Exodus 17:1-16

“And all the congregation of the children of Israel journeyed from the wilderness of Sin, after their journeys, according to the commandment of the LORD, and pitched in Rephidim:  and there was no water for the people to drink. 2 Wherefore the people did chide with Moses, and said, Give us water that we may drink.  And Moses said unto them, Why chide ye with me? wherefore do ye tempt the LORD? 3 And the people thirsted there for water; and the people murmured against Moses, and said, Wherefore is this that thou hast brought us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our cattle with thirst? 4 And Moses cried unto the LORD, saying, What shall I do unto this people? they be almost ready to stone me. 5 And the LORD said unto Moses, Go on before the people, and take with thee of the elders of Israel; and thy rod, wherewith thou smotest the river, take in thine hand, and go. 6 Behold, I will stand before thee there upon the rock in Horeb; and thou shalt smite the rock, and there shall come water out of it, that the people may drink.  And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel. 7 And he called the name of the place Massah, and Meribah, because of the chiding of the children of Israel, and because they tempted the LORD, saying, Is the LORD among us, or not? 8 Then came Amalek, and fought with Israel in Rephidim. 9 And Moses said unto Joshua, Choose us out men, and go out, fight with Amalek:  to morrow I will stand on the top of the hill with the rod of God in mine hand. 10 So Joshua did as Moses had said to him, and fought with Amalek:  and Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill. 11 And it came to pass, when Moses held up his hand, that Israel prevailed:  and when he let down his hand, Amalek prevailed. 12 But Moses’ hands were heavy; and they took a stone, and put it under him, and he sat thereon; and Aaron and Hur stayed up his hands, the one on the one side, and the other on the other side; and his hands were steady until the going down of the sun. 13 And Joshua discomfited Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword. 14 And the LORD said unto Moses, Write this for a memorial in a book, and rehearse it in the ears of Joshua:  for I will utterly put out of the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven. 15 And Moses built an altar, and called the name of it Jehovah-nisi: 16 for he said, Because the LORD hath sworn that the LORD will have war with Amalek from generation to generation.”

[Audio version: https://resources.ccphilly.org/detail.asp?TopicID=&Teaching=WED555]

I’m the one, I’m the Rock, if any man thirst, let him come to me and drink, and out of his innermost being shall flow rivers of Living Water.’

