Then came Amalek and fought with Israel in Rephidim. And 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.  So 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.  

Amalek Attacks

The Amalekites were a tribe of nomadic raiders, who lived by bringing death to others. Their kind is still with us today and always will be. The Amaleks were descendants of Esau, Jacob’s wild brother. As the Hebrews traveled through their ranging territory, they make a tempting target to these predators. The normal tactic for these robber tribes would be to attack the flanks and rear of a moving caravan, killing, stealing supplies and taking slaves. They often attacked the rear because that was where the women and children would travel along with the carts of supplies and cattle of the tribes.

In this battle it might be that Amalek wanted the new source of water that Moses had miraculously opened for the people. Water in the wilderness was mor precious than gold.

The Bible simply says, Amalek came and fought with Israel at Rephidim. Moses’ command to Joshua the military leader of Israel is in Exodus 17:9 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.

Fight against this predator tribe, he tells Joshua and while you fight I will move to the hill overlooking the battle and lift the rod of God toward heaven.

Satan Attacks

In this battle we can see a parallel for all of God’s people in all generations. Like God’s people then, God’s people today have an enemy, a predator an unmerciful foe who attacks when we are most vulnerable and in the weakest places of life. Our enemy today is the same one that empowered and inspired the Amalekites to attack the Hebrews. Satan, attack us when we are spiritually, emotionally and physically at our weakest and most vulnerable. His intention is to take life and make slaves of as many of God’s people as He can.  

The Bible tells us that he is as relentless as a lion on the hunt in 1 Peter 5.

1Peter 5:8  Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:

Your life, your family, your church, your community and was we seen so clearly even your nation is under attack by the enemy who wishes to destroy all that is good, moral and just in your life because those good things are the evidence of God in your life and all the way up to your nation. And Satan hates all things that reveal God.

Make no mistake, the battles we fight in our lives, our families and the ones we are fighting in our nation today are spiritual battles. They may play out in the arena of politics or in the streets of our cities but the real battle, the power then behind Amalek and the power today behind  Antifa, BLM and especially the LGTBQ predators is as it always has been Satan. And those that support these godless, atheistic, immoral movements are also driven by Satan. Make no mistake the battle is first spiritual long before it is manifested in the physical world arounds us.

Paul wrote to the Ephesians and said, in 6:12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.

The Enemy is advancing, and he is unmerciful in his attacks and complete in his destruction because everything about you, as God’s creation in His image, fills him with rage.

Today the church, Christianity, the family and religious freedom are under the greatest attack in centuries. I could fill the rest of the sermon with nothing but examples of the hurt, sorrow and pain that is being inflicted by those under the power of the enemy.

In our country, Christians are labeled as haters, ridiculed, and marginalized. Never doubt who is truly in control of these forces. You aren’t standing against just political foes, you are fighting the spiritual enemy who empowers them.  In other lands where Satan’s power is much greater, Christians are being slaughtered, crucified, shot in public, beheaded and their children being sold into slavery.

Heed Peter’s warning, “Be sober, be vigilant because everything that it good, every gift of God, is at risk then the enemy comes.

Moses knew that Joshua and the Hebrews would fight a physical battle that day, but he also knew that it would be won through spiritual means. He tells Joshua get ready for your battle in the valley and I will go up on the hill and with the Rod of God get ready for mine. - Pastor Kris Minefee