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First Fight (Exodus 17:8-16)
14 Plays13 days ago
After the Lord miraculously delivered the people of Israel out of bondage in Egypt, they were slowly making their way through the wilderness toward the Promised Land. Unexpectedly, they encountered trouble along the way. They were attacked by the Amalekites, desert nomads dwelling in the northern Negev and descendants of Esau. This was their first fight, but it would not be their last.
As we review this ancient conflict and how they engaged with their enemy, we will learn truths that will prove beneficial for our contemporary encounters with a foe called the flesh, the old sin nature. In some ways, our fiercest battles in life are really struggles with the "old self” (Eph. 4:17-23; Col. 3:5-10). Christ can give us victory, but it will require faith in Him and a fight marked by effort, tenacity and vigilance on our part. Let’s see what we can learn from Exodus 17:8-16. Let's study their first fight with Amalek so that we will be ready for our next fight with the flesh.
Warning of an Attack, 17:8-9
Warriors within the Army, 17:9
Willingness to Go against the Adversary, 17:10
Without the Ally and the Alliance, 17:10-11
Weariness of the Arms, 17:12
Winning over Amalek (or the Weapon of Our Assault), 17:13
Writing of This Account, 17:14
Worship at the Altar, 17:15-16
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Growing in Grace Devotions and Inspirations
Hosted by Pastor Victor Morrison
First Baptist Church
1700 Milam Street
Columbus, TX, USA 78934
http://fbccolumbustx.org/
Recommended
Transcript
Introduction to 'Growing in Grace' Ministry
00:00:08
Speaker
Welcome to Growing in Grace with Pastor Victor Morrison. This is a ministry of First Baptist Church located at 1700 Milam Street, Columbus, Texas. We are praying that God will bless you as you listen to this message.
00:00:22
Speaker
If you would like additional information on worship times and ministries at FBC Columbus, you can find out more at our website, fbccolumbustx.org.
Israelites' Journey Post-Egypt
00:00:32
Speaker
And now, take your copy of God's timeless word as Pastor Victor gives today's message.
00:00:43
Speaker
Welcome to Growing in Grace. I pray that the things I share today will help you as you grow in Christ. The Lord miraculously set the people of Israel free from their oppressors in Egypt.
00:00:56
Speaker
They're on their way to the promised land. The Lord had already provided water for the thirsty people from a rock. I mean, it was a miracle by itself in a wilderness place called Rephidim,
00:01:09
Speaker
He had also provided manna and quail when they were hungry for something ah you know substantive. And so they're about two months into their extended camping trip, travel trip, ah when they were forced into their first fight with some desert nomads called the Amalekites.
00:01:32
Speaker
ah The Amalekites dwelt in the northern Negev, and they were ah descendants of Esau. And the first conflict reminds me of the necessity to train new believers in Christ in spiritual warfare with the three enemies that I believe every disciple is going to face eventually.
Spiritual Warfare and Believers
00:01:55
Speaker
Some skirmish with the devil, ah some crisis with the world, or maybe a wrestling match with the flesh. And so today, most Bible scholars say that whenever you read about Amalek in this passage we're about to read in Exodus 17, verses 8 through 16,
00:02:15
Speaker
It's a picture of how we have this ongoing struggle with the old man or the old flesh, as he is called in Ephesians 4, 17 through 23, or Colossians 3, 5 through 10.
00:02:31
Speaker
But Christ can give us victory over the old man. He actually has rendered him ah where he's dead. He should be inoperative, but he definitely can be moving in our life if we allow Him, if we turn away from Christ and look back in the past.
00:02:49
Speaker
So it's going to require faith in the Lord and dependence upon Him, but we're also going to have to fight. We're going to have to say, okay, i've got I've got to use my effort and tenacity and vigilance and all of those kind of things because I have to also apply what the Lord has shown me in His Word.
00:03:10
Speaker
And that's what I want to try to do today with the Lord's help as we read through Exodus 17, 8 through 16. So let's study their first fight with Amalek so that we'll be ready for our next fight with the flesh.
00:03:28
Speaker
Here's what it says in God's word. Then Amalek came and fought with Israel at Rephidim. So Moses said to Joshua, choose for us men.
00:03:39
Speaker
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.
00:03:58
Speaker
Whenever Moses held up his hand, Israel prevailed. And whenever he lowered his hand, Amalek prevailed. But Moses's hands grew weary.
00:04:12
Speaker
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.
00:04:23
Speaker
So his hands were steady until the going down of the sun. And Joshua overwhelmed Amalek and his people with the sword. 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.
00:04:49
Speaker
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.