“And all the congregation of the children of Israel journeyed from the wilderness of Sin, after their journeys, according to the commandment of the LORD, and pitched in Rephidim:  and there was no water for the people to drink.  “It’s an easy plan, when the Pillar moves you move, when the Pillar camps you camp, the Pillar turns left you turn left, when the Pillar turns right you turn right.  Don’t you wish it was that easy today?  Sometimes if we each had a little pillar right in front of us, you know.  Well we have God’s Word, and we have God’s Spirit, and I wouldn’t trade our position for theirs, because we do have more light that we walk in.  But sometimes we have that feeling, ‘Lord, if I could just see you making a left in this situation, or making a right, I would really appreciate it.’  Well here they follow the Pillar,  and they come to Rephidim, Rephidim means “resting place,” and you know the places they’ve camped before this have been a little bit stressful, so imagine if you’re in this camp of 2 million people, again, the city of Philadelphia proper, a million and a half, so bigger than the entire city of Philadelphia.  And word must pass along, ‘Where’s he say we’re heading?  We’re going to Rephidim, oh man, resting place, I like this, take us there.’  And of course as they get there, resting places, there’s no water to drink, deception.  ‘You got our hearts up, we’re all filled with expectation, and then you take us to a place called Rephidim and there’s nothing to drink there?’  It says in verse 2, “Wherefore the people did chide with Moses, and said, Give us water that we may drink.  And Moses said unto them, Why chide ye with me? wherefore do ye tempt the LORD?” “chide,” that’s a nice King James word for griping and complaining and whining and all of them combined.  And it’s even more angry than that.  And the people said ‘Give us water!’ imagine 2 million people doing that to you.  “And Moses said unto them, Why chide ye with me? wherefore do ye tempt the LORD?” you know, we’ve come here by the Pillar, Moses knows this desert, Moses knows as he’s following the Pillar ‘LORD, this is all you, I grew up here, I tended the flocks of Jethro here, there’s not much out here, certainly not enough for two and a half million people, but if you’re leading LORD, we trust you, LORD, help the people to remember the lesson of Marah, they came there, the water was bitter, no water to drink, and you did a miracle and healed it and they were able to water their herds and their flocks and drink to the full.’  And isn’t it funny how quickly we forget God’s blessings.  Charles Spurgeon said “God’s people tend to engrave their trials in marble and write their blessings in sand.”  Not me, but you know, some of God’s people, somewhere, I guess back in England where he was, I’ll find out.  Now verse 3 is the first time you have the word “thirst” and “thirsted” in the Bible, if you want to just make note of that for yourself.  “And the people thirsted there for water; and the people murmured against Moses, and said, Wherefore is this that thou hast brought us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our cattle with thirst?” (verse 3)  Thankful congregation he has out there.  They had said before ‘Would to God we had died in Egypt, by the fleshpots,’ they had said before the Red Sea, ‘What’s the matter Moses, were there no graves in Egypt that you brought us out here to die?’  And you know, again, the situation here as Moses has brought them out of Egypt, and that was a quick situation, now bringing Egypt out of them will take many years, and they keep looking back.  “And Moses cried unto the LORD, saying, What shall I do unto this people? they be almost ready to stone me.” (verse 4)  and there wasn’t a lot of water, but there was a lot of rocks in that area, I guarantee you that.  So Moses, this is a good time to cry to the LORD, when 2 million people look like they’re going to stone you, when five look that way it’s good, but when 2 million, he cries unto the LORD, “And the LORD said unto Moses, Go on before the people, and take with thee of the elders of Israel; and thy rod, wherewith thou smotest the river, take in thine hand, and go.” and interesting, he says to Moses, “Behold, I will stand before thee there upon the rock in Horeb; and thou shalt smite the rock, and there shall come water out of it, that the people may drink.  And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel.” (verses 5-6)  Now did Moses see him?  It’s not specific.  Paul said that Rock was Christ.  Now he says to Moses, as the people are chiding, the people are churning.  Now look, they haven’t read this chapter, they’re out in the desert with their little kids, there’s nothing to drink, I don’t like that feeling of being thirsty, let alone being out in the desert of Saudi Arabia somewhere with nothing to drink.  And they’re complaining, wondering about the leadership, they’re questioning.  And God says to Moses ‘I’m going to go stand before you on this rock,’ and I really wonder if Moses, when he struck the rock, he struck right through him?  We don’t know.  ‘Strike the rock and the water will come forth from it.’  It certainly is a picture of, as we followed along, if these things are examples to us, they’re written for our admonition, we have the manna coming down from heaven, and Jesus said ‘I am that bread that’s come down from heaven,’ which is a picture of the Incarnation, well Jesus came into the world to die on the cross, he came for a purpose, to complete that work.  And here we go from the Manna, the Incarnation, to this picture of Christ himself standing on the rock, and Moses smiting him there, and then the water coming forth.  And certainly a picture of the Holy Spirit, Christ stricken, paying the price, after he is smitten then, the water gushing forth.  Remember in Numbers chapter 20, for those of you who are familiar and have journeyed there with us, it is there as they were closer to the Promised Land that the people, a generation had died away, and this is their children, and they said ‘Have you brought us out here to die of thirst in the wilderness?’ and Moses is thinking ‘You weren’t even born yet, you weren’t even in Egypt, you’re all chips off the old blocks, you’re all apples that didn’t fall far from the tree,’ and they’re singing the same old song, learning from the generation in front of them.  And God says to Moses, ‘Take Aaron’s rod and go and speak unto the rock,’ and it’s a different word for “rock,” it means “a lofty crag,” ‘Speak unto it that water might come forth.’  And of course Moses, 120 years old, he’d been leading a bunch of 2 million cranky people through the desert for 40 years, you deserve a bad day I think, but Moses goes and he takes that rod, and it’s Aaron’s rod, it tells us it had budded, has almonds and flowers, Moses starts banging the rock, saying ‘You rebels,’ and you can imagine flowers and almonds flying.  And God says to Moses, ‘You haven’t sanctified me in the hearts of the people, you haven’t set me aside,’ because of that Moses didn’t enter in, God wasn’t angry at that point.  And he’s not angry at this point, they’re chiding with him, they’re complaining, but God is gracious.  And of course the lesson is, Christ was smitten once, that he was sacrificed once, that he died once.  In this scene he’s smitten, in the next scene it’s a lofty crag, Christ ascended, he only needs to be spoken to.  When you and I are thirsty, when you and I are thirsty, what more do we need to do then go to him and say ‘Lord, I need a fresh filling of your Spirit, I am thirsting for your presence.’  Christ doesn’t have to be sacrificed again.  He doesn’t have to be smitten again, we just have to be believing, exercising our faith that the Word of God is true, and it says if any of us lack the Holy Spirit, we can go to the Father and ask, ‘How much will he give the Spirit to those who ask.’  And here he strikes the rock, this water comes forth.  Now of course, Christ is a picture of the Rock, Peter tells us that, Jesus tells us that, that he is that Rock, and Paul tells us ‘That Rock was Christ.’  So we have a picture of him smitten here.  As he’s smitten, it says then the water began to gush forth.  It was interesting several weeks ago when the Caldwell’s were here he took a look at that, that really did amaze me.  It says “And he called the name of the place Massah,” which is “temptation,” and Meribah,” which is “chiding,” “because of the chiding of the children of Israel, and because they tempted the LORD, saying, Is the LORD among us, or not?” (verse 7) ‘Where is the LORD when we need him?  Why is this even happening?’  They complain, and it says they should not have done that.  In fact in Deuteronomy chapter 6, it says this, “You shall not tempt the LORD your God, as ye tempted him in Massah,” you know, instruction to the next generation.  And certainly to you and I, and we tend to complain so quickly.  Are we really thirsty?  This physical thirst is just a picture of the spiritual thirst that all people have.  People thirst for food, that’s a God-given thirst that’s meant to be satisfied, certainly we thirst for air, terrible thing to be air-starved, to sometimes watch someone in their passing that’s air-starved, it’s a terrible thing to watch, it’s so desperate.  We thirst for physical water, sometimes when you’re hot, you’re worn out, a cold drink of water just is sweeter than anything, sometimes.  We thirst for sexual fulfillment, that’s to be mortified until we’re married and that’s to be satisfied, God has a plan, human beings have thirst.  But there’s an emptiness within us, there’s a thirst that every human being has, that he tries to fill with all kinds of other things, and is never filled, that can go from drugs to alcohol, to pleasure.  [A prime and very sad example of that was the life of Matthew Perry, as he told very thoroughly in his Autobiography “Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing”  It’s a very sad account of the HUGE emotional hole within himself, that he tried to fill with lovers, drugs and alcohol, and he knew it was an emotional hole.  And one that only God can fill.]  You look at what’s going on in the world, and the truth is, man is thirsting for being reunited with his Creator, man was intended to walk and fellowship with God.  And since the fall in the Garden of Eden, man has thirsted for that.  Jesus said, in John chapter 7, on the Great Day of the Feast, on the Great Day of the Feast of Tabernacles, it was a day of silence, and it was a day when they remembered this Rock that followed them in the wilderness.  And the priests would go down to the Pool of Siloam with seven golden bowls, and they would bring them up in a procession as they played some of the Psalms to the Altar, and alongside the Altar on either side there were two horns, they would pour water into one of them, and it would just run out the bottom all over the floor.  It was a picture of that Rock that had followed them and cared for them in the wilderness.  And as they were going through that procession, reenacting that, Jesus stood up on the day of silence and said ‘If any man thirst, let him come to me and drink, and out of his innermost being shall flow rivers of Living Waters,’ and John said ‘This he spake of the Spirit, which should after that be given.’  You can imagine them going ‘Oh no, there he is again,’ you know he had the religious leaders all worked up anyway, and here he was breaking their silent day.  But he’s saying ‘I’m the one, I’m the Rock, if any man thirst, let him come to me and drink, and out of his innermost being shall flow rivers of Living Water.’  We just don’t want to be buckets, full, we want to be overflowing, we want to be just a conduit for what God wants to do in this world.  And the amazing thing is, he’ll use people like us, human beings.  It’s his plan, earthen vessels, cracked pots, all of us, to reach this lost world.  So there’s a picture in this, of our thirst, and certainly Christ being smitten, when Christ is smitten the Holy Spirit coming forth. 

