Chapter 17 and beginning with
verse 8. Then came Amalek and fought with
Israel in Rephidim. And Moses said unto Joshua, choose
us out men and go out, fight with Amalek. Tomorrow I will
stand on the top of the hill with the rod of God in mine hand.
So Joshua did as Moses had said to him. and fought with Amalek,
and Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill. It
came to pass when Moses held up his hand that Israel prevailed,
and when he let down his hand, Amalek prevailed. But Moses'
hands were heavy, and they took a stone and put it under him,
and he sat there on. And Aaron and Hur stayed up his
hands, the one on the one side and the other on the other side,
and his hands were steady until the going down of the sun. And
Joshua disconfited Amalek and his people with the edge of the
sword. And the Lord said unto Moses,
write this for a memorial in a book and rehearse it in the
ears of Joshua, for I will utterly put out the remembrance of Amalek
from under heaven. And Moses built an altar and
called the name of it Jehovah Nissi. For he said, because the
Lord has sworn that the Lord will have war with Amalek from
generation to generation. The title of my message this
evening is simply warfare. Warfare. Now the first time that
this man Amalek, or a man named Amalek is mentioned, he was a
grandson of Esau. And the writers, the commentators,
they are not all agreed that this nation, the Amaleks that
came up against Israel at this time, descended from that man. But we know that there was animosity
going back between Jacob and Esau from when they were young
men and their descendants continued. We see that today over there
in the Middle East. There's still just a hatred. It's hard for us to even understand
how people can hate other nations like like the people in the Middle
East hate the nation of Israel, but they do. And then some say
that Balaam, you know, Balak, he was a Moabite, he hired Balak,
a false prophet, to come and curse Israel as they were in
their march through the wilderness. And some say that Balaam mentioned
the fact in his prophecy there that Amalek was the first ones
to war against the nation of Israel. Someone might ask, why? Why would this nation, why would
they come and fight against Israel at this time? Well, there's two
thoughts that come to mind. First of all, Israel had plenty
of wealth at this point. Remember, they had taken the
wealth from the nation of Egypt. When they left Egypt, they all
borrowed jewels and everything they could borrow and brought
that out of Egypt. So they were a prey to this nation,
maybe because of their wealth. And then a second reason is because
they had heard that God had opened that rock with the water coming
out of it, giving water in the wilderness And they knew that
Israel now would no doubt make it on to Canaan because they
had water to sustain them in the wilderness. Now, here are
two things, let me mention this tonight, two things that we recognize. Moses, in this passage, he's
not to be considered as a type of our Lord Jesus Christ when
the scripture here says that he went up on the top of the
hill. Some preachers over the years,
I guess they've used this as a type of the Lord Jesus Christ
who is in heaven. Moses was interceding for the
nation of Israel in the valley, and the picture is the Lord Jesus
Christ is at the Father's right hand interceding for us who are
here in this world. But that can't be true. That
cannot be a good type. Why? Because Moses had help. He had help. He had his brother
Aaron and this man by the name of Hur, who some Josephus, I
believe it was, who said that Hur was a brother-in-law to Moses. But regardless, Moses had help
as he was interceding for the nation of Israel. We have one
great high priest tonight who ever lives to make intercession
for all of us who come unto God by him. Nothing thrills my heart
anymore to know that just now and always now that he is there
making intercession for me and he's there making intercession
for you if you're one of his children. No matter the time,
no matter the day, no matter the circumstances, we have a
friend, we have a mediator, we have a high priest who intercedes
continuously for us. And then others, and we know
this can't be true, that can't be true. Moses is not to be a
type here of the Lord Jesus Christ as our high priest on high interceding
for us. And secondly, Joshua. Some have
used Joshua here as a type of the Lord Jesus. Now, the names
are the same, right? Jehovah saves. In fact, in the
letter of Hebrews, in the King James translation, you know there's
one place there where they use the name Jesus when it should
have been Joshua. Because the names are interchangeable,
they're the same. But Joshua here, cannot be a
type of the Lord Jesus Christ for this simple reason. He didn't
defeat Amalek. The scripture says he disconfitted. He disconfitted Amalek. The Lord Jesus Christ, he completely
defeated Satan. That first promise that God spoke
in the Garden of Eden, that the seed of the woman would bruise
the head of the serpent. Didn't say he would just disconfect
the serpent. No, he would deal him a death
blow. And he did that, we know, at
the cross. Now, we're going to look at the
passage tonight, as most of the writers do, not all, but most
of them, as being typical of the warfare that goes on in every
believer. And every child of God here tonight,
there is a warfare. Remember the Apostle Paul said,
we wrestle not against flesh and blood. No, but there is a
warfare that goes on in every believer. And the first thing
I point out, and I only have two points. But I have five points
under that second point. The first point here is, this
warfare follows the smiting of the rock. Now we saw that last
week. And you notice our text here
tonight, verse eight, begins with the word then. Then came
Amalek. Well, when did Amalek come? After
the rock was smitten, and the water poured forth. The rock,
of course, and we just sang about that, the Lord Jesus Christ is
the rock, the rock of ages, the rock that is higher than us.
