The Correct Biblical Explanation Of Exodus 17
Exodus 17:8-13
Now Amalek came and fought with Israel in Rephidim.
9 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.”
10 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.
11 And so it was, when Moses held up his hand, that Israel prevailed; and when he let down his hand, Amalek prevailed.
12 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.
13 So Joshua defeated Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword.
This is an interesting story in the Bible showcasing the flunctuations of the battle— between the children of Israel and Amalekites—coinciding with the motion of the hand of moses.
No doubt, the children of Israel who fought with the Amalekites with the use of their swords in that Exodus 17 would have thought their victory during the battle was as a result of the courageous leadership of Joshua at the warfront or the combined strength and tenacity of all of them in battle.
Whereas, the victory of the battle was solely based on the motion of the hand of Moses who was on top of the hill during the battle.
As Moses raised his hand, the children of Israel won the battle. However, as he dropped his hand, their enemy, the Amalekites prevailed.
To we readers of the Bible, it may sound very surprising to see the hand of Moses controlling the thousands of swords in the hands of Israelites soldiers at the warfront. But to Moses, this was no surprise.
In fact, he informed Joshua before the war started what he was going to do with the rod of God in his hand while on the top of the hill.
Exodus 17:9
9 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.”
To some sunday school and bible study teachers, this was an act of intercession.
They, I mean some of these sunday school and bible study teachers, state and refer to this Exodus 17 story as Moses interceding for the children of Israel in prayer in an attempt to answer the question of why the hand of Moses controlled the victory of the children of Israel in battle against the Amalekites.
Without begging to be differed, it is an addition and personal opinion to state that Moses prayed on the hill for the victory of the children of Israel.
Of course, we all know what prayer can do. More importantly, we are also aware of the danger inherent in adding to the word of God.
In case this sounds confusing, just refer back to ALL of the instances Moses used the rod of God in his hand. You will notice on no account did he pray while he used the rod simultaneously.
Not to mix things up, this is not to dispute the fact that Moses used prayer to resolve some problematic issues in their journey to the promise land; this is only a wake-up call to the actual account of what really happened on the day the children of Israel overcame their Amalekites enemy at Rephidim.
Back to the use of the rod, let's see all the instances where Moses used the rod. Perhaps, we might find where he prayed while he simultaneously used the rod.
1. The Opening Of the Red Sea With The Hand Of Moses
.jpg "The Opening Of the Red Sea With The Hand Of Moses")
Exodus 14:7-18
7 Also, he took six hundred choice chariots, and all the chariots of Egypt with captains over every one of them.
8 And the Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and he pursued the children of Israel; and the children of Israel went out with boldness.
9 So the Egyptians pursued them, all the horses and chariots of Pharaoh, his horsemen and his army, and overtook them camping by the sea beside Pi Hahiroth, before Baal Zephon.
10 And when Pharaoh drew near, the children of Israel lifted their eyes, and behold, the Egyptians marched after them. So they were very afraid, and the children of Israel cried out to the Lord.
11 Then they said to Moses, “Because there were no graves in Egypt, have you taken us away to die in the wilderness? Why have you so dealt with us, to bring us up out of Egypt?
12 Is this not the word that we told you in Egypt, saying, ‘Let us alone that we may serve the Egyptians’? For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than that we should die in the wilderness.”
13 And Moses said to the people, “Do not be afraid. Stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord, which He will accomplish for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall see again no more forever.
14 The Lord will fight for you, and you shall hold your peace.”
15 And the Lord said to Moses, “Why do you cry to Me? Tell the children of Israel to go forward.
16 But lift up your rod, and stretch out your hand over the sea and divide it. And the children of Israel shall go on dry ground through the midst of the sea.
17 And I indeed will harden the hearts of the Egyptians, and they shall follow them. So I will gain honor over Pharaoh and over all his army, his chariots, and his horsemen.
18 Then the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord, when I have gained honor for Myself over Pharaoh, his chariots, and his horsemen.”
...
21 Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea; and the Lord caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind all that night, and made the sea into dry land, and the waters were divided.
22 So the children of Israel went into the midst of the sea on the dry ground, and the waters were a wall to them on their right hand and on their left.
23 And the Egyptians pursued and went after them into the midst of the sea, all Pharaoh’s horses, his chariots, and his horsemen.
24 Now it came to pass, in the morning watch, that the Lord looked down upon the army of the Egyptians through the pillar of fire and cloud, and He troubled the army of the Egyptians.
25 And He took off their chariot wheels, so that they drove them with difficulty; and the Egyptians said, “Let us flee from the face of Israel, for the Lord fights for them against the Egyptians.”