‘Then Came Amalek’

“Then came Amalek, and fought with Israel in Rephidim.” (verse 8)  Oh goody.  Now the historical part of this, “Then came Amalek, and fought with Israel in Rephidim.”  Amalek is one of the descendants of Esau [Amalek the person was actually the grandson of Esau].  And always a picture of Esau and Jacob, Esau a picture of the carnal man, the flesh.  Historically no doubt, Amalek heard that a river was gushing forth in the desert.  We’re told this in Psalm 78, if I can find it here, be with you in a second, I’m checking in with my computer here [he must have an early tablet, sermon given May 2, 2007]…Psalm 78, it says this, ‘He clave the rock in the wilderness and gave them drink out of the great depths, he brought streams also out of the rock and caused the waters to run down like rivers, behold he smote the rock that waters gushed out, and streams overflowed.  Can he give bread also, can he provide flesh for his people?’  You know, Amalek no doubt heard of the amount of water that was gushing forth in the desert, and we see all the way back in Genesis different tribes in contest fighting over wells and fighting over springs, because it was such a rare item in the desert to have an oasis or have a spring.  So Amalek historically as a people, probably come to run Israel off of this site, which they no doubt thought had been theirs.  “And Moses said unto Joshua, Choose us out men, and go out, fight with Amalek:  to morrow I will stand on the top of the hill with the rod of God in mine hand.” (verse 9)  Now that’s the first time you have “Joshua” [mentioned] in the Bible, the Greek of course is “Jesus,” but Joshua, Yeshua here.  Still at this point we’ll find out in Numbers his name is Hoshea, and Moses will change his name to YaHoshea, “the LORD is become our Salvation.”  But Moses says to Joshua “Choose us out men, and go out, fight with Amalek:  to morrow I will stand on the top of the hill with the rod of God in mine hand.”  Now this is the first time the nation, the people of God, are commanded to enter into battle.  Remember as they came out of Egypt in chapter 13, verse 17 it says God didn’t lead them by the way of the Philistines, because he didn’t want them to encounter battle right away and be disheartened.  As they were at the Red Sea the LORD said to the people of Israel ‘Stand back, that he would fight for them,’ that’s a different picture, that’s a picture of coming out of Egypt, it’s a picture of redemption, it’s a picture of the Blood of the Lamb, and that’s all on God’s end.  We didn’t contribute to that, we didn’t fight for our Salvation, it is a free gift.  Certainly in our service, we’re rewarded for our service to Christ, but Salvation is not a reward, it’s a free gift.  So they don’t enter into any contest there.  But now here for the first time the children of Israel are told to enter into a battle against Amalek, and to fight with Joshua leading them.  “So Joshua did as Moses had said to him, and fought with Amalek:  and Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill.  And it came to pass, when Moses held up his hand, that Israel prevailed:  and when he let down his hand, Amalek prevailed.  But Moses’ hands were heavy; and they took a stone, and put it under him, and he sat thereon; and Aaron and Hur stayed up his hands, the one on the one side, and the other on the other side; and his hands were steady until the going down of the sun.” (verses 10-12)  he could see Joshua and the guys down there fighting, and Moses trying to hold up his hands, he’s got the rod and it’s going down, the other guys are winning, and then they hold Moses’ hands up and they start winning again, looking at these three old geezers up on the hill, thinking ‘LORD, give these guys strength, would you please.’  So you could imagine the guys in battle watching these old guys up there, and Moses is wilting, finally one of them is dragging a stone and they stick it under him and sit him down, and then they’re on either side, they’re holding up the rod, this battle goes on a long time.  They probably looked up and Aaron and Hur were sitting on stones holding up the rod, and then they looked up and there were stones under their hands.  You can imagine as this day went on, they went to battle with Amalek until the going down of the sun.  “And Joshua discomfited Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword.” (verse 13)  whupped him and confused him, specifically it says, with the edge of the sword.  “And the LORD said unto Moses, Write this for a memorial in a book, and rehearse it in the ears of Joshua:  for I will utterly put out of the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven.  And Moses built an altar, and called the name of it Jehovah-nisi:” (verses 14-15)   “The LORD our Banner,” “for he said, Because the LORD hath sworn that the LORD will have war with Amalek from generation to generation.” (verse 16)  So we have this picture certainly trusting the LORD whenever we’re in some kind of a battle.  But it’s more than that, Paul tells us, that they are examples, they’re pictures.  The Holy Spirit comes forward, the picture of the water gushing forward, the people being satisfied, and immediately then another battle ensues.  You know, you and I, before we come to Christ, we wrestle with one thing or another, struggling with this or that, and all of those are the wrong battles, trying to fulfill our emptiness, trying to fulfill our thirst.  When we finally are saved and we drink of Christ, all of a sudden there’s another battle, all of a sudden we recognize the flesh, when we’re filled with God’s Spirit, when we’re born-again and brought into the light, then we’re aware, ‘Wow, this needs to change, wow, that needs to change, that desire’s wrong, that shouldn’t be there.’  And what we have, you know, again Spurgeon said “Dead men don’t wrestle.”  Here is what you need to look out for so you’re not defeated by Amalek, all of us in this room, it tells us in Galatians, are in a particular struggle.  Paul said it this way, ‘This I say then, walk in the Spirit and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh, for the flesh lusteth against the Spirit,’ notice that the flesh is first, ‘and the Spirit against the flesh, these are contrary to one to another, so that you cannot do the things that you would.  But if ye be led of the Spirit, you are not under the law.’  Now please listen, if says if you’re led of the Spirit, you won’t walk in the flesh.  Because we tend to be so legalistic in our experience, we think ‘Well if I walk, if I don’t fulfill the lust of the flesh, then I’ll walk in the Spirit,’ it doesn’t say that at all, none of us have the strength in and of ourselves not to be tempted in our struggle with the flesh, it says first if we walk in the Spirit, then we won’t fulfill the lust of the flesh.  Our legalistic side thinks ‘Well if I don’t fulfill the lust of the flesh then I’ll walk in the Spirit,’ [which places us in the situation where we’re struggling to not walk in the flesh in order to be able to walk in the Spirit, all on our own human effort].  That’s not what Paul says, he said if you’re led of the Spirit, you’re not under the law, the works of the flesh are these, he goes through the different things that we struggle with.  And take note of that, look, Paul is describing the condition within himself, within all of us.  We have this idea that when the new birth takes place, the old nature dies.  Well it doesn’t at all.  It’s discomfited, and there’s going to be struggle with it from generation to generation, it’s defeated, it isn’t dead.  We’re told not to let sin reign in our mortal bodies.  And Christians have this idea that they’re going to rehab the old man, ‘If I go on, once I’ve been saved for ten years I won’t struggle with this any more, I won’t have that temptation anymore,’ no, no, it doesn’t say that anywhere, it’s not a rehabilitation program, it’s a crucifixion program, ‘Consider the old man dead,’ he’s there, don’t pay attention to him, don’t let him reign.  Any time you stop yourself and look within you’ll see that side of yourself that would defeat you if you let it have the front page.  It’s there, all of us struggle with selfishness and anger and lust, all of us in our journey face those things, to one degree or another.  And what do we do, here’s Amalek immediately, when God would move in our lives, Jesus, when we see him filled with the Spirit, immediately, he’s driven by the Spirit to be tempted of the devil in the wilderness.  Here, it’s the lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes, pride of life are the three temptations that come to him.  And again, when he went into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil, nobody was there, he hadn’t called the disciples yet.  Nobody knew but him and the devil, and the Father, which meant that lesson was important enough, at some point after he called the disciples, Jesus said to Matthew, he said, ‘look,’ the guys were sitting around the campfire, ‘let me tell you something, I did this and faced the enemy in my flesh, before I called you guys, and this is how I defeated him, with the Word of God, with the Word of God.’  Jesus related that lesson that had taken place before he called any of them, so that it would get to us.  Interesting picture here, Amalek, coming, doing battle against the children of Israel.  It tells us this in Deuteronomy chapter 25, it says, “Remember what Amalek did unto thee by the way, when you were come forth out of Egypt, how he met thee by the way, and smote the hindermost of these, even all that were feeble behind thee when thou wast faint and weary, and feared not God.’  They were complaining, it says Amalek came and was able to smite of those who were furthest away, in the hindermost part of the camp.  The lesson is of course, if we follow the Lord afar off we’re fair game, if we are walking far away from Jesus, there’s going to be the struggle with the world and the flesh and the devil.  No doubt, the closer we walk with him, the safer we are.  We have two pictures here, what do we do in this struggle?  How do we gain victory, what do we do with this, for all of us?  Hey look, it’s not rocket science, God doesn’t want it to be complicated, he wants us to receive the things of his Kingdom in a childlike and simple way.  But what is the one picture, the one picture in this battle is, here’s Moses and Aaron and Hur, with their hands lifted up, it says, up on the mountain above the scene. 

