In February of 1945 Joe Rosenthal pulled out his camera and clicked a photo that would later become the most reproduced photograph in the history of photography: Five young Marines planting the American flag on the island of Iwo Jima. The photo of these young men raising the flag was splashed across the front page of every paper in the country, and for months papers republished the photo. Newspapers were saved, posters were purchased, the photo appeared everywhere, people could not get enough of the photo.
Why is that? Why did people become so emotionally connected to this image of the flag? Why is it that even today, we as Americans are taken back every time we see the photo of these men struggling with the stars and strips? Our flag, though it is a piece of fabric, our flag, though it has no power on its own, our flag, though it is only a material object, even though our flag is only a flag, our flag, the banner of the United State of America IS one of the most powerful symbols in the world today.
It represents freedom. It represents the removal of tyranny from our lives. It represents hope. We see our flag and we know what a blessing we have been given to be citizens of this country. Others look at our flag and dream of a better life, they dream of a freedom that might one day be theirs.
Throughout our history, men and women have willingly laid down their lives defending it. Today men and women are deployed around the globe with the pledge to defend and preserve our flag. Even our children start their school day with a pledge of allegiance to our flag.
Let us not forget that our national anthem also pays honor to our flag. There is not a day that goes by that somewhere in our nation the Star Spangled Banner is sung and many times, by the last line, there is not a dry eye in the crowed. We stand together, our hands over our hearts and we sing about a raging battle where finally in the dawns early light, our flag, high above the fray, was still there….the impossible happened, we held out, we fought the fight, we persevered and our hope is assured. Surely God had preserved us.
Our flag is just a flag, but it is so much more is it not? Here in our passage Moses’ staff is just a staff, but it is so much more – and let us be clear at the outset: The staff of Moses is not just a symbol, it is a representation that God is with His people, He will be with them and even in the most dire circumstances, they will prevail.
Starting with verse 15, we see that after the battle is won, Moses builds an alter to the Lord and proclaims: - Shemu Adoni Nesee. Which is literally, “His name Yahweh is a banner over me”. When Moses says this, he means that the banner of God – is a rallying point, everyone can rally around the banner of God, look here, we will prevail – it also means it is a sign from God, that it is not man who will prevail, but God is the one who will prevail.
The Hebrew people had all lived a hard life in slavery and now, though they are free, they are in the middle of dire circumstances. The provisions they had brought with them from Egypt are gone, and the land they are in cannot possibly support this group of two million, for even one day. But, they have seen God provide, manna, a bread like substance, that miraculously appears every morning without fail and God has produced water out of a rock to quench their thirst, truly an impossible feat.
So now we see that God, by His provision has calmed their internal fears. God brings them to the brink of distress, and then, He pulls them through, again and again. The Hebrews have had to wrestle with the desires of great hunger and great thirst. They have had to come to terms that their great wealth, given to them as they departed Egypt, will not save them. They have had to come to terms with their dream of a quick trip to the easy life in the Promise Land, will have to wait and they have come to terms with the fact that their daily needs will be met by God. They now are starting to understand that God is always present in their camp and He will not leave them.
So internally, the Hebrews have had to wrestle with many things and internally, their fears are somewhat diminished. God has lead them out of slavery into this dry place. This desert is not where they want to be, but they are no longer afraid that they will starve to death or die of thirst. They know God is with them. I think in some ways they are ready to settle in and wait things out. They are in this dry desert now, and there in this desert God will sustain them – And they know now, that it is just a matter of time and distance, and they will be in the Promise Land.
I think the same thing happens to us in our walk with Christ. We are faced with dire circumstances, we have events turn our world upside down and our initial reaction is fear. Then we see that the world has not ended and we catch our breath ready to depend upon God to help us through. But then things drag out and we find ourselves standing our in a dry spiritual desert with dust and rocks all around. This is not a place we want to be. Our initial fear then usually turns into complaining and grumbling when our situation doesn’t seem to change.