26 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand over the sea, that the waters may come back upon the Egyptians, on their chariots, and on their horsemen.”
27 And Moses stretched out his hand over the sea; and when the morning appeared, the sea returned to its full depth, while the Egyptians were fleeing into it. So the Lord overthrew the Egyptians in the midst of the sea.
28 Then the waters returned and covered the chariots, the horsemen, and all the army of Pharaoh that came into the sea after them. Not so much as one of them remained.
Now...
Pay close attention to the details given above by Moses himself in the story of opening of the red sea with his hand...
Moses said he cried to God in verse 15...that of course is PRAYER.
Isn't it?
Yes, it was undoubtedly prayer.
Now, move to verse 16.
16 But lift up your rod, and stretch out your hand over the sea and divide it. And the children of Israel shall go on dry ground through the midst of the sea.
There, we see that God told Moses to use the rod in his hand to divide the sea. Don't forget that God made that statement after Moses prayed.
So that you will understand where we are heading to... Take a look at the starting response of God's statement after Moses prayed to him...
15 And the Lord said to Moses, “Why do you cry to Me? ...
Can you see that?
When Moses prayed to God when they faced the red sea without knowing what to do, God QUESTIONED (not answered) Moses prayer.
Thereafter, he told him what to do...which was to stretch the rod in his hand towards the sea for it to divide.
Mind you, God was not trying to say that prayer was not important, neither was he trying to say that prayer was not effective in solving life problems, he was simply trying to pass another message across to Moses concerning his rod.
Moving on, you will see that immediately Moses raised the rod in verse 21, God himself opened up the red sea.
21 Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea; and the Lord caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind all that night, and made the sea into dry land, and the waters were divided.
So, why did God wait for the rod to be raised before opening the red sea since he was the one who opened it up by himself and why didn't he open up the sea when Moses prayed?
Hope the two rhetorical questions above have shed more understanding and insight on the issue of prayer in that story?
To reiterate then, it was not that prayer was not effective in solving life problems, God was just trying to pass another message across to Moses concerning the use of that rod.
What then is the message God was trying to pass across to Moses with the use of the rod?
Good question...
Stay with me and read on, and you will understand this better.
2. The Bringing Out Of Water Out Of The Rock With The Hand Of Moses
Exodus 17:1-6
Then all the congregation of the children of Israel set out on their journey from the Wilderness of Sin, according to the commandment of the Lord, and camped in Rephidim; but there was no water for the people to drink.
2 Therefore the people contended with Moses, and said, “Give us water, that we may drink.”
So Moses said to them, “Why do you contend with me? Why do you tempt the Lord?”
3 And the people thirsted there for water, and the people complained against Moses, and said, “Why is it you have brought us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our livestock with thirst?”
4 So Moses cried out to the Lord, saying, “What shall I do with this people? They are almost ready to stone[a] me!”
5 And the Lord said to Moses, “Go on before the people, and take with you some of the elders of Israel. Also take in your hand your rod with which you struck the river, and go.
6 Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock in Horeb; and you shall strike the rock, and water will come out of it, that the people may drink.”
And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel
Okay...
Let me urge you to pay attention here again.
When there was no water at Rephidim, the people almost stoned Moses, and that made him cry to God. That of course too was prayer.
Mind you, after Moses prayed, God told him to go and use his rod to strike the rock for water to come out of the rock.
Hope you can see that just like the red sea story, the water did not come out of anywhere even after the prayer of Moses?
It was still the use of the rod that brought water out.
The striking point here is that God stood there right before him there on the rock as Moses hit the rock. Meaning, God made water come out of the rock he stood on. But that did not happen until Moses rod hit the rock.
Notably, at this point in time, God expected Moses to have understood the lesson at the red sea concerning the use of the rod, but unfortunately he was yet to get the message God was passing across to him. So, God repeated the act of making things happen by the use of the same rod.
Hope you can see that God didn't open up the water after Moses prayed, as he still referred him back to the use of the rod?
Without mincing more words, let me show this last one where Moses showed that he now understood the message of God concerning the use of the rod.
3. The Winning Of The Amalekites Battle With The Use Of The Hand Of Moses
Exodus 17:8-13
Now Amalek came and fought with Israel in Rephidim.
9 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.”
10 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.
11 And so it was, when Moses held up his hand, that Israel prevailed; and when he let down his hand, Amalek prevailed.
12 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.
13 So Joshua defeated Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword.
You would have been familiar, already, with the story of the battle of children with their Amalekites enemy since I started this expository christian article with the story.
