King James Version, with Nii Okai's journal notes · 7 notes
1And all the congregation of the children of Israel journeyed from the wilderness of Sin, after their journeys, according to the commandment of the LORD, and pitched in Rephidim: and there was no water for the people to drink.
2Wherefore the people did chide with Moses, and said, Give us water that we may drink. And Moses said unto them, Why chide ye with me? wherefore do ye tempt the LORD?
3And the people thirsted there for water; and the people murmured against Moses, and said, Wherefore is this that thou hast brought us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our cattle with thirst?
Why did God cause them to hunger and thirst?
4And Moses cried unto the LORD, saying, What shall I do unto this people? they be almost ready to stone me.
Moses had a real and loving relationship with the Lord.
It was like a man relating to his father.
Also I wonder, if God answered Moses this often, why did he not get answers before things got out of hand 🖐️?
This is my strong belief: Moses often foresaw the need of the people, as any leader would.
But God delayed until the people were almost ready to do the unthinkable: stone Moses or go back to Egypt.
This begs the question again. Why?
5And the LORD said unto Moses, Go on before the people, and take with thee of the elders of Israel; and thy rod, wherewith thou smotest the river, take in thine hand, and go.
6Behold, I will stand before thee there upon the rock in Horeb; and thou shalt smite the rock, and there shall come water out of it, that the people may drink. And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel.
Is not this Horeb, where Moses was first called in the burning bush?
7And he called the name of the place Massah, and Meribah, because of the chiding of the children of Israel, and because they tempted the LORD, saying, Is the LORD among us, or not?
8Then came Amalek, and fought with Israel in Rephidim.
There is a scripture which talks of Amalek harming the weaker ones at the rear of the camp.
If this is the same incident, then now Joshua prepared for a proper war.
9And Moses said unto Joshua, Choose us out men, and go out, fight with Amalek: to morrow I will stand on the top of the hill with the rod of God in mine hand.
10So Joshua did as Moses had said to him, and fought with Amalek: and Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill.
11And it came to pass, when Moses held up his hand, that Israel prevailed: and when he let down his hand, Amalek prevailed.
Ex 17:11–12: “And it came to pass, when Moses held up his hand, that Israel prevailed: and when he let down his hand, Amalek prevailed. But Moses' hands were heavy;”
This verse is an enigma. The very hands that were providing strength to the army of Israel did not receive strength. He, Moses, needed a rock to support his hands so they could still continue to provide strength to the tiring hands of the children of Israel.
Truly we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of man.
The workings of the realm of the spirit often are such that they're channelled through physical means. That is why sometimes we ought to be at certain locations to access certain spiritual blessings. In like manner is the doctrine of laying on of hands. It's not that God cannot do it without the physical, but just that is how the spiritual law works.
12But Moses’ hands were heavy; and they took a stone, and put it under him, and he sat thereon; and Aaron and Hur stayed up his hands, the one on the one side, and the other on the other side; and his hands were steady until the going down of the sun.
That is a very long time to have your hand 🖐️ up.
So it's not whether you gave your best or not... It's if you paid the price required.
They, i.e. Aaron and Hur, had to find a way of meeting the requirements to ensure victory.
So our responsibility is to find out what the requirements are and to meet the demands thereof ✌️.
13And Joshua discomfited Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword.
14And the LORD said unto Moses, Write this for a memorial in a book, and rehearse it in the ears of Joshua: for I will utterly put out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven.
Joshua was already being groomed.
15And Moses built an altar, and called the name of it Jehovah-nissi:
16For he said, Because the LORD hath sworn that the LORD will have war with Amalek from generation to generation.