God Prepares Israel for Battle

Exodus 15-17

Jim Davis

It has been said that Howard Hughes used to watch an old movie called Ice Station Zebra. It starred Ernest Borgnine and was a story about an outpost at the North Pole. It was rumored that Hughes watched the movie hundreds, possibly thousands, of times. It's not the fact that Mr. Hughes supposedly watched films almost every night. Millions of people do that. It's the fact that he watched the same film night after night. Now that's unusual. Watching Ice Station Zebra a thousand times seems crazy since the movie never changes. You may be as big an Ernest Borgnine fan as the next guy, but nobody's good enough to watch every night. After all, reruns never change.

Thankfully, our lives are not like movies. God is willing to change our stories any time we get ready. We don't have to watch the same scenes a thousand times; instead, we can transform our stories while we live them.

When I look back to Israel's exodus from Egypt I realize how God can transform our lives.

Any Real Change Comes through Faith in God

Israel experienced 10 plagues in Egypt before she experienced freedom. The Hebrews have just walked through the Red Sea on dry ground. We find them singing the song of victory in the following verses.

Exodus 15:1-5
Then Moses and the Israelites sang this song to the LORD: "I will sing to the LORD, for he is highly exalted. The horse and its rider he has hurled into the sea. The LORD is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation. He is my God, and I will praise him, my father's God, and I will exalt him. The LORD is a warrior; the LORD is his name. Pharaoh's chariots and his army he has hurled into the sea. The best of Pharaoh's officers are drowned in the Red Sea. The deep waters have covered them; they sank to the depths like a stone. (NIV)

The easiest song to sing is the song of victory. Songs of victory are exhilarating. They come so natural from the excitement of the adrenalin flow. We find the Israelites singing a song of victory after crossing through the Red Sea on dry land. They are celebrating their victory over the Egyptians.

The surprising thing about all that has transpired is that it seems as though nothing has changed. Sure, their circumstances are certainly different, but they haven't changed much. Sure their surroundings have changed, but their hearts remain as full of doubt as ever.

It doesn’t matter how many victories you have had in the past for they pale into insignificance if you lose the next battle. The most difficult thing about the victory songs is that life always returns to normal. The thrill and excitement of victory cannot be maintained in everyday living.

Mountain top experiences are so short lived because there is always another mountain to climb. Before you climb that next mountain there is always another valley into which you must descend. When we come to the valleys we have a tendency to focus on our troubles without a thought of recounting our past victories. It seems as though the Hebrew’s victories were always short lived. Immediately after Israel's victory song they found themselves in the valley of disappointment. It was their disappointment that revealed their lack of any real change.

Where Real Change Begins

After the song of victory God deliberately leads the Israelites through a three-day journey in the desert without water to test them. Their lack of change is revealed in their complaint.

Exodus 15:21-25
The horse and its rider he has hurled into the sea." Then Moses led Israel from the Red Sea and they went into the Desert of Shur. For three days they traveled in the desert without finding water. When they came to Marah, they could not drink its water because it was bitter. (That is why the place is called Marah.) So the people grumbled against Moses, saying, "What are we to drink?" Then Moses cried out to the LORD, and the LORD showed him a piece of wood. He threw it into the water, and the water became sweet. (NIV)

The key to understanding that Israel hasn't changed is found in these words: "When they came to Marah, they could not drink its water because it was bitter. (That is why the place is called Marah.) So the people grumbled against Moses, saying, 'What are we to drink?'" You would think as many victory experiences as they have had with God that their hearts would be ripe for change. They were just like us; they expected the continued victories without any hassles. The victories we experience don’t promise an easy battle or no battles in the future.

The valley of disappointment and hassles is fertile ground for change. This is where we are the most susceptible to change. If change is going to take place it will begin in the valleys. The valleys are a place to discover a new perspective and gain wisdom. Of course that is not where we want to live, but it is the most fertile place to live.

The lack of water and the bitter water of Marah is no happenstance occurrence. The Israelites had tasted the bitterness of Egyptian slavery and they had tasted the sweetness of victory. God brings them to the bitter water of Marah to teach them a lesson about living their daily lives. God reiterates his power to heal their bitter experiences. God demonstrates his power to make the water sweet and then he makes a covenant with them. He has demonstrated to them his ability to heal the waters and now he is asking them to believe that he can protect and heal their lives.

