Jehovah-Nissi

‘Then came Amalek’, Exod. 17. 8. The words hardly constitute a fanfare, but they nonetheless mark a crucial development in the history of the nation of Israel and of its wilderness journey. The victory that Israel would win, and Moses commemorate, at Jehovah-nissi was very different from the one that they had experienced on the banks of the Red Sea. There, the watchword had been ‘stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord … The Lord shall fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace’, 14. 13, 14. Now, though God was no less with them, and although Jehovah was still their banner, Israel could no longer stand still. Joshua must ‘Choose us out men, and go out, fight with Amalek’, 17. 9. Battle must be joined on the plain. And Moses, along with Aaron and Hur, must ascend the hill, for there, too, the victory would be won.

At either elevation the battle would not be easy. On the plain, the battle raged ‘until the going down of the sun’, v. 12. Unaccustomed hands had to become familiar with the heft of the sword and liberated slaves rapidly acquire the skills of armed conflict. The fighting was man-to-man, face-to-face, hand-to-hand, intense, exhausting, and essential. On the hill, though remote from the clash and clamour of the conflict, Moses fought his own battle, with exhaustion, distraction, and despair. Aaron and Hur’s task was demanding too, and just as vital to the eventual victory.

But, for all the effort on the plain and the endurance on the hilltop, it was abundantly clear that the victory, when it came, came from God. That lesson was vital, for before them lay a land that was theirs by promise, but which they would need to take by conquest. Had the disobedience at Kadesh-Barnea never happened, these men, who in Rephidim discomfited Amalek, would have crossed the Jordan as experienced warriors who had learned to depend on God. That lesson was important. So important that, when, a generation later, Israel did enter into the land, God left nations undefeated ‘to prove Israel by them, even as many of Israel as had not known all the wars of Canaan; only that the generations of the children of Israel might know, to teach them war, at the least such as before knew nothing thereof’, Judg. 3. 1, 2.

To the men on the hilltop, the relationship between Moses’ unraised hands and the balance of the battle was clear to see. To those on the plain it would, perhaps, have been less obvious, but the name that Moses gave to the altar, ‘Jehovah-nissi’ - ‘the Lord my banner’ - made the lesson evident and enduring for all. The God who had already proved Himself sufficient to supply His people’s need for nourishment in the wilderness was also the God whose standard would lead them to victory. The importance of the lesson of the encounter with Amalek is underscored by the fact that here we have the first reference in scripture to writing, ‘And the Lord said unto Moses, Write this for a memorial in a book’, v. 14. At Rephidim, Israel had asked the almost unthinkable question ‘Is the Lord among us, or not?’ v. 7. Jehovah-nissi provided a definitive answer to that question.

The altar and the book both declared divine sufficiency - God would fight on behalf of Israel - but they also spoke of human dependence. Although God guaranteed ultimate victory, and although He would be Israel’s standard battle-by-battle, the war would be a long one, ‘the Lord will have war with Amalek from generation to generation’, v. 16. God had provided His people with water at the stroke of a rod, but Israel was learning that He would not always work like that, that sometimes victory would come slowly - almost imperceptibly - won gruellingly blow-by-blow and battle-by-battle but won certainly and ultimately beneath the glorious banner of Jehovah.

The lessons of Jehovah-nissi were lessons for the whole nation, but Joshua occupies a prominent role in the narrative, a role that is all the more striking, given that this is his first appearance on the pages of scripture. Many and valuable are the lessons that can be learned from Joshua’s preparation to lead God’s people. A consideration of the relationship between Moses and Joshua is an instructive study both for those who lead God’s people and those who are exercised about future leadership. Even at this early stage, Joshua surely learned from Moses about the importance of prayer and the value of supplication on behalf of God’s people. But the real lesson he learned was in the battle and from the book. To effectively lead God’s people, Joshua needed to learn the importance of constant and strenuous conflict with Amalek. There can be little doubt that he learned the lesson well. It is telling that his career in scripture, which began with an altar and a book, ends with a book and a great stone, Josh. 24. 26. As, in his final days, he set up the stone on the other side of Jordan, did his mind go back to the day when he first led God’s people in battle and appreciated, for the first time, that he fought beneath the banner of Jehovah?

At every stop between Egypt and Sinai, God had vital lessons to teach His people about the realities of wilderness living. But those lessons do not exhaust the significance of these passages, for ‘whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope’, Rom. 15. 4. Like Israel, we can learn general lessons about the character of God and the reality of our dependence upon Him. But we can learn more specific lessons from the context and the character of the encounter with Amalek.

The opening sentence of the narrative - ‘Then came Amalek, and fought with Israel in Rephidim’ - provides us with some important information about the context - geographical and chronological - of the battle. It is significant that Amalek came. Israel, at this point, was a nation on the move, and we might have expected conflict to arrive when their progress brought them upon another nation. That would be the case later, as they entered the land; their advance would bring them into enemy territory. But that is not the case here. Israel’s pilgrim journey had just begun. The people ‘pitched in Rephidim’, v. 1, at the start of the chapter and it was to Rephidim that Amalek came, determined to stymie Israel’s progress before it had hardly started. That fact tells us something about this new enemy that Israel faced. ‘Pharaoh and Amalek represent two different powers or influences; Pharaoh represents the hindrance to Israel’s deliverance from Egypt; Amalek represents the hindrance to their walk with God through the wilderness. Pharaoh used the things of Egypt to keep Israel from serving the Lord; he, therefore, prefigures Satan, who uses “this present evil world” against the people of God. Amalek, on the other hand, stands before us as a type of the flesh’.¹

And a fitting type he is, this grandson of Esau, who preferred the temporary satisfaction of a mess of pottage to his birthright, Gen. 25. 29-34. The flesh is not an enemy that we must seek out or who is encountered only as a consequence of spiritual advance. Rather, we meet him as soon as our Christian journey begins, and that first encounter inaugurates an ongoing campaign of ceaseless and exacting warfare.

The identification of Amalek with the flesh is supported by the time, as well as the location, of Amalek’s arrival. Israel had just received water from the stricken rock. ‘That Rock was Christ’, Paul tells us, 1 Cor. 10. 4, and the water that flowed from the rock under the stroke of Moses’ rod can hardly but remind us of the ‘living water’ that the Saviour promised the Samaritan woman in John chapter 4 or the ‘rivers of living water’, John 7. 38. The stream from the smitten rock speaks of the Holy Spirit. Those who had been redeemed from Egypt ‘all … [drank] the same spiritual drink’, 1 Cor. 10. 4. The type falters here, for, in our experience, there was no interval between our deliverance from sin and Satan and our reception of the Holy Spirit; it was on believing that we ‘were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise’, Eph. 1. 13, and we must not allow the typological presentation to confuse the clear teaching of the New Testament on this point. Having said that, the structure of the narrative, and especially the way in which ‘then came Amalek’ juxtaposes the battle with the stream from the rock, is a vivid illustration of the truth that ‘the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other’, Gal. 5. 17. Until water gushed from the stricken rock, Amalek never troubled Israel. But when the rod fell and the water flowed, ‘Then came Amalek and fought with Israel’. ‘It is when the Holy Ghost thus takes up His abode in us … that our conflict begins’.²

All this being so, Israel’s encounter with Amalek has for us a more than historical interest. Rather, it tells us something about our conflict with the flesh. Firstly, it reminds us of the need for conflict. At Rephidim, Israel could not stand still as she had at the Red Sea. Joshua had to choose out men, arm them, and send them into the battle. So, our conflict with the flesh is not a passive thing. Crucify, Gal. 5. 24, mortify, Rom. 8. 13; Col. 3. 5, beat and subdue, 1 Cor. 9. 27, are the verbs of our conflict, summoning us to strenuous and stringent efforts. So the conflict is arduous. It is also incessant - ‘from generation to generation’, Exod. 17. 16.

Israel would repeatedly encounter Amalek throughout her history; though repeatedly defeated, it would repeatedly reappear. Under the judges, under the monarchy, and even in exile, Esther 3. 1, Amalek would dog the nation. So it is in our conflict with the flesh. By God’s help we may discomfit it for a time, but never, this side of the rapture, will we win a victory so decisive as to banish it for ever. Constant vigilance is required, and a constant readiness to join the battle once again.

The need constantly to do battle with the flesh is a daunting and even depressing reality. But the lesson of Jehovah-nissi is that we need not despair. In our struggles, the Lord is our banner and ultimate victory is assured, Exod. 17. 14; cp. Num. 24. 20. In the meantime, we do not struggle unassisted. The sight of Moses, Aaron, and Hur on the hilltop reminds us that, in this spiritual conflict, we have access, by prayer, to the power of God. This is paramount - without the uplifted hands of supplication, all the struggle will issue only in defeat.

Moses reminds us of the vital importance of prayer. But we can look beyond the mere man with drooping arms who stood on the hilltop above the battle to an unfailing and unwearying Man who appears ‘in the presence of God for us’, Heb. 9. 24. He appears there alone, without assistance, and needing none. ‘The hands of our great Intercessor can never hang down. His intercession never fluctuates’.³ He ‘tends with sweet, unwearied care the flock for which He bled’.⁴

Exodus chapter 17 is replete with lessons. On the plain, upon the mountain, and at the altar, we see principles in operation that are vital for our spiritual development. May God help us all to learn the valuable lessons of Jehovah-nissi.