00:05:05
Speaker
Let's look at this passage closely, and I think we'll see there are some lessons that we can draw. you know The Bible says that things written in the Old Testament were actually written for our instruction.
00:05:18
Speaker
And so I'm certain that there are some things that we can apply in our struggles with the old man.
Amalek's Strategy and Spiritual Vigilance
00:05:25
Speaker
The first thing to know is verses 8 and 9. Evidently, they had some advance notice of the key of the enemy's attack.
00:05:35
Speaker
They were going to be attacked. It says that they actually were ah saying, okay, here's what we're going to do tomorrow. So someone told them Amalek will be attacking tomorrow.
00:05:47
Speaker
So the first thing I want you to know is that God wants to warn us of an attack. They were warned of the attack. And I think with many comparing Amalek to our struggle with the flesh, you can't read through the epistles without coming across all of these references to the old man that used to be in the flesh and to the new man that's been born through Christ.
00:06:13
Speaker
You know, the strategy of this ah cruel foe was quite brutal and gruesome because Deuteronomy 25 verses 17 through 19 describes their method. And their method was they would just pick off the weakest people in the back of the line.
00:06:30
Speaker
Whoever was at the very back, that's the ones that they would just get, whether they were there because of a physical disability, whether they were there because they were, let's say, a senior adult,
00:06:42
Speaker
or maybe ah a family with children, something like that. But usually the soldiers were out front. They were going to form a ah wall of protection if needed, but no one was at the back.
00:06:55
Speaker
And so Amalek said, let's pick them off from the back. Isn't that sad? Isn't that serious? Well, they thought so, and but God had warned them they're going to be coming.
00:07:06
Speaker
And I think in scripture, we are told several times that we need to put to death those things of the flesh. So we've been warned as well. But notice, secondly, in verse nine, that there needs to be warriors, warriors who are saying, you know what?
00:07:24
Speaker
I didn't sign up to fight, but since the fight is here, i want to be a man. i want to be courageous. I want to go and face the enemy to protect, ah protect my witness, protect my life, protect my testimony, and so forth.
00:07:41
Speaker
And so that's why i think it's very significant that Moses says to Joshua, choose for us men and go out and fight with Amalek.
00:07:52
Speaker
You know that that's actually the first mention of Joshua thus far in the book. And so I thought it was really interesting how here he is now you can see the next man that's going to be in leadership.
00:08:04
Speaker
And so he's back there serving under Moses. I think he served for at least 40 years or so. But anyway, ah just know that there is a part that we have to play.
00:08:15
Speaker
I mean, God's not going to just do everything for us. It's kind of like, you know, whenever someone says, well, I'm going to be farming, but I'm going to farm by faith. I'm not going to get out there and plow my field.
00:08:28
Speaker
I'm not going to get out there and sow any seed in my field. I'm just going to trust God will do it. No, I think there's there are things that God wants us to do to partner with him. There are things we can't do without God helping us, but there are battles and there's effort that we have to put into the skirmish against the flesh, just like they had to go out and fight against Amalek.
Importance of Prayer and Community Support
00:08:54
Speaker
So we've seen the warning of an attack happen. and the warriors that we need in some kind of spiritual army. But now let's go to the third thing, and that is the willingness to go against an adversary.
00:09:08
Speaker
did Did Joshua listen to what he said? you know, Joshua could have said, no, thank you. i don't think I want to do that. But he says, choose for us men and go out and fight with Amalek.
00:09:20
Speaker
And he did it. You know, James 4, 7 says, submit yourselves therefore to God, resist the devil and he will flee from you. You know, there's a resisting that we have to do. But before that, it says, submit yourselves therefore to God.
00:09:37
Speaker
We have to remember there are verses in the New Testament, like in 1 John 2, 15, where God says quite clearly, do not love the world.
00:09:48
Speaker
or the things in the world. He wants us to love him. he wants us to have a love for the people of the world, but not to love the way of the world. the world system.
00:10:00
Speaker
You know, Galatians 5, 16 and 25 says, but I say, walk by the spirit and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. Why did God put that in his word?
00:10:13
Speaker
Because he wants us to this decide every day, okay, today I want to walk in the spirit. I don't want to give in to my fleshly desires. They're not going to get me more ah like Christ.
00:10:25
Speaker
So I want to walk in the direction that the Holy Spirit would want me to walk in. So we have to have that willingness to go out there, to roll up our sleeves and say, okay, going to meet with God every day so that I would be ready for whatever's going to come this day.