Exodus 15:25-27
Then Moses cried out to the LORD, and the LORD showed him a piece of wood. He threw it into the water, and the water became sweet. There the LORD made a decree and a law for them, and there he tested them. He said, "If you listen carefully to the voice of the LORD your God and do what is right in his eyes, if you pay attention to his commands and keep all his decrees, I will not bring on you any of the diseases I brought on the Egyptians, for I am the LORD, who heals you." Then they came to Elim, where there were twelve springs and seventy palm trees, and they camped there near the water. (NIV)

While visiting with my grandson Dakota I played tic-tac-toe with him. He asked me to, and of course you always want to let your 5 year-old grandchildren win. When I played with him I didn't want to just let him win; I wanted to teach him how to win on his own. So I showed him a few strategies that would help him win. Of course, I still let him win.

God is teaching the Israelites the formula for spiritual victory through the method of show and tell. It is the most basic method of teaching to bring about change. It is plain and simple. He reveals to them his capabilities, and then he shows them how it applies to their lives. There are no hard formulas to remember. He leads them out of Egypt across the Red Sea as he demonstrates his power over their world. Then God makes the bitter water sweet as he reveals the availability of his power for their daily living. Then he promises them healing if only they will follow him.

God makes a covenant with the Hebrews saying, "If you listen carefully to the voice of the LORD your God and do what is right in his eyes, if you pay attention to his commands and keep all his decrees, I will not bring on you any of the diseases I brought on the Egyptians, for I am the LORD, who heals you."Immediately following his promise God brings them to the resort of Elim where there were twelve springs of water and seventy palm trees. This serves as double proof of his ability to guide their lives.

When we come to Exodus sixteen the children of Israel have been traveling in the barren desert for about a month. Their food supplies are very low and they began to murmur and complain. God continues to work with the Israelites as you work with children. God repeats the lessons as he reveals himself when they become hungry.

Exodus 16:1-3
The whole Israelite community set out from Elim and came to the Desert of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after they had come out of Egypt. In the desert the whole community grumbled against Moses and Aaron. The Israelites said to them, "If only we had died by the LORD's hand in Egypt! There we sat around pots of meat and ate all the food we wanted, but you have brought us out into this desert to starve this entire assembly to death." (NIV)

The valleys of discouragement and frustration provide the greatest vantage points from which to observe God’s handiwork in our lives. The valley provides God the opportunity to reveal his glory. The valley also provides God the opportunity to define the bounds of our existence. It is there that God reveals the unbound and inexhaustible nature of his existence. The lack of potable water tested Israel's confidence in God, but the divine provision should have served to strengthen Israel's faith. But they are still struggling and we see no real change.

Exodus 16:4-8
Then the LORD said to Moses, "I will rain down bread from heaven for you. The people are to go out each day and gather enough for that day. In this way I will test them and see whether they will follow my instructions. On the sixth day they are to prepare what they bring in, and that is to be twice as much as they gather on the other days." So Moses and Aaron said to all the Israelites, "In the evening you will know that it was the LORD who brought you out of Egypt, and in the morning you will see the glory of the LORD, because he has heard your grumbling against him. Who are we, that you should grumble against us?" Moses also said, "You will know that it was the LORD when he gives you meat to eat in the evening and all the bread you want in the morning, because he has heard your grumbling against him. Who are we? You are not grumbling against us, but against the LORD." (NIV)

God brings them to this place in their lives so that they will know he is the God that led them out of Egypt. "So Moses and Aaron said to all the Israelites, "In the evening you will know that it was the LORD who brought you out of Egypt, and in the morning you will see the glory of the LORD, because he has heard your grumbling against him." You would think that they would have already learned this, but not so.

Change Requires Trusting God Now

As I look back to the times in my life that I have been in panic, God was always guiding, protecting and providing. That is called 20/20 hindsight. What frustrates me is that I often cannot apply what I know about God from my past experiences to my present situation. There is a strange thing about 20/20 hindsight because when I turn around and face my future I go blind.

Yet, each time I face the present, I know God’s faithfulness continues. He is there seeking to reveal himself; I know the Holy Spirit and Christ are interceding on my behalf--if only I could simply trust. It is in the desert of Sinai that he proves his faithfulness to them and to us for all time. It is in the Sinai desert that God reveals his power to heal and sustain  their lives and ours.

Real change requires stepping out into unfamiliar territory, as we trust God to lead us through the unknown. We want God to give us the resources for living so that we can govern our own lives without having to depend on him for guidance.

