17:1.
“And all the congregation of the children of Israel journeyed from the
wilderness of Sin, after their journeys, according to the commandment of the
Lord, and pitched in Rephidim: and there was no water for the people to
drink.”
For the spiritual
significance of Sin see comments on
16:1.
According to Numbers
33:12-14 they camped at Dophkah and Alush before coming to Rephidim.
Rephidim means
supports: shrinking of hands, the spiritual lesson being that one of the
first lessons the sinner must learn is that man can do nothing to save
himself: his salvation must come from God. Literal water is a biblical type
of the written Word, and there being no water at Rephidim is the symbolic
declaration of the truth that man’s faith in his own works cuts him off from
the salvation which God bestows in response to faith in Christ as Savior and
Lord, as it is written, “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that
not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should
boast,” Ephesians 2:8-9. There is no salvation apart from belief of the
written Word which presents Him Who is the Living Word.
17:2.
“Wherefore the people did chide with Moses, and said, Give us water that we
may drink. And Moses said unto them, Why chide ye with me? wherefore do ye
tempt the Lord?”
“chide”
is also translated grumbled: growled and complained: found fault with:
were angry with: were reviling: strove with: disputed with; and
“tempt” is also rendered try His patience: put Yahweh to the proof:
try: challenge. We are guilty of all these offences when we complain
against God’s ordering of our lives. Sickness, death of a loved one,
unemployment, persecution for righteousness’ sake, etc., and every other
seeming tragedy or misfortune, are all the instruments God uses to
strengthen our faith so that our eternal reward may be the greater.
17:3. “And the
people thirsted there for water; and the people murmured against Moses, and
said, Wherefore is this that thou hast brought us up out of Egypt, to kill
us and our children and our cattle with thirst?”
How different was this
from the singing with which they had celebrated their deliverance from
Egyptian bondage as recorded in chapter 15! How quickly they had forgotten
God’s destruction of the Egyptians in the overwhelming returning waters of
the Red Sea! And yet must we not confess that countless times since our
conversion we have also complained against His ordering of our lives,
forgetting His assurance that, “.... all things (even the seeming
misfortunes and tragedies) work together for good to those who love God....”
Romans 8:28.
The enormity of their
offence was that they were thus making God a liar, for He had promised that
His purpose in bringing them out of Egypt was to give them the land of
Canaan, a land flowing with milk and honey, as an inheritance. When we are
tempted to complain against His ordering of our lives we should remember
that He is bringing us to an eternal inheritance in heaven.
17:4. “And
Moses cried unto the Lord, saying, What shall I do unto this people? they be
almost ready to stone me.”
The extent of the people’s
anger may be gauged by the fact that they were ready to kill Moses, but his
wisdom is disclosed in that he took the problem to the Lord; and we would do
well to follow his example relative to all our own perplexities.
17:5. “And the
Lord said unto Moses, Go on before the people, and take with thee of the
elders of Israel; and thy rod, wherewith thou smotest the river (the Nile),
take in thine hand, and go.”
It seems that God’s
purpose in having Moses take with him the elders of Israel was that they
might be witnesses of the miracle He was about to perform, just as they and
all the people had been when He had turned the waters of the Nile to blood.
His rod, the symbol of his authority, is a type of the Scriptures which are
our authority for our mode of living, our worship, and for the gospel we
preach.
17:6. “Behold,
I will stand before thee there upon the rock in Horeb; and thou shalt smite
the rock, and there shall come water out of it, that the people may drink.
And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel.”
Horeb, meaning a waster,
is a symbol of Calvary, for clearly the smitten rock is a type of Christ on
the cross, “stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted,” Isaiah 53:4, when He
took our sins upon Him, and died to expiate them, see also 1 Corinthians
10:4, “... for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and
that Rock was Christ.” The water from that smitten rock at Horeb represents
the water of life made available to perishing men and women who trust in the
Lord Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord, see John 4:10-14, “Jesus answered and
said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to
thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldst have asked of him, and he would have
given thee living water .... Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst
again: but whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never
thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water
springing up into everlasting life.”
The performance of the
miracle “in the sight of the elders of Israel,” was also fulfilled at
Calvary, for the elders of Israel were among those who had not only
condemned the Lord to death, but who stood around the cross taunting Him,
and mocking His dying agony.
17:7. “And he
called the name of the place Massah, and Meribah, because of the chiding of
the children of Israel, and because they tempted the Lord, saying, Is the
Lord among us, or not?”
