Context & Key Themes
Exodus 17 contains two episodes that bookend the chapter: water from the rock at Massah and Meribah, and the first battle against the Amalekites. In both episodes the outcome depends entirely on something Moses does with his hands raised. The themes are the testing of God versus trusting God, intercessory prayer as a weapon of war, and the Lord’s declaration of perpetual enmity with Amalek.
Key Verses
“Is the Lord among us or not?” — Exodus 17:7
“Whenever Moses held up his hand, Israel prevailed, and whenever he lowered his hand, Amalek prevailed.” — Exodus 17:11
Summary
The congregation moves from the wilderness of Sin by stages and camps at Rephidim, but there is no water. The people quarrel with Moses: give us water to drink. Moses says: why do you quarrel with me? Why do you test the Lord? But the people are thirsty and grumble: why did you bring us up out of Egypt to kill us and our children and our livestock with thirst? Moses cries to the Lord: what shall I do with this people? They are almost ready to stone me. God tells Moses to go ahead of the people with the staff and the elders. Strike the rock at Horeb and water will come out. Moses does this in the sight of the elders. He calls the place Massah and Meribah — testing and quarreling — because of the question the people asked: is the Lord among us or not?
The Amalekites come and fight Israel at Rephidim. Moses tells Joshua: choose men and go out and fight Amalek. Tomorrow I will stand on the top of the hill with the staff of God in my hand. Joshua does as Moses says and fights Amalek. Moses, Aaron, and Hur go up to the top of the hill. Whenever Moses holds up his hand, Israel prevails. Whenever he lowers his hand, Amalek prevails. Moses’s hands grow heavy. Aaron and Hur take a stone and put it under him to sit on. One holds up his hand on one side and one on the other so his hands remain steady until the sun sets. Joshua overwhelms Amalek and his people with the sword. God tells Moses to write this as a memorial in a book and recite it in the ears of Joshua: I will utterly blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven. Moses builds an altar and calls it The Lord Is My Banner, saying: a hand upon the throne of the Lord — the Lord will have war with Amalek from generation to generation.
Reflection
Is the Lord among us or not? That question, asked at the rock, is the question underneath every wilderness complaint. It is not really about the water. It is about whether the God who opened the sea and rained bread from heaven can be trusted to be present in the next crisis. Israel has seen the answer repeatedly and keeps asking the question again. That is not a failure unique to them. It is the recurring question of faith pressed against present need — the gap between what God has done and what He seems to be doing right now.
The battle against Amalek is one of the most vivid pictures of intercessory prayer in all of Scripture. Joshua fights with a sword. Moses fights with raised hands. Both are necessary. Neither alone is sufficient. When Moses’s hands drop, Israel loses ground. When they are held up, Israel advances. Aaron and Hur sitting Moses on a stone and holding up his arms until sunset is an image of the community of faith sustaining the intercessor who sustains the battle. Prayer is not passive. It is the other front of the same war, and it requires the same kind of endurance.
The Lord’s declaration of perpetual war with Amalek reaches forward through Samuel and Saul and David across the centuries. Amalek attacked Israel from behind, striking the weak and the weary who were lagging at the rear — the most vulnerable, those who could not keep pace with the column. The Lord does not forget what was done to the least of His people. The memorial is written in a book and recited in Joshua’s ears. Write it down. Remember. He will have war with Amalek from generation to generation.