The Battle Is The Lord's

Morning, church.

Reading from the book of Exodus, chapter 17.

Exodus 17 · chapter mention

Then Amalek came and fought with Israel at Rephidim.

So Moses said to Joshua, Choose for us men and go out and fight with Amalek.

Tomorrow I will stand on the top of the hill with the staff of God in my hand.

So Joshua did as Moses told him, and fought with Amalek, while Moses, Aaron, and her went up to the top of the hill.

Whenever Moses held up his hand, Israel prevailed.

And whenever he lowered his hand, Amalek prevailed.

But Moses' hands grew weary, so they took a stone and put it under him, and he sat on it, while Aaron and her held up his hands, one on one side and the other on the other side.

So his hands were steady until the going down of the sun.

And Joshua overwhelmed Amalek and his people with the sword.

Then the Lord said to Moses, Write this as a memorial in a book, and recite it in the years of Joshua, that I will utterly blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven.

And Moses built an altar and called the name of it, The Lord is my banner, saying, A hand upon the throne of the Lord.

The Lord will have war with Amalek from generation to generation.

This is God's word.

You may be seated.

Good morning, everyone.

Thanks for joining us this morning.

My name is James Rathrin.

I'm the pastor here at Redemption Church Denver.

It's uh wonderful to see you all and to gather together in worship.

Um I won't be preaching this morning.

I wanted to invite up Mike Wenzer to clap for him.

Part of our culture is when people walk onto stages, you clap to fill uh the space.

Mike is the area coordinator for the Reformed University Fellowship, which is the he'll explain more about that.

Uh but it's uh campus ministry.

I just wanted to see how many of you had your faith impacted or cared for or found your faith during college through a campus ministry.

Yeah, that's pretty me too.

Uh that's uh that's like almost that's a lot of people.

A third?

Maybe, yeah, 40%.

So uh so that's pretty that's pretty in incredible.

So uh that's the type of work that uh Mike does for Reformed University Fellowship, which is the PCA's campus ministry up in Fort Collins, but also coordinates around the area.

Anyway, uh he was very generous and offered to uh preach at our church this Sunday.

You guys fundraise, right?

Yeah, so talk to him about that.

That's a very good thing to support.

I don't think he had any intentions of bringing that up.

Nope.

Nope.

So I wanted to go ahead and bring it up for him.

Um and yeah, just welcome Mike and thanks so much for being with our church this morning and sharing the word.

Thanks.

Thanks, Mike.

It's great to be here.

Uh, it's an honor and a privilege.

Um, really sweet to get to come and visit, visit and bring the word at churches in our in our region.

Uh, very encouraging that Redemption Denver um joined the PCA.

I'm sure most of you know that.

Um that was uh I was at Presbytery and saw James from afar, didn't even know it was happening, and it was a sweet surprise.

And so um, yeah, very thankful to be here.

I do work with Reformed University Fellowship, which is the college ministry of this denomination.

And, you know, I didn't grow up uh in the PCA, grew up in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in a non-denominational church, and uh landed in seminary in Charlotte at Reformed Theological Seminary, and that's where I heard of the PCA and RUF and all these different acronyms uh for the first time.

And uh ultimately got my degree and was able to go back to my alma mater in uh Milwaukee and to start the RUF there.

And now it's um I was I pastored there for five years, and then I was the campus minister at CSU up in Fort Collins for the for four until I stepped into this area coordinator role.

My region is vast, uh, but there's not that many RUFs in it.

It's just because there's not that many RUFs.

But it goes from uh Montana State and Bozeman all the way southeast to Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana.

Um I get to visit all those campus ministries uh once a semester, uh, which is which is fun, and try to coach and shepherd those campus ministers there on that campus.

Uh what's unique about RUF, if you aren't familiar with it, is it's just probably the biggest thing is that it's just connected to a denomination.

So it's it's not a parachurch ministry.

Every campus minister is an ordained pastor in this denomination who's been through seminary and stood before the elders of the of the region and uh for the ordination trials, just like James did not too long ago, um, who did very, very well, by the way, if you weren't there.

