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Exodus 17:8-16

I. Exodus 17:8 — Then Amalek came and fought with Israel at Rephidim.

First of all, a little background. The Amalekites are usually associated with lands much further to

the north, just south of Israel’s future inheritance in the land of Canaan. (cf. Gen. 14:7; 1 Sam.

15:7; 27:8) One year from now, when the Israelites try to invade Canaan without the Lord’s help,

one of the peoples who will help to defeat them will be the Amalekites. (cf. Num. 14:25, 42-45)

But the Amalekites were also a semi-nomadic people without any clearly defined borders, and so

the fact that we find them this far south at Rephidim (nearly to Mount Sinai) isn’t at all

surprising. We’ll learn a little more about the Amalekites when we come back to this text next

week.

We’re not told why the Amalekites attacked Israel. It may have partly had something to do with

controlling the caravan routes in the area, especially including any springs or oases. But it seems

that it was especially just an attempt to exploit a vulnerable people for the Amalekites’ own

benefit. Moses says in Deuteronomy 25:

Deuteronomy 25:17–18 — Remember what Amalek did to you on the way as you came out

of Egypt, how he attacked you on the way when you were faint and weary, and cut off your

tail, those who were lagging behind you, and he did not fear God.

II. Exodus 17:9 — 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.”

This is the first time in the Bible that we hear of Joshua, and the sudden appearance of his name

here is very striking and very significant. Joshua means “Yahweh saves,” and so even as Joshua

is choosing men to fight with Amalek, we have a reminder in Joshua’s name that Israel’s hope is

not in the sword or in the strength of men, but only in the Lord, who saves. Consider the fact that

Israel has no standing, professionally trained army. The men that Joshua chooses will be for the

most part amateur volunteers, not at all to be compared with the trained and far more

experienced Amalekite attackers. If Israel is to win this battle, they will need the Lord to be their

salvation. And so especially hopeful is Moses’ announcement: “Tomorrow I will stand on the

top of the hill with the staff of God in my hand.” What will this mean?

III. Exodus 17:10–11 — So Joshua did as Moses told him, and fought with Amalek, while

Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill. Whenever Moses held up his hand, Israel

prevailed, and whenever he lowered his hand, Amalek prevailed.

Hur was one of the most prominent of the elders of Israel (cf. Exod. 24:13-14), and also

apparently the grandfather of Bezalel, who did the work of constructing and building the

tabernacle. (cf. Exod. 31:1-5; 35:30-36:1; 38:22) And, of course, Aaron is the brother of Moses.

So as Joshua fights with the Amalekites in the plain or in the valley below, Moses—

accompanied by Aaron and Hur—is standing on the top of a hill, holding up his hand in which is

the staff of God. As long as Moses holds up his hand, Israel prevails over Amalek, but if he

lowers his hand, then Amalek prevails over Israel.

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So let’s think about this. First of all, the point isn’t that we have two equally matched opponents

with the result that God is the deciding factor – the one who tips the balance one way or the

other. No, the point is that the Israelites are inferior to the Amalekites and completely

outmatched. If you were a betting person, you’d bet on the Amalekites and the odds would be

totally in your favor – if it weren’t for the staff that Moses is holding in his upraised hands on the

top of the hill.

But now the next thing we have to remember, of course, is that this is not a “magic” staff.

There’s nothing supernatural about the piece of wood – it has no powers of its own. All the staff

is, is a symbol God has chosen to represent His own activity and presence. So when Moses raises

or lowers his hands, he’s not controlling God like a puppet on a string! God could just as easily

have chosen to fight for Israel without the staff being raised, or even without the staff at all.

So what God wants to communicate clearly and explicitly to His people is that though they are

engaged in the fight, this battle is not ultimately theirs, but His. This battle, and so also all battles

are not ultimately theirs to win, but His, and His alone. And so, therefore, if the battle is ever to

be won it must be because the people are fighting Yahweh’s battle – it must be because God

Himself is fighting with and for the people.

