purifies the water and issues a statute calling for the people to listen to God’s voice, (Exodus 15:25-27)
  • Complaint: The people grumble because they are hungry.
    Response: The LORD sends manna with a challenge to trust hm for their provision.
  • Complaint: The people thirst for water at Rephadiml.
    Response: The LORD gives them water from a rock, with a graphic object lesson on God’s grace.

A Closer Look at the Complaints and Responses
Ironically, Israel’s first breach occurs on the heels of the song of deliverance following the Red Sea crossing. Beginning in Exodus 15:22, the Israelites arrive at Marah, only to grumble because the water there is undrinkable. In response, God miraculously detoxifies the water and pronounces a statute for the people. “If you will diligently listen to the voice of the LORD your God, and do that which is right in his eyes, and give ear to his commandments and keep all his statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you that I put on the Egyptians, for I am the LORD, your healer” (Exodus 15:26).
The second incident takes place after the people leave Elim for the wilderness of Sin (a Hebrew name pronounced Seen), where the people complain because they are hungry. In response, God sends them manna and quail. The manna comes with a stipulation. The people are to pick up only what they need for the day because the manna will rot overnight. Its short shelf life forces them to trust God for the next day’s provision. However, on Friday, they are to gather double so they can rest on the Sabbath. Because the Sabbath is to be a day of rest, God will preserve their supply before the Sabbaths.
The people fail both tests, hoarding one day and failing to provide for the Sabbath at the end of the week. The LORD expresses his exasperation at their behavior to Moses. “How long will you refuse to keep my commandments and my laws? See! The LORD has given you the Sabbath; therefore on the sixth day, he gives you bread for two days” (Exodus 16:26-27). In the third incident, the nation moves to Rephadim, where they complain again because they lack water. It is here that God gives them water from the rock. A remarkable show of mercy follows. The LORD calls Moses to take some of the elders with him, “and take in your hand the staff with which you struck the Nile, and go. Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock at Horeb, and shall strike the rock, and water shall come out of it, and the people will drink” (Exodus 17:5b-6). The symbolism in this act is deep. Throughout the Exodus, Moses’s staff is acts as God’s instrument of judgment. So, when the LORD stands on the rock and calls Moses to strike it, he creates a picture of substitution—God taking the punishment that should fall on his people. Israel remain blind to this reality. Moses calls the name of the place Massah (Testing) and Meribah (Quarreling) “…because of the quarreling of the people of Israel, and because they tested the LORD by saying, ‘Is the LORD among us or not?’” (Exodus 17:7).

God’s Man at the Right Place at the Right Time
These three incidents act as a preamble to foreshadow the history that is to come, both in Exodus and in Numbers. Their refusal to trust their God will stand as a monument against them. Significantly, this is precisely where Joshua appears for the first time. He is a warrior among the lambs. When we meet him, he already serves as a military commander.

Then Amalek came and fought with Israel at Rephidim. 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. So Joshua did as Moses told him, and fought with Amalek, while Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill.

--Exodus 17:8-10

The attack by the Amalekites introduces Israel to their first opponent. Their encounter with an enemy forces them to develop a strategic outlook. However, the battle does not fall solely on Joshua’s head. Amalek has attacked God’s people, and God stands behind Israel. In a show of supernatural support, Moses stands on top of a hill to hold his staff in the air while Joshua fights. Even here, we see more people involved.

Whenever Moses held up his hand, Israel prevailed, and whenever he lowered his hand, Amalek prevailed. 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. And Joshua overwhelmed Amalek and his people with the sword.

--Exodus 17:11-13

Clearly, Joshua is a leader with rare qualities. But in this battle, he learns principles that will become evident in his future campaigns during the Conquest. To be sure, he chooses the men with whom he fights, and he wins decisively. But behind him, Moses holds up the staff of God. Further, Aarron and Hur hold Moses’s arms up. And over them all, the LORD oversees the battle. The close of the section marks the historical significance of the conflict.

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.” And Moses built an altar and called the name of it, The LORD Is My Banner, saying, “A hand upon the throne of the LORD! The LORD will have war with Amalek from generation to generation.”

--Exodus 17:14-16

The conflict runs through generations, with King Saul receiving the order (and failing) to annihilate the Amalekite nation (1 Samuel 15). At the beginning of Israel’s history as a free nation, Joshua establishes himself as a warrior to be reckoned with. Our next installment will show how he grounds himself in worship as well.

Doug Knox

 

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