2002-01-01
Good Morning Faithful Ones,
Our God is never capricious, malevolent, or unjust. There are times when He does identify people we initially don’t know well as His enemies. This most certainly happened in the case of Esau and his descendants, the Edomites and the Amalekites. It is clear from Esau’s behavior that he was ruled by his flesh. Esau sold his birthright for a bowl of red lentils in GN 25: 27-33. See also HE 12: 16-17. The place in the Scriptures where God reveals Himself as Jehovah Nissi, “The Lord is my Banner,” is in EX 17: 8-16, the story of the war between the Israelites and the Amalekites. But before I could really appreciate what this story means I needed to better understand who Amalek was and some definitions. God has made it clear that Esau’s propensity for being ruled by his flesh was passed down in his family. He had a son, Eliphaz, who in turn, had a son, Amalek. Surprisingly, Amalek, though being a direct descendant of his great-grandfather, Isaac, never carried Isaac’s righteousness. This lends great credence, in my humble opinion, to the point that Paul makes in RO 2 that one’s genetic inheritance doesn’t guarantee his righteousness and certainly not his salvation. You will remember that the traditional Jews of Paul’s time where being hypocrites, trying to claim that just because they were physically circumcised, were descendants of Abraham, and followed the Law that they were righteous. Paul compares this kind of Jew with a person “whose heart has been circumcised” as the work of the Spirit and not the written Law [RO2: 28-29].
Right after the place in EX 17: 6 where God directs Moses to strike the rock at Mt. Sinai, so that water will come out of it for the people to drink, is where the story of the war with the Amalekites is told. That is no accident. The people grumble and complain, God supplies them with their most profound need, and then they still need another lesson to show them where they should put their trust. Isn’t this just like humans to be so slow to learn? EX 17: 8-9, “The Amalekites came and attacked the Israelites at Rephidim. Moses said to Joshua, ‘Pick out some men and go and fight the Amalekites tomorrow. I will stand on the hill holding the stick that God told me to carry.’” When Moses’ arms got tired, Aaron and Hur helped hold them up and sat Moses on a rock. As long as Moses’ arms were raised with the stick, Joshua and his men were winning the battle. When they dropped, things didn’t go so well for the Jews. But in the end, the Jews were victorious [EX 17: 11-13]. Where was Moses sitting? On the rock, or should I say, the Rock! EX 17: 15-16, “Moses built an altar and named it ‘The Lord is my Banner.’ He said, ‘Hold high the banner of the Lord! The Lord will continue to fight against the Amalekites forever!’”
At this point one might ask: Why is this story important to me in 2001? Please believe that it is, because Jehovah Nissi remains in every way consistent with Who He Was, Who He is, and Who He will always be. This question is answered eloquently in two important citations. RO 15: 4, “Everything written in the Scriptures was written to teach us, in order that we might have hope through the patience and encouragement which the Scriptures give us.” 2 TIM 3: 16-17, “All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching the truth, rebuking error, correcting faults, and giving instruction for right living, so that they person who serves God may be fully qualified and equipped to do every kind of good deed.”
There is another level of understanding available to us about Amelek which is accessed by going back to the original language. Amalek is a type [or figure] of the flesh. A type is an OT foreshadowing of a NT truth to come. The use of the word, “type,” here comes from the Greek word, “tupos,” meaning “a mark formed by a blow or impression with the result being a figure or image.” A good example to shed light on this idea is what we learn from RO 5: 14-15. “But from the time of Adam to the time of Moses, death ruled over all mankind even over those who did not sin in the same way that Adam did when he disobeyed God’s command. Adam was a figure of the one who was to come. But the two are not the same, because God’s free gift is not like Adam’s sin. It is true that many people died because of the sin of that one man. But God’s grace is much greater, and so is His free gift to so many people through the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ.” It is from this passage that the use of the terms, “the first Adam,” is used for Adam, and “the second Adam” is used for Christ. Where does Amalek fit into this construct? Amalek is the type for all enemies of God who are ruled by the flesh. When we consider this, it is clear that Jehovah Nissi, “the Lord is my Banner,” demonstrates His ability to lead us to victory over the flesh if we are only willing to allow Him to lead us and direct us through our battle with it.
PRAYER: O Lord, we are slow to learn. You must lead us to the lessons in Your word and patiently await the Holy Spirit’s efforts to explain them to us. What a patient and compassion God You are! In one part of Your word, You show us that You can and do equip us to fight and win our battles over the flesh. In another part, You encourage us and tell us not to lose faith. In yet another, You give us stories like that of the war between the Israelites and the Amalekites to show us how our reliance on You can give us victory. A banner is a flag which shows the enemy for what we stand. When we keep our eyes on You while we fight the good fight, You are able to direct us to victory. When our human failings cause us to take our eyes off of You, we lose ground. We humbly stand before You today to dedicate ourselves to looking to You for guidance and encouragement. No matter how hard our battle is, we understand that with You and Your Son leading us we can win it. For that and so much more, we humbly pledge You our worship, adoration, loyalty, trust, obedience, praise, and thanks. To You belongs all the honor and glory. In Christ’s name, we pray, amen.
There are more citations in the Scriptures in which we see God as our Jehovah Nissi. So, He takes me on that continuing path tomorrow. No matter which specific challenges to our faith by the flesh assail us, we can take comfort in knowing that our Jehovah Nissi raises His banner for us. Our part of it is to trust Him enough to keep our eyes focused on Him while we deal with our challenges. He promises us that we will have victory when we do this. I believe Him and hope that You can take encouragement in believing Him too. His love for each of us is more profound than simple words can express. Peter and I send you our love too.
race Be With You Always,
Lynn