In his book Stairway to Success Nidor R. Quibein writes: "A naval aviator said that many pilots have died because they stayed with disabled aircraft. They preferred the familiarity of the cockpit to the unfamiliar parachute, even though the cockpit was a deathtrap."

Many people have seen their careers/lives crash because they preferred the familiar but deadly old ways to the risky but rewarding new ways. Many have lost their souls because they prefer the familiar territory of this world rather than God’s challenge to move out on heaven’s battleground.

Why is it so hard to surrender our lives to God in the present and entrust our future to him? God has showed me and told me about his presence, but why can’t I truly believe? Jesus reiterated God’s promise to provide for the Christian in the following verses.

Matthew 6:24-34
"No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money. "Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? "And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. (NIV)

There is a reason that hindsight is better than foresight. God wants hindsight to produce enough faith for us to trust him for today without worrying about tomorrow. If and when tomorrow becomes today God's presence will be realized. "Each day has enough trouble of its own." It is no accident that the Bible says now is the time of God’s favor. Learn the lessons for today and you will be prepared for tomorrow.

2 Corinthians 6:1-2
As God's fellow workers we urge you not to receive God's grace in vain. For he says, "In the time of my favor I heard you, and in the day of salvation I helped you." I tell you, now is the time of God's favor, now is the day of salvation. (NIV)

The difficulty in accepting God’s salvation for now is that we are too worried about our future. Our world is so busy endeavoring to live for tomorrow that it has overlooked today. We don’t hesitate to mortgage today for the future. Many churches out there are preparing for the growth of the church in the future, while overlooking the need for providing a means for personal growth for their members today. If Christians grow today they will be ready for whatever the future brings. NOW is the important aspect of our lives. God goes to great lengths to teach us to trust him for now.

Exodus 16:4-6
Then the LORD said to Moses, "I will rain down bread from heaven for you. The people are to go out each day and gather enough for that day. In this way I will test them and see whether they will follow my instructions. On the sixth day they are to prepare what they bring in, and that is to be twice as much as they gather on the other days." So Moses and Aaron said to all the Israelites, "In the evening you will know that it was the LORD who brought you out of Egypt, (NIV)

Exodus 16:11-21
The LORD said to Moses, "I have heard the grumbling of the Israelites. Tell them, 'At twilight you will eat meat, and in the morning you will be filled with bread. Then you will know that I am the LORD your God.'" That evening quail came and covered the camp, and in the morning there was a layer of dew around the camp. When the dew was gone, thin flakes like frost on the ground appeared on the desert floor. When the Israelites saw it, they said to each other, "What is it?" For they did not know what it was. Moses said to them, "It is the bread the LORD has given you to eat. This is what the LORD has commanded: 'Each one is to gather as much as he needs. Take an omer for each person you have in your tent.'" The Israelites did as they were told; some gathered much, some little. And when they measured it by the omer, he who gathered much did not have too much, and he who gathered little did not have too little. Each one gathered as much as he needed. Then Moses said to them, "No one is to keep any of it until morning." However, some of them paid no attention to Moses; they kept part of it until morning, but it was full of maggots and began to smell. So Moses was angry with them. Each morning everyone gathered as much as he needed, and when the sun grew hot, it melted away. (NIV)

God stresses the fact that he will provide Israel's daily sustenance. They are only to gather enough manna for one day, with the exception of the sixth day on which they were to gather enough for the Sabbath. The amazing thing is that some gathered much and some little and those who gathered too much did not have too much, and those who gathered little did not have too little. Those who tried to save the left over manna for the following day found it rotting with maggots in it.

Provision of manna day by day was to teach Israel their continued dependence upon the Lord to provide. But as soon as they were fed, they became thirsty again.

Exodus 17:1-7
The whole Israelite community set out from the Desert of Sin, traveling from place to place as the LORD commanded. They camped at Rephidim, but there was no water for the people to drink. So they quarreled with Moses and said, "Give us water to drink." Moses replied, "Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you put the LORD to the test?" But the people were thirsty for water there, and they grumbled against Moses. They said, "Why did you bring us up out of Egypt to make us and our children and livestock die of thirst?" Then Moses cried out to the LORD, "What am I to do with these people? They are almost ready to stone me." The LORD answered Moses, "Walk on ahead of the people. Take with you some of the elders of Israel and take in your hand the staff with which you struck the Nile, and go. I will stand there before you by the rock at Horeb. Strike the rock, and water will come out of it for the people to drink." So Moses did this in the sight of the elders of Israel. And he called the place Massah and Meribah because the Israelites quarreled and because they tested the LORD saying, "Is the LORD among us or not?" (NIV)

Change Requires Entering Into God’s Battle

God has given them drink, fed their hunger and now he reveals his protection. The story doesn't stop here for God fights the Amalekites for them, but it is different this time. God leads Israel into battle to fight for themselves.

Exodus 17:8-13
The Amalekites came and attacked the Israelites at Rephidim. Moses said to Joshua, "Choose some of our men and go out to fight the Amalekites. Tomorrow I will stand on top of the hill with the staff of God in my hands." So Joshua fought the Amalekites as Moses had ordered, and Moses, Aaron and Hur went to the top of the hill. As long as Moses held up his hands, the Israelites were winning, but whenever he lowered his hands, the Amalekites were winning. When Moses' hands grew tired, they took a stone and put it under him and he sat on it. Aaron and Hur held his hands up-- one on one side, one on the other-- so that his hands remained steady till sunset. So Joshua overcame the Amalekite army with the sword. (NIV)

After all the incidents since Israel’s exit from Egypt I am almost surprised that Israel was willing to enter into battle at God's command. However, I am beginning to realize that God has been preparing them for battle against the Amalekites since the first plague in Egypt. This is the first time they have faced danger without grumbling to the Lord. They are finally learning to trust God's guidance. Up to this point they have waited for God's provisions, but now God puts them in the heat of the battle to fight for themselves. He certainly doesn’t leave it all up to them, but they have to fight their own battles.

When the battle was over, "Moses built an altar and called it The LORD is my Banner. He said, 'For hands were lifted up to the throne of the LORD. The LORD will be at war against the Amalekites from generation to generation.'" (Exodus 17:15-16 NIV)

The method of teaching is still show and tell. Nothing difficult to understand, but for some reason, it does seem hard to grasp. Moses raises his arms to God and Israel wins, and when his arms are lowered Israel loses ground.

Sometimes solutions are right in front of our noses. When a tractor-trailer-truck flipped over on a Canadian highway, it caused traffic to stop while firefighters spread peat moss to soak up the spilled diesel fuel. A brief torrential rain washed most of the gardening material away, so they sent out for more. They were so caught up in the moment that no one noticed the cargo in the overturned trailer was peat moss. (New Brunswick, Canada, Telegraph Journal)

Have you noticed the Tampa Bay Buccaneer’s banners all over cars here in Tampa Bay? Moses flew the banner that read, "The Lord is my Banner" over his tent in the wilderness. It must have been quite impressive.

God is leading you through the valleys of life to give you a wise perspective so that when you do engage in spiritual warfare you will be led to victory. What God is doing is as plain as the nose on our face, but we must not become so caught up in the moment that we lose sight of God’s daily presence.

The Israelites wandered in the wilderness for forty years because they refused to read the signs right in front of their noses. There were signposts all through the desert of Sinai pointing the way to God. How could they have missed so many of the signposts pointing to God? We tend to ignore the signposts for a shortcut, but there aren't any shortcuts.

There was a signpost at the Red Sea, which read "Cross Through on Dry Land!" There was a song of victory that had been written, which pointed to the victory after the Red Sea, which said, "The Lord is my strength and my song." There was a place called Marab, which means bitter, which said, "God Heals and Protects!" There was a place named Elim with seventy palm trees and twelve springs, which said, "The Presence of the Lord Is Refreshing!" There was Manna to eat every morning, which was a sign that read, "God Is Our Sustenance!" Moses placed an omer of Manna in the tabernacle to serve as a reminder for future generations. Then there was the signpost at a place called Massah and Meribah, which reminded them of the question they had asked, "Is the Lord among us or not?" Then there was the banner Moses made that reminded them how God fought for them against the Amalekites, which read, "The Lord is My Banner!"

Conclusion:

Are you finding following God difficult? Read the signs posted in the Sinai Desert. They are still there. Real change takes place when we follow those signs in the desert into God's presence.

But there is a greater sign to which all the signs in the Sinai desert was pointing. That sign is the cross. It is the cross that ultimately points to the road for victory. When we accept the cross of Christ, Christ enters into our spiritual struggles and victory is certain.

Just follow the signs in the desert they will lead you to the cross, which points the way for all time.

Proverbs 3:5-6
Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight. (NIV)

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