Introduction
When reading the Bible, it is often too easy to assume that the Israelites will always trust in God in every circumstance and that God will come through regardless of the situation. However, the impending question is whether or not this is always true. Does God back Israel in whatever circumstance, and are loyalty, trust, and obedience the essential traits that he requires from his people to manifest his power. The battle between the Israelites and Amalekites has been interpreted as an example of God’s unweaving love for the Israelites. Nevertheless, God took a passive role in the battle by not fighting off the Amalekites as he had the Egyptians previously through the plagues. The narrator in Exodus 17:8-16 shows how He grants victory to the Israelites through ‘raising of Moses arms’ in the sense that if Moses’ arms stayed up, that is when they would win and a win for Amalekites when the hands. Joshua had to lead the people to war as per Moses’s instructions, something that was unheard of. Therefore, the three traits mentioned earlier impacted the victory of the fight, yet God did not look at the previous encounter where the Israelites had questioned his power.
Literally, and historical context
The battle of the Israelites and Amalekites takes place at Rephidim, where the former camped after getting out of the Desert of Sin. It occurs immediately after the Israelites blamed Moses for all the hardship they faced in the jungle. At that point, they were thirsty, yet the place lacked water. They demanded provision of water while questioning why he (Moses) had brought them out of Egypt only to make their children and livestock die of thirst. In this context, they doubted God’s ability to provide them water like he had manna and quails, asking, “Is the Lord among us or not?
Consequently, Moses reached out to God for help. God asked him to take the stuff he used to strike the Nile and the elders of Israel (from the 12 tribes) to the rock situated at Horeb. There Moses struck the rock in the presence of the elders, and water came out. Like before, the presence of the elders of Israel was required in every important matter, and this was no exception. In this context, the elders were to be witnesses to the miraculous deed of God to be solid sure of his existence. Through this, Israelites would not question God, for if the elders had seen proof of his existence, who were they to ask. The place was renamed Massah and Meribah to recall God’s warning.
Significantly, the battle happening at this same place appears to be God’s way of portraying his supremacy and the obedience, loyalty, and trust he requires from his people. Around here at Rephidim, the Israelites are to have a delegated army to fight off the Amalekites, and they should be loyal to safeguarding Israel.
It is fascinating how there is an excellent harmony between the dynamic and latent components of the innocent life even in the initial five books of the Bible. There is the uninvolved component resting in the Lord, relying on the Lord, watching them work, and confiding in the Lord’s power, and there is the dynamic component of doing the mindful things that God asked of them obediently. The Amalekites-(a nation of people descended from the biblical Esau) believed the Israelites were incapable of holding them off because they had nothing, having journeyed across the desert. The triumph against the Amalekites was a continuation of the showcase of God’s power and control over the countries. Just as the “Red Sea was the place of salvation, Marah the place of testing and bitterness and the Wilderness of Sin, with the manna and quail, a place of provision, Rephidim became a place of battle”[1]
Structural analysis
The passage is divided into three parts that unfold systematically to create a good scene. The first verse(8) of the course sheds light on what happens next and is the basis of the story as it introduces the Amalekites as the attackers. It shows how the fight is brought to the Israelites at Rephidim. The second part depicts how the Israelites fight and win together with the arrangements they make right from Joshua gathering the army to Moses raising his arms to guarantee triumph or loss of the battle and the victory. Finally, the last part unravels why the Israelites must always remember the battle. The previous two parts correlate because they show the relationship between God and the Israelites even though God takes a passive role. Joshua, who is not mentioned before, is also introduced as an important figure in the future of Israel.
Detailed analysis
(8) Prologue and scene-setting – The battle comes to the Israelites
The narrative starts by showing the setting and introducing the basics of the passage. It mentions Rephidim, a camp where the Israelites had settled after setting out from the Sin Desert following their liberation from slavery in Egypt. The attackers, Amalekites (a nomadic people who mainly targeted the vulnerable, weak, tired, and confused(Deut. 25:17-19)), are introduced. They were the first bunch to attack the Israelites, viewing the latter as weaklings for having stayed in the desert for long. As per the verse, the fight was ongoing, “the Amalekites came and attacked the Israelites at Rephidim.”
(9-13) Scene II: The Battle-How Israelites fight and win
In this scene, the war arrangements paved the way for the victory of the Israelites.
(:9) “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.”
This is the prominent notice of the man Joshua. Beyond a shadow of a doubt or protest, he coordinated the somewhat undeveloped and unseasoned warriors of Israel and battled the Amalekites. It was not the tactical virtuoso or the battling ability of the Israelites that brought triumph, in any case. It was Moses’s predictable and winning petition (Vs. 11-13).In this entry, unlike at the Red Sea, God trains individuals to assume a functioning part in their defense.
The second part of the verse shows the recognition of the Israelites relying on God for triumph in a fight and not upon their solidarity and enthusiasm. It also affirmed Moses’s place, both comparable to God and the Israelites’ prosperity and well-being. They had furiously rebuked him for their concerns, yet God established his leadership quo.
(:10)
Here Joshua portrays obedience, bravery, and trust without hesitation. As per Moses’s instruction, he leads the chosen army to war. In the second part of the verse, Moses, Aaron, and Hur head out to seek God’s help for victory. The individual strategic roles are played out.
(:11)
The verse turns into the image of God’s vital inclusion; the outstretched Moses’s arms were perhaps implying an appeal to the Lord. The recurring pattern of fight in connection with Moses’ raised or hanging arms conferred more than a psychological consolation as the warriors admired their leader on the ridge and more than Moses’ intervening for them.
(:12) The staff over Moses’ head-represented God’s prevalence over the entirety of his kin as the forerunner in heavenly conflict. His shortcoming effectively amplified the greatness of God. It showed that Israel was triumphant not because Joshua was a tactical virtuoso or because Moses was a man of the petition but because God was their commander in the fight.
– He sets himself in a position where he is dependent upon the LORD
– There’s nothing left but to lift the staff of God over his head
– The solution was to take a stone and place it under his arms while Aaron and Hur held his hands on every side for him to be steady to guarantee the win.
(:13) Joshua overpowered Amalek and his kin with the edge of the blade
(14:16) Scene III: Why the Israelites should remember the battle
(:14)God instructs Moses to write down a memorial of what went down in the fight to be a reminder throughout generations of his power.
(:15) The alter was also a reminder to the Israelites about the war God had fought for them. The triumph was his the same way the war was. The name ‘my Banner’ was because God had shown his signs of power through Moses’s staff.
(:16)This is certainly not an insignificant, noxious demonstration of God; it’s an impression of God’s simple judgment. The Amalekites had accomplished something terrible in God’s sight. They had gone after frail, messy noncombatants in a demonstration of war, and God was rankled by it.[2]
Also, this judgment that God has brought against the Amalekites gives an image of God’s last judgment meddled into the experience of Israel going into the place where there is Canaan interestingly, however, not for the previous.
Conclusion
It is evident throughout the paper that the relationship between God and the Israelites was based on the understanding that he needed trust, loyalty, and obedience from them.
Works Cited
DeYoung, K. “When Good People Grow Weary.” University Reformed Church, 23 June 2016, www.universityreformedchurch.org/sermons/when-good-people-grow-weary/.
Holy Bible: NIV : New International Version. Solvus Lab, 2016.
- DeYoung, K. “When Good People Grow Weary.” University Reformed Church, 23 June 2016, universityreformedchurch.org/sermons/when-good-people-grow-weary/.
- Holy Bible: NIV : New International Version. Solvus Lab, 2016
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