In order to
be successful in most areas of life, whether playing a game, paying your taxes,
driving down the street or baking a cake, it is necessary know the rules and
how things work.
That
principle is on display at the start of the Exodus. As God
begins to lead his people, he makes sure that they have the “baseline
knowledge” that they need. In fact, he
communicates it to them in two ways:
First he shows them and then he tells them.
The showing
part is one of my favourite stories. “The Amalekites came and attacked the
Israelites… Moses said to Joshua, ‘Choose some of our men and go out to fight
the Amalekites. Tomorrow I will stand on top of the hill with the staff of God
in my hands. So Joshua fought the Amalekites
as Moses had ordered, and Moses, Aaron and Hur went to the top of the hill. As
long as Moses held up his hands, the Israelites were winning, but whenever he
lowered his hands, the Amalekites were winning. When Moses’ hands grew tired,
they took a stone and put it under him and he sat on it. Aaron and Hur held his
hands up—one on one side, one on the other—so that his hands remained steady
till sunset. So Joshua overcame the Amalekite army with the sword” (Exodus 17:8-13).
I like this
story because there is no ambiguity, or doubt as to why the Israelites won this
battle. Was it because they were
stronger? No! Were they better strategists? No!
Did they have better weapons?
No! Why did they win? They won because they trusted God and he gave
them the victory. Every time Moses
stopped praying, they began to lose.
When he continues to pray, they win.
It is as simple as that.
Then, just
in case they did not make the connection, God says to them: “You yourselves have seen what I did to
Egypt, and how I carried you on eagles’ wings” (Exodus 19:4). He wanted them to remember that all these
good things happened simply because God himself had “carried them” and looked
after them.
So the
question becomes: Do you believe in a
God like that? Do you believe that God
knows you and is actively working in your life?
You see, it
is easy to believe in “some God somewhere”.
It is another thing to say, “God is with me”.
Everything
in the Spiritual realm works on that understanding.
“If God is
for us, who can be against us?” (Romans 8:31)
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