So Moses said to Joshua, "Choose some of our men and go out to fight the Amalekites. Tomorrow I will stand on the hilltop with the staff of God in my hand." So Moses said to JoshuaThis phrase introduces us to the leadership dynamic between Moses and Joshua. Moses, the seasoned leader chosen by God to deliver Israel from Egypt, is now delegating a critical task to Joshua, who will later succeed him. The name "Joshua" is derived from the Hebrew "Yehoshua," meaning "Yahweh is salvation." This foreshadows Joshua's future role in leading Israel into the Promised Land. The act of Moses speaking to Joshua signifies a transfer of responsibility and trust, highlighting the importance of mentorship and preparation for future leadership within the community of faith. Choose some of our men
Moses instructs Joshua to select men for battle, indicating the necessity of discernment and wisdom in leadership. The Hebrew word for "choose" is "bachar," which implies a careful selection process. This reflects the need for capable and courageous individuals to face the challenges ahead. The phrase underscores the communal aspect of Israel's journey, where each member has a role to play in fulfilling God's purposes. It also emphasizes the importance of readiness and the willingness to stand against opposition. and go out to fight the Amalekites
The Amalekites were a nomadic tribe and perennial enemies of Israel. This phrase sets the stage for a physical and spiritual battle. The Amalekites' attack on the Israelites, as they journeyed through the wilderness, represents the ongoing struggle between God's people and those who oppose His plans. Historically, the Amalekites are seen as descendants of Esau, symbolizing the conflict between the flesh and the spirit. The call to "go out to fight" is a reminder of the believer's call to spiritual warfare, standing firm in faith against the forces of darkness. Tomorrow I will stand on the hilltop
Moses' decision to stand on the hilltop signifies a strategic and spiritual position. The hilltop provides a vantage point, symbolizing oversight and intercession. In biblical times, high places were often associated with divine encounters and prayer. Moses' presence on the hilltop represents his role as an intercessor for Israel, lifting them up before God. This act of standing is a powerful image of faith and reliance on God's strength rather than human might. with the staff of God in my hand
The "staff of God" is a symbol of divine authority and power. Previously used by Moses to perform miracles in Egypt and part the Red Sea, the staff represents God's presence and intervention in the affairs of His people. The Hebrew word for "staff" is "matteh," which can also mean "tribe" or "branch," symbolizing leadership and support. By holding the staff, Moses acknowledges that victory comes not by human effort but by the power of God. This phrase encourages believers to rely on God's authority and promises in their battles, trusting that He will deliver them. Persons / Places / Events 1. MosesThe leader of the Israelites, chosen by God to lead His people out of Egypt. In this passage, Moses takes a strategic and spiritual leadership role by planning the battle and interceding with the staff of God. 2. JoshuaA young leader and warrior, chosen by Moses to lead the Israelites into battle against the Amalekites. This is one of the first mentions of Joshua, who later becomes Moses' successor. 3. AmalekitesA nomadic tribe that attacked the Israelites at Rephidim. They are often seen as representing opposition to God's people. 4. RephidimThe location where the Israelites camped and where the battle against the Amalekites took place. It is also the place where God provided water from the rock. 5. The Staff of GodA symbol of God's power and presence, previously used by Moses to perform miracles in Egypt and to part the Red Sea. Teaching Points Leadership and DelegationMoses demonstrates effective leadership by delegating the battle to Joshua while he focuses on intercession. Leaders today can learn the importance of trusting others with responsibilities. Spiritual WarfareThe battle against the Amalekites is not just physical but spiritual. Moses' position on the hill with the staff symbolizes reliance on God's power. Believers are reminded to engage in spiritual warfare through prayer and faith. The Role of FaithThe staff of God represents faith in God's promises and power. Just as Moses relied on the staff, Christians are called to rely on God's Word and promises in their daily battles. Community and SupportThe Israelites' victory depended on the cooperation between Moses, Joshua, and the people. This highlights the importance of community and mutual support in the Christian life. Remembering God's FaithfulnessThe account encourages believers to remember and recount God's past faithfulness as a source of strength and encouragement in current challenges. Bible Study Questions 1. How does Moses' decision to delegate the battle to Joshua demonstrate principles of effective leadership, and how can we apply these principles in our own leadership roles? 