When God created humans in His image, in His likeness, He said –

Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth. Genesis 1:28

As we saw in previous parts of this series, God wanted humans to ‘fill’ the earth, ‘subdue’ the earth, and ‘have dominion’ over every living thing that moves on the earth. The Hebrew word for ‘subdue’ is kabash (כָּבַשׁ) and means ‘to bring into subjection,’ with force if necessary. The Hebrew word for ‘have dominion’ is  radah ( רָדָה) and means ‘reign, rule, dominate.’

How will God train the children of Israel to do that?

God’s Armies

Before I move forward, let me share something from several studies ago. It comes from Exodus 6:26 –

These are the same Aaron and Moses to whom the Lord said, ‘Bring out the children of Israel from the land of Egypt according to their armies.’

The context was God renewing His promise to Israel after Moses and Aaron’s first meeting with Pharaoh. What stuck out to me was that God referred to His people as ‘children’ and ‘armies.’ The Hebrew word for ‘armies’ in that verse is  tsaba (צָבָא) and means ‘warfare, war, army.’ God used the two descriptors for Israel again in Exodus 7:4 and Numbers 33:1 –

But Pharaoh will not heed you, so that I may lay My hand on Egypt and bring My armies and My people, the children of Israel, out of the land of Egypt by great judgments.

These are the journeys of the children of Israel, who went out of the land of Egypt by their armies under the hand of Moses and Aaron.

God used the term ‘armies’ to describe the ‘children’ of Israel many times after He freed them from slavery in Egypt. It’s obvious from God’s use of the words that He saw Israel as warriors.

We find their first taste of battle training in the wilderness in Exodus 17 –

Now Amalek came and fought with Israel in Rephidim. And Moses said to Joshua, ‘Choose us some men and go out, fight with Amalek. Tomorrow I will stand on the top of the hill with the rod of God in my hand.” So Joshua did as Moses said to him, and fought with Amalek. And Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill. And so it was, when Moses held up his hand, that Israel prevailed; and when he let down his hand, Amalek prevailed. But Moses’ hands became heavy; so they took a stone and put it under him, and he sat on it. And Aaron and Hur supported his hands, one on one side, and the other on the other side; and his hands were steady until the going down of the sun. So Joshua defeated Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword. Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Write this for a memorial in the book and recount it in the hearing of Joshua, that I will utterly blot out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven.’ And Moses built an altar and called its name, The-Lord-Is-My-Banner; for he said, ‘Because the Lord has sworn: the Lord will have war with Amalek from generation to generation. Exodus 17:8-16

The army of Amalek attacked Israel ‘in Rephidim’ in what appears to be an ‘unprovoked’ attack. Why? The people of Amalek were descendants of Isaac’s son Esau. The people of Israel were descendants of Isaac’s son Jacob. They probably knew the story of how Jacob ‘stole’ the lineage blessing and birthright from Esau, which probably fueled their hatred for the descendants of Jacob. Even though Israel did not start the fight with Amalek, they ended it. God said that he would ‘utterly blot out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven.’

Another interesting aspect to this story is that the Amalekites fought ‘dirty.’ Here’s how we know that –

Remember what Amalek did to you on the way as you were coming out of Egypt, how he met you on the way and attacked your rear ranks, all the stragglers at your rear, when you were tired and weary; and he did not fear God. Therefore it shall be, when the Lord your God has given you rest from your enemies all around, in the land which the Lord your God is giving you to possess as an inheritance, that you will blot out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven. You shall not forget. Deuteronomy 25:17-19

The Amalekites are mentioned almost 50 times in the Old Testament as enemies of Israel. The last we read of them is when they suffered devastating defeats at the hands of Judge Samuel and Israel’s kings Saul and David (e.g. 1 Samuel chapters 15, 27, and 30; 2 Samuel 1; 1 Chronicles 4).

There are no extrabiblical references to them, and the nature of the physical remains of their existence is hotly debated. Archaeology Study Bible, p 113

A Few More Thoughts

A few other things I’d like to mention about Israel’s defeat of the army of Amalek. We meet ‘Joshua’ for the first time in Exodus 17 – ‘And Moses said to Joshua, “Choose us some men and go out, fight with Amalek.’ It’s as if Joshua came out of nowhere to hold the position of a fighter and leader of Israel’s army. We learn later that Joshua was from the Tribe of Ephraim and would eventually become successor to Moses, and physically lead Israel into the ‘promised land.’ More about Joshua in future studies.

Another person we meet for the first time is ‘Hur’ – ‘So Joshua did as Moses said to him, and fought with Amalek. And Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill.’ According to Exodus 31:2, Hur was from the Tribe of Judah. He also seemed to come out of nowhere to be one of two men who would help Moses hold up his arms during battle. We’ll learn more about Hur in future studies.

The third thing I’d like to point out was the importance of ‘the rod of God’ that Moses held in his hand. Israel ‘prevailed’ in battle as long as Moses held up the rod of God. However, when Moses tired and lowered the rod of God, Amalek prevailed. That’s a clear demonstration that the ‘battle’ truly does belong to the Lord. God was teaching Israel that He would win their battles for them, and that without Him Israel would lose. With the help of Aaron and Hur supporting Moses’ hands, Moses was able to keep the rod up and steady ‘until the going down of the sun. So Joshua defeated Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword.’

One last thing. I’m almost as old now as Moses was during the battle against the Amalekites. I’ve always marveled at his physical stamina, but now that I’m inching toward 80 I am even ‘more’ impressed. However, even Moses needed some help to hold up the ‘rod of God’ during the battle. Speaking as an older man, I appreciate the younger Christians who are stepping up to hold up the hands of some of their older brethren who’ve been in the fight for decades. We’re getting tired, but our God is great and will keep us fighting the good fight until He’s ready for us to ‘come home.’ My thanks to all Christians are ‘in the fight.’

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Next Time

In the next part of our series – Train to Reign – we’ll see how a member of Moses’ family came forward with some helpful advice to keep Israel moving in the right direction.

“Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.”

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