And uh, and so they're they're ministers on the college campus, and we try to seek to do um ministry to students through students.

Our mission statement in RUF is reaching and equipping students for Christ.

Our long-term goal is to see students come to faith, grow in their faith in Jesus, and then connect to the local church for the rest of their lives.

You know, that the church will stand forever.

RUF does not last forever, right?

And so we want to see Jesus uh students follow Jesus and walk with him as normal members in the church, uh, hopefully for years and years to come.

Uh so that's what well, a little bit about the organization, what I do.

And yeah, it's a joy.

We're jumping into Exodus.

I doubt you're currently going through Exodus.

Um, but so thanks for bearing with me.

Let me pray for us really quick and then we'll get started.

Gracious God, thank you for this morning.

Thank you for your word.

Uh it can seem so old and distant at times, but we know that your Holy Spirit works through your word.

And we do pray this morning that it would be your word that would that would strike our hearts, that your spirit would work in our hearts, Lord, strengthening us, encouraging our faith, leading us to repentance, showing us Jesus.

Please be with us this morning.

Uh be with all these children here in the service and work in their hearts as well.

We thank you for your grace and for this time to worship you.

Please be with us.

We ask this in Jesus' name.

Amen.

So at this point in the book of Exodus, God's people have been on a bit of a roller coaster, lots of up and downs.

You know, at the high points, they've seen God's provision in unbelievably miraculous ways, right?

They he parted the Red Sea, he destroyed Egypt's army, gave them bread from heaven and water from the rock when they were thirsty.

But then, of course, in the low points of that roller coaster, they've complained, they've grumbled, they've they didn't like the food they had to eat.

They didn't, they actually wish they could go back to Egypt as slaves so they could have more food to eat.

Uh, they didn't like the care that God was giving them.

And I know you can understand this because I actually think this is sort of part and parcel what it looks like to be a Christian in this time period.

Right?

We go through this each and every day.

We experience God's goodness and his care, and then moments later we complain, or we fight, or we get uh upset because we don't actually have control over things, or we lose patience with the ones we love the most.

The book of Exodus is good to study because it actually holds up a mirror before our faces.

You know, we typically can see the mistakes of others, we can see the sin of others, no problem, right?

It gets a little bit more difficult when it's when you're talking about the sin in your own heart.

Uh, and Exodus does a really good job of exposing the sin in the hearts of God's people.

In the passage previous to this, God's people complained and nearly murdered Moses.

And then in this passage, we see another high of the roller coaster, right?

Where God like rescues them for the first time in this battle.

Um, and in the end, they learned a lesson.

They learned that power does not come from within themselves, it comes from the Lord their God.

If I had one thing for you to remember this morning, it would be this: Since our greatest enemies have been defeated, we should brave life's trials with confident hope.

Since our greatest enemies have been defeated, we should brave life's trials with confident hope.

Just two points for us to work through.

The Lord wins, verses eight through thirteen, and his people remember verses fourteen through sixteen.

So uh let's jump back into this here.

The Lord wins, verse eight.

It says, Then Amalek came and fought with Israel at Rephidim.

So here's Israel, uh, you know, freshly rescued from slavery in Egypt, en route to the promised land, facing their enemies and being tested by the Lord to see if they would remain faithful.

This battle with the Amalekites was their first battle as this newly rescued people out of Egypt.

The Amalekites were wanderers who could actually trace their lineage back to the grandson of Esau, and they were consistent enemies of God and his people.

This sudden and alarming attack from Amalek should actually make us pause and ask, what's going on here?

Where did this come from?

Could this be Satan?

I actually think that's a reasonable question to ask that Satan enticed Amalek to do this.

Now, because from the beginning, Satan's been trying to destroy God and his people.

And furthermore, this battle between Israel and Amalek is actually a foreshadowing.

It's pointing forward to the greater battle between Jesus and Satan on the cross.

From another perspective, we can say this wasn't just a random battle.

This was God actually graciously kind of turning up the heat on his people to remind them of his presence and power.

This conflict, when viewed from a divine perspective, is actually the grace of God.

