Exodus 17 Bible Study (Water from the Rock/Israel Defeats Amalek) | Pastor Daniel Batarseh

Book of Exodus chapter 17 beginning in verse one. All the congregation of the people of Israel moved on from the wilderness of sin by stages according to the commandment of the Lord encamped at Rephidim, But there was no water for the people to drink. Therefore, the people quarreled with Moses and said, give us water to drink. And Moses said to them, why do you quarrel with me? Why do you test the Lord?

But the people thirsted there for water, and the people grumbled against Moses and said, why did you bring us up out of Egypt to kill us and our children and our livestock with thirst? So Moses cried to the Lord, what shall I do with this people? They're almost ready to stone me. And the Lord said to Moses, pass on before the people taking with you some of the elders of Israel, and take in your hand the staff with which you struck the Nile, and go. Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock at Horeb, and you shall strike the rock, and water shall come out of it, and the people will drink.

And Moses did so and decided the elders of Israel. And he called the name of the place Massah and Meribah because of the quarreling of the people of Israel and because they tested the Lord by saying, is the Lord among us or not? Bow your heads with me, please. Father, we thank you for the word of god. It is a lamp unto our feet.

It is our guide. It is our delight, and we pray together as we come hungry that you may fill us. Lord, may we be enthralled by the wisdom that you have given unto men. Lord, we trust that as we explore these verses, we will be stunned by your majesty. And we pray, Lord, that you would give us the spirit of wisdom and revelation and the knowledge of Jesus Christ.

Lord, we pray that every distracted mind may be arrested by the authority of your holy spirit. As this word is declared, may no man be heard, but may every word be unctionized by your spirit. We ask God that we would not only as our dear brother prayed hear the word but obey it that we may live a life of worship unto you. We pray this in Jesus name. Amen.

You may be seated. So we continue to follow the Israelites as they are journeying journeying through the wilderness to the promised land. And if there's one thing we learned is that they have had many stops, many posts, many camps. And it seems as though at every post there was a new lesson that God has given them. When we were at the Red Sea, we figured out that God wanted to trust them, that through any situation he could make a way.

When they were at Mara, we learned that he could make wilderness of sin, and don't mistake in that for sin as how we think of iniquity. It's a different word. But when they were in the wilderness of sin, we learned that there's only one thing that satisfies. And it's the bread of heaven, and Christ is the picture of that bread of heaven. And now we see them at a new place, and sure enough, we can be guaranteed that God wants to teach not only the Israelites but Christians today in 2017 with something new.

And before we dig into this, let's open it up for everybody else to just share what you've probably discovered or observations as you've read this chapter this week. What things can we notice about the verses that we just read? Any observations? Anything worth mentioning? Yes.

Sure. So in the ESV, it says by stages. Depending on your translation, you might have as they journey. But the principle is still true that as we walk with the Lord, he stretches us and he chisels us and he grows us in a process. Absolutely.

What else can we say about these verses? Yes. Yeah. We're gonna see a lot of mirroring to what we saw in Exodus chapter 15. And it's this pattern that we see that the people of Israel have not really learned something yet, but Moses is still consistent in his dependency upon God.

Absolutely. What else?

You know, I just I just can't help but think that, why are they why are they asking Moses for this? These people are Jewish. Right? I mean, they're Hebrews. Yes.

And, they know Yahweh or God. I think they do. I mean, they've seen the miracles happen. So why are they not saying God give us water? Or, you know, why are they like it was I mean, it's like they're almost looking to Moses as the as the godfather.

Sure. And that's what we're gonna learn, that the people have become a little bit too dependent upon Moses. Even later on in Exodus, when Moses doesn't seem to be on the scene, not only do they not know how to call out to God, they make an idol. Let me just ask this question. What happens to you when the spiritual authority in your life or the spiritual leader in your life that has poured into your life?

What happens when they don't show up anymore? Will you be able to stand on your own faith? Experienced this. Down in life, you may hear or learn when a spiritual authority fails. Are you gonna be able to stand on your faith?

Are you banking on somebody else's wisdom and revelation? Not saying that we don't learn or we don't submit or we don't grow from a leader, but if you are totally dependent upon somebody else, you're in danger. It's just plain and simple. Yes, Isaac? I think that kinda shows that you don't have a personal walk with God.

Sure. Yeah. Absolutely. Great observations. What else can we say about these verses?

Yes. They lacked water. Absolutely. That's emphasized greatly. Yes, Sandy.

I think this is parallel with John seven. Mhmm. The bread was John six and water of life was John seven.

Absolutely. When we looked at Exodus 16, we talked about the bread from heaven and how that is a prophetic fulfillment in John chapter six when Jesus says, I am the bread from heaven. And it just seems to be coincidental, I guess, you can say, that in Exodus 17, we talk about the water of life. And in John chapter seven, Jesus says, I am the water of life. And in John chapter seven, Jesus says, I am the water of life.

And in And in John chapter seven, Jesus says, I am the water of life. Come to me and drink. So they're they're side by side. Yes.

Yes.

