8 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 throne1 of the Lord! The Lord will have war with Amalek from generation to generation.”
Section Overview
In the previous three narratives the Israelites had to trust that the Lord would provide for material needs (Ex. 15:22–17:7). In this narrative they must trust that he will help them defeat an enemy. The account is told very efficiently. The Amalekites come to attack (17:8), and Moses gives Joshua battle commands while also indicating that the Lord will help (v. 9). The battle is engaged (v. 10a), and the text then slows down, drawing special attention to Moses’ actions with the staff of God (vv. 10b–12). The Lord’s help in winning the battle is thus highlighted. With the battle won (v. 13) the text again slows down to focus on the importance of commemorating the Lord as the Israelite’s help (v. 15) and especially on his ongoing hostility to Amalek (vv. 14, 16).
Section Outline
III. Israel travels through the wilderness to Sinai: the Lord tests his people and provides for their needs (15:22–17:16) . . .
B. Israel defeats Amalek with the Lord’s help (17:8–16)
1. Amalek comes to war against Israel (17:8)
2. Moses gives Joshua battle commands (17:9)
3. The battle takes place and the Lord gives Israel victory (17:10–13)
4. The event’s commemoration (17:14–16)
Response
How Is This Story a Warning?
The closing verses of this text make crystal clear that the Lord intends to bring the Amalekite nation to an end (vv. 14–16). Why such a severe response?
Moses helps answer this question in Deuteronomy: “Remember what Amalek did to you on the way as you came out of Egypt, how he attacked you on the way when you were faint and weary, and cut off your tail, those who were lagging behind you, and he did not fear God” (Deut. 25:17–18; our passage presumably picks up on events the next day, after this cowardly attack). As Christopher Wright observes,
Those lagging behind would have been the elderly and the very young, the sick, pregnant women, etc. To attack such defenseless people is a sign of extreme human callousness, which in turn is evidence of no fear of God. [Note] that noncovenant nations are still assumed to be morally accountable to God for fundamental norms of human behavior. The Amalekites are to be judged, then, not just because they had been anti-Israel, but because they had been anti-human by disregarding basic human obligations instilled by the creator God.318
Wright’s observations are in keeping with other verses that speak of the ways in which “the law is written on [our] hearts” (Rom. 2:15)—that is, God has wired us to know fundamental norms of right and wrong and will hold us accountable for disregarding them (cf. 2:16 and also 1:19–32). The Amalekites experienced such judgment in severe measure, which strongly warns of what to expect if we disregard the moral fabric that God has woven into his world. He has created this to be a world of goodness, justice, mercy, and love—a world that reflects his own glory and is for humanity’s blessing. His commitment to such a world means that those who destroy it can expect his judgment, whether in this life or the next.
But the Amalekites are not simply a warning. Defeating the Amalekites was also meant to be a strong encouragement to the Israelites.
How Is This Story an Encouragement?
At this point in their history the Israelites are on their way to the Promised Land. They know the land is already inhabited (Ex. 3:8; 13:5) and can anticipate that they will have to engage in battles there (cf. 23:22–30). How will those go? How can the Israelites, who have been enslaved with no experience in battle, ever hope to defeat nations far more experienced in warfare?
This passage anticipates those questions and provides a reassuring answer. The army’s leader is Joshua, which is significant since he will later lead the Israelites in their initial battles in the Promised Land. Whatever happens here is what the Israelites can expect to happen there. While Joshua and chosen Israelites go into battle, Moses, Aaron, and Hur climb a hill overlooking the battlefield. As noted above, the text focuses on their activity and especially on how the Israelites are successful in battle whenever Moses lifts his hands (a posture of prayer) and holds the “staff of God” (signifying the Lord’s help and power; cf. comments on 17:9; 17:10–13). The message is clear: Joshua and his men may fight, but they succeed only with the Lord’s help.
The text thus refutes the mistake of those who say that everything is up to God and therefore human activity and agency are unimportant. On the contrary Joshua and his men must take up arms! But the text also refutes the mistake of those who say that everything is up to us. Joshua and his men are successful only when the Lord fights through them.
The lesson for us is twofold: our agency really does matter, and we are to look to the Lord for his help and strength in the tasks of our hands. Paul understands this twofold lesson very well. He describes in a profound way his labors of helping people mature in their faith: “For this I toil, struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works within me” (Col. 1:29). Paul is toiling and struggling but doing so in Jesus’ strength (cf. Phil. 4:13).
We do well to ask ourselves, Am I more likely to think that my agency does not matter, or I am more likely to think that everything is up to me? If I think my agency does not matter, what does it look like to take my agency and God’s call to contribute to his world seriously—to toil on his behalf? If I think everything is up to me, what does it look like to depend more on Jesus—to toil in his strength? We might not have a military battle to fight, but, whatever our calling, God gives us the privilege of representing him in this world and the courage to do so because he makes his strength and help available to us.Exodus 17:8–16
Chapters 18–19 transition the narrative from the Lord’s deliverance (chs. 1–17) to his giving of the law (chs. 20–23). Chapter 18 highlights the Lord’s deliverance (vv. 1–12) before explaining how the coming covenant law will be administered (vv. 13–27). Chapter 19 then describes the Israelites’ accepting the Lord’s invitation to covenant relationship (vv. 1–8) and how he appears in order to give his covenant law to them through his servant Moses (vv. 9–25). The stage is now set for the covenant law to be given (chs. 20–23).Exodus 18–19