This has always been true and it will always be true for God's people.

In love, God ordains the trials and hardships in the life of his children.

To teach and to shape and to prepare.

Listen to the Apostle Paul in Romans 5.

He says, We rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame because God's love has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit that He has given to us.

So the Lord has already rescued his people at this point.

He's already accepted and forgiven and adopted them, and he's promised them this special land and his special presence, and now he's preparing them for it.

That's what's going on in this conflict.

Look at verse 9.

So Moses said to Joshua, Choose for us men and go out and fight with Amalek.

Tomorrow I will stand on the top of the hill with the staff of God in my hand.

So a few things to mention here.

This is the first time that Joshua is mentioned in the Bible.

And of course, you know, we continue to see Joshua come up, and he's actually the next leader after Moses, right?

He's the guy who brought God's people into the promised land, going through all those battles.

Um, and Moses understood in many ways, we'll see this, the tension between God's sovereignty on the one hand and human responsibility on the other hand.

Follow me on this.

So he knew that he and the people were sunk if God didn't show up, but he also knew he had to do something.

Joshua and his capable men would go fight, and Moses and his two buddies would go up on the hill, probably to pray, right?

Leaning on God.

And the staff they were holding is clearly important because it represents the power and the presence of God with them.

There's a story about a guy named Robert Rayburn.

He was the founding president of Covenant Seminary, Covenant Theological Seminary is the seminary of the PCA.

He's been gone for many years, but stories about him live on.

One of those was his time serving as an army chaplain in the Korean War.

He was older and he was called up to active duty to leave his family behind.

He uh found himself deployed to Korea and assigned to a group of paratroopers, and he had never jumped out of an airplane before.

Uh he uh was assured that he would have lots of time to train once he had gotten on the ground to Korea.

But two days after he arrived, a sergeant came to him and said, Chaplain, we're going on a jump tomorrow, and I want you to go with the boys.

It's going to be a night jump, and we're going to be jumping behind enemy lines, and I want you to go.

Rayburn writes of being so scared as he looked around at all the veteran paratroopers with combat experience.

They looked anxious as the plane took off, and he was sick to his stomach.

He started to pray, God, help me to not be afraid.

Help me to fear no evil, for you are with me.

The truth struck him.

Jesus is with me.

The next thing he knows, a sergeant was waking him up, poking him, saying, Chaplain, wake up, wake up, it's time to jump.

He had been asleep for two hours.

In the months that followed him in Korea, men in the regiment would approach and say, Chaplain, we heard from men on your plane that you were sound asleep to drop zone.

How in the world could you sleep?

Many of the paratroopers in his regiment came to faith in Jesus from his time there.

In a time, and in a place, and with circumstances that were fraught with anxious fear.

He stood out and he looked odd and he made people stop and ask, How are you like this?

Just because he fell asleep.

You know, we feel safe when we have the power and presence of someone mighty with us.

Those soldiers in the Korean War felt safe.

They even came to faith in Jesus because one chaplain showed signs of strength.

I bet Joshua and his and his men felt safe.

Not necessarily because of Joshua, the inexperienced leader on the ground, but because they looked up the hill and they saw Moses and Aaron and her holding the staff of God, praying for them.

They knew that God was with them.

Let's continue.

Look at verses 11 and 12.

Whenever Moses held up his hand, Israel prevailed, and when he lowered his hand, Amalek prevailed.

But Moses' hands grew weary, so they took a stone and put it under him, and he sat on it, while Aaron and Her held up his hands, one on one side, the other on the other.

So his hands were steady until the going down of the sun.

Let's consider what's going on here.

Um Joshua and his men are on the ground fighting with swords and shields, and Moses, Aaron, and her are up on the hill.

Now, some believe uh some scholars believe that Moses was praying, and that's why they had this effective battle in war.

Now, I'm sure that they that they were praying, right?

It's very likely if you're in that situation, uh, you would be praying in your first battle as a newly rescued people.

But I don't think it's Moses' hands nor his prayers that determined Israel's victory.

He was, it was, I think it comes down to what he was holding.