But when the rock was smitten, and that, of course, pictures
Christ being smitten by God while he was hanging there on the cross,
yes, Roman soldiers, they pierced his side and pierced his hands
and his feet with the nails. But it was the justice of God
that he was satisfying there. And he was smitten. He was smitten
for us. And out of that rock flowed the
water. And the water, of course, is
a type of God the Holy Spirit. Let me show us this because I
think this is important. If you turn to John, there's
two places in John, I believe, that point this out, that the
water must be a picture of God the Holy Spirit. In John chapter
seven, everyone is familiar with this great grand invitation. John 7 and verse 37. In the last day, that great day
of the feast, and I'm sure most of us have all heard of the ceremony
that they performed on that last day of the feast, how they would
go to Siloam and get water, a pitcher of water, and bring it back and
pour it out at the altar. It was a very solemn ceremony
that they went through on the last day. But the Lord Jesus
Christ, he stands on that day and cried saying, if any man
thirst, let him come unto me and drink. He that believeth
on me, as the scripture has said, out of his belly shall flow rivers
of living water. But now notice how John explains
what that means in the next verse. But this spake he of the Spirit,
which they that believe on him should receive, for the Holy
Ghost was not yet given, not yet poured out, like it was on
the day of Pentecost, before the Holy Spirit would be poured
out, the rock must be smitten. Because Jesus was not yet glorified,
and Jesus was not yet glorified until Of course, he was smitten
and rose from the dead and ascended back to the Father. And the other
place in John, John chapter four, we won't turn there, but you
know, he told that woman of Samaria, the water that I shall give unto
thee shall be in thee a well of living water. Now, who comes
to live in the believer? Those who receive Christ, those
who believe in the Holy Spirit does. Our bodies become the temple
of the Holy Spirit. So back in our text, this warfare
follows. This warfare, then Amalek came
and fought with Israel. When a person is born again,
he receives that new nature which is called spirit. Remember our
Lord said that which is born of the flesh is flesh. We're
all born of the flesh and we are flesh. But then if we're
born again, that which is born of the spirit is spirit. And
the reason it is referred to that new nature as spirit, because
God the Holy Spirit is the author of this spirit. The Apostle Peter
in his first letters, second letter, I believe it is, he wrote,
whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises that
by these you might be, now listen, you might be partakers of the
divine nature. Now, us who preach the gospel,
we speak a lot about imputed righteousness. That is, the perfect
righteousness of Christ that satisfies God. That righteousness
becomes your righteousness when you, by faith, trust in Christ. It's imputed unto you. It's charged
to your account. And therefore, you are justified
before God. But we also know there is imparted
righteousness. in the sense that there's a new
nature that is created in every child of God, everyone that is
born of the Spirit of God. There's a new nature. Many of
you, I know, read Charles Spurgeon's Morning and Evening, and his
evening devotion tonight is on this very subject of, he calls
it two principles, two principles, and some people prefer to use
that term rather than two natures. But his text is that God separated
the light from the darkness and his text is found in Genesis
chapter one. But the important thing to see
there, first there was darkness and then there was light and
creation. There was darkness, and then
God said, let there be light. God separated the light from
the darkness. And when we come into this world,
we're dead in trespasses and sins. We are darkness. We are darkness. But if a person
is saved by the grace of God, then he becomes light in the
Lord. He now has these two principles
or these two natures within him. and there's going to be a struggle. Remember in Galatians chapter
five and verse 17, the apostle Paul, the flesh, that's that
old nature, the flesh lusted against the spirit, that new
nature. It lusted against the flesh. Arthur Pink, I want to give you
this. He pointed out that many have
thought This is what he said, many have thought and taught
something that the Bible doesn't teach. And I quote him, that
when a sinner really receives Christ as his savior, that God
will change his heart. And that henceforth, he will
be a complete victor over sin. But a change of heart is nowhere
spoken of in scripture. God never changes anything. The
Christian is one who has been born again, and the new birth
is neither the removal of anything from a man, nor the changing
of anything within, but the impartation of something new to him. The new birth is the reception
of a new nature. That which is born of the Spirit
is spirit. And so there's bound to be a
conflict between the old man and the new man. And I'm not
telling you anything you have not already experienced if you
know the Lord tonight. Thus, the warfare here begins
when the rock is smitten and the Holy Spirit is given. Then came Amalek and fought with
Israel. My second point, I have five
lessons. Five lessons, I think, that will
help us in this warfare. As children of God, we struggle
with this, with the flesh lusting against the new man, the spirit.