Prayer:  Our Main Weapon Against Amalek, The Flesh

It says in Psalm 28, verse 2, ‘Hear the voice of my supplications, when I cry unto thee, when I lift up my hands towards thy holy oracle,’ over and over again it talks about lifting up our hands to the Lord in prayer and worship, certainly, one of the weapons we have is prayer.  The picture of Moses and Aaron and Hur, it’s not a picture of Jesus our intercessor at the right hand of the Father, because he doesn’t get tired and need other guys to hold his hands up.  It’s a picture of prayer, and then it’s a perfect picture of prayer when he gets tired, isn’t it.  Because how many of us get tired of praying, after five minutes.  I mean, praying is a spiritual exercise, our flesh does not like it.  You know late at night, you’re tired, dozing off, you’re trying to read your Bible, you try to pray, you’re gone.  You turn on David Letterman, woop! you’re wide awake again, because it’s a spiritual exercise, your flesh does not like to pray, and does not like to spend time in the Word.  So, in the battle, we have part of the scene, Moses, Aaron, who may be a picture of the high priest, Hur is a picture of, his name means “light,” upholding the pray-er, the one who prays, the high priest and God’s Light, maybe.  Down in the valley there’s Joshua, he’s discomfiting the enemy with what?  with the edge of the sword, God’s Word, sharper than any two-edged sword, dividing down to soul and marrow, dividing down to bone and marrow, to where you divide what’s soulish and what is spiritual, the Sword of the Spirit, Paul says in Ephesians 6, which is the Word of God.  What do we do when Amalek comes? what do we do when we’re struggling with the flesh, what do we do? we want to be filled with God’s Spirit.  I guarantee you if you spend time praying, ‘Lord, fill me with your Spirit,’ there’s going to be warfare.  The way we react to it inside is we get mad, we get frustrated, ‘wow, I can’t believe this,’ what do we do to have that victory, what do we do when we’re tempted with a particular temptation that always seems to be going on in our life, that we might not want to share with other people?  What do we do when we realize some weakness we have?  and Satan is there to convince us ‘you’re not really saved, you got company or something stupid,’ and we need to realize, that’s the flesh, and it’s the acts of the flesh [sometimes egged on by a nearby demon, don’t discount it].  And what the Lord has given to us is so profound, and yet so simple, in prayer and the Word, we are able to walk in the Spirit.  Sometimes not even knowing how to pray as we ought, ‘but the Spirit himself maketh intercessions, with groanings that are too deep to be uttered.’  If we bring our hearts before the Lord, in our struggles, he is faithful.  He would never beckon us to come, and then as we come to him, not meet us there, and not grant us victory.  He would never tell us to use his Word, to know his Word, that faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God, he would never give us that example of himself when he was tempted, quoting the Word, if it wasn’t sufficient.  He hasn’t left us without resource, he hasn’t left.  He doesn’t expect us to be perfect.  He knows us, he died on the cross for us, he expects us to make appropriation, he’s given us his grace, he’s given us his Spirit, he’s given us his Word, he tenderly cares for us and watches over us as a Shepherd and a Father, as a Bridegroom for his Bride, and he’s given us the means where we can walk in the Spirit and not fulfill the lust of the flesh.  Interesting picture that we’re given here in chapter 17, following along certainly with chapter 16, the pictures that are coming before us.  Historically Moses built and altar there, he called it Jehovah-nisi, “the LORD is my Banner,” and I love The Song of Solomon chapter 6 which says, ‘and his banner over me is love, the LORD is our banner and his banner over me is love, he brings me to his banqueting table,’ I like that part of it too, ‘and his banner over me is love.’  “for he said, Because the LORD hath sworn that the LORD will have war with Amalek from generation to generation.” (verse 16)  Now, chapter 18…