Massah means tempted:
she fainted; and Meribah, strife. The type, and the propriety of
the names are readily apparent, for at Calvary Israel tempted the Lord; but
spiritually she herself fainted as it were, for her unbelief cut her off
from the blessing which is available only to faith; and relative to the
meaning of Meribah strife, at Calvary Israel’s unbelief set her at
strife with God.
Their question, “Is the
Lord among us, or not?” declared not only the unbelief of that early
generation: it foreshadowed also the unbelief of the later generation which
also refused to believe, in spite of the miracles that confirmed the Lord’s
claim that He was God “manifest in flesh,” 1 Timothy 3:16.
17:8. “Then
came Amalek, and fought with Israel in Rephidim.”
See verse 1 for comments
on Rephidim. Amalek, means people of lapping
(or licking up), and while the meaning of the name yields no clear
spiritual lesson, the history of Amalek and his descendants leaves no doubt
as to what he symbolizes. He represents the will of the flesh, striving
continuously against the spirit, and producing that unceasing warfare that
will not end until our earthly course is finished. He gave his name to his
descendants, the Amalakites, the first people to attack Israel in the
wilderness, causing God to declare "I will utterly put out the remembrance
of Amalek from under heaven.... the Lord will have war with Amalek from
generation to generation," Exodus 17:14‑16.
In Genesis they are called
the sons of Esau meaning shaggy: his doings, though they were, in
fact, his grandsons. Shaggy in the present context means hairy,
and hairiness is always associated with the strength of the flesh: with what
is natural rather than spiritual. Note that Jacob, in contrast with his
hairy brother Esau, “was a smooth man,” Genesis 27:11. However diversified
the line may become; however much the flesh may seek to obscure its origin,
and disguise its true character, God reminds us that it never ceases to be
like Esau in character. The flesh is always the flesh no matter what
disguise it may assume, and it is always the inveterate enemy of the Spirit,
as it is written, “For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit
against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye
cannot do the things that ye would,” Galatians 5:17, lusteth here
meaning to plan or plot against. The flesh never ceases to plan and
plot against the Spirit.
17:9. “And
Moses said unto Joshua, Choose us out men, and go out, fight with Amalek:
tomorrow I will stand on the top of the hill with the rod of God in mine
hand.”
This is the first mention
of Joshua, meaning Jehovah is salvation.
Moses means drawing out
(because he had been drawn out of the Nile); and Joshua is a clear type of
the Lord Jesus Christ as the Captain of our salvation. Moses’ command to
Joshua to fight with Amalek reminds us of our unceasing warfare with the
flesh, but assurance of victory in that conflict is given by Paul who has
written, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me,”
Philippians 4:13. The command to Joshua to “choose us out men,” reminds us
that each believer has been chosen by the Lord to be His soldier in the
conflict with the powers of darkness, His command to us being recorded in 1
Corinthians 16:13, “Watch ye, stand fast in the faith, quit you like men, be
strong.”
In the present context
Moses on the top of the hill, with the rod of God in his hand, is a type of
the Lord Jesus Christ as our omnipotent Representative in heaven; and as
noted already “the rod of God” is a type of the written Word.
17:10. “So
Joshua did as Moses had said to him, and fought with Amalek: and Moses,
Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill.”
Aaron means
light-bringer; and Hur white, so that the three - the biblical
number of resurrection - on the hill represent Christ drawn out of death in
resurrection as was Moses typically when drawn out of the river; while Aaron
portrays Him as the light of the world; and Hur, as the sinless One. It is
that same Christ “on top of the hill,” i.e., in heaven, Who guarantees us
ultimate victory in our conflict with the world, the flesh, and the Devil.
17:11. “And it
came to pass, when Moses held up his hand, that Israel prevailed: and when
he let down his hand, Amalek prevailed.”
No such variation mars the
advocacy of Christ. As our Great High Priest in heaven His hands are never
lowered. It is our own inconstancy that brings our defeats.
17:12. “But
Moses 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.”
Moses, great though he
was, was still only a man, subject to all the frailty that marks every one
of Adam’s sons; but our Advocate is the Lord of all creation, by whose word
the worlds were created, and are upheld. The victory wrought by means of
Moses’ uplifted hands was but the foreshadowing of the infinitely greater
victory won by the Lord Jesus Christ as He became our Substitute, and hung
with outstretched arms on the cross to expiate our sins and deliver us from
the power of death.
