One Very Positive And Practical Way Of Reacting And Responding When Facing Something Totally New
Facing something new has its individual and unique difficulties. There is the wondering. There can be a degree of apprehension. None of us enjoy being confronted with the unknown - even when we know with assurance that the living Christ is with us.
Within around three months of being delivered from Egypt and the chasing charioteers, they are having to face the armies of the Amalekites.
Here is Israel - two and a half million people - facing conflict and warfare. We have the detailed record of this amazing scenario in Exodus Chapter 17.
Who were the Amalekites? What is their background? We read frequently that God is the God of Abraham Isaac and Jacob. Abraham had a son Isaac, and Isaac had twins, Jacob and Esau, and without going into all the details, we know that Esau sold his birthright for a bowl of lentil soup.
Esau - who had lost his birthright because he wanted something immediately - Esau and his tribe inter-married with the Amalekites. The tension that had existed between Jacob and Esau continued for centuries. It passed on from one generation to the next.
Jacob received a new name from God - his name was changed to ISRAEL, and the details of that can be found in Genesis Chapter 32 - and wonderfully inspiring passage. His brother Esau and the Amalekite people became one through marriage. The tension and feud continued, and went right down through their children.
From Jacob - whose name became Israel - came Jesus Christ.
From Esau - who intermarried with these Amalekites came a man called Herod.
One day the descendents of Jacob and Esau met - we read of this in Luke Chapter 23 verse 8. Do read the Exodus 17 and Luke 23 Passages. Jesus and Herod came face to face.
No man should think he can escape from meeting Jesus Christ. A man may run away from Jesus for years - even for generations - but one day they will meet.
Look at that meeting - Jesus had nothing to say to Herod. There came that point where just as God had nothing more to say to Pharaoh. There can come a point where Jesus Christ has nothing more to say to certain people.
This is why we need to have our picture of God in line with the picture of Almighty God as revealed in the Bible. There is no other reliable picture. It is the God of the Bible - it is the Christ of the Scriptures - Who sustains and upholds and strengthens.
It is the Jesus Christ of Nazareth, the Son of God, Who died and rose again and who ascended - and we need all these words these days.
Jacob is the man of vision - Jacob is the man of faith who lives for the future.
Esau is the man who lives for the present - the man who lives for the flesh - the man who lives for what he can get now.
And - this warfare continues today too.
We are either with Jacob - with Israel - with Jesus Christ - or we are with the Amalekites, fighting against the people of God.
What happened is this - the Amalekites began to attack Israel - by coming round the back and killing off the stragglers.
Keep up - keep up - keep in the fellowship of the people of God - keep among all the others - never allow yourself to drop back. Don’t lag behind on your own - isolated - that opens you to all sorts of dangers.
The isolated sheep can be so easily picked off by a prowling wolf. The details of this strategy can be found in Deuteronomy Chapter 25 and verse 17 following.
Joshua is appointed leader of the army of Israel - and note how as the army of Israel faces the threat of the Amalekites - everyone is involved.
All of them have to deal with this very real danger - together - all of us.
Yes - at the beginning - at the start - God fights for you - but then one day you have to fight and take your stand for Jesus Christ - and it is a little bit easier to stand when others are standing with you.
The older ones are up on the mountain praying - praying for the younger ones who are fighting in the front line.
As long as Moses hands were up, they progressed. They had to fight with the sword and the rod. And - when Moses gets tired - others upheld him.
The lesson is - pray until the battle is over - pray until the problem is solved and resolved - pray until you have the victory.
The secret of their success was not in the mighty strength of the young ones in the front line - important though that was - the secret of success was with the man on top of the hill.
Our success depends upon the power of the man, Jesus Christ, Who was on the top of another hill.
It is in the battle that they learn something new about God - it is when they are up against things that they receive a new revelation - “The Lord is my banner”.
Time and time again people have discovered this tremendous truth - it is when we are up against things that we learn how loving, caring, powerful, mighty, concerned, and compassionate, our Risen Christ is.
Israel is delivered from her present plight. The living Jesus delivers us from various dangerous situations - but the battle continues from generation to generation - frequently becoming more intense.
When that occurs we find Jesus Christ more and more powerful to help us in our hour or month or year of need.
Sandy Shaw is Pastor of Nairn Christian Fellowship, Chaplain at Inverness Prison, and Nairn Academy, and serves on The Children’s Panel in Scotland, and has travelled extensively over these past years teaching, speaking, in America, Canada, South Africa, Australia, making 12 visits to Israel conducting Tours and Pilgrimages, and most recently in Uganda and Kenya, ministering at Pastors and Leaders Seminars, in the poor areas surrounding Kampala, Nairobi, Mombasa and Kisumu.
He broadcasts regularly on WSHO radio out of New Orleans, and writes a weekly commentary at http://www.studylight.org entitled “Word from Scotland” on various biblical themes, as well as a weekly newspaper column.
His M.A. and B.D. degrees are from The University of Edinburgh, and he continues to run and exercise regularly to maintain a level of physical fitness.
Sandy Shaw
sandyshaw63@yahoo.com
Tags: Education, Exodus, Faith, Leadership, Prayer, Spirituality, Support, Warfare