Absolutely. So here God brings them and establishes them at a place called Rephidim. And that's interesting because the word Rephidim in the Hebrew, one definition is resting places or spread out. It's the idea of just resting. And I think that's a wonderful lesson that God wants to not only teach them but teach us is that he wants his people to learn how to rest in him when their circumstances demand panic.

They are in Rephidim, but guess what? There ain't no water. But that name is not by accident. And God wants to teach the people of Israel because he led them there. And here they are at the resting place, so to speak, yet their situation is asking and arousing anxiety.

But God wants to teach them how to rest. Rest. When we talk about physical rest, it's the idea of pulling away from labor, whether mentally or physically, in order for one to refresh and to rebuild himself. That's rest. That's a simple definition of physical breast.

But hear this, rest is not possible unless it is supported by peace and trust. Rest is not possible unless it is supported by peace and trust. Here's a very plain example. If a person owns a business and he goes on vacation from that business, he can rest for a week or two because he has trusted that business with people who are proven to be manageable and experienced. You can rest tonight as you lay in your bed because you trust in the environment of your home, I hope you do at least, which produces a peace, which produces a sense in which you can let loose.

Right? That's rest. That's the idea of rest. But it's impossible unless it's supported by peace and trust. And God here, not only does he want us and encourage us to have physical rest, that's a whole another thing, but he wants to give us something greater, an inward rest, something internal.

And that inward rest, the soul, comes through trust and peace and the knowledge of God. What do I mean by inward rest? I mean the posture of the soul that rests secure, confident, and strengthened at all times. At all times. That is something that we have inherently because of Christ, the Holy Spirit and his word.

And so this is what the Lord wants to teach him, an inward rest. That when you see something that demands panic, you're immovable. And that that's a truth throughout the scriptures. In Psalms one twelve, the Bible describes the man who fears the Lord. And in verse seven it says, he's not afraid of bad news.

Man who fears the Lord, he's not afraid of bad news. His heart is firm, trusting in the Lord. Get that phone call here. Bad news, that's okay. My heart isn't moving.

You get that doctor's report. You get that notice that you're not working at your job anymore. The man who fears the Lord, guess what? His heart is firm because he trusts in the Lord. And how do we increase our rest?

It's very simple. It's, there's no five step to this really. It's very simple. It's Psalms one nineteen and verse one sixty five. Great peace have those who love your law.

Nothing shall make them stumble. Great peace have those who love your law. Nothing shall make them stumble. So we see that peace and rest, all those things are fueled and enhanced to the one who loves the law. You don't love something that you don't meditate and spend time with.

So that's the idea. And so we see here that he wants to teach them that rest, and it is enhanced once again through our knowledge of him in this. I remember one flight back from different state coming into Chicago, and, the the seat in front of me had the screen where it tracks the GPS of the flight and it lead it left this, like, red trail behind the flight to show what kind of ground you cover. But once once we came to I mean, we were descending. Usually, you descend twenty five, thirty minutes before you come down from a flight.

And as I was looking at the the the plane on the screen, instead of a red strip, it was just this cluster of red that was growing more and more. Moving all around. I said, okay. And I looked out the window and it was the plane was shaking. It was turbulent.

And you saw the rain and clearly we were in a storm. And to make, you know, matters worse, you you just you're in the flight, but you could tell everybody feels something is wrong. They're just all looking at each other. Nobody's saying anything, but they're all looking at each other. And I had my Bible in my hand, and I just said, okay, there's gotta be a verse for this.

Matthew chapter eight. You know, what would Jesus do? You would think, well, Lord, if you were in a plane right now and there was a storm, what would you do? Well, he was on a boat. And you read that he fell asleep.

Just closed it and just closed my eyes. It's okay, Lord, if you fell asleep But it was a manifestation of an inward reality. He could rest because he trusted. And he looked at the disciples and said, oh, you have little faith. Oh, you have little trust.

You can't rest in these situations because you don't really know who I am, and you have to know that as long as I'm on the boat, it's okay. And you can say here that the principle of growing in this inward rest is true in the opposite sense. It's true in the opposite direction. That our lack of love and knowledge of the word of God produces a lack of inward rest. Did you hear that?

When we lack love and knowledge of this word, it results in a lack of inward rest. And the reason why they quarrel and the reason why they grumble is because what? As Christy mentioned, they fail to remember and recount the deeds of the Lord in their own lives. I mean, God just did the very same thing two chapters earlier. He saw they saw this water.

It was bitter, and he turned that water into something sweet, and they they were they they were quenched. And they failed to remember that, and you can be sure that you're in the flesh when you quarrel and you grumble. That's how you know. The moment you begin to quarrel with other people, the moment you begin to grumble against others and against God, you know that you're in the realm of the flesh now. And this was Israel's problem as we know.

They failed to remember, they failed to recount, and that resulted in it into this turmoil inside, then instead of their instant being like Moses, they reacted in this. And so what happens? This failure of meditation upon the goodness and the faithfulness of God brought them to the place where they quarreled with their leader. Give us water to drink. And Moses said to them, why do you quarrel with me?

Why do you test the Lord? What does it mean to test the Lord? Does anybody have an idea? What's wrong with testing god? It's It's holding an attitude that maybe he will fail.

That's an interesting way of putting it. Would anybody agree or disagree with that?

