By James Riley Strange, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of New Testament, Samford University
Our Banner
Exodus 17:8–16
Read all of chapters 17 and 18 to set the story in its context. On their way to Mount Sinai and before reformulating how they settle disputes, the children of Israel undergo four crises in the wilderness. We read about these crises in chapters 15 through 17. First there was a lack of water, then there was a lack of food. The third crisis was another lack of water. Today we will look at the fourth crisis: a military menace. These crises give Israel a taste of what they will face once they enter Canaan.
Today’s passage is the first time we meet Amalek (the Amalekites), a seminomadic tribe that is presented as Israel’s habitual enemies. It also is the first time we meet Joshua (“YHWH will save”; see Matt. 1:21), Moses’ general in the wilderness and successor in Canaan. And verse 14 gives us the first mention of Israelite literacy in the Bible.
We can stand against those who seek to harm us. (8–10)
It is not clear where Rephidim is, just as we are not sure of the location of Mount Sinai/Horeb. We should recognize this staff from Moses’ first encounter with God, when it became a snake (4:2). It is the staff that Moses stretched over the Red Sea to divide it (14:16) and the staff with which Moses struck the rock when Israel needed water (17:6).
Aaron also may have used it during the plagues. Israel, and even Moses himself, may think of the staff as something like a magic wand but the Book of Exodus doesn’t present it that way. Moses is not a magician but a man who carries out God’s commands. It is God who is caring for Israel and Moses uses the staff to signify that he is acting on God’s behalf.
We prevail in spiritual battle because of God’s presence and power in our lives. (11–13)
The Israelites probably misunderstand the power of the staff and that explains what we see in this passage. The narration is careful never to say that the raised staff is responsible for the Israelite victory or that the lowered staff is to blame for their intermittent defeat. Rather the army probably feels brave when they see Moses standing with his arms raised and their success seems to them miraculous. The miracle, however, is that God fights on their side. Moses stands over the Israelites during their battle as a symbol of God’s presence.
God is forever over us as our banner of protection. (14–16)
The symbolic power of the sight of Moses explains why Moses names his altar “YHWY-Nissi” (“the-LORD-Is-My-Banner”). It is not a magical staff or magical Moses to whom Israel looks for its needs — it is God. The prophet Isaiah makes use of this knowledge in Isaiah 11:1–16, when he talks about the shoot that “shall come out from the stump of Jesse” (11:1). He recalls the idea of the just judge (11:3–4; compare Ex. 18:13–27), striking with a rod (11:4), God’s “holy mountain” (11:9) and God’s rescue of Israel from Egypt (11:16). For both Isaiah and Moses, God is Israel’s banner: its sign of God’s presence and help.
I see three lessons for us today. The first is the one Israel learned: The Lord is our banner. We look to God for help (Ps. 121:1–2). The second is that God helps us through people. God has supplied us with our own Moseses (and Aarons and Hurs) to act on His behalf. Third we are Moseses (and Aarons and Hurs) to others. When we pray asking God to see to our needs, let us also ask Him to allow us to see Him working through other people and to help us, in turn, work on His behalf.
Share with others: