Now Amalek came and fought with Israel in Rephidim. And Moses said to Joshua, “Choose us some men and go out, fight with Amalek. Tomorrow I will stand on the top of the hill with the rod of God in my hand.” So Joshua did as Moses said to him, and fought with Amalek. And Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill. And so it was, when Moses held up his hand, that Israel prevailed; and when he let down his hand, Amalek prevailed. But Moses’ hands became heavy; so they took a stone and put it under him, and he sat on it. And Aaron and Hur supported his hands, one on one side, and the other on the other side; and his hands were steady until the going down of the sun. So Joshua defeated Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword. Then the Lord said to Moses, “Write this for a memorial in the book and recount it in the hearing of Joshua, that I will utterly blot out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven.” And Moses built an altar and called its name, The-Lord-Is-My-Banner; for he said, “Because the Lord has sworn: the Lord will have war with Amalek from generation to generation” (Exodus 17:8-16).
The People of Israel are rescued by Yahweh in spite of their constant rebellion. He brought them out of Egypt by His mighty hand; they can claim no part in making Pharaoh let them go. Yahweh defeated the Egyptians in the Red Sea when pursued Israel; it could not be claimed that their escape and the Egyptian’s defeat came about by the force of their arms. God provided food for the children of Israel in the wilderness; no one could claim that Israel was self-sufficient. In fact, they ran out of provisions. They complained to Moses and longed for the rather romanticized life they had in Egypt, where they sat around pots full of meat. God provided them water from a most unlikely source when they had no water to drink. They dug no well; they found no stream. They complained. Yahweh, through the working of Moses, gives the children of Israel water to drink, gushing forth from a rock. This was not dead water from a stagnant pool that would make them sick and die, but living water, flowing forth from the rock that Moses was told by God to strike. And that rock, St. Paul tells us, was Christ.[1] Being struck by the rod of the Law, Christ provides living water to refresh and nourish His people in the dead and dry wilderness.
Now Amalek, descendent of Esau, came and fought with Israel at Rephidim. Now they must defeat the enemy themselves. Moses sends Joshua. “Choose us some men and go out, fight with Amalek. Tomorrow I will stand on the top of the hill with the rod of God in my hand,” Moses says. He will pray; the mediator making intercession for his people to Yahweh. The people may be fighting a battle but it is Yahweh who wins it for them. Moses stands on the hill, arms outstretched in prayer. When Moses held up his hand, Israel prevailed; when he let down his hand Amalek prevailed. The Israelites were fighting, but Yahweh was the source of their strength and victory.
So Joshua defeated Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword. Here we see another shadow of Christ: Joshua, who will eventually succeed Moses as the leader of Israel. Moses will give them the Law and show them their sin. Joshua, or Yeshua, which is anglicized as Jesus, will do what Moses cannot do. Joshua will lead Israel across the Jordan into the Promised Land. He will defeat Israel’s enemies with the edge of the sword. Christ, the Joshua who is the fulfillment of this shadow, has defeated Israel’s enemies, once and for all, on the cross; He has purchased and won us from sin, death, and the devil with His holy, precious blood, and by His innocent suffering and death on the cross. He rose from the dead on the third day, having conquered death and the grave, and ascended into heaven. He will come again with glory, to judge the living and the dead. In righteousness He judges and makes war. John describes Him in Revelation:
His eyes were like a flame of fire, and on His head were many crowns. He had a name written that no one knows except Himself. He was clothed in a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called the Word of God. And the armies in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, followed Him on white horses. Now out of His mouth goes a sharp sword, that with it He should strike the nations. And He Himself will rule them with a rod of iron. He Himself treads the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. And He has on His robe and on His thigh a name written: King of Kings and Lord of Lords (Revelation 19:11-16).
We have been rescued by God’s might hand from our slavery to sin. Though we were by our nature children of wrath, God loved us. Even when we were dead in our transgressions, God made us alive together with Christ, by His grace.[2] Even though we continue to rebel against Him by our sinful thoughts, words, and deeds, He grants us repentance and faith through His means of Word and Sacrament. If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. But if we confess our sins, God, who is faithful and just, will forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. We Christians are the Israel of God, wandering in the wilderness, making our way to the Promised Land. We are following the true Joshua, Jesus Christ. We have been enlisted into His army. We have been washed clean from our sin, not by passing through the Red Sea, but in the waters of Holy Baptism[3]. We have been given robes of clean, fine linen. And we must be strong in the Lord and the power of His might, not our own. And though we must fight in the wilderness, we must know that it is by Christ’s work on the cross, not our own working, that our enemies of sin and death have been defeated. We must put on the whole armor of God so that we may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil; that we may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. We gird our waist with truth, which is God’s Word of Law and Gospel; we put on the breastplate of righteousness, which is a righteousness that comes from Christ and is not our own; we shoe our feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; we take the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God;[4] a sword which is sharp enough to pierce even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of thoughts and intents of the heart.[5] And we pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests, being alert and praying always for all the saints, our brothers and sisters in Christ.[6]