And I have five things I want to mention tonight. First of
all, stay near God. the leader. Stay near the leader. And to bring this out, I want
you to turn to Deuteronomy. We'll come back here in just
a moment to Exodus, but look over in Deuteronomy and verse
25. In Deuteronomy 25 and verse 17, now Moses is rehearsing
some of the history that Israel had experienced since they came
out of Egypt. Remember, Deuteronomy 25, 17,
remember what Amalek did unto thee by the way. Now that's what
we're looking at here in Exodus 17. Moses said to the nation
of Israel, you remember what Amalek did unto you when you
were come forth out of Egypt, how he met thee by the way, now
watch this, and smote the hindmost of thee. Now the hindmost means
those that are furthest from the leader, right? Moses was
the leader. Amalek comes and he doesn't charge
the leader, the head, but where does he make his attack? The
hindmost. In other words, those who were
the furthest from the leader. And that brings me to say tonight,
stay close to the leader. In this battle, if we're going
to have success, stay close to the leader. And the leader, of
course, is Christ. Just like Moses was the leader
of the nation of Israel, but Christ is our leader. Stay near
to him. And when I say that, we need
to be Be conscious of those things that grieve the Holy Spirit.
In the Song of Solomon, there's a verse there that says, the
little foxes spoil the vines. The little foxes spoil the vines. It's not great sins. I mean, that's one thing. But
for most of us, it's these little things. Well, we consider little
things, little things that cause us to lose that presence of the
Lord. Now, he never leaves us. I'm
not saying that, but we can lose a sense of his presence. And
you know that, you've experienced it, I'm sure. Stay near the leader. And then the second thing in
this passage here in Deuteronomy, not only did the Ambalikites
smite the Hanmos part, but the weary, the weary, look in verse
18. How he met thee by the way, and
smote the hindmost of thee, even all that were feeble behind thee,
when thou wast faint and weary." You ever become weary? The Apostle Paul said, let us
not grow weary in well-doing. It's so easy to grow weary in
the things of God. to grow weary in our service
of the Lord Jesus Christ. How do you keep from doing that?
Well, look in Isaiah chapter 40. How do we keep from growing
weary? There's only one way. In Isaiah
chapter 40 and verse 28, God says, Isaiah 40 and verse
28, Hast thou not known, hast thou not heard, that the everlasting
God, the Lord, the creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth
not? Neither is weary. There's no
searching of his understanding. He giveth power to the faint,
and to them that have no might, he increaseth strength. Even
the youth shall faint and be weary, and the young man shall
utterly fall. But they that wait upon the Lord
shall renew their strength. They shall mount up with wings
as eagles. They shall run and not be weary. They shall walk and not faint. So that's the first point I make.
