FBT Daily Devotional: Exodus 17

FBT Daily Devotional

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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:04

Okay, so we're talking about Exodus chapter 17. And what I'm gonna do is just read the chapter is a short one from the New Literature Translation and then to just pull out some um thoughts as we are going through. So the first um verse says, at the Lord's command, at the Lord's command, the whole community of Israel left the wilderness of sin and moved from place to place. Eventually they camped at Rifidim, but there was no water there for the people to drink. Dun dun dun. Oh no, and we have a problem. You're in the middle of doing what God said for you to do, but here comes a situation. Hmm. So how should we react? Let's see how they reacted. So once more, the people complained against Moses. Give us water to drink. They demanded. Complaining is the um language of the enemy, it is not the language of God. The language of God is um in a situation, in the test, in the trial, in the problem. You know, you're going to give that to him. You're going to pray, you're going to roll and cast that care over on God. That is what we have been instructed to do. That is the example that's been shown to the people of Israel from time and time and time again. Remember, now they are going into the wilderness, they're in the wilderness, they're walking on this journey, right? So they've already come through the Red Sea, they've already seen the ten plagues, they've seen so many miracles, signs, and wonders happen. But here we are at a problem. There's no water on the in the place where God told them to be. They're in the place where they're supposed to be, but they ran into an issue or a problem. But guess what? God is right there with them. And if they would just have opened their mouth and said, Hey, we have this problem, then provision would have been provided. But instead, they did what their knee-jerk reflex was, what their flesh wanted to do, which was complain at the situation that's in front of me. All right. So Moses blessed. He says, Quiet, Moses replied, Why are you complaining against me? And why are you seeing the Lord? But tormented by thirst, their flesh is tormented and irritated because they're thirsty. They continue to argue with Moses. Now they ain't talking to God about the situation, they're talking to Moses about the situation. Why did you bring us out of Egypt? Are you trying to kill us, our children, and our livestock with thirst? Then Moses cried out to the Lord. Here we go. This is the response of faith. This is the response knowing that God is there. This is the response saying that you know God will supply all my needs according to his riches and glory in Christ Jesus. This is what we are to do when we have issues and problems and situations that come against us. We are to cry out to the God who told us to go through that wilderness in the first place. Then it says, What should I do with these people? They're ready to sell me. This is Moses crying out. Then the Lord said to Moses, Walk out in front of the people, walk out in front of them. Take your staff, the one you used when you struck the water of the Nile, and call some of the elders of Israel to join you. Now, this staff has taken uh Moses through many a test and many a trial. This staff is um been able to be used and utilized for miracle signs and wonders, so they can recognize the power that's in that staff. They recognize the anointing that was on that staff, and that's the staff that I told him to take when he told them to step out in front of the people and have some of the elders join him. Then God says, I will stand before you on the rock at Mount Sinai, strike the rock, and water will come out. Then the people will be able to drink. Now, um, this uh striking of the rock is a type of Christ, he was um bruised for our iniquities, he was crushed for our sins, right? The chastisement of our peace was upon him. This was a type of Jesus in the um in the old testament. So Moses struck the rock as he was told, follow the commands of the Lord, receive the promises of what has been told to you, and water gushed out as the elders looked on. Now, this he did exactly what God commanded him to do, and he received the results of what God said. Now, of course, you know, I'm I'm just gonna jump ahead a little bit. Of course, we know when we get further along, there's gonna be another situation with some water, and God is going to give him a different instruction. He's not gonna say strike the rock, he's gonna say speak to the rock, but that one misstep is gonna cost Moses dearly, and I won't tell too much more because we know we do it as the Bible terms, so I will let the person who would that they is a son to speak on that. Let me jump back into this scripture. Um, Moses named the place Masa, which means test, and Meribah, which means arguing, because the people of Israel argued with Moses and tested the Lord by saying, Is the Lord here with us or not? Now, next part of this chapter, it says, Israel defeats the Amalekites. While the people of Israel were still at Refem, the warriors of Amalek attacked them. Seed time and harvest. I can't help but think that you know they were in, they were in where God told them to go. They were following the command of the Lord, they're walking through the wilderness, and then they had a problem, there was no water, and they started complaining against Moses. And now all of a sudden, you have this army attacking them right after they were coming against Moses. Now, army them. Um, you sow you're going to get certain harvests. If you sow good seeds, you might receive a good harvest. Well, you will receive a good harvest. You sow bad seeds, you receive a bad harvest. It works either way you do it. So you have to be careful of the seeds that we sow with our mouth, with our actions, with the things that we are doing. And if we don't like the harvest that we were receiving, we need to check upon our seed. So Moses commanded Joshua, choose some men and go