Yes. I agree with that when he passed on the last day, but he can't do what you need to expect. He provide what he need to do.

Some of you had tests this week, didn't you? Right? It's finished, hopefully. Do you expect on that test? Questions, right?

That's what composes a test. Questions on a piece of paper that you have to answer, and that's exactly what it means to test the Lord, is to question his character and his goodness in the spirit of disbelief. How do we know that? Look at the end of verse seven in this chapter. Says what?

Moses we see here that Moses disowned the side of the elders, and he called the name of the place Massa and Meribah because of the quarreling of the people of Israel and because they tested the Lord by saying, is the Lord among us or not? And so to test the Lord is to question His goodness, is to question His characters, to question His promises with the spirit of disbelief and even accusation. Now we can't distance ourselves from this book because this happened in Israel's time. Paul the Apostle, inspired by the Holy Spirit, uses this very thing in first Corinthians 10 when he describes to the people of how to walk and run this race effectively by using this journey. And he gives four warnings.

And one of the warnings is don't test Christ. If you wanna run this race effectively, if you wanna experience the fullness of the fruit that God wants to produce in your life, he says in first Corinthians ten nine and ten, we must not put Christ to the test as some of them did and were destroyed by serpents, nor grumble as some of them did and were destroyed by the destroyer. So he uses even a different situation in Numbers chapter 21 verse seven. As we know that famous story where they once again grumble and complain and they use the very same words here and God sends fiery serpents to bite them. And look what the Israel you don't have to turn there, but look what the Israelites say.

And the people came to Moses and said, we have sinned for we have spoken against the Lord and against you. Pray to the Lord that he would take away the serpents from us. So once again, testing God is to question him in a spirit of disbeliefs that assaults his character and his goodness. And Moses says, why do you test the Lord? Why are you going to that place?

Yes.

Just recently, I I, I came across that the apostles did that too to Christ. It's it's amazing. I I couldn't believe it, but, where where he first fed the 5,000 or it was 4,000 with a few loaves of bread, that was our first experience where he did that. Right? And after that, I think he walked on the water.

And right after that again, there was another crowd, right, of thousands of people. And they and Jesus said feed them. They're hungry. They're like, well, how are we gonna feed them? You know, they just experienced it.

Yeah. Exactly.

So and they're and they're questioning them.

Like Right. Because that's in human nature. Right. Well, I don't know if they would be that, but their human nature, they fail to remember the deeds of the Lord. And so what happens here?

The people grumbled against Moses in verse three and said, why did you bring us up out of Egypt to kill us and our children and our livestock with thirst? There it is. They're testing God by believing that his deliverance was to bring him to a place of destruction. Pay attention to the word of God now. Don't get distracted.

They come to a place where they've literally questioned God and they've done this one way too many times. And what they did here was mirror what they did in Exodus 15, and they failed to learn from their leader Moses who did the very opposite in verse four. What did he do in verse four? He cried to the Lord. He cried to the Lord.

He did the same thing at the Red Sea. He learned to do that as a reflex. He learned to cry out to God. Was Moses thirsty? Was he not included amongst the people?

So why is he standing out? Because he has a different revelation, and he has a deeper problem. Because he's not only thirsty, he has an entire people group that wants to stone him. What does he say? What shall I do with this people?

They are almost ready to stone me. David had a similar experience in Ziklag in first Samuel 30. Do you guys know this story? They come back to Ziklag, a place where they were residing, and they were ransacked. People came in and took their children, took their wives, and burned the place to a flame.

I mean, that's a problem on its own, but then what happens? This is what happens at first Samuel 36. And David was greatly distressed for the people now who are the people that were with him? His boys. We're talking about the very men that came to David in the Cave Of Adullam.

The very people that David recruited. Those that were the rejected, because we see them how they didn't want to be under Saul's reign. They trusted in David. They trusted on the call of God on David's life, and David embraced them. These people, what happens?

They spoke of stoning him. They spoke of stoning him because they were bitter in soul, each for his sons and daughters. But David, just like Moses, but David strengthened himself in the Lord his God. Both these men reacted in the same way. Here's just a little side tip.

If you feel like God is calling you to leadership on any level, if you feel like God is tugging you towards that direction, take a hint from these men of God and take a hint from people who've experienced it that you can expect the very people that you serve to strike you with stones. This is part of the package. Moses and David, the ones that were used by God to lead the people into God's purpose, to bring them into a state of restoration, to guide them into a greater knowledge of truth. Those people, those that these leaders served turned to be the very ones that would stone them. There's some rocks back there, I guess.

Expect it. Expect it. But how you respond to it is very important. It makes all the difference. Because those moments will come, and guess what?

Some rocks will be bigger than others. But when they do come, you better learn how to take those rocks and to bring them before the rock of your salvation, and you better learn how to pray for those people. And as you pray for those people I mean, come on. Those people that would turn on you one day, that might throw those rocks at you, you're speaking to the one who was killed by his own people. He completely understands.

And we, followers of Jesus Christ, should not think for a moment that we should be treated any better than our savior was. If you wanna walk in the purposes of God, expect stones to be thrown at you. But learn how to pick up those stones, get on your knees, lay them at the feet of Jesus, and trust that he'll strengthen you. These men knew how to do that. What shall I do with this people?

