OUR BANNER

“We are all better when we stand together”. I have heard this type of quote more than once recently (It is used on the Weather Channel 6-8 PM program and other places). What this means is there is strength in numbers. Sometimes life can feel so insurmountable that no amount of help and support makes a difference and these types of statements offer no help. Think about some things we rely on for protection. Thankfully, God stands over the world, and He stands over every single issue we face. We are always covered by God’s protection and believers live with that assurance. As the Israelites  discovered, God is a banner over us, covering us with His protecting presence.

Read Exodus 17:8-10

Moving on from Elim, the Israelites journeyed to the Wilderness of Sin (leaving Shur), where they again fell into grumbling against God’s spokesman Moses and his brother Aaron. In their hunger, they complained that Moses and Aaron had led them out into the wilderness to die of starvation. They also longed for their former life in Egypt where there was plenty to eat. Did you really expect something different from them? God mercifully provided the Israelites manna to eat (Exodus chapter 16). They then traveled on to Rephidim, where they again grumbled against Moses and complained of lack of water (17:1-3). SURPRISE!!! But in spite of the people’s insults and testing of the Lord, God again graciously provided for their needs (vv. 4-7). This where our Scripture for this lesson begins.

Suddenly a crisis of a different kind confronted Israel. The earlier crises that had crippled Israel’s faith had been pursuit by an enemy whom they thought had been defeated and the lack of provision in the wilderness when they thought they could not survive. With the Amalekites, there was an enemy in front of them, prohibiting them from continuing on their way to Sinai. The Amalekites were descendants of Amalek, a grandson of Esau (Gen. 36:12). They are constantly seen in the Old Testament as Israel’s enemies. They were a fierce nomadic tribe that lived in the desert region of the Dead Sea. They made part of their livelihood by conducting frequent raids on other settlements and carrying off plundered goods. They killed for pleasure. One of the greatest insults in Israelite culture was to call someone “a friend of Amalek”. When the Israelites entered the region, the warriors of Amalek saw this as a perfect opportunity for both pleasure and profit. But this hostile tribe was moving in on the wrong group – a people led by God. For the Israelite slaves to defeat

Such a warlike nation was more than enough proof that God was with them as He had promised to be.

Here we meet Joshua for the first time. Later, he would become the great leader who would bring God’s people into the Promised Land. At this point there is no indication that Joshua would one day succeed Moses in leading Israel. As a general of the Israelite army in this story, he was gaining valuable experience for the greater battles to come. In verse 9, Moses told Joshua to pick some warriors and go fight against Amalek. Moses, Aaron and Hur went together up to the hilltop where Moses would use God’s staff as he was told to do. This is first time Hur is mentioned in Scripture. Later Hur and Aaron would be left in charge of the camp when Moses and Joshua went up onto Mount Sinai to meet with God (24:14).

Read Exodus 17:11-13

Verses 11 and 12 describe what I mentioned last week about Aaron and Hur helping to support Moses’ hands when they grew heavy. (I had not read ahead to realize this was coming up in this lesson.) The action of Moses in overseeing the battle is probably best understood in the form of symbolic actions of the prophets. By such actions they seem actually to have been involved in the release of divine power. This kind of act was always considered to be an outpouring of divine grace. Aaron and Hur are portrayed as faithful servants who literally undergirded their leader in his faithful service. By their aid, with Joshua’s military leadership, and as a result of God’s power, Israel had the victory.

Aaron and Hur stood by Moses’ side to help ensure the victory against Amalek. As long as Moses held up the staff, the Israelite were winning, but when Moses got tired and his staff dropped, the tide was turning in Amalek’s favor. So, even though Aaron and Hur, at first, just seemed to be bystanders, they were key to the victory. We need to “hold up the hands” of our spiritual leaders as well. Shouldering some responsibility, lending a word of encouragement, or offering a prayer are ways of refreshing spiritual leaders in their work. While God calls and equips some individuals to serve in unique places of leadership, He also calls countless others to support the primary leaders and to carry on the work when necessary.

The staff was a symbol of the power that God had supplied and would continue to supply to enable the Israelites to conquer their enemies and take control of the Promised Land. It was an object lesson for the Israelites that dependence on and trust in God, not their own strategies or strength, was what would win their battles. We have spiritual symbols today in our church buildings and in our homes. We use empty crosses to remind us both of Jesus’ sacrificial death and His resurrection. However, we don’t bow down to a cross, we bow down to a risen Savior. We don’t wear crosses as means of protection but as signs to us and others of God’s presence and power that are in us through our faith in Jesus. Only through our faith in Jesus so we have the power to prevail in our spiritual battles with Satan and sin.

Read Exodus 17:14-16

There is a major dimension in the conclusion of this episode. Moses was commanded to commit something to writing. The Hebrew has a definite article, making the order refer to “the book”. This was apparently a record of the past that was intended to be used as a basis for future actions. It may have been some sort of official journal. This might be considered strange for a leader of slaves. It should not be strange for a man who had been trained as a child of Pharaoh. In that capacity, Moses would have been made knowledgeable of the importance of good records. There was certainly one major reason that the Lord wanted this recorded and recited to Joshua. God wanted to “completely plot out the memory of Amalek under heaven”.

Then in verse 15, Moses was said to have built an altar and gave it a name: “The Lord is My Banner”. Banners were used to identify families and tribes. Having a Lord as their banner associated the Israelites with their covenant God, Yahweh. As God is our “banner” (protection), what kind of saying should be our banner for God?

So, regardless how the rank and file Israelites felt, Moses was giving all the credit to the Lord. The last phrases of this passage have some very difficult Hebrew. Although we cannot be sure of all the details of this passage, it obviously served as a prediction of a long series of future conflicts between Israel and Amalek. The basic meaning seems to have been that God would always serve as an ensign of the of the armies of Israel. Whatever option we might choose in translating this verse, the emphasis is that though the fighting of this initial battle and future battles involved the Israelite people.  God Himself would be fighting on their behalf against the Amalekites (the descendants of Esau). Because Jesus has come as God’s fullest revelation, we can look both backward and forward in God’s salvation history and see the full meaning of God as our banner. Isaiah 11:10 says “the root of Jesse will stand as a banner for the peoples”. We know that Isaiah was talking about Jesus, who he called the Messiah.

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THE RIGHT PERSPECTIVE

Meaning and purpose come in life as we deepen our walk with God and trust Him completely. Believers want to know that their lives count for something beyond just getting through the day. When we take the time to step back and see the big picture, we understand what really matters for time and eternity. Life can have meaning now, and we can make a difference in the world around us now. God gave Moses a song that would help Israel see the big picture. This song can teach the believer what matters for time and eternity.

Read Deuteronomy 32:1-4 God is Worthy

Moses had grown old (120 Years old), and knew God would not let him enter the Promised Land (Deut. 32:2). Moses also knew that when Israel crossed the Jordan, they would need some type of testimony to remind them of the covenant they had made with God at Sinai. So Moses wrote down the words of the law and entrusted them to the priests who carried the Ark of the Covenant (31:9). He instructed them to read the law on a regular basis to all Israel so that they might learn to fear the Lord and follow Him (31:10-13). However, God Knew Israel was a rebellious and stubborn nation (31:16-18). He commanded Moses to do one more thing. God directed Moses to give Israel another witness, a song (31:19). The ancient Near East gives us evidence of songs of all kinds from 3000 BC onward.

Moses was not only a great prophet but also a song leader. He changed his form of his message from sermons to singing, which mad it easier to remember. All of us show were involved in Vacation Bible School in the past or other types of Bible training as kids remember the songs that were sung and the stories if these songs better than sermons or talks. This is a big reason that Veggie Tales are so popular (even Larry’s Silly Songs). God told Moses to write down the song and teach it to the people. This song gives a brief history of Israel. (Wish I knew the melody to go with the words.) Moses’ song reminds the people of their mistakes, warns them to avoid repetition of those mistakes, and offers the hope that comes only in trusting God. God intended for this song to testify against Israel because He knew they would worship other gods and break the covenant (32:20-21). Then by remembering the song, they would repent and seek forgiveness.

This poem (song) is one of the most beautiful and eloquent compositions in the Old Testament. The poem begins with Moses calling upon the heavens and earth to listen…to the words that he would speak. Two literary issues need to be pointed out here. First, the song follows the common practice of Hebrew poetry in repeating the basic meaning of one line in the following line or lines. This gives beauty and depth to the song. So Moses says “pay attention” to the heavens and “listen” to the earth. Second, the song uses simile to draw attention to the poem’s thought. For an example, the teaching of the song falls “like rain”, and the words “settle like dew”. “Like” signals a simile, a figure of speech where one thing is compared to another. This helps us understand why this poem/song is so well respected by so many. Then Moses calls God “The Rock”. What is the significance of this? (This represents the stability and permanence of God and is followed by a series of phrases which elaborates the attributes of God as the Rock of Israel. It also declares God’s Greatness.)

Read Deuteronomy 32:5-9 Humanity is Willful

Verse 5 picks up on the second great theme of the poem. In stark contrast to God’s faithfulness, Israel has acted like a “devious and crooked generation”. First, the song reminds God’s people that they have already “acted corruptly toward Him”. Second, the song also points prophetically to the future when Israel would turn their attention to pagan gods, breaking the covenant at Sinai and turning their back on the Lord. In doing so, they would not be acting like His children. The second line of verse 5 is difficult to translate. The Hebrew word “defect” in Holman, is “spot” in KJV, “blemish” in American Standard, or “shame in NIV. The “defect” and the term “perfect” (v.4) (or unblemished) are used to designate sacrificial animals that are either unacceptable or acceptable for worship (Lev. 22:21; Numbers 19:2). So unlike God’s deeds and actions, which are “perfect” (Deut. 32:4), Israel’s were defective and unacceptable. The moral blemish or “defect” was Israel’s willfulness: a desire to reject God as the Father and act as disobedient and willful children. IN Matthew 17:17, Jesus used the phrase like “a perverse and crooked generation” to describe an unbelieving generation and Paul (Philippians 2:15) talks about the dark world of mankind in rebellion against God.

Moses directly addressed Israel in verse 6 and continued the indictment in a series of rhetorical questions. These show that Israel failed to realize God’s requirements were not wearisome burdens but were the result of God’s covenant love. Moses urged them to “remember the days of old”. Then he uses the title “Most High”, which is Genesis 14 refers to Yahweh or God, to say that was who gave the nations their inheritance (Amos 9:7; Deut. 4:20). This was “dividing the human race” into separate nations. God wanted Israel to be “His own” special possession (Ex. 19:5; Deut. 7:6; 14:2). With such a lofty position and role, the betrayal and corruption of Israel starkly highlights their wickedness. What reaction do you have or what do these verses say to you? (God is God and we are not!)

Read Deuteronomy 32:36-39, 43 God’s Ways are Wonderful

The main purpose of these verses is to establish the truth of God’s grace: despite Israel’s arrogant rebellion, God still loved His people and would willingly have compassion on them. In contrast to Israel’s willful actions, “God’s Ways are Wonderful”. Verse 36 is the promise that the Lord will judge Israel as a nation, but that the nation is composed of both righteous and wicked. It seems to be saying that God helps the righteous (His servants) by destroying the wicked- a prediction of what is to come also. This verse also tells us what had to happen before Israel could experience God’s mercy. What was it? (When Israel’s “strength “to rebel was “gone”.) In the next two verses, Moses uses rhetorical questions again to say that trust in any other possible source of strength will prove useless. Then verse 39 contains a noble declaration of God’s nature. In contrast to the inability of idols, the God of Israel “alone” is “He”- the living God. “There is no God” but Yahweh- this makes the strong point that He alone is the Only One capable enough to offer help and protection. It spells out that God’s hand holds the power of “death” and “life”, and He alone can exercise the power to “wound” and “heal”. Then it says “No one” could be rescued “from” His “hand”- which exclaims that when a person is a true child of His no one can take them away. This is the forerunner of “once saved, always saved”.

The final verse (43) of the song boldly proclaims that the Lord will “avenge the blood of His servants” and execute “vengeance” on “His adversaries”. This is a reference to the second Coming and the last days for the wicked. In addition, He “will purify” both ”His land and His people”. The Hebrew verb translated “purify” actually means “to make atonement”. This indicates that hope exists for reconciliation between God and His people. This atonement would find its fulfillment and fullness in Christ Jesus (Ezekiel 16:60-63; Romans 3:25; Hebrews 2:17) on the Cross (this is referenced in Psalms 79:9.) Verse 43 is quoted by Paul in Romans 15:10; as does the writer of Hebrews in 1:6. As an end result, all “nations” would be called on to “rejoice” with Israel for God’s wonderful ways.

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