COME AS A CHILD LESSON 135 HOW TO DEFEAT THOSE UNWELCOMING AMALEKITES

HOW TO DEFEAT THOSE UNWELCOMING AMALEKITES 

(Written by Sheila Gail Landgraf)

We left the Israelites at Rephidim  living with the miracles of the water from The Rock to satisfy their thirst, and The Manna from Heaven to fill their bellies.  What more could they want?  

I guess the answer to that question would be: protection.

The Amalekites were active in the area where the Israelites had camped.  These descendants of Esau were nomadic wanders in the land.  They would attack and maraud innocent people passing through, robbing them and raping and killing their women and children.  They would take all of their possessions to add to their treasures and consume their livestock for their own use.  The Egyptians had given their gold and silver to the Israelites to bribe them to leave quickly and end the plagues.  They were traveling with much wealth and livestock.  The Amalekites were sure to have noticed this as they watched them pass by from their hidden mountain passes.  

When Moses spotted the Amalekite spies he knew they were planning to attack.  He told Joshua to choose some of the Israelite men and go out to fight the Amalekites.   As they were preparing for battle Moses, Aaron and Hur climbed up onto the top a large mountainous hill and Moses held up the Staff of God.

Joshua and his men bravely took on the Amalekites.  As long as Moses held up his hand that contained the staff of God, the Israelites were winning; but if Moses lowered his hand the Amalekites were winning.  Moses’ hands grew tired so Aaron and Hur took a stone and put underneath Moses for support.  Then Aaron and Hur, one on each side held up the arms of Moses.  This way Moses’ hands became steady and Joshua won the battle with the Amalekites.

My first thought upon reading the above information was that the stone used to prop up Moses must have been The Rock that had provided the water for them.  This was a very powerful Rock!  Could it have been the one they used? If so it would symbolize the power of Christ working through Moses.

My next thought was that they won the battle because a team of three were overlooking Joshua and his men from a higher distance.  It was a symbolic picture of The Trinity; Father, Son and Holy Spirit doing a work in the people of God.  As long as the power of God is induced into the situation, there is victory.  If the power of God is neglected, and the people get too tired and weary to care, and the battles are lost. 

After the remarkable victory of this battle, God says a rather odd thing to Moses: “Write this on a scroll as something to be remembered and make sure that Joshua hears it, because I will completely blot out the name of Amalek from under heaven.”

Why would God say such a thing?  Even though the Amalekites were known to be greedy, unfair and destructive, often taking innocent lives and consistently robbing and plundering those who traveled through the land; why would God proclaim such a harsh and severe judgment against them, showing absolutely no mercy; even thinking the women and children from these people should be destroyed, as if they were hopeless of ever changing?  That doesn’t sound like our gracious and merciful, loving and kind God, does it?

 There appears to be many reasons for this decision, although we may only know half of the reasons, since God can see into the future and we cannot.  God’s ways are so much higher and wiser than ours could ever be.  Part of the weight of this decision handed down from heaven is just the fact that we must blindly trust that God knows what is best for us.  He doesn’t have to explain anything – after all; He is God! 

I’ll ask you to remember my remark at the beginning of this lesson too.  It may be part of the reason.  God had provided almost everything that the people needed to survive; they had water and they had food.  It was miraculous out in the desert land where they were dwelling for this provision to be given.  The one thing that they were lacking was protection.  Now; because of this battle; God had also publicly put his hand of protection on them.  

The Amalekites were well trained in their low-down way of making a living.  They had a reputation for being ruthless, heartless and mean.  They took pride in their murderous ways.  The Israelites were really no match for them in battle.  They were not equipped for war.  Before this battle they had been slaves, unable and forbidden to handle weapons.  They had no plans for attack; yet, God had given them a battle plan through their leaders, and God had protected them and given them another miracle in the victory of this battle. 

We must notice that the name “Amelek” was the name of the fierce leader that the Amalekites took their nation’s name from.  Amelek was a descendant of Esau who had inherited that wandering, nomadic spirit of rebellion that started with Cain in the Garden of Eden.  In order to protect the innocent and clean the evil from the world God had once sent a flood to destroy all men with such a spirit.  Now, for some reason, that same such spirit was back on the earth; and it came through Amelek.  Through Amelek and his descendants, evil was once again growing and populating the earth.  These were the very first enemies that the People of God had to face in the wilderness.  The ancient plot of good versus evil took shape at the very beginning of the journey of the people of  Israel on their way to the Promise Land.  

  If Israel did not carry out God’s battle plans, the Amalekites would keep coming back again and again in order to plunder and destroy them.  They did not realize it at the time; but carried within the capacity of the nation of Israel was the salvation of all the people of the earth.  Could such a treasure be destroyed before it even had time to flourish and grow into a mighty nation?  Could God let our salvation be quickly defeated by an evil greedy nation of rebellious people who did not care one thing about God and His plan of salvation?  Surely not!  God, standing outside of time, could see what mere men could not see.  He knew this was the only answer for the survival of His people. 

The Amalekites, similar in many ways to the people the Israelites had escaped in Egypt, worshiped pagan gods and filled their days with pagan practices.  They did not care for the ways of the God of Israel.  If allowed to thrive without supernatural intervention, they had the power to destroy all the things God had been teaching the people, just as had happened to them in Egypt, should the people be taken captive by them.  God did not allow this, and He warned His people against such a thing.  

God did not order the extermination in the battle against the Amalekites in order to be cruel, but simply to prevent a greater evil from occurring in the future.  Any time that you hear the name Amelek and face anyone associated with that name, you are really encountering God's greatest enemy that backs up the power of Amelek; Satan.  Satan would have gladly ended the conflict with God right there in the wilderness through the Amalekites dwelling at the foot of Sinai; but God did not allow Him to do so. 

Unfortunately, not all of the Amalekites were in this group that came against Israel in the wilderness.  There were more of them scattered in the land and hiding out in other places. Israel would encounter them again and again as history turned its pages. God wanted this “first time” to be noted and remembered.  If you are going to win a battle against evil; you must beware of the correct identity of the enemy.  He told Moses to write it down in a scroll.  That meant THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT TO REMEMBER!  So Moses did what God instructed and wrote it all down; then he built an altar and called it The LORD Is My Banner.

Moses proclaimed the following words to The People of God:  “Because hands were lifted up against the throne of the LORD, the LORD will be at war against Amalekites from generation to generation.”  God must have given Moses yet another glimpse into the future in order for him to make that statement.  It has turned out to be a true prophecy, happening over and over again. 

Generation after generation of The People of God have fought against the spirit of the Amalekites all throughout time.  It is obvious that the enemy of God is the spirit living within and controlling such people who would think nothing of destroying the precious children of God and abolishing God's ways from the earth.  

The name Amelek has now become synonymous with evil and evil ways.  This first encounter was definitely not the last encounter with such a spirit of people. 

From the scriptures scattered throughout the bible It seems that God has plans to bring yet another, last, end-time, victorious battle against Amelek and the spirit of evil that he portrays.  Once more there will be a supernatural and victorious battle fought, and it will be a final one to end this name of Amelek forever and wipe it completely from the face of the earth.  We must all stand like Moses, with lifted hands before God and join in the battle cry.  We must trust the Three-In-One God who will equip us for battle and led us to victory when the time approaches.  God will help us to overcome, just as He helped Moses, Aaron and Hur.  We must stay firmly planted on The Rock, just as Moses did, with our arms lifted high in worship toward our Mighty God.  On that day, God will stretch out his staff and save the flock of His people.