2. In what ways does the staff of God serve as a symbol of faith and reliance on God's power, and how can we incorporate similar symbols or practices in our spiritual lives? 3. How does the battle against the Amalekites illustrate the concept of spiritual warfare, and what strategies can we use to engage in spiritual battles today? 4. What role does community play in the account of Exodus 17:9, and how can we foster a supportive community in our own faith journeys? 5. How can remembering God's past faithfulness, as seen in the account of Moses and the Israelites, help us face current and future challenges with confidence? Connections to Other Scriptures Exodus 4:2-4The staff is first introduced as a tool of God's power when Moses is called to lead the Israelites. Deuteronomy 25:17-19Provides further context on the Amalekites' attack and God's command to remember and eventually blot out their memory. Joshua 1:1-9Highlights Joshua's role as Moses' successor and God's encouragement to be strong and courageous. 1 Samuel 15:2-3God's command to Saul to destroy the Amalekites, showing the ongoing conflict between Israel and Amalek. Hebrews 11:23-29Discusses the faith of Moses, emphasizing the importance of faith in God's promises and power. People Aaron, Amalek, Amalekites, Hur, Israelites, Joshua, MosesPlaces Egypt, Horeb, Massah, Meribah, Nile River, Rephidim, SinaiTopics Amalek, Am'alek, Amalekites, Band, Choose, Fight, God's, Hands, Hill, Joshua, Morrow, Myself, Rod, Staff, Stand, Standing, Station, Tomorrow, To-morrow, WarDictionary of Bible Themes Exodus 17:5-13 4512 staff Exodus 17:8-13 5214 attack
5776 achievement Exodus 17:8-15 5597 victory, act of God Exodus 17:8-16 1305 God, activity of Library Nature of the Renderings
From the text we now turn to the renderings, and to the general principles that were followed, both in the Old and in the New Testament. The revision of the English text was in each case subject to the same general rule, viz. "To introduce as few alterations as possible into the Text of the Authorised Version consistently with faithfulness"; but, owing to the great difference between the two languages, the Hebrew and the Greek, the application of the rule was necessarily different, and the results …
C. J. Ellicott—Addresses on the Revised Version of Holy ScriptureJehovah Nissi
'And Moses built an altar, and called the name of it Jehovah Nissi [that is, the Lord is my Banner].' --EXODUS xvii. 15. We are all familiar with that picturesque incident of the conflict between Israel and Amalek, which ended in victory and the erection of this memorial trophy. Moses, as you remember, went up on the mount whilst Joshua and the men of war fought in the plain. But I question whether we usually attach the right meaning to the symbolism of this event. We ordinarily, I suppose, think …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture The War of Truth
Now, beloved, this scene of warfare is not recorded in Scripture as in interesting circumstance to amuse the lover of history, but it is written for our edification; for we remember the text which says--"Whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our profit." There is some profit to be derived from this--and we believe a peculiar profit, too, since God was pleased to make this the first writing commanded by Divine authority as a record for generations to come. We think that the journeys …
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 3: 1857 How Churches Can Help Ministers.
Text.--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's 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. And Joshua discomfited Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword.--Exodus xvii. 11-13. You who read your Bibles will …
Charles Grandison Finney—Lectures on Revivals of Religion Exhortation to Prayer.
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John Newton—Olney Hymns The Waters of Meribah
'Then came the children of Israel, even the whole congregation, into the desert of Zin in the first month: and the people abode in Kadesh; and Miriam died there, and was buried there. 2. And there was no water for the congregation: and they gathered themselves together against Moses and against Aaron. 3. And the people chode with Moses, and spake, saying, Would God that we had died when our brethren died before the Lord! 4. And why have ye brought up the congregation of the Lord into this wilderness, …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture The Intercessor
'These words spake Jesus, and lifted up His eyes to heaven, and said, Father, the hour is come; glorify Thy Son, that Thy Son also may glorify Thee: As Thou hast given Him power over all flesh, that He should give eternal life to as many as Thou hast given Him. And this is life eternal, that they might know Thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom Thou hast sent. I have glorified Thee on the earth: I have finished the work which Thou gavest Me to do. And now, O Father, glorify Thou Me with …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture: St. John Chaps. XV to XXI Appendix ii. Philo of Alexandria and Rabbinic Theology.