Exodus 18:1-27

“When Jethro, the priest of Midian, Moses’ father in law, heard of all that God had done for Moses, and for Israel his people, and that the LORD had brought Israel out of Egypt; 2 then Jethro, Moses’ father in law, took Zipporah, Moses’ wife, after he had sent her back, 3 and her two sons; of which the name of the one was Gershom; for he said, I have been an alien in a strange land: 4 and the name of the other was Eliezer; for the God of my father, said he, was mine help, and delivered me from the sword of Pharaoh: 5 and Jethro, Moses’ father in law, came with his sons and his wife unto Moses into the wilderness, where he encamped at the mount of God: 6 and he said unto Moses, I thy father in law Jethro am come unto thee, and thy wife, and her two sons with her. 7 And Moses went out to meet his father in law, and did obeisance, and kissed him; and they asked each other of their welfare; and they came into the tent. 8 And Moses told his father in law all that the LORD had done unto Pharaoh and to the Egyptians for Israel’s sake, and all the travail that had come upon them by the way, and how the LORD delivered them. 9 And Jethro rejoiced for all the goodness which the LORD had done to Israel, whom he had delivered out of the hand of the Egyptians. 10 And Jethro said, Blessed be the LORD, who hath delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians, and out of the hand of Pharaoh, who hath delivered the people from under the hand of the Egyptians. 11 Now I know that the LORD is greater than all gods:  for in the thing wherein they dealt proudly he was above them. 12 And Jethro, Moses’ father in law, took a burnt offering and sacrifices for God:  and Aaron came, and all the elders of Israel, to eat bread with Moses’ father in law before God. 13 And it came to pass on the morrow, that Moses sat to judge the people:  and the people stood by Moses from the morning unto the evening. 14 And when Moses’ father in law saw all that he did to the people, he said, What is this thing that thou doest to the people? why sittest thou thyself alone, and all the people stand by thee from morning unto even? 15 And Moses said unto his father in law, Because the people come unto me to enquire of God: 16 when they have a matter, they come unto me; and I judge between one and another, and I do make them know the statutes of God, and his laws. 17 And Moses’ father in law said unto him, The thing that thou doest is not good. 18 Thou wilt surely wear away, both thou, and this people that is with thee; thou art not able to perform it thyself alone. 19 Hearken now unto my voice, I will give thee counsel, and God shall be with thee: be thou for the people to God-ward, that thou mayest bring the causes to God: 20 And thou shalt teach them ordinances and laws, and shalt shew them the way wherein they must walk, and the work that they must do. 21 Moreover thou shalt provide out of all the people able men, such as fear God, men of truth, hating covetousness; and place such over them, to be rulers of thousands, and rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens. 22 And let them judge the people at all seasons:  and it shall be, that every great matter they shall bring unto thee, but every small matter they shall judge:  so shall it be easier for thyself, and they shall bear the burden with thee. 23 If thou shalt do this thing, and God command thee so, then thou shalt be able to endure, and all this people shall also go to their place in peace. 24 So Moses hearkened to the voice of his father in law, and did all that he had said. 25 And Moses chose able men out of all Israel, and made them heads over the people, rulers of thousands, rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens. 26 And they judged the people at all seasons:  the hard causes they brought unto Moses, but every small matter they judged themselves. 27 And Moses let his father in law depart; and he went his way into his own land.”