That's what he prays. In verse six, something happens. He instructs them the Lord instructs Moses, pass on before the people, taking with you some of the elders of Israel, and take in your hand the staff with which you struck the Nile. And go, behold, I will stand before you there on the rock at Horeb, and you shall strike the rock, and water shall come out of it, and that people will drink. So what do we learn there?

What do we learn from that? God's to provide. Oh, he provides. And guess what? He provides through unexpected means.

Water from a rock? God is a master at doing that. Yes. Can I compare the rock to Christ? You're allowed to.

Yeah. You are. Yeah. Just like in the same way, this rock was only stricken because of the, essentially, the same unbelief of the people. Like, they were not trusting trusting God.

So that's why this was stricken in the same way. That's why Jesus was stricken. It was for our our sin and our disbelief. Yes. And Gil, you have every right to compare that rock to Christ.

Why does he have the right to do that? Because the bible tells us that in first Corinthians 10 verse four. Paul, once again, when he's speaking to the Christians, goes back to the Israelites to parallel their journey with the Christian walk. And he says in verse four, and all drank the same spiritual drink for they drank from the spiritual rock that followed them, and the rock was Christ. Plain commentary on Exodus 17.

That rock was Christ. And Gil already started, but now let's open it up. How is this rock a picture of Christ? And don't just think about the rock, but think about the circumstances that surround the rock. Yes.

You're looking at, you know, when you're looking at Christ, you're looking at someone, you know, in the eyes of the people, and it's just a greater man walking on the moon. But in a way but here, you know, he's providing this extraordinary salvation. It's a path to god. It's it's a salvation in the same way. This rock, you wouldn't expect a rock to come out.

It's just like any other rock that you see in the ground, but there's something special in it because god is

with him and then Jesus

is also god. So k. So life coming out of an unexpected source. Yes.

Is it that he, told them he's gonna stand before him?

That's one way where he stands before or on the rock rather, and that's a picture of how he was gonna miraculously do it. He was giving him confidence, but it's almost like a statement that he's standing on the rock. The lord himself is standing on the rock and he's saying, hey, this is a picture of something. Sure. What else can we say?

Yes. It was in a place that was dry, and it's like much. Lifeless. Absolutely. Yeah.

It's the same idea as the bread from heaven. Yes, Paul. This is a place was smitten for our iniquity. The rock was also Yes. Absolutely.

And it was smitten, and what happens in numbers when he tells them to get water from the rock again? Speak to it because Christ needed to die once. Didn't he be struck twice? His death was final. It was a final payment.

I like to think here that he was struck, and yes, he was stricken by the rod, but he was stricken by his own people, by the leaders. The elders came with Moses, and they struck the rock. And that rod is a specific rod. Look at verse five. Look at the details.

Look how the holy spirit is a master writer. He says, take that rod, the very rod that you used to strike the Nile and strike the rock. What happened at the Nile? He struck the Nile and it turned to blood. It was a rod of judgment.

And he says, take that rod of judgment and strike the rock with judgment, with the wrath of God. And that's Christ, isn't that who embrace the wrath of God? The judgment of the almighty. Yes? And then being stricken and died for us, he fills us.

Yes. That's why we live in water. So he's he provides something that we can live on. There's an interesting phrase in first Corinthians ten four and five. It says that they drank from that spiritual rock, and it says that that rock followed them.

That rock followed them. And people debate what that means. Are you are you saying that this rock tumbled and just rolled along with them as they journey through? Or was it the stream that was alongside with them as they nobody knows, people debate, but the principle is still true. You might think that I'm repeating, but I'm not.

Guess who's repeating? The Bible is repeating. You can't just drink once. You gotta keep drinking. Passover lamb, yes.

You apply the blood, you eat the lamb. Manna, every single day, yes. It delivers you at one point, but it also sustains you for life. The water, you drink it. Yes.

It saves you. But guess what? In order for you to survive, you gotta keep drinking. So you're saying, well, you keep saying the same thing every week. I'm not saying it.

The Bible's saying it. The Bible wants to drill this truth in your mind and mine, that yes, we we are saved by grace through faith, but in order for us to enjoy the fullness of this life, you gotta keep drinking. You gotta keep eating. You gotta keep applying. And so this is the thing.

It followed them. They walked with the rock. You can't just apply the rock and just say, yes. He saved me at one point and abandoned that rock back down the road. He follows you.

You follow him. You stand by him, and he continues to supply because this heart of ours can quickly get dry and very calloused and attracted to the wrong things. All it takes is a day, and I can't you and I can't afford to go a day without this water and without this bread. It followed them. It continued with them as they journeyed, and this is the truth for you and I.

In verse seven, something interesting happens, and he called the name of the place Massah and Meribah because of the quarreling of the people of Israel and because they tested the Lord by saying, is the Lord among us or not? What do these two words mean? One means testing and the other one means quarreling. Now these memorials are set up for what purpose? That for generations to come they would remember the faithfulness of God despite of their wickedness, but it's also just, it's a terrible testimony, I think, that through their journey, they were marked by grumbling, disbelief, testing, and they would remember that for generations to come.

