Lion Heart ENCOURAGE – The battle is the Lord's

Introduction:

Brothers today we’re diving into the account of Israel’s first battle since leaving Egypt, recorded for us in Exodus 17:8-16. You’ll remember this was the battle against the Amalekites where both Moses and Joshua played a crucial role in God’s plan.

But I believe this goes beyond a great battle and a great victory, I believe it sketches a pattern that is important for us to learn from.  The pattern we are about to examine in Israels first ever victory over the Amalekites, is not just about a miracle, this is not just about a divine intervention or about God winning a battle, this is a pattern for life. God’s purposes and mans faith. A partnership conceived in the mind and in the heart of God.

This is a pattern to show us that God wants to partner with us in the life.

My brothers, I pray for a new and deeper understanding of, and revelation of, the plans and purposes that God has for us. His plans and purposes for us goes so far above what we can imagine. The true perspective of God’s plans for us is ‘that we are not our own, we have been bought with a price!’ God is so committed to us that we battle to comprehend the depth and sincerity of His love and commitment to us.

Encouragement

Ok, back to the battle. This is the first conflict that Israel as a nation will face after they escape from Egypt, and it is a famous account that highlights a number of crucial aspects to our walk with God: faith, prayer, divine purpose and divine help above human strength.

This is a story of God’s purpose being fulfilled in Israels journey, but it took faith and obedience to be fulfilled.

First, I'd like us to take a step back here, let's just briefly examine the situation that Israel found themselves in. Essentially, they were still slaves as far as their mindset was concerned. They were physically strong, but were subservient in their outlook to life. Also, they were for all practical purpose mostly pagan in their religious practices.

Geographically, if one looks at a map of their journey and in the text from the Bible, one sees that to get to the Promised land from where they crossed the Red Sea was actually a couple of weeks’ worth of travel. It was not 40 years!  But God had to develop a nation from a people that had been enslaved for over 400 years, and this would take time. If God had taken them the direct route it would've brought them into direct conflict with many more adversaries very early on. I believe that God knew they were not yet ready for those battles, and more importantly, God wanted to build faith in them, He wanted to show them who He was, and what His purposes were for them.

Knowing God is foundational to His purposes for us.

Now in my mind faith involves two things, 1. Who God is (His character), 2. What is God's plans and purpose for our lives. So, God wanted to walk a road with Israel to build that relationship, to build that faith in Him so that they did not trust in their own strength, but rather in Him. They had been slaves for their entire lives so they were physically strong and physically capable but were they mentally and emotionally ready to rule a country and most importantly would they trust their own strength or in God’s strength.

And this is crucial! Trusting in self or trusting in God? A crucial choice in everyday life.

John 15:5, Jesus says, and I paraphrase, ‘apart from me you have no power’. The exact translation says that Jesus says that ‘apart from me you can do nothing’. But if you look at the words more closely it is more an indication that apart from Jesus we have no power, but when we are close to Him, when we abide in Him, we have the power to accomplish His purposes in our lives.

It had only been a few months since Israel had crossed over the Red Sea, where God had delivered them from the greatest army in the world at that time, the Egyptian army. They were on an emotional high! Singing and dancing together. But just a little while later, a few tests around drinking water showed that their ‘faith’ was yet weak. Building faith in God takes time. Time to learn, and time to experience Him.

But God was at work with Israel. He had taken them this way around for a reason. Confronted by the Amalekites they found themselves between a rock and a hard place, but God had a plan, and His servant Moses was ready to execute. Moses had the faith and trusted God wholeheartedly. You’ll remember that Moses had spent countless hours in God’s presence and had seen God’s hand at work and his Power on display.

So, when the Amalekites struck, Moses the leader of Israel turned to Joshua, his young assistant, and the future leader of Israel and gave him his first commandment, ‘choose some of our men and go out to fight the Amalekites tomorrow I will stand on top of the hill with a staff of God in my hands’

Here’s the pattern, here we have the practical side of the battle which Joshua is going to face. He is physically going into the valley to fight the Amalekites. Joshua and his men had to have actual swords they had to wage an actual war, there was loss of life, there was blood sweat and tears. It was a practical physical battle. And then we have Moses reflecting the spiritual side of this battle trusting in God exalting God keeping his hands raised to God.

This is the pattern: in life we will have real enemies, which we must treat in a very ‘physical’ way, but, our trust must be in God for the battle is the Lord’s! This is a very vivid but practical illustration of God partnering with us to achieve His purposes.

And this brings me to the point of the purposes of God. When we understand God's plan and purpose for our lives it empowers us to walk in faith, and trust Him to bring it about. There’s the faith and there’s the action, the walking in the faith. The one without the other results in nothing. Do you hear me brother? God’s plan without your faithful obedience ends nowhere. Your plan, in your strength leads to bondage and oppression.

It is at this level that we need a re-wiring of our thinking. I pray that the simplicity of this encounter between Amalek and Israel will help us grow in this understanding.

This story is often interpreted as a powerful lesson in:

• Interdependence — Joshua fought on the ground, while Moses interceded from the hill (symbolizing prayer/support).

• Dependence on God — The battle's outcome depended on God's power, not just military might.

• Perseverance in prayer/faith — Even when Moses tired, others helped sustain him, showing community support.

• Spiritual warfare — Many Christian and Jewish interpreters see Amalek as a symbol of evil or doubt that attacks when people are spiritually weak.

Bless you brothers, and let’s endeavour, as always, to know and worship God more deeply.

Sincerely,

Stanley

(Human author., in my own words)