A Family Reunion

“When Jethro, Eli May, Pa, no.  Remember Jethro, Jethro is Moses’ father-in-law Rual, we met him earlier in the book.  And it’s interesting, look, our experience is not always Marah’s, it’s not always the wilderness of Sin, it’s not always Rephidim.  As we come to chapter 18 we have a picture of a sweet encampment, there’s no complaining, there’s no griping, in fact there’s praise for the LORD, it’s a time of rest, it’s a time of family, it’s time of fellowship.  Interesting picture, and certainly there are those seasons and I’m so thankful for them when they come in all of our lives.  It says “When Jethro, the priest of Midian, Moses’ father in law, heard of all that God had done for Moses, and for Israel his people, and that the LORD had brought Israel out of Egypt;” and we’re not sure specially how he heard, he probably heard about the victory over Amalek, “then Jethro, Moses’ father in law, took Zipporah, Moses’ wife, after he had sent her back, and her two sons; of which the name of the one was Gershom; for he said, I have been an alien in a strange land:  and the name of the other was Eliezer; for the God of my father, said he, was mine help, and delivered me from the sword of Pharaoh:” (verses 1-4)  So we have this kind of family reunion.  Jethro no doubt hearing, the Bedouin, the tribal people have their own means of communication, certainly he no doubt heard of the victory over Amalek, which was probably one of his rival tribes in the desert areas, and of all that God had done.  And he comes to meet Moses and he brings Zipporah, Gershon and Eliezer, Moses’ sons.  Now remember, Zipporah, this is the last time we hear of her in the Bible.  She’s famous for several things, one, for being the last woman in any book of women in the Bible you look at.  She’s under Z.  And the other thing is for it seems arguing with Moses over the circumcision of his sons, remember back in chapter 4, God dealt with Moses and laid him down, was at the point of death, and Zipporah knew exactly what it was and circumcised her son and threw his foreskin in front of Moses and said ‘You’re a bloody husband unto me,’ and just so important because of the circumcision, a covenant with the nation.  Remember God, when he gave the Passover said ‘No one who is uncircumcised is able to partake of the Passover,’ it was a very important thing.  Moses, though with great spiritual potential as a leader, evidently had domestic problems in the home.  And you know, sometimes that’s where, it’s easy to be a pastor, it’s tough being a dad and a husband, take it from me.  Or we’ll take it from your wife, it doesn’t matter.  And his home was out of order to some degree there.  No doubt Zipporah had worn him down, not wanting to yield to the right of circumcision, and she knew exactly what was going on when God dealt with her husband, and yielded, and Moses sent them back then as he went to Egypt, it says that he had sent them back.  [Poor Moses didn’t need having to deal with family matters and that nasty Pharaoh, and getting the Israelites out of Egypt at the same time.]  And now there’s a reunion, there’s not harshness from Moses, no impression of that here at all.  Here is a scene where Moses, now that the children of Israel are watered, they’re satisfied, there’s no strife, striving or complaining here.  His father-in-law comes and brings his wife and his two sons, I’m sure that was a blessing to him.  And it says Jethro, verse 5, “and Jethro, Moses’ father in law, came with his sons and his wife unto Moses into the wilderness, where he encamped at the mount of God:  and he said unto Moses, I thy father in law Jethro am come unto thee, and thy wife, and her two sons with her.  And Moses went out to meet his father in law, and did obeisance, and kissed him; and they asked each other of their welfare; and they came into the tent.” (verses 5-7)  I don’t know how happy he is to see Zipporah, he kissed his father-in-law.  And we don’t hear any more about her, she kind of passes off the scene.  They asked each other of their welfare, and they came into the tent, the Bedouins, this law of hospitality, they’re going to come into the tent now and they’re going to feast.  Imagine verse 8, “And Moses told his father in law all that the LORD had done unto Pharaoh and to the Egyptians for Israel’s sake, and all the travail that had come upon them by the way,” the crossing of the Red Sea, all of that, “and how the LORD delivered them.”  What a story, imagine them sitting in a tent that night, eating, no doubt roasted lamb, if you love me feed me sheep, with peta bread and dates and figs, and talking ‘What happened?  It turned to blood?  Tell me about the frogs, oh that must have blown Pharaoh’s mind,’ just you can imagine what an evening this was as they sat there.  Wouldn’t you love to have a recording of it?  no, better a DVD.  Remember for those of you who confuse DVDs and CDs, that’s the one you can’t play in your car on the way home.  What a conversation this must have been.  “And Jethro rejoiced for all the goodness which the LORD had done to Israel, whom he had delivered out of the hand of the Egyptians.” (verse 9)  Now notice, he’s not rejoicing over the destruction of the Egyptians, he’s rejoicing over all the goodness which the LORD had done to Israel, “whom he had delivered out of the hand of the Egyptians.  And Jethro said, Blessed be the LORD, who hath delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians, and out of the hand of Pharaoh, who hath delivered the people from under the hand of the Egyptians.  Now I know that the LORD is greater than all gods:  for in the thing wherein they dealt proudly he was above them.” (verses 9b-11)  Now I don’t think it’s saying he realizes at that moment he’s making an affirmative statement.  He knows that they dealt with arrogance with the children of Israel and proudly, and that God had overturned them and their deities.  “And Jethro, Moses’ father in law, took a burnt offering and sacrifices for God:  and Aaron came, and all the elders of Israel, to eat bread with Moses’ father in law before God.” (verse 12)  So, this is before the Aaronic priesthood is established, no doubt Jethro is a believer in Yahweh, the one True Living God, he’s one of Abraham’s descendants [the Midianites were Abraham’s descendants through Keturah], he’s the priest of Midian, his belief is a correct belief in Jehovah God, the God of Israel, and no one forbids him to sacrifice because the priesthood hasn’t been established, and no one is forbidden to eat with him.  So they sacrifice, they break bread, they eat there before the LORD, what a remarkable picture. 