What happens whenever we’ve had a success? We instinctively find the credit for that success in

ourselves. Even if we might have expected failure at first because we were ill-equipped and ill-

prepared, when the failure is turned into success we suddenly thing that maybe we weren’t so ill-

equipped and ill-prepared after all. Or, maybe it was just our courage, or some innate talent we

didn’t know we had. One way or the other, we can always find a way of taking the credit and the

glory for ourselves – always. And so throughout the Bible, God is always making a point of how

He chooses the foolish, and the weak, and the low, and the despised, and the things that are not,

so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. (cf. 1 Cor. 1:26-29) The point isn’t

that if God had chosen the wise and the powerful, they would have had more reason for boasting.

No, it’s just that humanly speaking, the wise and the powerful in the worldly sense are even

more impossible to convince that the credit for their successes does not belong to them.

How have you or I been taking the credit to ourselves, when the glory always and only belongs

to the Lord? So we think especially of Gideon, who starts out with 32,000 warriors to fight the

Midianites. Now that might sound like a lot, but compared to the numbers of the enemy it was

nothing.

Judges 7:12 (cf. 6:5) — The Midianites and the Amalekites and all the people of the East lay

along the valley like locusts in abundance, and [both they and] their camels were without

number, as the sand that is on the seashore in abundance.

Nevertheless, even though 32,000 was a tiny and a hopeless number, the Lord could still say to

Gideon:

Judges 7:2 — The people with you are too many for me to give the Midianites into their

hand, lest Israel boast over me, saying, “My own hand has saved me.”

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And so most of us know the story of how God whittles the 32,000 down to 300, and with these

300 accomplishes a mighty victory over the Midianites. All this explains very clearly what’s

going on here in Exodus chapter 17. If the staff of God in Moses’ hands and the changing tides

of the battle doesn’t enable the Israelites to see and understand the truth, then nothing will! The

message God wants to communicate to His people is clear: Though they may be engaged in the

fight, this battle is not ultimately theirs, but His. This battle, and so also all their battles are not

ultimately theirs to win, but His. And so if the battle is ever to be won it must be because the

people are fighting God’s battle – because God Himself is fighting with and for His people. This

point is driven home even further in the next two verses:

IV. Exodus 17:12–13 — 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.

What we see in these verses is that even Moses—even the God-appointed leader of the people

and the one standing on top of the hill—can take no credit to himself. All Moses is doing is

holding the staff up, but even that proves to be too much for Moses – as it would for any other

human being. And so Moses ends up needing a stone to sit on and two other men to prop up his

arms. It’s really a very vivid picture of human weakness and inadequacy. And so the point here

is not that “no man is an island” or that we all need the help and support of others, rather, the

point is that it’s not any man—not even Moses—who can give the victory, but God alone. This

isn’t Moses’ battle—or the battle of any man—but Yahweh’s battle, and His alone. And so it’s

only in this light that we can read the last words of verse thirteen: “And Joshua overwhelmed

Amalek and his people with the sword.”

But why is all this such a big deal for the people to know? We’ve already seen how we need to

learn that the credit and glory is never, ever ours, but always and only the Lord’s. These were

some Scriptures that came to mind here:

1 Corinthians 4:7 — What do you have that you did not receive? If then you received it, why

do you boast as if you did not receive it?

John 3:30 — He must increase, but I must decrease.

2 Corinthians 3:5 — Not that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim anything as coming from

us, but our sufficiency is from God.

Romans 11:36 — For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory

forever. Amen.

What are the ways that we have been taking to ourselves the credit and glory that always and

only belongs to the Lord – even if only in our private thoughts? But as we’re about to see, there’s

even more at stake here than just this. We go on to read in verses 14-16:

V. Exodus 17:14–16 — 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,

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“Because1 a hand [was

2] against

3 the throne of the LORD,

4 the LORD will have war with Amalek

from generation to generation.”

OK, so what just happened? For their attack on the Israelites in the wilderness, the Amalekites

have now been sentenced to perpetual warfare throughout all generations, and eventual, ultimate

annihilation. To use the Bible’s language in other places, the Amalekites have just been put

under the ban – they’ve just been devoted to total destruction. (Deut. 7:26; 13:17; Josh. 6:17-18)

I don’t believe this means that God will exterminate every single, individual descendent of

Amalek, but this will mean the killing of people, including women, and children, and infants, as

well as livestock. (cf. 1 Sam. 15:1-3) This will mean the destruction of Amalek as a nation, as a

people, and as a culture.

