Moses and the Amalakites

Preached on 23 October 2022 at St Mary the Virgin, Little Burstead

Introduction

I understand that you have been working through a series on Moses, so today I will be looking mainly at Moses in this passage and trying to see what lessons his actions and his relationship to the Lord provide for us.

Background

I don’t know what you’ve looked at so for, so I’ll start with some scene setting, and I apologise if I’m covering old ground.

The attack by the Amalakites came less than three months after the Israelites had miraculously escaped from Egypt. It must have seemed longer as they were already facing hardships. They had travelled to Rephidim, which is probably the large wadi Refayid in south-west Sinai. A wadi is a valley with a stream at the bottom, but the stream will only run during the rainy season, for the rest of the year it will be dry.

They had hoped to find water there, but the wadi had already dried up. So the Lord had provided water from a rock, which Moses had been instructed to strike with his staff.

They are not travelling across flat desert, but through hills and along valleys. This means that there is a long train of people following the pillar of cloud or fire – cloud during the day, fire at night.

Amalakite Attack

As they are strung out they are vulnerable to attack and the Amalakites take advantage of that. This is how Deuteronomy 25 later described the attack:

¹⁷ Remember what the Amalekites did to you along the way when you came out of Egypt.
¹⁸ When you were weary and worn out, they met you on your journey and attacked all who were lagging behind; they had no fear of God. ¹⁹ When the Lord your God gives you rest from all the enemies around you in the land he is giving you to possess as an inheritance, you shall blot out the name of Amalek from under heaven. Do not forget!

Amalek was the grandson of Esau, who was the twin of Jacob. There’s no love lost between those two. It seems that the Amalakites were intent on the destruction of the Israelites, and that didn’t end well for them. Perhaps nations today that are intent on the destruction of Israel should take note.

Joshua

After the Amalakite attack Joshua is chosen to select an army and to prepare to fight them off. This is the first mention of Joshua in Exodus. He must have been known and already trusted to some degree by Moses, but this would be his biggest test so far. Moses is looking to grow his leaders and may already be thinking of who will succeed him as leader of the Israelites. We used to call that succession planning at work. It was one of the things I had to do as team leader that I really enjoyed.

Hur

We hear of Hur for the first time in this passage, too. He is asked to join Moses on the hill to observe the battle. Later, he will be left with Aaron to look after the Israelites when Moses goes up the mountain to receive the commandments. You may remember that while Moses was away, they made an idol to worship. The people seem to have focussed on Aaron as their leader by then, and Hur doesn’t get much of a mention. Not all potential leaders make it.

Preparation for battle

I imagine that after the initial Amalakite raid, there is some frantic planning to be done by the Israelites. Moses gets his people organised and plans are prepared for the divisive battle the following day. Joshua will organise some troops, and Moses with the staff of God, Aaron and Hur, will oversee the battle from a hill they have chosen.

Staff of God

When morning comes, they ascend to the top of the hill and Moses raises his staff above his head. The staff is just an ordinary shepherds staff – a long, heavy stick.

When God first called Moses to set his people free from the Egyptians, he was very unsure of his call. God had to do a number of miracles to convince Moses that God was really calling him. Here’s that incident from the start of Exodus 4.

¹Moses answered, “What if they do not believe me or listen to me and say, ‘The Lord did not appear to you’?”

²Then the Lord said to him, “What is that in your hand?”

“A staff,” he replied.

³The Lord said, “Throw it on the ground.”

Moses threw it on the ground and it became a snake, and he ran from it. ⁴Then the Lord said to him, “Reach out your hand and take it by the tail.” So Moses reached out and took hold of the snake and it turned back into a staff in his hand.

After this, Moses’s staff became the “Staff of God”. There is nothing special about it. It does not somehow contain God, or God’s power, it is simply a prop that God uses to give Moses confidence that God is with him, and has called him to his difficult task. It is a symbol for him and for those around him of God’s presence.

Pleading, Prayer, or Worship

So what is Moses doing sitting on the top of the hill with his arms in the air and holding his staff aloft?

Well, the stance is one of pleading, or prayer, or possibly worship. Moses has had quite a lot of grumbling from the people when things haven’t gone their way. Now though, they have a common enemy, so for a while they are united. I believe that Moses is probably doing all three.

He’s pleading, because he knows that this is a battle that has to be won.

He’s praying, because he knows that the battle can only be won, if victory is the will of God.

He’s worshipping, because he sees what’s happening – they are winning – until he relaxes a bit, then they are losing. Then he applies a little extra strength, his arms go up, and they are winning again. So he is their praising and worshipping God for the victories that he’s seeing, praying for his own strength to hold his arms up, and praying and pleading for the battle to be won. Eventually he needed help, he’d been there a long time and he’s an old man.

Psychological effect

There is some suggestion that the Israelites may have been encouraged to fight harder when they could see Moses with his arms raised, praying to God.

