Exodus - Part 20 - Exodus 17:1-18:27

The Children of Israel continue their journey to the Promised Land. Despite God’s miraculous provision of bread, meat, and water, they begin to complain once again that there is no water to drink. They still questioned whether God was among them or not. The Lord told Moses to take his staff and strike a certain rock. When Moses did so, unimaginable amounts of water poured out providing more than enough water for everyone and their livestock. This mirrors what the Apostle Paul wrote about in 1 Corinthians, that Christ is the Rock and He provided the Israelites with both food and drink in a physical and spiritual sense.

Now, the news of what God had done to the Egyptians was spreading and Amalek, the leader of the Amalekites came out of to fight Israel. Amalek was the descendant of Isaac through Esau, so they are distant cousins of the Israelites. They attacked Israel from the rear, which was a cowardly way to engage in warfare. The rear was where all the women, children, and those that traveled slower were. Moses told Joshua to take some men and go out and fight the Amalekites. Moses, Aaron, and Miriam’s husband, Hur went up on a mountain to watch the battle.

Moses lifted his hands, probably in praise and worship to God. When his hands were up Israel prevailed, and when he put them down, they began to lose. Eventually Moses’s hands got tired, so Aaron and Her held up his hands. Israel won against the Amalekites. The Lord told Moses to write everything in a book for Joshua and the people to remember.

Then Jethro, Moses’s father-in-law came to visit Moses. He came with Moses’s wife and children. Moses told Jethro everything that had happened and Jethro knew from what he heard that there was only one God. Jethro was a Midianite priest, where he worshipped many gods. This was a major shift for him to declare that there was only one God.

Jethro also observed how Moses was leading the people. He noticed that everyone came to Moses whenever they had a question or problem with the law of God. Jethro told Moses that this wasn’t a good system and advised him on how to set up a system of government that put more responsibility on the captains of the people. It distributed the load of leading the people.