Good Morning,
Praise the Lord for this new day. Praise the Lord that Jesus is the Christ in every crisis. He is the Lord of Lords and the King of kings. As we live our lives on earth we soon discover that the life is a battleground. Praise the Lord that we have His word that the battle belongs to the Lord.
One of the readings for yesterday was taken from Exodus 17. During Israel's sojourn from Egypt to the Promised Land - the land flowing with milk and honey - they had their very first battle encounter with the Amalekites. Amalek was the grandson of Esau (Genesis 36:12). He hated Jacob because of the birthright and blessing that had been stolen from his grandfather, and this battle was an effort of hereditary enmity Esau was a man who preferred the physical to the spiritual. We are told in Hebrews 12:16 that he was a profane and an irreligious individual who cared not for God neither the things of God. By this, he lost the blessings that were due him. Instead, this is what he received, "By your sword you shall live, and you shall serve your brother, and it shall come to pass when you become restless, that you shall break his yoke from your neck" (Genesis 27:40) Esau had hated his brother and had sworn in his heart to kill him so as to break the yoke from off his neck. Amalek was, therefore, an old enemy whom Israel had robbed of blessing The Israelites had been delivered from the attack of the Egyptians at the Red Sea. When they entered into the wilderness, they had miraculously been provided with water to quench their thirst and to give to their flocks to drink. Moreover, they were fed with manna in the wilderness. So, when Israelites began to receive their divine blessing in that same land, the Amalekites moved in to resist them; they attacked Israel without notice. They did not understand why the Israelites should prosper in the land. Shouts of joy suddenly turned into screams and fearful cries. Moses was alarmed, as Amalek had already slained a few of the Israelites from behind. Moses immediately appointed Joshua as Commander-in-chief and commanded him to mobilize some men, though unskilled in warfare, to resist the attack. Meanwhile, Moses went up to the mountain top with Aaron and Hur. Here, Moses raised up his hands to heaven and invoked divine intervention because here was Israel without any preparation for war in terms of training and arms against the might of the Amalekites. Empirical studies have taught us that the most basic instinct of man is survival. Immediately, as Israel was attacked, they realized that they had to survive the onslaught. They were determined to survive.
One of the first steps to spiritual victory is determination. But "no weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper" (Isaiah 54:17). Yet, we have more effective and sophisticated weapons because all power from heaven is at our disposal by virtue of our position in Christ Jesus. "We are more than conquerors through Him that loved us" (Romans 8:37). Moses recalled what the Lord did for Israel at the Red Sea when Pharaoh and Egypt pursued them. "Do not be afraid. Stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall see again no more forever. The Lord will fight for you, and you shall hold your peace" (Exodus 14:13,14). When Moses realized that this new confrontation was beyond his natural strength, he turned to the Lord for deliverance. To the top of the mountain he went with the rod in his hands. The rod symbolized the Cross of Christ, "when I am lifted up, I shall draw all men to Myself". "The preaching of the Cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are saved, it is the power of God." See the Cross and live. When Moses help up his hand, the power of God made Israel to triumph in the battlefield; and when the hand came down because of tiredness, the tide turned in favor of the Amalekites. The rod was the anchor and sign of victory.
This was the same rod which Moses had used at the Red Sea encounter. This was not the time for God to forsake His own people. When Moses hand became heavy, a huge stone was put under him to sit on, while Aaron and Hur held up his hands steadily till the evening. In order to teach the lesson of the power of prayer, God made the fortunes of the fight to vary according to the motion of Moses’ hands. Victory was entirely regulated by what went on at the top of the hill. Victory over ill health, financial problems, business failings, broken marriages, etc. will principally depend on how we go down on your knees to seek the intervention of God in the our affairs, for "the effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much" (James 5:16b). The good generalship of Joshua, first mentioned here, was entirely useless aside from the uplifted arms of Moses, which indicated the recognition of God’s part in the conflict. In this miraculous victory, the power of intercession is symbolized. Israel’s defeat of Amalek illustrates the feebleness of a fighting army against a praying hand. When God is on our side, we are "more than conquerors" (Romans 8:37). And "If God be for us, who can be against us?" (Romans 8:31) This was a spiritual warfare and it typifies what you and I go through in daily life. But Israel prevailed over Amalek and Moses erected an altar and named it JEHOVAH-NISSI, meaning "THE LORD IS MY BANNER" because the Lord had sworn to war with Amalek from generation to generation. We should see God as our Banner and trust Him to fight our battles for us. A banner is a flag usually carried on two poles, bearing the slogans or principles of the group concerned. It always goes before a procession and anybody who sees the banner immediately knows who the members of the group are. The Lord is Our Banner who goes before us with the inscription KING OF KINGS and LORD OF LORDS boldly written on His chest (Revelations 19:16). He moves ahead and fights for us. This is what He did for the Israelites when they encountered their first battle with Amalek. From then on, He kept fighting for them from victory to victory. He is the same JEHOVAH-NISSI and will be our Banner too. “For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: (for the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds) casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:4,5).
In His Victory,
Brown
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=34yPZiD8OMs
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