But God provides for us as He provided for the Hebrews, giving us enough to make it through each day and gradually we accept the fact that we are stuck where God has placed us. So, God through His mercy and through His grace calms our anxiety by provision from the Holy Spirit and now our internal fears and anxieties diminished, we realize, we can make it through this dry time. We realize that we will be given the strength to overcome. Somehow, someway, God will provide for us…..and then the Amalekites show up.
Here in Chapter 17 of the book of Exodus, the Hebrew’s daily needs have been addressed and their internal fears no longer overtake them, but now the threat is not from within, the threat is from outside. Hunger is no longer a threat, and thirst is no longer a threat – but now, a new threat rises from the hills and they find that their vast wealth will not save them, they find that all the bread they can pack in a tent will not save them and they find that endless streams of water will be of no help – This new enemy is very real, this new enemy is very aggressive and this new enemy will harm them, he will not just make their life uncomfortable, he will certainly cause permanent harm.
Linda and her husband had just finished three years of graduate school and were on their way to the West Coast to serve as missionaries to the poor in Mexico for a mission organization based in California. Everything was finally coming together. This young couple could now start putting their many years of study to great use. They could finally settle down and start enjoying each other’s company again. They could now start thinking about staring a family. They had put off many things in life, and now all of their hard work and perseverance was going to pay off.
But, somewhere on the highway in Nevada, Linda froze up, she grew silent, she became unresponsive. A blood vessel had burst in her brain, and she was fading fast. Her husband pulled into the nearest hospital and calls fanned out across the country to hold Linda up in prayer.
These two believers were without a doubt dedicated and sincere people. They were quite mature in their faith. Each of them had overcome so much in their lives. These two were strong in the Lord, they knew who their provider was, internally, they were victorious, internally they were strong, internally there was no doubt that God would provide – But now the threat was from outside. Now, no amount of confidence or correct theological understanding was going to defend them against this threat from outside. The threat was no longer from within, but it was from the outside. Linda lay in ICU with her husband holding her hand – things were out of his control, they were out of his hands – and there in that hospital room the power of the Holy Spirit pervaded, and after all that could be said to the Lord was said and when there was only silence left in that place, Linda’s husband Robert held on tightly quietly saying, “His name Yahweh is a banner over me, His name Yahweh is a banner over me, His name Yahweh is a banner over me”
The Amalekites, came out of Edom and were a nomadic people. They ranged in an extensive territory across large areas of the Sinai to Arabia. They were fierce fighters and made extensive use of camels in their warfare. Their leader, Amalek, was the ancestor of Esau. You may remember that Esau was to receive the blessing from Isaac, but the blessing instead went to Jacob who tricked Isaac into giving him the blessing – the Hebrews are the ancestors of Jacob.
It is not clear why the Amalekites attacked the Hebrews (verse 8). We know there was this animosity between the people that stretched back to the time of Jacob and Esau and we know that the two people’s clashed for generations after this incident. It was because of the Amlakites that King Saul was removed from his office as king and in the book of Esther it was the Amalekite Haman who attempted to destroy the Jewish people. It is also possible that the Hebrews made tempting targets to the Amalekites since they carried with them great wealth from Egypt. Whatever the reason, the Amalekites came to attack the Hebrews.
Sometimes we do not know why things happen to us. Sometimes we will never figure out why we go through trials and difficult times. Sometimes things happen from no fault of our own, but we still have to deal with the consequences, we still have to them fight off…sometimes we even fight for life itself, our fault or not, we still have to fight off these external threats. The Hebrews are traveling through the land, minding their own business, just trying to get by, just trying to live life, and they are blindsided by the Amalekites.