00:10:43
Speaker
But then when I read verses 10 and 11, there was something else that came to my mind. Can we win battles without our ally, without the Lord God, the Almighty,
00:10:54
Speaker
Can we win battles without the alliance of people praying for us? I mean, why even share prayer requests with any brothers or sisters in Christ if it doesn't make a difference anyway?
00:11:06
Speaker
Well, I think you can see quite clearly from these verses, whenever Moses held up his hand, Israel prevailed. And whenever he lowered his hand, Amalek prevailed.
00:11:19
Speaker
You know, I would say that God is the greatest ally that we have. I believe that when Moses lifted the staff above his head, you know what I think that symbolized?
00:11:31
Speaker
I think it symbolized, Lord, we need power that's above our power. This is over our heads, Lord. This battle we cannot win without you. You know, for those of us in Christ, we are given so many promises like 1 Corinthians 15, 57 that says, but thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
00:11:55
Speaker
And so we definitely have to go out and fight, but who gives the victory? He does. We're given victory through Christ. So we also have to lift up that rod. We have to put our hands up in prayer, crying out to God, God,
00:12:11
Speaker
Please give me victory as I face this foe of the flesh. But I think we need others in our lives. I think it's interesting. I've heard before that a triad is really powerful, you know, a cord of three strands.
00:12:27
Speaker
But if you think about it, you got Moses and Aaron and Hur. There's only three that went to the top of the mountain that we're told about here in Scripture. But they went and they stood on the top of the mountain.
00:12:41
Speaker
I wonder why they did that. I think they went up there and stood so that when they were in the valley fighting, trying to their best to defend the people of Israel and their families and so forth, whenever it seemed really tough, they would look up there on that mountain and they would see, you know what?
00:13:00
Speaker
Those three brothers right there, they are interceding for us and they're asking God to help us win this battle. You know, I want to encourage you, if you've never developed a friendship in Christ, if you've never shared a single prayer request with anyone else, I would like to encourage you to do that.
00:13:21
Speaker
I would like to say, why don't you find at least one or two other friends that could hold up your right hand, hold up your left hand, and just support you in prayer for what it is that you're facing in your life.
00:13:34
Speaker
It might not be the flesh. I mean, it might be stress that you have at work, or it might be stress in your family. I have no idea what kind of things, but I just want you to know that one thing I've learned about life is sometimes life is just so fun.
00:13:51
Speaker
Life is a blast and life can be so pleasant and you're enjoying the goodness of the Lord, just like these people were. But I'm telling you, there came a point where they had to do their first fight.
00:14:03
Speaker
And it did it wasn't something they wanted. It was something that came looking for them. So that might be where you are. You're struggling right now, maybe with worry or fear.
00:14:14
Speaker
Well, look at what it says about Moses here. you It says that his hands became wearied. But Moses' hands grew weary, so they took a stone, 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.
00:14:38
Speaker
You know, whenever we are struggling against a foe like the flesh or like the world or even like the devil, we need to say, Lord, this is a tough fight.
00:14:51
Speaker
And I feel like I'm going under. I'm beginning to get tired. Fatigue is real. So when we get tired, one thing that can help is to have you and Aaron and her that hold up your hands.
00:15:07
Speaker
If you're married and your spouse is a believer, then certainly I would say your spouse should be one of those that you're turning to and saying, I need you to support me right now.
00:15:18
Speaker
Help my hands be steady. And so I think they can definitely serve in that way. but But maybe finding another friend that is ah you know a brother in Christ if you're a man or a sister in Christ if you're a woman.
00:15:32
Speaker
But to find someone, I think that you see here the struggle against the foe, but the solution against the fatigue. It's all easy. When you look at this passage, you think, I've never got it before because I can't see it. I can't visualize it.
00:15:48
Speaker
Well, I think that's part of why these Old Testament... recordings are here so that we can read about it and we can visualize that's what it looks like.
00:15:59
Speaker
That's what it looks like for me every single day when I go to school. That's what it looks like for me every single day when I come home. I don't know what it, maybe you'd say, that's what it looks like for me when I'm stuck in traffic.
00:16:13
Speaker
Suddenly the old man wants me to get riled up. I don't know what it is, but all I'm saying is we all grow weary. in our battles. And that's why we need to remember, wait a minute, I have an ally, that's the Lord, and I need to make an alliance with some brothers and sisters in Christ and tell them transparently, tell them quite honestly, I need you to pray for me.
00:16:39
Speaker
And so I think that's ah that's a winning combination. ah say a winning combination Because in verse 13, it tells us Joshua overwhelmed Amalek.
00:16:51
Speaker
So it's not like they just won by a field goal in the last, say, 10 seconds of the game. No, I think they won handily. This was ah ah an overwhelming victory over this cruel ah group that came against
Scripture as a Spiritual Weapon
00:17:08
Speaker
them.