Without much repetition, going through the story, you will see the use of the rod without Moses praying.
At this point, Moses had fully understood the message God was trying to pass across to him concerning the use of rod.
The moment the fiercesome Amalekites doublecrossed the children of Israel, Moses instructed Joshua to gather capable men our of the children of Israel to fight while he prepared himself to go and stand on the hill TO RAISE HIS ROD.
Can you see that?
Moses never bothered to pray to God. He went straight...I mean... ahead to take to the message God had been trying to pass across to him concerning the use of the rod.
And at last, the use of the rod brought about their victory.
Furthermore, looking closely at what played out during the battle, the moment Moses was tired raising his hand with the rod in it, he didn't pray for God to help. Immediately, Aaron and Hur who had also gotten the message of the use of rod took stone and made Moses sit on it while they held his hand up so that the rod will remain up in the raised hand of Moses.
The moment the rod goes up, God did the fighting, the moment the rod goes down, the tired children of Israel did the fighting.
So, without gainsaying, it was God all along, but why didn't God do all of those miraculous acts through the prayer of Moses?
Why did he prefer to honor the use of the rod of Moses instead of his prayer?
Here is the answer below...
Exodus 4:1-9
Then Moses answered and said, “But suppose they will not believe me or listen to my voice; suppose they say, ‘The Lord has not appeared to you.’ ”
2 So the Lord said to him, “What is that in your hand?”
He said, “A rod.”
3 And He said, “Cast it on the ground.” So he cast it on the ground, and it became a serpent; and Moses fled from it.
4 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Reach out your hand and take it by the tail” (and he reached out his hand and caught it, and it became a rod in his hand),
5 “that they may believe that the Lord God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has appeared to you.”
6 Furthermore the Lord said to him, “Now put your hand in your bosom.” And he put his hand in his bosom, and when he took it out, behold, his hand was leprous, like snow.
7 And He said, “Put your hand in your bosom again.” So he put his hand in his bosom again, and drew it out of his bosom, and behold, it was restored like his other flesh.
8 “Then it will be, if they do not believe you, nor heed the message of the first sign, that they may believe the message of the latter sign.
9 And it shall be, if they do not believe even these two signs, or listen to your voice, that you shall take water from the river and pour it on the dry land. The water which you take from the river will become blood on the dry land.”
What you read above is the answer to that question of "Why did he prefer to honor the use of the rod of Moses instead of the prayer of Moses?"
When God called Moses, he was reluctant and had series of complaint.
At some point, he told God the children of Israel might not believe God appeared to him. Because of this, God gave Moses a sign, which was the use of the rod in his hand.
As you know, the rod changed into a powerful snake upon hitting the ground and turning back to rod upon taking up its tail.
With the sign of the use of that rod, God said the children of Israel would believe Moses that truly the God of their fathers appeared to him.
That sign of the use of rod was all that was needed to make them believe Moses, but paradventure the use of the rod was not enough, God added two more signs.
Mind you, Moses thought the rod turning to snake was all there was to the use of the rod as a sign for the children of Israel to believe him. But it was way more than that.
God was just trying to make him understand that whenever the children of Israel doubt that he sent him or appeared to him concerning their moving out of Egypt, all he needed to prove himself to them was by the use of the rod.
Then, if the use of the rod was not enough, then he could add the two other signs AND NOTHING ELSE.
This was why God kept referring Moses back to the rod when the children of Israel doubted him at Rephidim for thirst and at the read sea.
In conclusion, it was not as if God cannot open up the red sea or bring out water out of the rock at the hearing of the prayer of Moses by his own power, but if he had done so, he would gone against his word of making the children of Israel believe Moses with the use of the signs he stated before he sent him.
And acting against his own word is tantamount to lying. Assuredly, God cannot lie. Therefore, all that played out in the 3 powerful Bible stories above is God acting in accordance to his word promised to Moses.
Hebrews 6:18
that by two immutable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we might have strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold of the hope set before us.
Psalm 138:2
I will worship toward Your holy temple, And praise Your name For Your lovingkindness and Your truth; FOR YOU HAVE MAGNIFIED YOUR WORD ABOVE ALL YOUR NAME.
Hallelujah!!!
GET YOUR OWN COMPLETE BIBLE STUDY PACKAGE...
...that is guaranteed to make you 10 times better in BIBLE KNOWLEDGE more than 80% of other Christians you've ever known
NEW YEAR PRICE OFFER=#900
original price (#4,800) resumes on the 1st of February, 2025.
🔻🔻🔻🔻🔻🔻🔻🔻