And this is a stern warning for you and me. I don't know about you, but I don't wanna be remembered in this life for faithlessness and inconsistency and grumbling and complaining and a gossiper. I don't want those memorial stones in my life. I want that behind the cross where I left it. You and I should want the same thing.

Not that we're perfect, but we gotta be careful. Sometimes moments in our lives, we can't flirt with sin, this is why, can leave a milestone of negativity in our testimony. Careful. Something happens though, and this is so glorious what happens here in verse eight. After they drink, after this miraculous experience, verse eight tells us, then Amalek came and fought with Israel at Rephidim.

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. So Joshua did as Moses told him and fought with Amalek while Moses and Aaron and Er went up to the top of the hill. When Moses held up his hand, Israel prevailed. And whenever he lowered his hand, Amalek prevailed.

But Moses' hands grew weary, so they took a stone and put it under him, and he sat on it. While Aaron and Er 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, and Joshua overwhelmed Amalek and his people with the sword. Exciting verses, timeless truths. What can we say about these verses here?

It's it's a picture of discipleship. Picture of discipleship? It's two or more of them we were scattered together supporting one of them that go to the advanced classes. Very good observation. Yes.

Intercession. Intercession. Absolutely. Yes. Yes.

Does

it say that God is the reason why they're waiting? He's making known that it's God who's doing that for them.

Yes. You mean fighting for them?

Yeah. But it's not their own strength.

Absolutely. Notice the timing. Notice the timing. Here they are in Rephidim, and here they just experienced a miraculous provision from god almighty. Then Amalek came and attacked.

All for a sudden, here comes the enemy to strike. You think the timing is by accident? No. It's not by accident. But wait a minute.

I thought that, God's enemies were dealt with under the sea. I thought that them coming from Egypt, going through the Red Sea, into the wilderness, and they saw a pharaoh and his army underneath all that water. I thought that was the final yes. His mastery over you and you being a slave to Pharaoh is finished when you get saved. But guess what isn't?

Warfare. Warfare continues. Warfare comes. Attacks do come as you walk with the Lord through this journey. And that's exactly the point here.

And you know when they really come? When you experience something of Christ in a greater measure. When you taste of Christ in a way that you did not before, you can expect Amalek around the corner ready to steal your peace and joy and confidence in God. We think that spiritual attacks come when everything is going wrong. Sure they do.

But you know when they really come too? When everything is going right. When you experience a testimony. When you come back from that conference and you made all these vows and you experienced God, when you heard that sermon and you really told yourself you were gonna apply that sermon, when you received a blessing from God by his grace, that's when Amalek is right there ready to come and steal that from you. You think this is just an isolated situation?

Think of the man who brought revival to Israel, Elijah, when he saw these prophets slain because the fire of God came from heaven on the altar. What happened right after? Jezebel was on the scene. And Jezebel said a few words, and he ran away and wanted to commit suicide, or at least had the thought of it. Not only Old Testament, we see a New Testament in Acts 13.

We see Paul and Barnabas sent off. And when they come to a specific place, a proconsul, somebody in a a politician, an official wanted to hear the gospel. I mean, that's a blessing, isn't it? That's an open door. And what happens?

There's a false prophet, Elymas, Bar Jesus, right there, opposing them and convincing this official otherwise. And so you and I have to understand that when there are moments, when there are testimonies, where there are transitional times in which we taste of Christ in a new way and experience his goodness, the enemy is right there because he sees you as a threat. He wants to rob God of your of the glory, and he wants to come in and interfere. And so these verses, you know what they teach us? How to engage in spiritual warfare.

Because you and I can't aimlessly walk in this life and not think that we are not gonna be touched by him. And Amalek came and fought with Israel at Rephidim. So what did they do? What are some principles that we could learn here? And we already mentioned some.

I think if you combine with what he said and what I said, not only praying but praying together as a body is a way of life. Sure. Absolutely. Let's look at verse nine. It says here, 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. Let's talk on a corporate level. Even on an individual level, this applies, but let's talk corporately because this isn't a corporate attack here. In order for us to be successful, in order for us to advance in this journey in a successful way, pay attention, generations have to come together. Generations have to come together.

We have the Moses generation, and we have the Joshua generation, and they are partners in this thing called the kingdom of God. That's very important. What does the Joshua generation have to offer, and what does the Moses generation have to offer? Yes? Wisdom, knowledge, and experience in order to guide the younger generation.

This is so important. It's gonna get very practical. Wisdom and knowledge and experience from walking with God to grant that guidance needed for the Joshua generation. Now what does the Joshua generation have to offer? Yes?

Sorry. Go ahead, Aaliyah and then Evan. You guys can say it together if you want.

Strength and attitude to do God's work in

Beautiful. Now you have the younger generation that has strength, vitality, energy to what? Bring advancement. So you have the younger generation that wants to move things forward because they have it, they have the zeal, they have the fire to do things, but then you have the older generation that guides, there's wisdom, that has experience, that knows how to whisper in their ears. It's like, hey, I see all that passion, but here, translate that passion this way.