Has that happened to you! It seems to happen all the time doesn’t it? Things look great, things are looking up, life has finally turned the corner and bam, your blind sided. You know, I have no idea why this kind of thing happens, but it does doesn’t it? Now, at this moment, if the Hebrews formed small groups to discuss the situation at hand and did a full analysis of why they were being attacked and sat around and reasoned about why a thing such as this could possibly happen to them – what would have become of the Hebrews? They would be ransacked, injured and possibly killed. And what if, after their lengthy deliberations they did figure out why they were being attacked? They would be ransacked, injured and possibly killed. Sometimes knowing why something is happening doesn’t do a thing for us, sometimes we just need to act.
What do the Hebrews do? How do they handle the situation? They get to work. They pair up the practical human effort with the practical Godly effort. They do not wait for the Amalekites to over run them, they go out to meet the Amalekites. My friends Linda and Robert. When Robert saw Linda was in trouble, did he stop the car and try to figure out why this was happening to his wife? No, Robert went out to meet the Amalekites, he took Linda to the hospital. Then he called everyone he could to pray for his wife and then went to fight by the side of his wife. He paired up the practical human effort with the practical Godly effort. This is what Moses does.
Moses appoints Joshua to do the practical human effort. In verse 9 we see that Joshua is to choose some men. This means that he is to pick out the elite, the strong and able from the community to go out to meet the Amalekites. Moses asks Joshua to put forth his best effort, with his best resources. Now I want to be very clear here: Moses expects Joshua to go out and fight. Moses expects Joshua to engage the enemy. Moses expects Joshua to have physical contact, he expects him to stand up, hold the line, and get involved. And don’t miss this: Some people will suffer in this battle; There will be injuries, there will be pain there will be exhaustion; Some people who go out to meet the enemy will and will never come back. This is a sober and serious event. Today, this day, in the middle of their desert, God will not just turn the Amalekites away. God, by His power certainly could turn away the Amalekites, but He chooses not to. No, this day, the Hebrews will have to meet their enemy in battle; they will not only dress for battle, they will have to go out and fight the battle of their lives.
However, their chances of winning the battle are honestly, slim to none.
The Amalekites are battle hardened veterans, skilled in desert warfare, experts with camels – The Hebrews, peasants who are out of their environment, they have never even held a sword or spear in battle before the day. Yet, they go forward. They must meet this threat head on, they must fight, even with little hope of victory.
Now armies in the ancient world fought in very close quarters. They would line up on the battle field just out of range of a bow and arrow, or spear and sling and prepare for battle. Understand that this could be as close as one end of this church sanctuary to the other. Behind the soldiers, the commander would stand with his officers. Usually a commander would try to get up on a high vantage point so he could see the battlefield and from there, give orders for an attack, a retreat or to bring in reinforcements. The commander would also be very close to the action and could easily be seen by every single soldier on the battle field.
As Joshua takes his men to go out and meet the enemy, Moses takes Aaron and Hur with him to the top of a hill overlooking the battle. Joshua does the practical human effort, Moses will do the practical Godly effort. Verse 9, Moses says, “ Tomorrow I will stand on top of the hill with the staff of God in my hands.” Now, this staff is just a staff, hewn out of wood by Moses himself. This staff is nothing in itself, but in the hands of God’s anointed, with the person of God behind him, this staff is much more than a staff. This staff in the hands of Moses is a symbol of the power of God.
Moses stretches his hands out. When ever his hands are up the Hebrews start to win, but when Moses lowers his hands, the Hebrews started to lose. Take a look at verses 11 and twelve. How did Moses know that lifting up his hands would empower the Hebrews to win? If your looking, you see that Moses did not know. Moses had no idea that the raising of his hands would make the battle go well. God didn’t tell him, Moses had to figure it out. How many times did Moses raise and lower his arms before he figured out what was happening? How many men were injured or died, how many things went wrong before Moses figured things out? Our text doesn’t say. But you know what, God let Moses and Joshua struggle, God let the battle rage on.
