Your Destiny, His Glory!
Thursday, June 26! Be watching our website msrepairersofthebreach.com to order.
Over the next few weeks I am posting excerpts from my new book, Your Destiny, His Glory! Hope you enjoy and order a copy soon! Other comparisons for the Teacher gift are the Priest hood as a whole and the Showbread of the Tabernacle and the Third day of creation. All of these and more are discussed in detail in my upcoming book, Your Destiny, His Glory!
Because the Teacher gift seems to always carry a double portion I will be posting this in two posts.
Exodus 17:8. Jehovah-Nissi. Our standard. Our victory. The battle with the Amalekites was quite the game changer for the nation of Israel. Until this battle, they had functioned as slaves. But on this day they began to see themselves as Jehovah saw them: the sons of Israel, a nation set apart for Himself. No longer passive slaves, on this day they would acknowledge themselves as His sons.
There is a huge difference between a slave and a son. The slave makes no decisions for himself, and his master provides all his needs. If he doesn’t have it, he doesn’t need it. Even if the obedient slave is well-treated and loved, he does not share in the father’s estate. Neither does he own any property, including his own life.
A son, on the other hand, has relationship with his father, gets his identity from his father, and takes responsibility for his father’s property.
Until this battle, the nation of Israel had expected Moses and his rod to meet all of their needs. This was rather like being a slave in Egypt. In Egypt, the rod of Moses turned the water to blood and brought the flies, frogs, and other plagues. When they needed deliverance at the Red Sea, Moses’ rod parted the sea, and they crossed over on dry ground. When they needed anything at all, they looked to Moses’ rod for their provision.
Since they saw themselves as slaves, the predatory Amalekites also saw them this way and attacked to enslave them again. The Israelites’ first inclination was to look to the rod of Moses for deliverance. After all, that is what slaves do. Assuming no responsibility, the people would passively wait for the Lord and Moses to take care of any problem they might encounter.
Ah! But this day was different. Moses called the people together and brought Joshua up front. The Lord had promised to be their God and their Father, but if they were to be his sons, they would need to take responsibility and actually fight in a battle led by Joshua.
What? Where was Moses’ rod? You know—the one with the power, the one that parts the seas and defeats enemies? Can you imagine their questions?
No rod of deliverance today. This day they would strap on a sword and fight. Were they a little anxious? Probably so. They had never actually fought in a battle. But they could see the fire by night and the cloud by day. They had come to recognize this Presence that was alive, powerful, and stayed with them constantly. They referred to His Presence as their Banner.
Did they trust Joshua and Moses? Yes.
Would the Lord go with them? Yes.
Would he show His supernatural presence as at the Red Sea? Yes.
Determined, they rose up that day, ready to fight.