(Ad. vol. i. p. 42, note 4.) In comparing the allegorical Canons of Philo with those of Jewish traditionalism, we think first of all of the seven exegetical canons which are ascribed to Hillel. These bear chiefly the character of logical deductions, and as such were largely applied in the Halakhah. These seven canons were next expanded by R. Ishmael (in the first century) into thirteen, by the analysis of one of them (the 5th) into six, and the addition of this sound exegetical rule, that where two …
Alfred Edersheim—The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah The Reaction against Egypt
THE XIth DYNASTY: HARMHABI--THE HITTITE EMPIRE IN SYRIA AND IN ASIA MINOR--SETI I. AND RAMSES II.--THE PEOPLE OF THE SEA: MINEPHTAH AND THE ISRAELITE EXODUS. The birth and antecedents of Harmhabi, his youth, his enthronement--The final triumph of Amon and his priests--Harmhabi infuses order into the government: his wars against the Ethiopians and Asiatics--The Khati, their civilization, religion; their political and military constitution; the extension of their empire towards the north--The countries …
G. Maspero—History Of Egypt, Chaldaea, Syria, Babylonia, and Assyria, V 5 Jehovah. The "I Am. "
WHEN Moses in the desert beheld the burning bush God answered his question by the revelation of His name as the "I Am." "And God said unto Moses, I am, that I am: and He said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you" (Exod. iii:14). He who spake thus out of the bush to Moses was the same who in the fullness of time appeared upon the earth in the form of man. Our Lord Jesus Christ is no less person, than the I AM. If we turn to the fourth Gospel in which the Holy …
Arno Gaebelein—The Lord of Glory "Because the Carnal Mind is Enmity against God, for it is not Subject to the Law of God, Neither Indeed Can Be. "
Rom. viii. 7.--"Because the carnal mind is enmity against God, for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be." Unbelief is that which condemns the world. It involves in more condemnation than many other sins, not only because more universal, but especially because it shuts up men in their misery, and secludes them from the remedy that is brought to light in the gospel. By unbelief I mean, not only that careless neglect of Jesus Christ offered for salvation, but that which is the …
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning Epistle xxviii. To Augustine, Bishop of the Angli .
To Augustine, Bishop of the Angli [136] . Gregory to Augustine, &c. Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men of good will (Luke ii. 14); because a grain of wheat, falling into the earth, has died, that it might not reign in heaven alone; even He by whose death we live, by whose weakness we are made strong, by whose suffering we are rescued from suffering, through whose love we seek in Britain for brethren whom we knew not, by whose gift we find those whom without knowing them we sought. …
Saint Gregory the Great—the Epistles of Saint Gregory the Great Ninth Sunday after Trinity Carnal Security and Its vices.
Text: 1 Corinthians 10, 6-13. 6 Now these things were our examples, to the intent we should not lust after evil things, as they also lusted. 7 Neither be ye idolaters, as were some of them; as it is written, The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play. 8 Neither let us commit fornication, as some of them committed, and fell in one day three and twenty thousand. 9 Neither let us make trial of the Lord, as some of them made trial, and perished by the serpents. 10 Neither murmur ye, as …
Martin Luther—Epistle Sermons, Vol. III Exodus
The book of Exodus--so named in the Greek version from the march of Israel out of Egypt--opens upon a scene of oppression very different from the prosperity and triumph in which Genesis had closed. Israel is being cruelly crushed by the new dynasty which has arisen in Egypt (i.) and the story of the book is the story of her redemption. Ultimately it is Israel's God that is her redeemer, but He operates largely by human means; and the first step is the preparation of a deliverer, Moses, whose parentage, …
John Edgar McFadyen—Introduction to the Old Testament Links Exodus 17:9 NIVExodus 17:9 NLTExodus 17:9 ESVExodus 17:9 NASBExodus 17:9 KJV
Exodus 17:9 Commentaries
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