So Moses prays, we se that in verse 12…no….verse 10….no….verse 11…Wait a minute, it never says that Moses prayed, does it? Did you do that too? Did you read that into the text? It doesn’t say Moses prayed does it? No Moses lifted up his hands, and in verse 9 we see he has his staff in his hands.
Let me step back and say that Moses was great man of prayer, and I would bet my bottom dollar that all three were praying up there on the hill, but, but here in this Scripture it doesn’t say that Moses prayed, even though you know he had to be praying. Why would an important thing like that be left out, that Moses prayed? Because the emphasis here is not on the prayer of Moses; The emphasis here is on the power of God almighty.
Moses staff is clearly a symbol of the power and presence of God. You can imagine that the men who are fighting on the battle field at any time can turn and look up and see Moses on the hill, hands held high – the man with the staff who with the person of God almighty and done so many things – they would see that staff held high, probably in a similar way we see our nations flag, and they would be given hope that the battle they were in is not futile because the power of God will see them through. They would remember how God, through the person of Moses had shown His power again and again:
Ex. 9:22-23 Then the LORD said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand toward the sky so that hail will fall all over Egypt — on men and animals and on everything growing in the fields of Egypt.” 23 When Moses stretched out his staff toward the sky, the LORD sent thunder and hail, and lightning flashed down to the ground. So the LORD rained hail on the land of Egypt;
Ex. 10:12-23 And the LORD said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand over Egypt so that locusts will swarm over the land and devour everything growing in the fields, everything left by the hail.” 13 So Moses stretched out his staff over Egypt, and the LORD made an east wind blow across the land all that day and all that night. By morning the wind had brought the locusts;
Ex. 10:21-22 Then the LORD said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand toward the sky so that darkness will spread over Egypt — darkness that can be felt.” 22 So Moses stretched out his hand toward the sky, and total darkness covered all Egypt for three days.
Understand this is not simply about inspiration, glancing up at a man on a hill for inspiration is not going to win the day. The men fighting did not hold the key to the battle. They fought throughout the day and often were losing, inspired or not. Here is the most important point of this passage – God is there, and God is acting on the behalf of the Hebrews. Everything else about the encounter takes a back seat to God’s intervention. It is God, who pulls through for the Hebrews for God enhances the fighting ability of the Hebrews.
Notice that Moses actions do not eliminate the need for Joshua’s actions. The people must, fight, the people must struggle. Also notice the victory was not quick, it took all day, it was hard fighting, people got hurt, people became worn out, people died. Yet, the battle is won, the Hebrew peasants who didn’t stand a chance force the Amalekites to retreat. God has saved them from this threat.
In our lives, when we are in dry spiritual times we will not only face internal pressures, but external pressures as well. God will expect us to fight, to go out and meet the enemy, to pair the practical human effort with the practical Godly effort, and many times we will walk away, the battle won, wounded. But let me encourage you with this, especially those of you who have suffered wounds, the Lord God promises to you:
Joel 2:25-26 ‘I will repay you for the years the locusts have eaten — the great locust and the young locust, the other locusts and the locust swarm — my great army that I sent among you. 26 You will have plenty to eat, until you are full, and you will praise the name of the LORD your God, who has worked wonders for you;
God in His time, promises to give back what was taken away……
It was just a few days later that my friend Linda was released form the hospital. Her husband Rob put her on an airplane to California and got in the car to make the long drive alone. It was a going to be a long road to recovery, plans were to be delayed again, and things were never going to be the same. Yet, as Rob pulled out onto the freeway, and as Linda pulled out onto the runway, they both could look out the window and know that the battle was fought and the battle was won, not because of their own internal strength, but because of the merciful hand of God who always is with them, and will never leave them. As they looked out the window that day they knew that threats, both internal and external can be overcome because the banner is always flying and they know the banner is the Lord Jesus who is has overcome.
May you come to understand that the banner of the Lord that flies over you, it will always fly over you for both with threats either internal or external.