This very much depends on a geography that we don’t have. Maybe the Israelites could see Moses from down in the valley where they were fighting, but it’s by no means a given. It is entirely possible that Moses was up on a hill behind the battle, if they were looking back, it’s unlikely that they were winning. So maybe there was a demoralizing effect on the Amalakites.

Real war

Before we get to the lessons that we can learn from all of this, we must remember that this was a nasty hand to hand battle, in which many of the men on both sides would have been killed or seriously wounded. It’s very easy to forget how hard these battles were and to talk about them as if no-one was really hurt. It was not like that. A lot of blood was spilt, sons and husbands did not return. Some of those that did would die later of their wounds, or be crippled by them for life.

Power of God

Now the Israelites see the power of God. They could not have won the battle on their own. They have been arguing and complaining to Moses when little things didn’t go their way. Now they have won an important battle only because the Lord was there, and His servant was following His instruction.

Lessons

What have we learnt about Moses, and what does that teach us today?

Moses

We have seen that Moses is a man of God, but doesn’t seem to have a secure faith in God. He still needs his props to show him, and those around him, that God is present with him. But, whatever his level of faith he, above all the Israelites, is obedient. He does what God asks of him, even when he is unsure.

And when he is in need, he turns to God in prayer and doesn’t stop praying.

He is also a thoughtful leader, watching those he leads, looking for those who may one day take his place and providing them with opportunities to practice their leadership.

As a godly leader, he is a great example for those around him, especially those who might aspire to lead.

Lessons for us

The attack by the Amalakites shows us how the spiritual realm and the physical realm work together. For God to work in our world, there have to be people pleading, praying and worshipping, all within the will of God. That’s Moses.

There have to be people supporting that prayer, and probably praying themselves too. That’s Aaron and Hur.

There have to be people at the sharp end (no pun intended), taking action, and most importantly being willing to make sacrifices to get the job done. That’s Joshua and his carefully selected band of Israelite soldiers.

There really isn’t a split between the spiritual realm and the physical realm, it’s all part of the world we live in. It’s just that some of our actions are focussed more in one area than another.

Let me leave you with one of my favourite quotes from Augustine of Hippo:

“Pray as though everything depended on God. Work as though everything depended on you.”

Because I believe that’s what was going on with Moses and the Israelites.

Amen.

 

References

https://unionvillebpc.com/sermon-on-exodus-178-16-on-the-undefeated-team/

https://www.sermoncentral.com/sermons/spiritual-warfare-pastor-author-terry-sisney-sermon-on-spiritual-warfare-203803https://bibleask.org/why-did-moses-lift-his-hands-during-the-battle-against-the-amelekites/https://craigkeener.com/the-staff-of-moses-becomes-the-staff-of-god-exodus-42-17-20/

 

A first time experience of the Lord

 Preached @ Christ Church, Billericay, 8 October 2022 

Reading: 2 Kings 5v1-3;7-15c; Luke 17v11-19

Introduction

Today, we are going to be looking at one man’s first experience of God, through the story of Naaman.

Backdrop

The backdrop of the story that we heard a part of this morning is an ongoing set of border skirmishes between Aram and Israel. There was supposed to be a treaty. They are not quite at all out war yet, but King Ben-Hahid II of Aram and King Jehoram of Israel are almost there. We can read how that situation escalated in the next chapter of 2 Kings.

For now, though, let’s concentrate on the events read to us this morning.

Servant Girl

In one of these skirmishes, a young girl has been kidnapped. My commentary calls her a maiden, so she was too young to be a wife for someone, and has been forced into slavery, I imagine. She is serving Naaman’s wife. We cannot tell what the atmosphere was like in that household, whether she was well treated or not. But we do know that she had faith in the Lord, and was old enough to know about the prophet Elisha. She was also aware of Naaman’s condition.

Leprosy

Leprosy is now known as Hansen’s disease. It is a bacteriological infection that damages nerves and affects the skin. Today it is easily treated with antibiotics, but according to the American Centre for Disease Control they have to be taken for a year to ensure the disease is cured. Now, Hansen’s disease is not particularly infectious, but in biblical times, Leprosy was thought to be highly infectious. Without our diagnostic abilities, it was a generic description for all sorts of skin diseases.

Courage

It takes courage for a young girl to speak up, especially when she is in captivity in a foreign land. Why should she care? Why should she do something to aid her enemy? Surely she should keep quiet and hope that Naaman gets sicker until he can no longer command the army that is responsible for her situation. That would be the best thing to do, that would be the correct military strategy for her.

Love your enemies

We know that Jesus said, “Love your enemies”, that idea exists in the Old Testament too, in

Proverbs 25:21-22
If your enemy is hungry, give him food to eat;
And if he is thirsty, give him water to drink;
For you will heap burning coals on his head,
And the Lord will reward you.

So, that is what she does, and that is exactly what she should do in her situation. She knows, because she has faith in the Lord, that the prophet can and will cure Naaman. If Naaman is not cured, things could get even worse for her.

