Exodus - Living as God’s People: Week 11

Written By Hayley Lotter

Opening Prayer:

Lord God,

You are Holy and Sovereign, always calling us to You, always sending us out into Your world.
Give us the wisdom to know how to balance absolute reliance on You with fearless obedience to You.
In Jesus’ name,

Amen.

Key Scripture:

8 The Amalekites came and attacked the Israelites at Rephidim. 9 Moses said to Joshua, “Choose some of our men and go out to fight the Amalekites. Tomorrow I will stand on top of the hill with the staff of God in my hands.”

10 So Joshua fought the Amalekites as Moses had ordered, and Moses, Aaron and Hur went to the top of the hill. 11 As long as Moses held up his hands, the Israelites were winning, but whenever he lowered his hands, the Amalekites were winning. 12 When Moses’ hands grew tired, they took a stone and put it under him and he sat on it. Aaron and Hur held his hands up—one on one side, one on the other—so that his hands remained steady till sunset. 13 So Joshua overcame the Amalekite army with the sword.

14 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Write this on a scroll as something to be remembered and make sure that Joshua hears it, because I will completely blot out the name of Amalek from under heaven.”

15 Moses built an altar and called it The Lord is my Banner. 16 He said, “Because hands were lifted up against the throne of the Lord, the Lord will be at war against the Amalekites from generation to generation.”

Exodus 17:8-16

Sermon Summary:

Moses was having a good day. The people of Israel were not groaning and grumbling against him. They were ready and willing to follow instructions without complaining. When facing a battle against the Amalekites, Moses directed Joshua (whom we are meeting for the first time in this passage) to choose some men and go out into battle against the Amalekites. While they do so, Moses will be standing on the top of the hill with the staff of God in his hands. Every time Moses raised his hands, the Israelites were winning the battle. But every time he lowered his hands, the Amalekites would start to gain the upper hand. It was too much for Moses to keep his hands up all day on his own. So Aaron and Hur, who were with him, sat him down and held his arms up for him.

They won the battle. But it required teamwork – teamwork on many levels. There was teamwork between God and His people. God was once again working on behalf of His people. So often this is how God chooses to work – in partnership with His people. Not doing everything for them, but doing everything with them. The Israelites were also exhibiting teamwork amongst themselves; the soldiers in the battle working together, but also Moses, Aaron and Hur working together up on the hill, in order to ensure that God’s people had the victory that day.

Prayer work makes the teamwork that makes the dream work. And that dream is the dream of the kingdom of God, the vision of the coming kingdom, the vision of God’s love and care being extended to all people and all places. Prophets like Isaiah include many passages that contain forward-looking pictures of what a world in thrall to the will of God will look like; all people loved and protected, all people with a place to belong and a community to belong to – a people, community and world thriving. God tells us to keep going in persistent prayer until it prevails.

Questions to Consider:

  • How do you think Moses felt about needing some assistance, especially so soon after the Israelites had been grumbling against him?

  • What do you think this event taught Moses about trusting people?

  • What do you think this event taught Moses about trusting God? What did it teach the Israelites about trusting God?

  • Who are the people holding up Moses’s hands? What is the significance of who holds his arms up? What functions do they fulfill?

  • What was the significance of Moses raising his arms?

  • What do we learn about co-operation with God in this passage? Co-operation with each other?

  • How do we balance human effort and dependence on God? How do we know the proportions of each necessary for a Christ-like life?

Response:

Ask these questions of yourself this week:

  • How can you practically support others experiencing ongoing struggles this week?

  • When have you needed others to hold you up? What did you learn about community through this?

Prayer Prompts:

  • Pray!

Additional Resources:

Further Study Resources:

Find the full sermon recording here
For a printable version of this guide click here

Hayley Lotter
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Exodus - Living as God’s People: Week 10