00:17:08
Speaker
But how did they do it? What was the secret to winning over Amalek? What's the secret for you, for me, for us to win over the flesh?
00:17:19
Speaker
I believe we have the same weapon for our assault. You know what it is? The word of God. You know, the Bible compares the but the scriptures to offensive weapon called the sword of the spirit, the word of God.
00:17:38
Speaker
Ephesians 6, 10 through 17 is all about warfare. You can read it, spiritual warfare. But all I'm saying is out of all those things mentioned, the one offensive ah piece in our equipment is the word of God.
00:17:56
Speaker
Ephesians, not only Ephesians 6, 10 through 17, but also Hebrews chapter 4, verse 12, compares the word of God to a double-edged sword.
00:18:07
Speaker
You know, you can kind of brush off things if you're losing and being defeated by the flesh. You can kind of brush it off a little bit. But let me tell you, you get into God's word and and God's word is like a sword and it's going to pierce through and cut through everything And it will get down to the root cause of what's going on in your life. And it might be selfishness.
00:18:32
Speaker
It might be pride. Who knows what it could be? i mean, they're old the old man, the old way of doing things, is so ah it was so prevalent in our lives.
00:18:42
Speaker
And so all of those things have to come out by the roots And what I'm saying is the Bible can cut right down there, get that stuff out so that it doesn't grow stronger in your life.
00:18:54
Speaker
It grows weaker day by day. You know, Revelation 19, 15 tells us exactly how strong that the word of God is. And it once again compares it to a sharp sword.
00:19:06
Speaker
You know who's going to have the sharp sword? the Lord Jesus Christ, when he comes back at the second coming, he's going to face an organized world that has come against Israel.
00:19:19
Speaker
It's come against everything that is good and holy and so forth. And Jesus is just going to speak to them from from his mouth. And it says, from his mouth comes a sharp sword.
00:19:30
Speaker
And you know what happens? It's easy. It's a victory really quickly. i mean, it doesn't take long. You can read about it in Revelation 19. It's right there. But I just think to myself, you know what? Anytime that the word of God is shared, well, that right there brings victory.
Remembering God's Victories
00:19:48
Speaker
So why don't you consider memorizing verses online? in those areas where the flesh is attacking you, you know, let's say it's about pride, or let's say it's about honesty, or let's say it's about something else in your life, you know, maybe anger, will internalize some of God's word so that the the sword of the spirit can be quite active in your thoughts, in your contemplations, and it'll help you.
00:20:18
Speaker
As a matter of fact, look at verse 14 carefully. Do you understand what's happening here? You know, if you just slow it all down, I mean, a lot's been happening. We've already been in battle.
00:20:28
Speaker
We saw Joshua win the battle. But notice what the Lord makes very sure that Moses does. 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.
00:20:50
Speaker
You know, think about how the writing of this account was there for the next generation. Joshua was going to need to remember this. And what if Joshua couldn't remember it?
00:21:01
Speaker
What if it was something that was so painful for him when he maybe saw some of his fellow soldiers die that day? Who knows what they went through? Maybe he saw some very painful sights.
00:21:12
Speaker
And so maybe he was trying to block it all out. But He needed to remember God won that victory that day against Amalek. He would need to fight lots of battles in the future.
00:21:24
Speaker
And so all I'm saying is all of these battles, Joshua needed to remember, but also we need to remember. We need to remember promises that are in there in God's word so that when we're looking for guidance, when we're facing some jitters and fears and worries about a step of obedience that we're of contemplating, we need to go back to the written account, back to the written word of God, because the reason it's written is so that we can remember
00:21:58
Speaker
the victories. And so that's what he's saying about Joshua. But I have a feeling that God put this in here, right here in Exodus 17 verses eight down through verse 16, so that you and I would also remember, wait a minute, the Lord helped them win.
00:22:15
Speaker
And the Lord's going to help me win. I do not have to go through my life suffering defeat from the flesh when Jesus died on the cross to kill the old man and to make me a new man, a new woman on the inside.
00:22:31
Speaker
You know, whenever we do experience great victories and we see that, hey, you know what? the The flesh is, he was bullying me when I first became a Christian, but the Lord is backing him down and I'm winning more victories.
00:22:46
Speaker
You know, what we could do is begin to say, look at me and look how strong I am now. Look at what I've done. That would be a mistake. You know what a better choice would be?
00:22:58
Speaker
Following Moses' footsteps here in verses 15 and 16. Why don't you say, you know what? When I go in there to worship this coming Sunday at my local church, I'm just going to let her rip. I'm going to praise the Lord from my heart.