Jethro Gives Moses Godly Advice To Help Tune Up His Leadership Skills

“And it came to pass on the morrow, that Moses sat to judge the people:  and the people stood by Moses from the morning unto the evening.  And when Moses’ father in law saw all that he did to the people, he said, What is this thing that thou doest to the people? why sittest thou thyself alone, and all the people stand by thee from morning unto even?  And Moses said unto his father in law, Because the people come unto me to enquire of God:” (verses 13-15)  So imagine with 2 million people in the camp, how long was the line?  If it was only a thousand people in line?  They stood there from morning to evening, and you and I know the way people are, everyone thought their thing was the most important thing for that day.  I don’t like to stand in the checkout line, because the person in front of me always thinks the checkout means that’s where they take their check out and pay with a check, and it takes longer.  I go crazy just standing in a checkout line sometimes in a store [me too, and having someone paying with a credit card is almost as bad a wait--I’m just like Pastor Joe here, pay cash and get outa the way!].  Or driving down the street behind someone going 30 mph that I can’t get past [😊].  And I finally have to say ‘Lord, this is probably an angel, keeping me from getting killed today, I know it, but, send a faster one next time.’  [laughter]  I deal with it, spiritually, I get a grip on things. The flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh, it’s my spirit never rises up saying ‘This is wonderful driving this slow, I can look around at God’s creation,’ the flesh always comes first.  Then you have to say ‘Ok, alright Lord, you’re in charge of my life, you knew this person was predestined to be in front of me I guess, you always knew it, ok, forgive me, you created him, he’s created in thy image and likeness, even if he got his license at Pet-Boys.’  They’re standing before Moses from morning to evening, and “when they have a matter, they come unto me; and I judge between one and another, and I do make them know the statutes of God, and his laws.” (verse 16)  Now they’re not the official statutes, which haven’t been recorded yet, but no doubt Moses in his communion with God understands the principles of God, the way things should take place.  [Comment:  a lot of the ancient rabbis believed that the Laws of God, including the Sabbath and Holy Days were understood before Abraham, going all the way back to Adam.  We don’t know, we’ll have to wait till the Wedding Feast of the Lamb to find out.]  He understands the Law of God in his heart.  “And Moses’ father in law said unto him, The thing that thou doest is not good.  Thou wilt surely wear away, both thou, and this people that is with thee; thou art not able to perform it thyself alone.” (verses 17-18)  one man can’t do this, imagine if one person was in charge of Philadelphia, and had to deal with all the complaints about snowplowing, and salting, and had to deal  with all the complaints about the police department, all the complaints about housing, all the complaints--imagine if one person with a million and a half, not even 2 million in Philadelphia, that’s insanity.  There needs to be order.  Look, supposedly there is order now, and look at the city of Brotherly Love that we live in, that breaks all kinds of other records.  And I’m glad there’s as much order as there is, but imagine if just one person was trying to do that, how insane things would be.  God is a God of order, his father-in-law is saying ‘Moses, you’re going to wear yourself out, and you’re going to wear out the people standing in line everyday.’  If they complained at Marah and they complained about food and water, it ain’t gonna be long before you’re going to have a mutiny here in the camp, and you’re going to be half dead by now, and my daughter’s going to be a widow and my grandsons aren’t gonna have a dad, so, “Hearken now unto my voice, I will give thee counsel, and God shall be with thee: be thou for the people to God-ward, that thou mayest bring the causes to God:”  ‘Moses, you have a calling on your life, you have a gift, and it isn’t to talk to them about what happened with somebody’s lamb dropping over on somebody else’s property, you need to represent the people to God, you need to be the man of God that you are in the place that you are, that’s the greatest benefit you are to the people.’   “And thou shalt teach them ordinances and laws, and shalt shew them the way wherein they must walk, and the work that they must do.” (verse 20)  ‘You’re going to communicate the Word of God to them,’ “Moreover thou shalt provide out of all the people able men, such as fear God, men of truth, hating covetousness; and place such over them, to be rulers of thousands, and rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens.  And let them judge the people at all seasons:  and it shall be, that every great matter they shall bring unto thee, but every small matter they shall judge:  so shall it be easier for thyself, and they shall bear the burden with thee.” (verses 21-22) Now it tells us back in chapter 4, you don’t have to turn there, verse 29, it says that ‘And Moses and Aaron went and gathered together all the elders of the children of Israel.’  So there are already people in the nation that were recognized as elders and leaders.  Jethro says, ‘Go through them, gather certain ones, not just anybody who says that they’re a leader, or not just anybody that says they’re an elder, you need to gather the ones who fear God, men of truth, that hate covetousness.’  There has to be some stipulations, some character, some integrity.  First of all pick the men that fear God.  Because the men that fear God, they’re not living in compromise, they’re not living in sin.  The greatest problem this nation has, is not another terrorist attack, it’s not an ICBM coming across the North Pole from Russia, the problem with this nation is there is no fear of God.  It tells us in the Bible that a nation is exalted by its righteousness, this nation has lost the fear of God.  Isn’t it interesting, when 9/11 happened you saw the whole group of cronies standing on the steps of the Capitol singing God Bless America, and all of a sudden they wanted God’s blessing.  But there’s no fear of God, and because there’s no fear of God, in fact we gave those things out tonight, you should write them in, call your Congressmen and Senators, they’re trying to pass legislation that if I teach the Bible, here in this pulpit, and I say that homosexuality is a sin, that that is hate speech and they can prosecute me [in Canada it’s gotten so bad, that they do throw preachers in jail for doing just that].  They’re trying to pass that, that bill goes up for a vote tomorrow.  Now when I talk about drunks or alcoholics it’s not hate speech, when I talk about an adulterer it’s not hate speech, when I talk about a murderer it’s not hate speech, but they’ve decided, they wormed their way in, they want tolerance.  They don’t want tolerance, because I tolerate them.  They want endorsement.  This is America, they can live here, there’s laws.  This is a higher law, this is the church of God, this is the Word of God.  And we’re not gonna stop teaching the Scripture.  Heaven and earth are going to pass away, and not one word of this is going to pass away [loud applause]. 