Missing verses

Then we inexplicably skipped over three verses, where Naaman gets a letter from Ben-Hahid II and takes with him “ten talents of silver, six thousand shekels of gold and ten sets of clothing.” to pay the prophet for his healing.

The king also gives him a letter for the King of Israel. He will need this because if he is found in Israel without it, the Israelites might assume an invasion is underway. The king’s letter reads:

“With this letter I am sending my servant Naaman to you so that you may cure him of his leprosy.”

It is one of the most incompetent letters I’ve ever read (I’m being generous). If this is the calibre of leadership in the area, I’m not surprised there was a state of almost constant war.

Elisha’s response

It should be no surprise to any of us the way Jehoram reacted. Of course, the king can’t cure leprosy. Fortunately, Elisha is there to pick up the pieces. I know how he feels, having had to pick up the pieces after gross communications failures between senior people at various points of my career. Thankfully, I was never asked to cure anyone of leprosy.

Elisha tells the King, “Have the man come to me, and he will know that there is a prophet in Israel.” Elisha’s concern is not to heal Naaman, but to give glory to God, to make His name known beyond the borders of Israel. That is the Israelites purpose. Not to establish and secure the borders of the promised land, but to give glory to God amongst the nations. Elisha knows his calling, and everything that follows is intended to fulfil it.

The healing – Naaman expects

When Naaman arrives at Elisha’s place, with his horses and chariots, he is expecting the full works. He’s an important man and he knows it. The prophet (or the wizard, which is probably closer to Naaman’s view of Elisha) should be present, and put on some grand show – lots of arm waving and a few explosions perhaps – something that is notable and memorable – a good show.

The healing – Naaman gets

Instead, what he gets is a messenger with a short, almost curt, message “Go, wash yourself seven times in the Jordan, and your flesh will be restored, and you will be cleansed.” His expectations have not been met, and he is loosing face with his whole entourage, he feels humiliated. Maybe he even sees something of the ongoing conflict – my river is better than yours. So, in his anger, he turns for home. It’s been a wasted journey.

Servants help

I’d love to know how much time passed between verse 12 and verse 13. How far did he get, how long did he take to calm down?

At some point before he arrives back in Aram, the servants – who are used to being given the brush-off – go to him and make the case for giving the Jordan a try. If the prophet had asked you to do some great difficult thing – you would have done it wouldn’t you, so why not try this simple thing?

Where’s the glory

If the prophet had asked Naaman to complete some great quest, Naaman would have been able to claim that what he did had cured him. He would have treated the whole episode as another successful military campaign – with all the self glorifying stories that they always generate. If that had happened, Elisha’s desire that Naaman should know that there is a prophet in Israel would have failed.

In the Jordan

So he went to the Jordan and dipped himself in the required seven times. When he came out, not only had his skin complaint been cured, but the anti-wrinkle properties had worked as well, and he looked years younger.

Giving Thanks

Now, this foreigner, this outsider, this non-believer, this enemy, returns to Elisha, with his entire entourage, to give thanks and to give the gifts he had bought with him for this exact reason. This time the prophet comes out to meet him and to hear him say, “Now I know that there is no God in all the world except in Israel.” And now Naaman offers the gifts, but it is most certainly not about payment, because that again would detract from the Glory that should be given to God for the healing that has been performed. Elisha will not accept the gifts.

Naaman changed

If we read on a little, we will see that Naaman is changed by the whole experience. He asks for and is given Israelite earth to kneel on when he is making offerings to the one true God. When he is chased by Elisha’s servant Gehazi, he gets off his horse. That alone indicates that he has changed, he has recognised the Lord and is now more humble because of it. It’s not just the disease and wrinkles that have gone, but the self-importance as well. Important men do not dismount for servants. Naaman has been fully healed.

Parallel to Luke

Just as in Luke it was the foreigner, the outside, the Samaritan, who properly recognised Jesus and came back to give thanks, so here it is the Aramean who recognises the Lord, in front of whom all his local gods pale into insignificance.

First time before God

There is something about coming before God for the first time. Both Naaman and the Samaritan experienced it. It somehow has a greater effect on us than it does when it occurs for the second or tenth time. Maybe you still remember your first encounter? That’s why Elisha’s strategy was so carefully planned and executed. Even though he said “so that he will know there is a prophet in Israel” to the King, his real intent was to help Naaman meet God. He carefully stepped out of the way and allowed that to happen, he was then insistent on not taking payment, to ensure that nothing was taken away from the experience.

Naaman, the commander of the enemy’s armies, met God and was changed. Hopefully, we can be like Elisha, and strategically help others to have that experience for themselves.

Amen.

 

YouTube: https://youtu.be/QK7NIti2nsE

References

https://www.virtualpreacher.org/sermon-notes/naaman/

https://thefaithspace.com/lessons-from-the-story-of-naaman/

https://www.cdc.gov/leprosy/world-leprosy-day/index.html

https://www.sermoncentral.com/sermons/the-other-nine-bradley-boydston-sermon-on-miracles-of-jesus-74263