00:23:13
Speaker
Or let's say you're in your car. You're listening to you know a podcast of music that you like, or maybe you're listening to Christian radio station, whatever it is. But you're going to say, Lord,
00:23:26
Speaker
You're the one. All the blessings have come from you. All the victories, they came from you. Listen to verses 15 and 16 again. What did you do, Moses?
00:23:37
Speaker
Did Moses get down there and say, you guys ah really fought well. I was so proud of you. I saw some of your moves down there. Look at all you did. Well, no doubt it wouldn't have happened without them doing their part.
00:23:51
Speaker
but it sure wouldn't have happened without the Lord doing his part. So listen to what Moses did. He built an altar and he called the name of it. The Lord is my banner saying a hand upon the throne of the Lord.
00:24:06
Speaker
The Lord will have war with Amalek from generation to generation. So I thought to myself, that's what Moses was doing. He wanted all of Israel to see he was giving God the glory for the victory over Amalek.
00:24:22
Speaker
Has your wife, has your husband, have your children ever heard you give glory? maybe you were in a traffic jam and maybe in the past you would lose your temper and the whole family would just start sinking down in their seats and lowering their heads thinking, oh no, we're gonna be embarrassed. you know but But you would say, you know what?
00:24:43
Speaker
That's not happening. Have you ever said to your family, you know why I have a longer fuse now? Because the Lord is instilling within me peace.
00:24:54
Speaker
He's giving me patience. And so I think that the Lord can help us. But one thing we want to make sure that we do is when he helps us, when he blesses us, when he gives us victory over the flesh or over anything, we need to say, thank you, Lord.
00:25:12
Speaker
And I want you to know that I will thank you publicly. I want the other people in my church family to see that I'm not just going to sit there and stand and stare and everybody else.
00:25:23
Speaker
when I'm supposed to worshiping the Lord, I'm gonna sing your praises. I'm gonna say thank you as I sing those songs. But I think it was also something more when he says that the Lord is my banner. you know The banner was like a flag.
00:25:38
Speaker
was It was something that you would raise high up on a pole so that people know who you are and know who gets the victory. Well, they were saying the the Lord his is my banner,
00:25:51
Speaker
my banner They're saying the Lord's my victory. As a matter of fact, that's a difficult saying in Hebrew when it says a hand upon the throne of the Lord. But what does it mean?
00:26:02
Speaker
Well, there's different ways to take it, no doubt about it. But I think the majority of scholars would say what it means is Amalek thought they could raise their hand against the Lord God Almighty.
00:26:15
Speaker
And this is gonna be a reminder that he cannot raise his hand in victory over the Lord. The Lord is our banner. The other hands that raise up against God's throne will be defeated.
00:26:28
Speaker
And Amalek will have to be taught that from generation to generation. I wish I could tell you, if you trust Jesus Christ, you're never going to have any more struggles. But that's not true.
00:26:39
Speaker
That's not biblical. What's biblical is the old man is going to need to be defeated every single day of our lives. And Jesus Christ is the one that can help that happen. So all I'm saying is, why don't we take the lessons that we see right here in Exodus 17, verse verses eight through 16, and apply them every single day of our lives.
00:27:02
Speaker
As we turn our face toward the Lord, say, Lord, I'm gonna roll up my sleeves. I'm gonna do what I'm supposed to do. I'm gonna connect with some brothers or sisters. I'm gonna connect with my spouse.
00:27:14
Speaker
And I'm gonna say, pray for me because I'm in a battle right now. But I know that if you pray for me and I trust the Lord, that I'm gonna win this battle today. So I just want you to take heart.
00:27:25
Speaker
Once again, 1 Corinthians 15, 57 says, but thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
00:27:36
Speaker
Thank you so much for listening today. Why don't we close in prayer? Lord, thank you so much that the victory is possible and the victory comes through the finished work of Christ on the cross. It comes through the one who rose from the dead.
00:27:54
Speaker
If you can but Come out of that tomb, Lord. If you can overcome death, there's nothing that you can't overcome in our lives today, this week, right now in 2025 or in any year beyond this.
00:28:09
Speaker
So I thank you, Lord, that since we've trusted you, that we have signed up in an incredible team that wins as they go through life. So help us not walk in defeat from the flesh.
00:28:22
Speaker
Help us walk in victory through Jesus. It's in his mighty name we pray. Amen. Listen, you have a blessed day today. Thanks again for listening to Growing in Grace.
00:28:45
Speaker
This is a ministry of First Baptist Church located at 1700 Milam Street, Columbus, Texas.