So how are we to make sense of this? What does it mean? Well, as to the first question, I don’t

know that we can make “sense” of this. We could spend a lot of time this morning qualifying,

and explaining, and putting things in a better light than we might at first be seeing things. And

this would be both a good and helpful thing to do and also very biblical. But at the end of the

day, the wholesale killing of women, children, and infants—not to mention the livestock—will

always offend our human “sensibilities.” Here are some other teachings of the Bible that also

offend our human sensibilities: The doctrine of hell and eternal punishment, the doctrine of

original sin, and the doctrine of unconditional election. In all of these areas, after we’ve tried to

understand these doctrines in the clearest Biblical context as possible, we can only surrender and

submit ourselves by faith to the God who has revealed Himself to be perfectly holy, and

infinitely good, and wise, and just.

So the real question we have to ask is this: Is there anything about this specific killing of

Amalekite men, women, children, and infants that contradicts the holy character of God – His

infinite goodness, and wisdom, and justice? And the answer, as we’ll see in a moment, is “no” –

there is no contradiction. If we understand the goodness, and wisdom, and justice of God in such

a way that it can’t leave any room for the killing of the Amalekites, then we have not rightly

understood the infinite goodness, and wisdom, and justice of God. Our human sensibilities

(which are finite and also defective because of our sin) may still be offended, but as we will see,

there is nothing to keep us from wholly submitting by faith to the perfectly pure and holy

character of God.

As we’ve clearly already seen, the first, and most fundamental thing for us to understand is that

this perpetual war against the Amalekites is Yahweh’s war, and not ultimately the war of any

man or nation. Now I want us first of all to see how, “if” this is true, then it changes everything.

God is the sovereign creator and governor of the universe. So the Apostle Paul writes:

Romans 9:21–23 — Has the potter no right over the clay, to make out of the same lump one

vessel for honorable use and another for dishonorable use? What if God, desiring to show his

wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience vessels of wrath

prepared for destruction [e.g. the Amalekites], in order to make known the riches of his glory

for vessels of mercy, which he has prepared beforehand for glory [e.g. the Israelites].

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This is where we have to start – with the sovereign rights of the Creator and the Potter. Not only

is God the sovereign creator and governor of the universe, but the Bible teaches that all sinned in

Adam – even infants.

Romans 5:12 — Sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so

death spread to all men because all sinned.

It’s our sin in Adam that explains how we are all born into this world already as sinners. If all

have sinned in Adam, then even infants are subject to death (Rom. 5:12), and are by their very

nature children of God’s righteous wrath (Eph. 2:3). Infants are in a very real sense no less

guilty than all the rest of us. So Yahweh’s bodily killing of the Amalekites (including men,

women, children, and infants) is not only just, but it’s merely the precursor to a far worse

destruction of the soul in hell. (cf. Mat. 10:28) In reality, the killing of all the Amalekite children

and infants is not really any different than the Angel of the Lord slaying all the firstborn in

Egypt.

And so we come back again to this issue of the potter’s right over the clay. God could have

responded to the Amalekite attack by sending missionaries and prophets, like He sent Jonah to

Ninevah. That would have been pure, undeserved mercy and grace. Instead, God placed the

entire nation and culture of Amalek under the ban, devoting them to complete and total

destruction. Certainly, there is no mercy and grace here, but neither is there any injustice. To the

contrary, here is the perfect justice of a holy God. Shouldn’t this cause us to tremble, and to run

to the mercy and grace of God which He has poured out at the cross?

So now the only question is: how do we know that this was really Yahweh’s war? Doesn’t ISIS

also claim the same kinds of things? Well, this is exactly the thing that we’ve already seen God

so intent on demonstrating to the Israelites themselves. God was zealous and passionate that

Israel should know that these battles were His and His alone. And how did God prove this? The

first way was by always seeing to it that the Israelites were outnumbered and outmatched, and

that, indeed, it would be utterly impossible for them to win their battles unless Yahweh Himself

was fighting with them and for them. We see numerous cases of this all throughout the Old

Testament. And, of course, we’ve seen it especially this morning right here in this first account

of when Israel overwhelmed the Amalekites. On the one hand, we have this emphasis on the

weakness and frailty of Moses on the hill. On the other hand, we have the sudden introduction of

Joshua, the commander of the army, whose name means, in Hebrew, “Yahweh saves.” And most

significantly, it was only when the staff of God was raised that the Israelites could prevail –

otherwise, the Amalekites most certainly would have had the obvious and easy victory.

Even in Deuteronomy chapter twenty, where God gives His people laws governing warfare, the

first thing we see is that it’s generally assumed the enemy will be stronger and militarily superior

to Israel.

Deuteronomy 20:1 — When you go out to war against your enemies, and see horses and

chariots and an army larger than your own, you shall not be afraid of them, for the LORD your

God is with you, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt.

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In another place, God specifically says that Israel’s kings are not to acquire many horses for

themselves, and of course this would also mean that they were not to acquire many chariots. (cf.

Deut. 17:16) So when the people go out to war and are tempted to be afraid when they see horses

and chariots, the assumption in Deuteronomy seems to be that comparatively speaking, the

Israelites don’t have horses and chariots. Even when Israel conquered armies that had horses and

chariots, we hear God telling His people not to take the horses and chariots for themselves, but

rather to hamstring the horses and burn the chariots. (Josh. 11:2-4) It also appears that the

Israelites were never to have a standing or “professional” army. The army of the Israelites was to

be made up entirely of “volunteers” who could at any time choose not to fight. (cf. Judges 5:2,

16-17) So here’s what was supposed to happen before every military conflict:

Deuteronomy 20:5–8 — Then the officers shall speak to the people, saying, “Is there any

man who has built a new house and has not dedicated it? Let him go back to his house… And

is there any man who has planted a vineyard and has not enjoyed its fruit? Let him go back to

his house… And is there any man who has betrothed a wife and has not taken her? Let him

go back to his house…” And the officers shall speak further to the people, and say, “Is there

any man who is fearful and fainthearted? Let him go back to his house…”

All this helps to explain how the entire history of Israel could be for the most part a David versus

Goliath history. God also warned in many other places that if His people rebelled against Him

and He did not go with them to their battles, then a thousand Israelites would flee at the threat of

one (Isa. 30:17). We read in Deuteronomy:

Deuteronomy 32:30 — How could one have chased a thousand, and two have put ten

thousand to flight, unless their Rock had sold them, and YAHWEH had given them up?

Always the purpose in all of this, was so the Lord could clearly show to His people—and to all

the world—that these wars were His, and not Israel’s. And so in this light, we can read again

verses 14-16: “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, ‘Because a hand

[was] against the throne of the LORD, the LORD will have war with Amalek from generation to

generation.’” The Hebrew word for “banner” is the word for a “standard” or a signal-pole around

which the armies of a nation would rally.

Isaiah 13:2 (cf. Isa. 18:3; 31:8-9; Jer. 4:19-21; 51:12, 27) — On a bare hill raise a

signal/standard; cry aloud to them [the armies of the enemy]; wave the hand for them to

enter the gates of the nobles.

And so we’re meant to think right away of the “staff of God” that Moses held in his upraised

hands on the top of the hill. The standard of Israel in battle was not their own nationalistic flag

with the emblems of twelve tribes, but the staff of God – or rather, Yahweh Himself. And so as a

humble and joyful acknowledgement of this truth, Moses builds an altar and names it, on behalf

of all the Israelites: “Yahweh Is My Banner”; meaning that Israel’s battles are always and only to

be Yahweh’s battles.