It was holding the staff of God.

And when God is working, there will be victory.

When God fights for Israel, Israel wins.

When they fight by themselves, Israel loses.

I think the lesson that God's people were learning in this battle is this God's presence and power is more important than swords and shields.

If they were going to make it into the promised land, it would be because God protected them and provided for them and was bringing them there himself.

Verse 13.

And Joshua overwhelmed Amalek and his people with the sword.

Now, notice at this point in the story, uh, the Moses, who's the author most likely of the first five books of the Bible, he completely leaves God out of the story.

He says, Joshua overwhelmed Amalek and his people.

Now, obviously, Joshua played a role, but it he wasn't the reason that the people won.

Even from the story, we can see that.

There was no um mention of things that we know were true.

So Israel couldn't see God working, but they but he was.

This is also often true for us.

We cannot see God working in our lives sometimes, but we know he is.

You know, there was no mention of the glory cloud or the pillar of fire that led them during the day and kept them warm and protected at night.

All they had was Moses and the staff.

Now, I can't help but make this connection, and this is so fun to do in the whole book of Exodus between Moses and Jesus, right?

We don't have the glory cloud, we don't have the pillar of fire reminding us of God's presence, but we actually have something better.

We have the greater Moses, Jesus, the Son of God, who is seated at the right hand of God in heaven, interceding for us in heaven, and we have his word through which we can stand on a firm foundation.

Even though we don't see God working most of the time in our lives, we know he is.

Now, before we spent a little bit of time in applying this first point, I want to speak to the question that maybe some of us have, but certainly many in our culture would have today.

It's about the idea of the miraculous.

It's about miracles, which clearly is something that happened in this passage, right?

Um, sometimes Christianity can seem unbelievable.

Uh, and we've learned, if you were in the public school or whatever your story is, that miracles aren't possible, right?

Wars aren't won with magic staffs.

What's the likelihood of the whole earth flooding?

Despite our best efforts, no one can turn water into wine.

Too bad.

Uh, as cool as it would be, people can't walk on water, uh, nor are people healed instantly, nor do people rise from the dead.

From one perspective, a lot has been a lot has happened because of the Bible and the miraculous things that the Bible teaches.

The list of complaints and doubts and reasons not to be a Christian can be very long sometimes.

You might be here this morning thinking, here we go again, another crazy story from the Bible.

Now, it's common to struggle, I think, with sort of harmonizing some things that we see that are just assumed in our culture, uh, like science, the laws of physics, cause and effect, the rock bottom belief and testability and the scientific method.

And I want you to know this morning, if you are here, and maybe if you're visiting for the first time, uh, sorry you're here with me and not your uh pastor James, but um, I want you to know that uh you're not crazy for raising those questions, and those things are hard to believe.

But there also are pretty decent arguments in support of miracles from the Christian worldview.

So uh consider this argument from a well-known uh person who's an atheist.

He says um we should always judge our present experience in light of our past experience.

And since our past experience tells us the laws of nature are consistent and true, then we should always consider the non-miraculous explanation for whatever it is we're experiencing in the present.

You follow that objection?

Um, so how and a Christian respond to that?

Let me offer two thoughts.

Number one, this argument places all of its weight on past experiences.

It assumes that you cannot have new and shaping present experiences.

It also assumes our present experiences cannot add anything new to our past experiences.

But weren't our past experiences at one time present experiences?

Secondly, if you consider the greater context of the particular story or uh sequence of events, they can actually help explain it to become more believable.

So, for example, let's consider Jesus and his ministry, how he healed the lame, how he opened the eyes of the blind, he knew people's thoughts, he walked on water, he raised others from the dead, he even prophesied that he himself would rise from the dead.

Suddenly, then the present experience of Jesus rising from the dead, according to the apostles, is much more justifiable, uh, even plausible.

Now bring that home to our current context in the book of Exodus.

Once you take into consideration the fact that God created the world, that he uh raised up a people from himself, that he sent plagues against the gods of Egypt and rescued his people from slavery, he divided the Red Sea, he fed them with manna from heaven.