God’s Three Qualifications For Leadership, Given To Moses

So first thing in leadership, men that fear God.  Secondly, it says here, those that are men of truth.  You know, I would love it if Washington, if these were the stipulations for anybody to be elected down there.  Fear of God, men of truth, wouldn’t it be nice that everything you hear, they’re just being honest with us?  Because you know if they were being honest, they would stop saying all the stuff they’re saying, and say ‘Man, we are in a mess, we need to have a national fast and get our nation on their knees.’  Men of truth, secondly, to judge the people.  Men that fear God, men of truth, “and men that hate covetousness.”  Men that hate covetousness, you can’t bribe them, you can’t buy them off, they don’t get some sense of entitlement, like everything belongs to them.  [And this 3^rd qualification would eliminate all lobbyists out of Congress and the Senate, and “special interests” would die a sudden death--oh boy, just imagine that, the rich and wealthy no longer calling the shots at the expense of the poor, no longer twisting laws in their favour against the ordinary citizen, usually the poor.]  What wonderful requirements, it’s interesting as we look at the requirements for an elder, Paul says to Timothy, ‘This is a true saying, if a man desires the office of a bishop [a pastor] he desires a good work.  A bishop [pastor, preacher] must be blameless, the husband of one wife, vigilant, sober, of good behaviour, given to hospitality, apt to teach, not given to wine, not a striker, not greedy of money, but patient, not a brawler, not covetousness, he that rules his own house well, having his children in subjection with all gravity, because if a man doesn’t know how to rule his own house, how shall he take care of the church of God.’  You read through that list, and it only says “apt to teach.”  Every other requirement is one of character.  And it’s almost as though God says ‘If you will give me your heart,’ you guys and gals who feel called to ministry, ‘if you will give me your heart and your life, I can anoint “apt to teach,” those three words, and turn it into whatever I want it to be, I can do whatever I want it to be.’ We’ve built whole institutions around those three words, and hand out diplomas, and we haven’t settled the rest of the requirements.  Here, these men, it says, have to fear God, be men of truth, hating covetousness, and they should take care of the people, you should deal with the matters that you have to deal with.  Acts chapter 6 said this, it says ‘Then the twelve called the multitude of the disciples unto them and said, It is not reason, not fitting that we should leave the Word of God to serve tables.  Wherefore brethren, look out among you seven men,’ this is to wait on tables, ‘of honest report, full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom, who we may appoint over this business, to wait on tables and serve people, men of good report, full of the Holy Ghost and of wisdom, to wait on tables, to serve God’s people.’  And the apostles said, ‘But we will give ourselves continually to prayer and to the ministry of the Word.’  Here Jethro is saying to Moses, verse 22, “And let them judge the people at all seasons:  and it shall be, that every great matter they shall bring unto thee, but every small matter they shall judge:  so shall it be easier for thyself, and they shall bear the burden with thee.”  The word there “easier” in the Hebrew, Wiersby says, is the word that means “to unload cargo from a ship, to make the load lighter, to unload cargo from a ship and make the load lighter.”  ‘Moses, let them come alongside you, let them help you, let them be like the elders in the New Testament, let them be like the deacons in the Book of Acts, let them make the load lighter.’  Because, you know, the pressing things in ministry are usually not the important things, and the important things are rarely pressing.  The things that are pressing in ministry are always chasing the details and taking care of everything, and being a good steward and refereeing people with bad attitudes and telling them to act like Christians, and taking care of the budget, and doing this and doing that, and there’s so much that gets entailed.  But he says ‘Moses, you have to bring the necessary things, your calling, to the people, and let others come alongside and help,’ he says, verse 23, “If thou shalt do this thing,” notice please, “and God command thee so, then thou shalt be able to endure, and all this people shall also go to their place in peace.”  Because there’s all kinds of people that say ‘Hey, Jethro should have kept his mouth shut, he got Moses in the flesh here, God had called Moses to do this, instead of listening to God he’s listening to Jethro,’ no, the verse here says ‘do this thing, if God commands so, seek the LORD about this.’  And evidently Moses did seek the LORD, and the LORD encouraged it, it would be my estimation of this, to have these men come alongside, “then thou shalt be able to endure, and all this people shall also go to their place in peace.” (verse 23b) you’ll be able to get to them and minister.  D.L. Moody said “I would rather put ten men to work than do the work of ten men.”  “I would rather put ten men to work than do the work of ten men,’ because he knew God had called him to preach and to teach the Word.  Here, just a picture of the camp, a picture of family reunion, a picture of praising instead of complaining, and a picture of order, God’s a God of order.  How do we, you know, the first time they’re out of these stressful situations, and yet there still is this stress, just of the logistics of this many people, what it takes to care physically for that many people is unimaginable.  Again, 4,500 tons of manna had to fall every day.  9,000 tons on Friday, for the Sabbath, over a million tons a year.  The amount of water was unimaginable, let alone the spiritual needs, the things they’re bringing to Moses.  It seems that this was God’s leading Jethro being there, good advice, Moses sought the LORD about it, evidently prayed about it, the LORD led that way, “So Moses hearkened to the voice of his father in law, and did all that he had said.  And Moses chose able men out of all Israel, and made them heads over the people, rulers of thousands, rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens.  And they judged the people at all seasons:  the hard causes they brought unto Moses, but every small matter they judged themselves.  And Moses let his father in law depart; and he went his way into his own land.” (verses 24-27)  So this interesting picture as we pass here this evening through these things.  I’m going to have the musicians come, we’ll sing a last song.  My encouragement to you as believers, is if you’re experiencing, and I’m experiencing in my life right now, a season of thirst, where I’ve been saying ‘Lord, I have a particular thirst right now in 2007, Lord I need a filling of your Holy Spirit afresh, you know, the filling from 2006 is not sufficient for what’s happening today, Lord, the things you did in my life in 1972 when I got saved, they’re not sufficient, Lord, I need, Lord, you to be current, I need the reality of your presence daily, I need a fresh filling of your Holy Spirit now.’  And we need only ask, we only speak to the Rock, we need only to go to him and pour out our hearts before him.  Certainly, along with that, always comes some degree of turmoil and struggle, you’re making spiritual progress.  There is no spiritual progress without warfare.  Make a plaque out of it and stick it on your forehead, so when you look in the mirror in the morning you see it, you have to write it backwards so you can read it.  There is no spiritual progress without warfare, it just doesn’t happen.  But just what a great thing sometimes, to realize in that, Lord, I can pray, I can use your Word, all of the resources are here to have victory, to discomfit and discombobulate and disconbooble the enemy, and thank you for that Lord.  Amen?  Let’s stand, let’s pray, let’s have the musicians come.  Read ahead, chapter 19, very interesting, chapter 20, the Ten Commandments, the Law, and if the Lord tarries, and I hope he doesn’t, if he does that’s where we’ll be next week.  If he doesn’t all of the answers to our questions will be there, imagine looking into his face, standing around his throne, when all tears are gone, all sorrows are gone, all heartache is gone, all warfare is gone, all sadness is gone, when every dream and joy is being realized, looking into his face, that’d be better than studying Exodus 19 next week, we’ll do the best we can…[transcript of a connective expository sermon on Exodus 17:1-16 and Exodus 18:1-27, given by Pastor Joe Focht, Calvary Chapel of Philadelphia, 13500 Philmont Avenue, Philadelphia, PA  19116]

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