Then Amalek came and fought with Israel at Rephidim. ⁹ So Moses said to Joshua, “Choose for us men, and go out and fight with Amalek. Tomorrow I will stand on the top of the hill with the staff of God in my hand.” ¹⁰ So Joshua did as Moses told him, and fought with Amalek, while Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill. ¹¹ Whenever Moses held up his hand, Israel prevailed, and whenever he lowered his hand, Amalek prevailed. ¹² But Moses’ hands grew weary, so they took a stone and put it under him, and he sat on it, while Aaron and Hur held up his hands, one on one side, and the other on the other side. So his hands were steady until the going down of the sun. ¹³ And Joshua overwhelmed Amalek and his people with the sword.

¹⁴ Then the Lord said to Moses, “Write this as a memorial in a book and recite it in the ears of Joshua, that I will utterly blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven.” ¹⁵ And Moses built an altar and called the name of it, The Lord Is My Banner, ¹⁶ saying, “A hand upon the throne of the Lord! The Lord will have war with Amalek from generation to generation.”

1) Who is/are Amalek and why are they important?
Amalek was the grandson of Esau and his descendants became known as the Amalekites. They were a nomadic tribe known for their brutality and continuous feuding towards the Israelites. A bit of genealogy helps us understand why the two peoples were enemies. Isaac was the child promised to Abraham to be the seed through which Abraham would become the father of many nations. Isaac fathered twin boys, Jacob and Esau, who themselves fought constantly, even in the womb. Traditionally, the firstborn received the lion’s share of the inheritance, but in the account of the twin boys, Jacob, who was born second, received the portion set aside for Esau. Though Esau himself grew up successful and became wealthy, his descendants (the Amalekites and the Edomites) ended up treating the Israelites (coming from Jacob’s descendants) poorly, refused to acknowledge the Lord as holy, and suffered the consequences for their disobedience.

2) Why was there a battle?
Because of the Amalekites treatment of Israel, and because they “did not fear God”, God commanded the Amalekites be completely destroyed. God declared the battle for the protection of His people; He commanded Israel to “blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven.”

3) What is the staff of God?
This is the staff Moses had in the desert as a shepherd before God called him to free His people from slavery. The Lord took this common stick and made it a tool to demonstrate His power unlike anything else. With it, the seas parted, the Israelites were freed, and water came from a rock.

4) Is the “hands being held upward” random? What significance does it have?
Moses was high on a hill above the battle waging below, and everyone who was fighting had only to glance up to be reminded where their true victory lie. It wasn’t in their strength, their ability to wield a sword, or their battle plans, but only in the strength of the Lord God Almighty.

1) Who is/are Amalek and why are they important?
We each have enemies that we face in life. Some of them vary depending on the day or our season of life, but as long as we live on this side of eternity, we will always be waging war against the arch-enemy of our souls, Satan. His tactics differ depending on our mood or circumstance, but his desire is to steal away our joy and shift our focus from delighting in who we are in Christ, to all that we think we deserve and are missing out on. Take some time to identify some assaults the enemy taunts you with. What are some ways you can take a stand against those attacks?

2) Why was there a battle?
God turned His face against the Amalekites because they did not fear Him. Choosing to not fear the Lord with the awesome respect that He deserves is a dangerous position to be in. When we decide to live life by our rules instead of following the Lord, we are committing the same sin of prideful arrogance as the Amalekites. Pray and ask the Spirit to open your eyes to areas you are holding onto in your life and choose to surrender them to Christ!

3) What is the staff of God?
The incredible miracles performed by using the “staff of God” were never about the “staff”, but rather the God who chose to use something common to showcase His glory and power. When you see the common, everyday pieces of your life, challenge yourself to look with eyes and faith and ask what God might do with your “ordinary” and use it as a stage to declare Himself to you and those around you!

4) Is the “hands being held upward” random? What significance does it have?
Even though the victory credit was clearly due to the Lord (see verses 15-16), God still chose to invite His people into the work He was doing to declare Himself supremely mighty over the Amalekites who refused to fear and honor Him. God invited Joshua’s strength and military leadership, the people who fought bravely, Moses’s faith, and the encouragement of community (Aaron and Hur), to bring about victory. The same God invites each of us to work hard for His kingdom. What will He accomplish through your willingness today?!

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Finding the original meaning is a huge deal when we study Scripture and can make all the difference in our understanding as we apply God’s truths to our everyday lives.

In our modern-day relationships, we want people to understand our original intention as we communicate; how much more so between God and humanity?!

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