Once you see the whole background context of what's going on in the book of Exodus, and suddenly this story actually becomes more plausible.

It makes more sense.

The background evidence helps explain and helps us believe this passage.

Now, if you're interested in more on miracles, C.S.

Lewis wrote a book called Miracles, and you can actually download the audible version of it for free.

Um, if you want to learn more or chew on the resurrection, just um Google resurrection debate.

One of the first ones should be Mike Lacona versus Dennis McDonald from 2021.

Uh I would put that to you to explore and to watch.

But for now, if you're skeptical about the possibility of miracles, I want to encourage you simply to listen to what this passage teaches.

Take note of God's heart for his people and how it fits into the greater story of the history of the world.

So now, before we move on to the second point, let's let's wrestle with some application of this first point.

Okay?

We need to leave with live with the tension specifically that God is sovereign and we are responsible.

Think about the manna, right, in the book of Exodus.

God provided the manna, but it didn't just show up in their mouths or stomachs, right?

They had to actually go out and gather it and bake it and prepare it and eat it.

Think about the water from the rock.

Again, it didn't just show up into their stomachs.

They had to go and collect it and store it and drink it.

We need to chew on, and this is sort of our application homework, we need to chew on what it looks like for us to depend on God's sovereignty and still be.

Responsible to act with the wisdom and knowledge that He's given us.

And we can do that in all different facets of our lives, from parenting to working to money to recreation to family, whatever it is.

I'm gonna go through two examples.

The first is job-related stress, and the second is marriage or best friendships if you're not married.

So, first, job-related stress.

We all know what it's like, or can at least imagine what it's like to be under the gun at work.

You can feel alone.

The expectations and requirements in your position are unique.

You can feel stuck.

You can't ignore the demands of your job, or you could lose it.

But at the same time, there are only so many hours in the day, and to do well at your job means probably not doing well at other areas in your life.

You feel defeated.

It's been going on for so long, it's hard to even imagine what it would be like in a different scenario.

Finding another job is tough.

It'll probably require just as much as this first one, so you start to get down and discouraged.

So, how do we depend on God's sovereignty and act with responsibility according to wisdom and knowledge that He's given us?

Well, I have two things in this first example.

Number one, I would say pray.

Pray.

Confess your need and your failure and your anxiety to the Lord.

Ask for help and continue asking for help.

I would encourage you to start a prayer journal.

I didn't do this for the first 20 years of being a Christian.

Uh, and then I read a book called The Praying Life and I started a prayer journal.

And it's actually pretty sweet to see how God does answer prayers.

Because we forget all the time, honestly.

So write down the things you pray for and then put a check mark on the ways that he's answered it, and that will encourage you as you look back on that in future days.

Uh, but also ask for others to pray for you.

No one likes to admit this weakness.

If I don't, I'm assuming this church has community groups or small groups.

Um be vulnerable and legitimately share a true prayer request, asking, confessing your doubt or how anxious you feel about your job, and ask for others to pray for you consistently.

This is showing dependence on God's sovereignty, by the way, right?

Prayer, he is in charge.

I'm gonna pray to him and trust in him.

Secondly, I would say rest on Sundays.

Okay, follow me.

Chances are if you're stressed at work, you're probably at least thinking about work on Sunday, if not actually doing work on Sunday.

I actually believe though, God made us to only be able to work really hard for six days in a row.

And then we need a seventh day to rest.

And that pattern, as exhausting as six days of hard work is, I believe is sustainable.

Working for seven with no days off is not.

And so this actually takes faith and action and wisdom.

It will feel wrong, it will feel wasteful, you will be scared, but this is God's will, and He's actually told us to do this.

So, one simple practical idea of uh resting on Sundays, I would say, is a Sunday afternoon nap.

I'm convinced this is like the best way to apply this, right?

If you're really stressed at work, is to truly rest on Sundays.

And nothing better says rest, nothing says rest better than actually taking a nap and closing your eyes.

Because that just says, Lord, I am not in control.

I will rest because you are.

So um consider that.

Second example to consider this this tension of marriage or best friendship.