And we even see it pay attention. You even see it in the physical picture here. You see Joshua in the valley doing warfare, and you see Moses and the older men on the top of the hill watching over them, overseeing them, overshadowing them, praying for them. It's even seen in the physical. Loving them.

Sure. And so we see this parallel truth even today. Why is it important? Let me tell you why it's important. Once again, we have these two generations and each have something to offer.

And if you've heard this maybe before from Keith Daniel, but for the sake of reminder, I'll share this beautiful illustration he gives. One day he was in South Africa and he was on the safari, and as he's in the safari, he was just amazed at the animals that were there presented and everything, and he was taking his time by just kinda looking as this car was driving and it was this open field with all these exotic creatures. And at one point, he's guided by this guide, this tour guide, and they see this group of zebras and giraffes, but they're together. They're together. Does anybody remember this story?

They're together. And brother Keith asked the question to the tour guide, and he said, I have a question. Why are the zebras and the giraffes trailing alongside one another? And the tour guy got so excited because he had never been asked that question, though he knew the answer, and he looked at brother Keith and he says, it's because the giraffes have a perspective that the zebras do not. They can see the horizon at a greater length.

So if there's prey coming to attack, they will run off and the zebras will know that there's something wrong, and they will run with the giraffes. And I believe that's a glorious picture of how the younger generation needs to stay close to the older generation because they have a perspective that you and I do not have. They've walked through life, they've experienced the temptation, they've experienced trials. They've experienced certain things that they wanna impart to us, but we can't receive it unless we stay close. Do you have older people in your life that speak into your life?

If not, we should pray for that. You should pray for that. And ask God, Lord, is there a seasoned man or woman that has walked with you? Now notice I'm saying somebody that's walked with God. Just because somebody's older doesn't mean they're spiritual.

Somebody that's walked with God. Guess what? You don't have to be a preacher or evangelist. You can be a businessman. You can be a doctor.

You can be anybody that does not qualify you to walk with God. A seasoned man that you can glean wisdom from. I can tell you one of the most exciting times for church, for me, when I first got saved, was not only the service, but after the service. I'll tell you why. It's because there was this older man in his eighties, and he was on the prayer team after the service.

They had a prayer team, they had people lined up after that if he wanted prayer, they would come up and just each person would deal with an individual and pray for them. But I could not wait to speak to this older man simply because I wanted to ask him questions of what it was like to walk with God as a younger man and what he's learned. And he was so he was radiating with humility. It wasn't like he was coming here. Let me tell you something you don't know, son.

He wasn't like that. But I was eager just to hear from him, and I can tell you the things that he's the stories that he shared, the wisdom that he imparted are nuggets that I still hold today. And this is unfortunate because we are seeing a trend in the church today. We see the older generation neglecting the younger generation, which is absolutely ridiculous because I don't mean to be rude here. You're gonna die one day, and your time is closer statistically than the younger generation.

If we do not pour into the younger generation, what are we doing? If we're not discipling younger people, what is this whole thing about? Who's gonna carry the torch? It's absolutely ridiculous. But on the flip side, you have the younger generation that wants to completely divorce themselves from the older people and start young people church.

It's just all young people, and we because they don't oh, their music is old, and they're old fashioned, and they don't know how to dress. Yeah, but they have something you don't you don't they don't have wisdom. They have experience. They want to impart something to you. So here we have the younger group.

They want nothing to do with the older people because they're just not with the times, and they don't have the cool clothes, and they don't have the cool hairstyles. We have the older generation that is so focused with themselves, and instead of unifying, we have this divisiveness and we're losing. Both sides are losing. And so we need to glean from one another if we wanna be effective in warfare. Moses and Joshua knew that.

They were partners. Moses wasn't insecure with Joshua. Oh, Joshua. Oh, he's people are talking about Joshua. They really like Joshua.

Oh, no. I'm gonna lose my position. No. You're gonna die. Your position's gonna be given up anyway.

Who are you pouring into? And here's Joshua. He's not running around like a rebel saying, oh, look at me. Everybody's oh, yes. I'm zealous.

I'm young. I have energy. Moses is old fashioned. I'm gonna do this my way. Look what it says here.

We see it very clearly. Moses said to Joshua, he gives him instruction. Look at verse 10. So Joshua did as Moses said. There is this unisense.

There is this beauty of harmony between the generations, and if we wanna be effective against the enemy, whether in a local church or the church in large, get the generations together. Then we see here number two, intercession is the secret. You can have all the discipleship groups you want. You can have the all star staff. You can have all the gifting and all the talents.

You can have all those things, but guess what? It's very clear here. Whenever Moses held up his hand, Israel prevailed. And whenever he lowered his hand, Amalek prevailed. We're not fighting against flesh and blood.

Our warfare is something else. It's another realm, requires a different source of power and wisdom from on high, And we see Moses here tapping into that because Moses as an older man learned something from his younger years. Moses in his zealous years as well, when he had it in his heart to see the people of Israel delivered from the captivity of Egypt, you know what he did in Exodus two? He saw a man and he struck the man, and he buried him. He hid him.

He was trying to do it his own strength. You know what you see Moses? You see a trend after that. After God takes him into the wilderness and trains him and humbles him, instead of using his own hands, he lifted up his hand and he sought God for his power and his wisdom and his intervention. That's what we see here.

