Title: Exodus 17
Contents Exodus 17
Exodus 17:1-7
Verse 1 says, “The whole congregation of the children of Israel departed from the wilderness of Zin, as the LORD had commanded, and followed their course, and pitched their tents at Rephidim, but the people had no water to drink.” There was no water to drink, even though it was not contrary to the Lord's command and course, that is, it was not contrary to the word of God, and it was not a wrong way out. Judging from this, God intentionally led Israel to a place without water.
At that time, all Israel could do but blame Moses and God. But now, God is focused on making Israel thoroughly God's people. Being a people of God here does not mean living ethically good and good.
Because of the problem of drinking water, Israel put to the test whether there is a God among us (v. 7). In other words, they judged whether or not God exists or not according to whether there was water to drink or not. Israel's interest in whether God exists or not was a secondary matter. They were only interested in themselves and their possessions (v. 3).
In this respect, God's people-like appearance does not mean judging the existence of God based only on concern for oneself and one's possessions. It tells you what you can do.
Even if I acted faithfully and faithfully, when the results are contrary to my expectations, I still have to be holding on to God. That is what the church looks like. Because faith has nothing to do with my experience, but about the existence of God.
Israel appears as God's adversary whenever it is thought that the Exodus from Egypt is not beneficial in the matter of physical life. They are forgetting who they are with now.
The same is true of us in this regard. They usually live as if God does not exist. Rather, he is living with the sinful nature of fearing people in his eyes. But those who trust in God are not afraid of men (Ps. 56:4,11/ cf. Matt. 10:28).
At Moses' cry, God told him to lift up his staff and strike the rock (verse 6). Why does God strike the rock with his staff and make water come out? God wants to make known to the people of Israel again who is leading them.
But by their sinful nature they hid themselves from God. That is why God wants to reveal who God is by first pointing out and accusing them of their sinful nature.
In verse 5, God refers to the staff as “your staff that struck the river.” In other words, hitting the rock with the staff that judged the hardened who did not know God in Egypt means that he is now rebuking the hardiness of Israel.
Therefore, Moses is striking the rock with the spirit of chastisement against Egypt. Israel had to know that they were on the same level as Egypt, not just water, but water that came from hitting a rock. It is such a God who made Israel his people and leads them according to his will.
The problem is that there is only one way for Israel to continue to obey the word of Jehovah God. God is not showing us His power by continually breaking rocks to us today, but He is showing us the power of the cross through the written Word.
Exodus 17:8-16
As before, here too, despite God's guidance, we met an enemy named Amalek, so we should be able to think about what God's intentional will is. Verse 14 says, “Then the LORD said to Moses, Write these things in a book for a reminder, and recite them in the ears of Joshua, and I will blot out Amalek from the memory of the earth.” What is the reason that God will blot out and destroy Amalek when he speaks so much about Amalek like an enemy?
Wherever Amalek attacked Israel, they were the weakest among the Israelites (Deuteronomy 25:17-18). All of Israel is the weak who were delivered from Egypt. Therefore, Israel had to realize the significance of God's salvation for Israel through consideration for the weak. Its significance is explained here in Exodus. “For the LORD has sworn that the LORD will fight with Amalek from generation to generation” (verse 16).
Here, a small ② is attached to the words “the LORD has sworn…”. In the footnote of the Bible, it is said that “the hand is lifted up against the throne of the Lord . . .” In other words, Amalek wanted to strike the throne of God. This was the sin of Amalek.
It was Satan's challenge by enmity as revealed in Genesis 3:15. For this reason, God said that He would blot out Amalek thoroughly. God's expression of his will to annihilate Amalek forever means that God will surely oppose Satan and completely annihilate Satan.
In Genesis 36:12, Amalek is said to be a descendant of Pharaoh Esau. Esau was a man who disregarded his birthright. To disregard the birthright's cause is to reject the blessing of coming of the Messiah through descendants. In other words, it is not the line of Jacob, which is the line of the covenant to acknowledge God and live by God, but the line of Esau, who can live without God.
So Amalek, a descendant of Esau, always appears as a servant of Satan throughout the Bible. That is, they appear as a symbolic nation of Satan. Therefore, when Israel blots out and completely destroys Amalek according to God's word, it will become like Israel.
But what is important here is how the fight with Amalek proceeds. Joshua will fight Amalek, and Moses will go up the mountain and hold his staff in his hand. Israel can see both at the same time. You can see Moses holding his staff, and Joshua can be seen fighting in battle. In other words, it was possible to see what determines the victory or defeat of this war.
So, in this war, Joshua leads the soldiers out and fights, but Joshua is not fighting. The victory or defeat of this war is a battle of whether Moses holds his staff properly or not. The victory or defeat of the war was not in the hands of men at the foot of the mountain. It only depends on the power of God as shown at the top of the mountain. Because the staff is a symbol of God's power (4:20).
Until now, Israel has been living in ignoring this divine power. Even though he had many experiences so far, the staff that Moses was holding had not been shown to have any power at all. But God uses what people see as powerless and weak to save Israel. It is Israel who knows that the weakness of God is stronger than that of men (1 Corinthians 1:25).
God recreates the destruction of Egypt at the Red Sea through Amalek, and at the same time shows the nature of the war they will face in the future. God's war is a war in which humans are put forward, but God's power and walk are revealed. The Lord's work is not for us to worry about. Because the Lord knows.