out and fight the army of Amalek for us tomorrow. I will stand at the top of the hill holding the staff of God in my hand, the staff of God in his hand, that same staff that is brought them through tests, that same staff that is brought them through trials, that same staff that is anointed with the presence of God. So Joshua did what Moses had commanded and fought the army of Amalek. Meanwhile, Moses, Aaron, and her climbed to the top of a nearby hill. As long as Moses held up the staff in his hand, the Israelites had the advantage. But whenever he dropped his hand, the Amalekites gained the advantage. Moses's arms soon became so tired he could no longer hold them up. So Aaron and her found the stone for him to sit on. So then they stood on each side of Moses, holding up his hand, so his hands held steady until sunset. As a result, Joshua overwhelmed the army of Amalek in battle. Notice this Moses had the uh staff of God in his hand, the rod of God in his hand. While he is holding it up, that anointed staff. Uh then the the we are winning. Joshua is winning, the uh people of Israel are winning. But whenever his arms are falling down, he's getting tired, he's getting weary and well-doing, he's getting weary in prayers, he's getting weary and standing in the gap. Then the other army, the an army of the enemy, the Amalekites, is winning. So it took Moses and Aaron and her to be able to stand there and have him sit down holding those arms up. It was a victory that God caused, but it was a collaborative effort. So it's sometimes going to take you're trying to do this thing by yourself, you're trying to walk this path by yourself, but God has strategically put you in the place where more people are surrounding you and helping you, and more people are there to hold up your arms, more people are there to help you and assist you along your path and along your journey, and you are to receive the help. Moses could have been proud in that situation and said, Oh no, I got it, and tried to attempt to hold it up, but that would have caused issues and problems for the people of Israel while Joshua was out there fighting. Because you see, it didn't say that Joshua was overwhelmed with fighting, it's just that as when he was holding it up, they had the advantage. As his arms went down, they had the disadvantage. So to give them the advantage, he had to take the help, he had to receive the help, he had to come forth and be able to humble himself unto what was going on in this time, in the situation, in this season, and be able to let those people that were assigned to him to collaborate. And then on another note, um, don't try to be Moses when you are assigned to be Aaron or her. Everybody has their place in their position. When you are playing your place, and when you're playing your position, then we all win. At the end of the day, God is the one who gets the increase. One plants, one waters, but God gets the increase. After the victory, the Lord instructed Moses write this down on a scroll as a permanent reminder and read it aloud to Joshua. I will erase the memory of Amalek from under heaven. Moses built an altar there and named it Yahweh Nisi, which means the Lord is my banner. He said, They have raised their fist against the Lord's throne. So now the Lord will be at war with Amalek generation after generation. A name of God was revealed to the people of Israel through this battle, through this test, through this trial. The Lord is my banner, the Lord is fighting for me, the Lord is standing in the gap with me, the Lord is not letting me do this by myself. No matter what it looks like, no matter what it feels like, no matter the battle, no matter the storm, no matter what's going through, we win. We have the victory because me and God are the majority. So when you're facing these tests and facing these trials and these situations come at you and you are right there where God told you to be, remember to just open your mouth and cry out to God and understand that you have the victory. You have overwhelming victory through these tests, through these trials, through these moments, through these seasons, because God is with you and you are doing exactly what he told you to do. Don't look at the test, don't look at the trial, don't look at the problems that are in front of you. Look at the God who is inside of you. Look at the God who is covering you. Look at the God who has brought you through this test, this trial, and this one will be just another victory that you can put in front of your wall of remembrance so that you can come back and look at it again in another situation, another test, and another trial. That God is with me, He will never leave me or forsake me. He's watching over me and taking care of me. It doesn't matter what happens because I know that he has taken care of me. So, you know, we just have to really be cognizant of that because it's so simple and so easy to complain and so easy to look to these circumstances and these situations because they're right there in front of your face and they're putting that pressure on you. But you push back off of them, push back off of that pressure, push back off of what Satan is trying to bring to you, and just remind him of who uh you serve, remind him that God is on my side. If God is for me, who can be against me? If God is with me, no one can come against me, no weapon for and against me shall prosper. You got to understand that and know that. So as we are continuing to go forward on this mission together beyond community, we are winning victory after victory after victory. We are blessed, we are highly favored, and we have overwhelming victory because of what Jesus has done on the cross for us. And of course, you know, this is holy week that we have been celebrating. We're going forward into on Good Friday tomorrow, and Resurrection Sunday is right around the corner, and we get to praise and thank God for all that He has continued to do for us, and you know, we just we're just in a very blessed position, no matter what it looks like. And why with that I will yield.