The stone upon which Moses
sat is a symbol of the Lord Jesus Christ as the great Rock upon which we
rest, and upon which He is building His Church, see e.g., Matthew 16:18,
“And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will
build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” The
word used here for Peter is Petros, meaning a piece of rock,
or a small stone; but the word for “this rock” is Petra,
meaning a great rock, and the reference is clearly to Christ Himself. It is
He, not Peter, as claimed by Roman Catholicism, Who is the Foundation of the
Church. 1 Corinthians 3:11 states clearly that Christ is the foundation of
the Church, “For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is
Jesus Christ.”
See also 1 Peter 2:6.
“Wherefore also it is contained in the scripture, Behold, I lay in Sion a
chief cornerstone, elect, precious: and he that believeth on him shall not
be confounded,” the quotation here being from Isaiah 28:16, “Therefore thus
saith the Lord God, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried
stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation ....” It is ridiculous to
believe that the Lord would build His Church on the foundation of any mere
man. It is He Himself Who shed His precious blood which cleanses believers
and makes them the living stones of which He builds His Church. By no
stretch of the imagination can this chief corner stone be Peter, for we are
not commanded to believe on him, or any other man, but on Christ.
In this present context
Aaron may also represent the Lord Jesus Christ as our Great High Priest; and
Hur, the Holy Spirit, their ministry to Moses portraying the ministry of the
Lord and of the Holy Spirit to believers today.
His hands being “steady
until the going down of the sun” is the symbolic assurance that the Lord has
promised to bring every believer safely home to heaven, and He will not fail
in that great work, as it is written, “My sheep hear my voice, and I know
them, and they follow me: and I give unto them eternal life; and they shall
never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father
who gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out
of my Father’s hand. I and my Father are one,” John 10:27-30.
17:13. “And
Joshua discomfited Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword.”
“... discomfited” is also
rendered laid low: defeated: overthrew: mowed down: routed. This
speaks of the Lord’s victory over Satan at Calvary, and is the assurance to
us that the evil prince of darkness has no more power over us than what God
permits. Satan’s testing of Job is a demonstration of the truth that that
evil spirit cannnot go beyond the limits imposed by God, see Job 1:12, “And
the Lord said unto Satan, Behold, all that he hath is in thy power; only
upon himself put not forth thine hand.”
Since the sword is a
biblical symbol of the written Word, the lesson being taught in Joshua’s
victory having been accomplished by means of the sword, is that the written
Word is the spiritual sword by which we may defeat the evil power of the
flesh, and of all the other agents Satan might employ against us.
17:14. “And
the Lord said unto Moses, Write this for a memorial in a book, and rehearse
it in the ears of Joshua: for I will utterly put out the remembrance of
Amalek from under heaven.”
As has been noted already,
Joshua’s defeat of Amalek is a type of the Lord’s triumph over the world,
the flesh, and the Devil, at Calvary, the Bible being the book in which His
great victory has been recorded, not only for the instruction and
encouragement of His people here on earth, but as an eternal monument to the
greatest battle ever fought, and the most stupendous victory every won.
God’s promise to
obliterate the remembrance of Amalek is also the assurance that He will
remember no more all the evil produced in our lives by the activity of the
flesh, He Himself having declared, “Their sins and iniquities will I
remember no more,” Hebrwes 10:17.
17:15. “And
Moses built an altar, and called the name of it Jehovah-nissi:”
Jehovah-nissi means the
Lord is my standard: the Lord is my banner: the Lord is my refuge.
17:16. “For he
said, Because the Lord hath sworn that the Lord will have war with Amalek
from generation to generation.”
Inasmuch as Amalek
typifies the flesh as an instrument of Satan, this verse declares the Lord’s
inveterate hatred of all that pertains to the flesh, of which Scripture has
nothing good to say, e.g., the declaration of Paul in Romans 7:18, “For I
know that in me (that is, in my flesh) dwelleth no good thing,” and again,
“For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh:
and these are contrary the one to the other ....” Galatians 5:17, and again,
“Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom
of God....” 1 Corinthians 15:50.
It is the wickedness of
the flesh that requires a man to be born again spiritually if he would enter
heaven, the Lord Himself declaring, “Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except
a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God,” John 3:3, and again
in verse 7, “Ye must be born again.”
[Exodus 18]