Moses lifted up his hand. It's a way of, as Gil said, it's a picture of intercession and calling upon the Lord. He learned to depend upon him. He learned how to depend upon God. And there are principles of prayer in these verses that are absolutely necessary because we all know, yes, prayer is a secret.

We hear it. Come to Wednesday night. Awesome. But here's a lesson here, prayer is not the easy job. It's not the easy work.

If you and I think prayer is easy, we're not praying right. It's free, it's available, it's inviting, but specifically intercession, oh, is it tiring? Oh, do you give yourself over? Does your body feel I don't know if some of you can testify after a prayer meeting. You're tired.

You give yourself over to something. You're wrestling against principalities, and we see that here, that he grew tired. He grew tired. His hands it says his hand, it seemed like maybe he was passing that that thing from one hand to another, who knows what his strategy was. Altogether, both hands became tired at one point.

You know why? Because there's another principle when it comes to intercession prayer. The results do not come immediately. Prayer is a secret. Prayer brings the power.

Praise God. Let's pray. Pray. When did the answer come though? When?

It says it right here. When the sun was going down. And usually warfare in this time would happen first thing in the day. So you're just talking all day. All day.

Because though we intercede and though we know that that's a secret to success and victory, the results do not come right away. And as long as he's praying, things are going the right way. The moment he stops, it goes the other direction. And because that principle is true, not only for Moses, but for us today, guess what can happen between the sunrise and the sundown, so to speak? Discouragement.

Discouragement. Right? And just fatigue in general, just wanting to give up. And you can be as spiritual as Moses and still feel those effects because you do not see what you're crying out to God for right away. So what is the remedy to a man that's calling upon God who knows the principles and the promises of prayer?

What's the very thing that fuels him to move forward? He had two men with him, Aaron and Er, and these men came to pray with him. Please pay attention to this. You've heard this so many times. We've heard it altogether, the importance of private prayer, the necessity for you and I to meet with God alone, but this is also true.

We need one another to pray together. There is a specific element of corporate prayer that cannot be dismissed. Because I'll tell you this, on some level, the corporate prayer affects the private prayer and vice versa. There's this mingling that is that takes place. That if everybody in this room prays privately, and we come corporately, oh, something's gonna happen.

But even for those that pray privately, and might find themselves discouraged, there's something about coming with the people of God in unity, in harmony. There's this energy. I don't wanna sound fleshly here, but there's something true about this. That when you come together with somebody else and you hear them praying, and they're praying about the same thing you're asking God for, there's this encouragement. There's this lifting up.

There's a sense of partnership that helps you move forward. I beg you, don't miss corporate prayer. Because your presence is necessary. That when we come together, it edifies and it builds. And so one person says, I'm gonna skip prayer.

Guess what? Somebody else is think thinking the same thing. I'm gonna skip prayer this week too. And then you have eight people that skip prayer. And the corporate experience is not enlarged as it could be.

I get excited for Wednesday night prayer. To come with other people, to seek God, to know that there are other people that want this and have set time apart to seek the Lord for these things, that's encouraging. That's encouraging. And they do this. They come to him and they lift their hands.

And there's something that Aaron and Er do because up to this point, there's a lot of leaning on leadership. Is there not Moses, you pray for the people. Hey, Moses, don't forget. You get the younger generation. Pray.

Moses, it's your job to we see a lot of weight on the leader. Guess what? Because leaders carry a lot of weight. But there's something here that's so vital that as the leader listen carefully. As the leader lifts up his people, the people can't forget to lift up their leader.

Aaron and Er lift up Moses, because guess what? Even leaders get tired and weak. And here they are. They join him by lifting his hands, but they're also lifting their hands. And we know what that is is a picture of joining him in prayer.

Can I give you a little understanding throughout the bible and just a principle in general when it comes to leadership, especially in the things of the church and spiritual, all these things? They're taking hits, man. And you might not have a clue whether you're a part of this church or not of the warfare that goes behind those that are in the front lines. I encourage you strongly by this word, not my opinion, not anything else. Pray for your leaders.

And not only do they lift up Moses in prayer, they do some little slight thing that's so practical too. They put a stone underneath him so that he can sit on it. And I think that's a very practical lesson too. I believe it speaks of this, that these men came to assist him by making his job easier. What do I mean by that?

That the leader has this responsibility, and how the people that are being served respond to the leadership can affect can affect the service of the leader. You understand what I'm saying? This is not an old testament thing. This is very new testament. Hebrews 13 verse 17.

Look what it says here. Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls. Once again, if you're thinking about any type of leadership in the church, you've just added a weight of responsibility beyond the human understanding. You have the job of watching over people's souls. And every soul that the Lord brings under you, you are going to be held accountable for it.

So don't be surprised, people of God, if you have leaders whether in this house or a different house that will come up to you and ask you something like this. How are you doing with your walk with the Lord? Everything okay? Don't get bothered. Don't get annoyed.