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Conclusion

Next week, we’ll come back to this same passage in Exodus and see yet another, even more

compelling reason that we can know Israel’s perpetual war against the Amalekites was truly and

ultimately Yahweh’s war, and not Israel’s own nationalistic agenda. Of course, as with the reason

we’ve seen today, so also this next reason will still only be convincing to those who already have

faith. In the end, reason cannot be the ground of our faith, rather faith must always be the

foundation for all of our reasoning. And yet(!) that’s not to say that our reasoning (rooted in the

Bible) is not perfectly logical, and consistent, and rational – and even wholly irrefutable. In fact,

for all those who already believe, though our “human sensibilities” may never be satisfied, we

can—and should—be always learning to see more and more even the perfect goodness of all

God’s ways – including His decree of total destruction on entire peoples and nations.

This is what we’ll look more at next week, but for right now we can ask again: Is there anything

about this specific killing of Amalekite men, women, children, and infants that contradicts the

holy character of God – His infinite goodness, and wisdom, and justice? And the answer, as

we’ve seen, is “no” – there is no contradiction. If we understand the goodness, and wisdom, and

justice of God in such a way that it leaves no room for the killing of the Amalekites (men,

women, children, infants, and livestock), or for the reality of hell, then we have not rightly

understood the infinite goodness, and wisdom, and justice of God. Yes, our human sensibilities

(which are finite and also defective because of our sin) may still be offended, but there is nothing

to keep us from unreservedly submitting ourselves by faith to the perfectly holy, pure, and

righteous character of God.

In closing, when Moses builds and altar and names it “Yahweh is my banner,” it’s also a

reminder to us that the only true “successes” or victories we will ever have in this life will

always be due not to our strength, but only to the strength of the Lord.

Psalm 127:1 — Unless the LORD builds the house, those who build it labor in vain. Unless

the LORD watches over the city, the watchman stays awake in vain.

Psalm 147:10–11 (cf. 33:16-19) — His delight is not in the strength of the horse, nor his

pleasure in the legs of a man, but the LORD takes pleasure in those who fear him, in those

who hope in his steadfast love.

1 Corinthians 1:30–31 — And because of [God] you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us

wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, so that, as it is written,

“Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.”

1 The Hebrew particle is ki and I give it here it’s normal causal sense “because” (cf. NIV; NKJV; YLT; NLT;

Currid; Durham). Ki can also be translated as an interjection (Indeed!; cf. HCSB) or simply introduce a quotation. In

this last scenario, ki might be translated “that” or simply remain untranslated (cf. ESV; NASB; NRSV; Hamilton).

Not only is “because” the most common meaning of ki, but it also easily fits the context of Exodus 17:8-16.

Additionally, ki as the introduction of a quotation seems redundant in light of the immediately preceding verb

translated, “saying” (this verb is already capable of introducing the quotation). 2 This is a verbless clause in Hebrew, so we supply a verb in the English.

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3 The Hebrew preposition al has the most basic or normal meaning of a spatial “on, upon, over, by, with,” etc. In this

case, however, the hand upon the throne of the Lord is obviously symbolic or representative of some other reality.

Some consider this phrase to be an oath formula (still translating al as “upon”; cf. NASB; NKJV). Others relate the

“hand” (yath) to Moses hand/hands (yath) earlier in the passage and see the phrase as a reference to Moses’ hand

“upon” the throne of the Lord as he held up the staff of God (cf. HCSB; NCV; Stuart; Kaiser). Another option,

however, is to look to the broader semantic range of al, which can include the meaning against if appropriate to the

context (cf. Gen. 14:15; 34:25; Ps. 41:9; 54:3; etc.). In spite of the potential connection with Moses’ hand earlier in

the text, “against” still seems to me to be the most natural translation (cf. NIV; NLT; Currid; Durham; Kaiser)

especially if we assume the causal sense of ki. Specifically, it’s almost impossible to think that Yahweh will have

perpetual war with Amalek because Moses’ hands were “upon” Yahweh’s throne. On the other hand, it’s in

complete harmony with the testimony of Scripture elsewhere (see sermon) to say that Yahweh will have perpetual

war with Amalek because Amalek’s hand was against the sovereign rule of Yahweh. 4 There is also some debate about the Hebrew words translated “throne” (contra NRSV) and “LORD.” Most

conservative commentators, however, are agreed upon the traditional translation. (cf. esp. Stuart, Kaiser, Durham,

Currid)