We're chewing out what it looks like for us to depend on God's sovereignty and also act with wisdom and knowledge that he has given us.

So in marriage, marriage is a blessing.

Uh, it's one of God's sweet gifts to his children.

It reminds us of the grace of Jesus given to us freely in the gospel, and it calls us to live sacrificially as members of Jesus' kingdom.

In theory, in marriage, I say in theory because we know this is not always true, uh, we have a partner who knows us and loves us more than anyone else in this world.

You have a listening ear, you have a helping hand.

But marriage is also incredibly hard.

When you think about it, marriage is too selfish, prideful, impatient, controlling, fearful people living together and doing life together.

When you are angry with or hurt by your spouse, your natural heart level tendency is to want to throw something or walk away.

Psychologists call this fight or flight, right?

And the oil really starts to sizzle when you realize the very person that you want to turn to for that safety and that security and that honesty and vulnerability is the same person that drives you so crazy you daydream about getting in your car and driving to Tijuana, right?

That's the tension we feel in marriage.

So, how do we depend on God's sovereignty and still act with responsibility?

Well, two things.

Uh, the first is prayer again.

I think this is a great one to depend on God, right?

So uh confess your need to the Lord.

Ask for his help for you to love your spouse.

That should be something we should, if you're married, we should all be praying on a consistent basis.

Continue asking for this.

Also, ask others to pray for you.

I think it's nearly impossible to stay happily married in a vacuum, in a relational vacuum.

That is nearly impossible to stay happily married.

We actually need community to do marriage well.

Uh, you need to help in support of others.

Uh, don't be too proud.

So reach out to some trustworthy, close friends who will be in it with you.

The second thing, I think, is moving toward your spouse in vulnerability.

Let me explain this.

You have to tell your spouse or your friend what you're feeling.

You must let them know that you're scared or hurt or discouraged or sad or angry.

You must use words, not actions, to show your emotions.

I heard a counselor once say, it's good to share your emotions, it's not good to do your emotions.

Intimacy and trust grow when we speak words of truth with kindness.

Dan Alender, he summarized that at a marriage conference once that Lauren and I were able to attend.

It's really sweet.

Intimacy and trust grows when we speak words of truth with kindness.

If you ask for God's grace and help through prayer, if you invite others in to bear your burdens with you, and you move toward one another in vulnerability, I believe you are starting to depend on God's sovereignty and act according to the wisdom and knowledge that God has given you.

There are many other ways we live this out, and I'm gonna encourage you, maybe sometime this afternoon, to consider whatever the hot spot is maybe in your life today, consider how do I depend on God's sovereignty and also live and act in wisdom and knowledge?

That was the first point.

The Lord wins.

Second one, much shorter, I promise.

His people remember.

Let's look again at verses 14 through 16.

Then the Lord said to Moses, Write this as a memorial in the book and recite it in the ears of Joshua, that I will utterly blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven.

And Moses built an altar and called the name of it, the Lord is my banner, saying, A hand of the Lord upon the uh I'm sorry, a hand upon the throne of the Lord, and the Lord will have war with Amalek from generation to generation.

Finally, the Lord enters the story.

It's the first time in this whole passage where the Lord shows up.

We see commands to write down this story in a book and tell it to Joshua, and no doubt the recording of this story was used in the actual writing of the book of Exodus.

Amalek will be no more.

He will blot out the memory.

This was a promise that sometime in the future God would utterly wipe out this enemy nation that they were battling for the first time.

Now, historically speaking, if you look at the rest of the Old Testament, we can see how this happens.

Uh Amalek was defeated by Gideon in Judges 6 through 7.

He was partially destroyed by Saul in 1 Samuel 14 and 15, and he was completely and utterly wiped out in the days of Hezekiah in 1 Chronicles 4.

So look how this story ends.

It started with no mention of the Lord anywhere, and it ends being entirely about God and his work in the rescue and saving of his people.

Moses knew this was a big deal so much so that he kind of just stopped everything right there and built an altar to celebrate what the Lord had done.

And then he names the altar the Lord is my banner.

Banners were something we still have them today.

We know what a banner is, right?