Don't get offended. Guess what? There's one day that leader is gonna stand before Jesus Christ, and he's gonna have to be held accountable for every soul that was brought to him. Now for the one that joined the ministry because it's a job, they have a different type of conversation with Christ. But for the one who understands what ministry is about, they are watching over the condition of the soul of people, but that verse doesn't stop there.

As those who have to give an account, let them do this with joy and not with groaning. Let them do this with joy and not with groaning. Why? For that would be no advantage to you. So in the end, the one that does not wanna submit or serve, but the one that wants to complain and resist and aggravate situations because of selfish desires and selfish needs, guess what happens?

In the end, it just backfires on you. Because the leader is put placed there to serve you, and to help you grow, and to align you in whatever in whatever way he can to a greater walk with the Lord, and a greater understanding of his word, and to counsel you through situations in life. And the moment you stop assisting but start attacking, it's really just gonna end up backfiring on you and me. So when you understand the people that God has placed in your life are interceding and fighting battles, assist them. Don't attack them.

Put that stone underneath them. Let them do their job easier. Don't make it too complicated for them. And all it all comes down to this. Doesn't mean that you run up to them and take their No.

No. No. Just calm down. It's just being in harmony with them. That's all it's asking.

That's all it's asking. And we see that they lay this stone. And what happens in verse 13? And Joshua overwhelmed Amalek and his people with the sword. There is something powerful when the older generation praise the younger for the younger generation.

But I wanna ask you a challenging question. We read that verse and what happens? What conclusion do you come with verse 13? It's a conclusion I come with, there's total victory. Praise God.

They overwhelmed them. War's over. No casualties. No problems. Nothing happened.

Or did something happen? Here's the third principle. Here's the first principle. Generations must come together if we wanna be effective in spiritual warfare against the enemy. Here's the second principle.

Intercession is the secret. Here's the third principle. Don't lag behind. Don't lag behind, saying where are you getting that from? Deuteronomy 25 verse 17.

When the Lord speaks to the nation of Israel, he calls them to remember this moment in Exodus chapter 17, and look what the Lord says. 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. Stop. You know when Satan loves attack?

When you're faint and weary. When you exhaust yourself to the bone and you and I have not learned how to rest, you are. You are setting yourself up for burnout. Faint and weary. Elijah, the one of the most powerful men in the Bible, you know what his problem was?

He didn't know how to eat and sleep. You know, mighty men of God in church history, you know how they've come down? They thought that they can do it by staying up all night and praying and interceding when they didn't do the practical things like eating a good meal. Faint and weary. Somebody said this at one point, and I guess it's personal opinion, but there's some truth to it, that the moments where you and I are tempted the most is when we're hungry, when we're angry, when we're lonely, and when we're tired.

Halt. Hungry, angry, lonely, tired. And there's some principle of truth in this verse concerning that. What is it? They were faint and weary, look what it says here, and cut off your tail.

Those who are lagging behind you and did not fear God. It says here, I don't know what it says in the international interesting international version, and we're feeble behind you. So when you see in light of this verse, you come back to Exodus 17, and Amalek did take out a group of people. You know who he took out? The ones that were lagging behind.

The ones paid attention that were disconnected from the group. The ones that were kind of participating, but not really. The ones that did not see the benefit of accountability and corporate worship. The ones that thought that they can do it without their brothers and sisters in Christ. Those people are the ones that make themselves more vulnerable to Satan's attacks.

The ones that are lagging behind. When God has called us to be a body and called us to be close to one another and have people speak into our life and have leaders hold you accountable to how your walk with the Lord is, When you're in that core group is where you are the safest, but the moment you begin to flirt with that line lagging behind, he separates you, he isolates you, and guess what he does? This is true. Don't get it twisted, he devours you. And really, it does not happen immediately.

It's a process. Oh, you see it. They used to come to the meetings, and they start to pull away. It's too many meetings a week. Now this is no pressure to come to every meeting, but pay attention.

Things start to roll in the mind. I wanna do other things. I miss my friends from high school, and they began to lag behind. Oh, bible study is not important, and it happens day by day, week by week, and their attendance begins to thin out, And what's really happening is what happens in the animal kingdom, that when this herd of animals runs, the defense mechanism is that they stay together, but that prey, that lion, that cheetah waits for one antelope to separate from the group so he can devour him. And he just waits.

He stops talking to his brothers and sisters in Christ and now he finds himself having more conversations with the worldly people and about worldly things, and nobody's speaking life into them, but they're allowing the flesh to be fueled by bad company, which eventually corrupts good behavior. And they're lagging behind and they're trailing. And all for a sudden, before you know it, when Amalek comes, it's harder for him to penetrate the core group. I hear a few that are just sprinkled behind. I'll get those ones.

If you know somebody like that, pray for them and lovingly approach them and say, man, you gotta be with us. We miss you. We want you to be with us. Come join us. We need you.

Don't lag behind. Spiritual warfare will come because this is not the only moment that the enemy will come and attack Israel, but here are some timeless truths. Generations must come together. Intercession is the secret, and don't lag behind. And when you and I taste of Christ in greater ways and when we have greater testimonies in the Lord, keep an eye on that rear view mirror because there is something planned that might come.

But there's nothing to fear. Greater is he that is in you than he who is in the world. Let's pray.