Stay near our leader. We must stay near Christ. And we must wait upon the Lord
and renew our strength or we will grow weary. in well-doing,
as the apostle said. Here's my second point. Keep
our hands lifted up. Look back here in Exodus chapter
17 and verse 11. We read, and it came to pass
when Moses held up his hand that Israel prevailed. Now, lifting
up our hands is a picture of prayer. In Psalm 28, in verse
2, we read, hear the voice of my supplications when I cry unto
thee, when I lift up my hands toward thy holy oracle. Lifting
up the hands here of Moses pictures to us, us praying. And the apostle Paul wrote in
1 Timothy 2, I will therefore, this is writing to Timothy, I
will therefore that men pray everywhere, lifting up holy hands
without wrath and doubting. Now, here's something to notice
here. This is a lesson that we all
need to realize. Moses' hands grew weary. He had
a rod. Joshua's hands were not told
grew weary. He had a sword. He had a sword. And the point is, the more spiritual
any work is, the more difficult it is. And prayer, we all have
a tendency, you know, to Put off prayer, you get up in the
morning, you think, well, I need to pray. And well, I'll do that
later. I'll do that later. And before
long, you're asleep that night. And prayer, you haven't prayed. Prayer, I know that all of us pray. And we just need to be encouraged. that God answers prayer. Someone
said, I believe that prayer changes things. Well, I don't. I don't
believe that. Or prayer changes God, they say.
Not changes things, but prayer changes God. God doesn't change.
But God has ordained prayer. And he answers prayer. And it's
important that we lift up holy hands, as the Apostle Paul said,
that men pray everywhere. And third, my third point is
accept the help of others. When Moses' hands grew weary,
he accepted the help of Aaron and her to help him hold up his
hands. And we as believers, we should
not hesitate to ask a brother or sister in Christ for their
help. help us in prayer and dealing
with whatever struggles we may be going through. We shouldn't
be so proud as to admit that we need help. We do. That's one reason I believe in
Hebrews, Paul said, and let us consider one another. As brothers
and sisters in this congregation, let us consider one another to
provoke unto love and to good works. Not forsaking the assembling
of ourselves together as the manner of some is, but exhorting
one another. And so much the more, as you
see the day approaching. You know, it's important that
we come together. and worship the Lord and we encourage
one another and we all need that. We all need it. I've often thought
about Cain's statement that he made to God when he said, am
I my brother's keeper? In other words, am I responsible
for my brother? We do have a responsibility to
one another as God's children, as people in the same local church. We do have a responsibility,
first of all, of course, to God, but yes, to our brothers and
sisters in Christ. The fourth point, recognize that
in this world, we will never deal this enemy a death blow. That is the flesh. We're never
going to deal this flesh a death blow. Over the years and days
gone by, I've read some and heard some who have claimed they no
longer live in Romans 7. They've moved out of Romans 7
and they're in Romans 8 now and they have no more trouble. They've
got the victory over sin. That's just not going to happen.
As long as we are in this body, in this world, there's going
to be a struggle between the flesh and the spirit and every
child of God. And when you get so old, you
can't do things, you can still think of things. Let me just
say that. Someone said, well, you get old
enough, you can't be tempted by things that young people are
tempted with. That may be true, but you can
still think of things. Yes, there's still a struggle. I know I'm preaching to the choir,
but thank you. I love to preach to the choir.
Okay, one last thing. The Lord is our banner. Notice,
Moses built an altar and called the name of it Jehovah Nissi,
which of course means the Lord is our banner. There's a verse
in the Song of Solomon where the bride says, he brought me
to the banqueting house, and his banner over me was love. And that's true of every child
of God. His banner, like this rod, was
something like a banner. You know, every army, they have
their colors, don't they? Years ago, maybe not so much
today, but years ago, that banner, that flag that they were fighting
under, that man who carried the flag, he was usually up there
in the front. And he had no weapons to defend
himself. And that flag was very important. That banner was very important.
When that banner went down, if that man was destroyed in the
battle, Someone else grabbed the red badge of honor. That's
an old book that I read years ago. The man struggled, wondering
if he would have the courage to pick up that banner if, in
the providence of God, it ever happened to him. And he was in
the Revolution. It was a story about the Revolutionary
War of our country. And yes, it happened. And yes,
he had the courage. He picked up that banner. Well, that's off the subject,
isn't it? But the banner over us is love. Jehovah Nissi. May the Lord bless
His word to all of us here tonight.