But they were actually a strategic, uh, special thing for the military, for ancient Israel, other in ancient Near Eastern countries had these as well.

And they would hold them up in battle, and they would, so all the people who were fighting could look at the banner and see, oh, it's okay, we're doing okay.

We're doing the right thing.

Um, we have strength and power, and we're gonna win this thing.

And in the case of Israel, the Lord is the banner of God's people.

The Lord is their hope, the Lord is their power and their encouragement, the Lord is their king.

Verse 14 it says, the Lord will have war with Amalek from generation to generation.

So here this is interesting, right?

But we thought, didn't I just say that Hezekiah utterly destroyed Amalek?

So in what way will the Lord have war with Amalek from generation to generation?

Well, consider the greater story.

I really believe behind Amalek was Satan.

Sin, Satan, and death will continue until the last generation.

They will continue until the rider on the white horse with a sword coming out of his mouth will come and utterly destroy them forever.

Friends, Jesus is your warrior.

He is your banner, he is your defender against sin and death.

And who better to defend you against sin and death than the one who conquered death by his resurrection and died to pay for your sins?

Let's try to wrap this up.

So the lesson that the Israelites learn from this battle, which also applies to us, is that power does not come from within ourselves, it comes from the Lord our God.

Our greatest enemies have been defeated.

So we should brave life's trials with confident hope.

The Lord wins and we remember.

Now, in the same way that the staff of God was lifted up to defeat the enemies of God, the Son of God was lifted up on his piece of wood to defeat our greatest enemies.

Sin and Satan and death.

In the same way the Israelites could look up that hill and see Moses holding that staff above his head.

With the eyes of faith, we look up into heaven and we see Jesus seated at the right hand of God.

You don't have a mere man to mediate God's presence for you.

Pastor is not that mediator, right?

We have one mediator, the Bible says, between God and man, and it is the Lord Jesus Christ.

You don't have an army to fight because Jesus has already taken on your greatest enemies, and he has conquered them and put them to open shame by triumphing over them through his death and resurrection.

I think this means we don't have to be afraid when we can't see through the fog of suffering.

When we can't untangle uh the the God's providence, when the math doesn't seem to add up as to how God could possibly be working through whatever it is we're going through to bring about good in our lives.

We ought to resist doubt and resist, push against grumbling, push against fear, and instead we should remember.

We should take heart, keep the eyes of our faith fixed on the Son of Man at the right hand of God in heaven.

The reality is there will continue to be uncertainty and loss and fear and death and suffering in this life, but take heart, because just as it's said in our passage, the sun will eventually go down on these things.

Jesus has already won.

The Lord will give you everything you need to continue to hold on to him by faith, even if that faith is the size of a mustard seed.

So take courage in faith.

The Father sent the Son to rescue you and do battle against your enemies.

The Father is using this time right now to continue to expand and bring more and more people into his heavenly kingdom.

And no suffering is wasted, no trial is unnecessary, no loss is beyond the hope of the resurrection.

So remember and lift the eyes of your heart, gaze into heaven, behold Jesus, the resurrected and all-powerful Son of God.

Heaven is his home and earth is his footstool, as the Bible tells us.

He has not forgotten you, he has not left you, and he is not punishing you.

He went to battle for you.

And the day is coming when there will be no more war and no more famine and no more loss and suffering and unmet longing.

Your greatest enemies have been defeated.

You can brave life's trials with confident hope.

Let me pray for us.

Father, we are so grateful that we don't have to stand and face Satan.

Jesus stood toe-to-toe with Satan.

And in the most unexpected turn of events, he died.

But in his death and through his resurrection, he defeated Satan and sin and death.

And we know that as Jesus lives now, we too will live with him.

Father, I pray that you would strengthen our hearts.

You would strengthen our weak faith.

Help us to continue to lift the eyes of our hearts to heaven and to see Jesus through faith seated at the right hand of God.

May we look forward to his return eagerly, but patiently as we wait for him to come.

We thank you that Jesus defeated sin and Satan and death.

Help us to trust in him.

In his name we pray.

Amen.