by Rev Adam Demetros
The Book of Exodus tells the harrowing story of the Israelites leaving slavery in Egypt and making their way to the Promised Land. The way to the Promised Land was unclear and they experienced a far amount of hardships along the way, but they eventually discovered that salvation is often found along the hard roads of life.
Only a few weeks into their long journey, the Israelites were attacked by a fearsome warrior named Amalek and his band of murders and thieves. These guys were like something out of a post-apocalyptic novel where gangs of mutant like thugs prey on defenseless travelers in the barren wasteland of the desert. However, the Israelites were not as defenseless as Amalek thought.
When the attack began, Moses, the leader of the Israelites, told his second in command, Joshua, to recruit some strong men and go defend the people. When the battle began, Moses went to the top of a nearby hill and held up the staff of God in his hands. And we’re told that when Moses held the staff of God up in the air, Joshua and his men prevailed in the battle against Amalek. But when Moses’ hands grew tired and he lowered the staff to the ground, Amalek and his men prevailed.
Clearly the battle wasn’t being decided by Joshua and his men’s ability with the sword, but by Moses and his ability to hold up his hands in faith. But that kind of makes you wonder, “If this story is actually about Moses lifting up his hands, then what’s the point of Joshua fighting the battle? Why doesn’t God just rain down fire on Amalek and his thugs?” That’s a good question, but I think the point of the battle wasn’t just to defeat their enemies and be victorious. No, I think the point was to teach the people not to be afraid of their adversaries and have faith.
The truth is that we’re always going to have advisories. There’s always going to be someone or something that stands in the way of your goals in life. At the end of chapter seventeen, we’re told that, “Amalek will persevere from one generation to the next.” Which means that he’s just going to keep showing up with different names and different faces wherever you go. Which also means that you’re going to find yourself fighting the same battle time after time until you learn to no longer be afraid, and trust that the battle belongs to God.
So let me ask you, who’s your Amalek? Who or what is it that tempts you to be afraid and makes you doubt that you’ll ever make it to the Promised Land? (Whatever the Promised Land might be for you) Is it the haunting voices from your past that say that, “You’re not good enough, or smart enough, or pretty enough. And that you’ll never be worthy of love”. Or maybe your Amalek is the addiction that you’ve struggled with for so long that you don’t think you’ll ever be free of it. Maybe it’s a sense of guilt and shame over what you’ve done, or left undone. Or maybe your Amalek is an actual person who’s been your nemeses for some time now and keeps showing up to cause you pain.
You can pray for God to make your Amalek go away, but as we learn from the Israelites’ desert journey, God won’t just make your problems go away. Instead, God gives you opportunities to respond in faith. Which I think is a very important distinction as we continue to live in a world of conflict and division.
Contrary to popular belief, your adversaries are not a divine judgment from God. God did not put someone in your life to punish you. In fact, one of the ways we learn faith in through the redemption of evil. And the way God redeems and defeats evil is by using our adversaries for good. I think this is one of the reasons why Jesus told us to love our enemies. Because not only will love eventually triumphs over evil, but we can also learn to love the sacred purpose that God has for those to seek to do us harm. The challenging part is recognizing that sacred purpose and responding in faith and love. But for the sake of our divided world, we have to try.
The Book of Exodus tells the harrowing story of the Israelites leaving slavery in Egypt and making their way to the Promised Land. The way to the Promised Land was unclear and they experienced a far amount of hardships along the way, but they eventually discovered that salvation is often found along the hard roads of life.
Only a few weeks into their long journey, the Israelites were attacked by a fearsome warrior named Amalek and his band of murders and thieves. These guys were like something out of a post-apocalyptic novel where gangs of mutant like thugs prey on defenseless travelers in the barren wasteland of the desert. However, the Israelites were not as defenseless as Amalek thought.
When the attack began, Moses, the leader of the Israelites, told his second in command, Joshua, to recruit some strong men and go defend the people. When the battle began, Moses went to the top of a nearby hill and held up the staff of God in his hands. And we’re told that when Moses held the staff of God up in the air, Joshua and his men prevailed in the battle against Amalek. But when Moses’ hands grew tired and he lowered the staff to the ground, Amalek and his men prevailed.
Clearly the battle wasn’t being decided by Joshua and his men’s ability with the sword, but by Moses and his ability to hold up his hands in faith. But that kind of makes you wonder, “If this story is actually about Moses lifting up his hands, then what’s the point of Joshua fighting the battle? Why doesn’t God just rain down fire on Amalek and his thugs?” That’s a good question, but I think the point of the battle wasn’t just to defeat their enemies and be victorious. No, I think the point was to teach the people not to be afraid of their adversaries and have faith.
The truth is that we’re always going to have advisories. There’s always going to be someone or something that stands in the way of your goals in life. At the end of chapter seventeen, we’re told that, “Amalek will persevere from one generation to the next.” Which means that he’s just going to keep showing up with different names and different faces wherever you go. Which also means that you’re going to find yourself fighting the same battle time after time until you learn to no longer be afraid, and trust that the battle belongs to God.
So let me ask you, who’s your Amalek? Who or what is it that tempts you to be afraid and makes you doubt that you’ll ever make it to the Promised Land? (Whatever the Promised Land might be for you) Is it the haunting voices from your past that say that, “You’re not good enough, or smart enough, or pretty enough. And that you’ll never be worthy of love”. Or maybe your Amalek is the addiction that you’ve struggled with for so long that you don’t think you’ll ever be free of it. Maybe it’s a sense of guilt and shame over what you’ve done, or left undone. Or maybe your Amalek is an actual person who’s been your nemeses for some time now and keeps showing up to cause you pain.
You can pray for God to make your Amalek go away, but as we learn from the Israelites’ desert journey, God won’t just make your problems go away. Instead, God gives you opportunities to respond in faith. Which I think is a very important distinction as we continue to live in a world of conflict and division.
Contrary to popular belief, your adversaries are not a divine judgment from God. God did not put someone in your life to punish you. In fact, one of the ways we learn faith in through the redemption of evil. And the way God redeems and defeats evil is by using our adversaries for good. I think this is one of the reasons why Jesus told us to love our enemies. Because not only will love eventually triumphs over evil, but we can also learn to love the sacred purpose that God has for those to seek to do us harm. The challenging part is recognizing that sacred purpose and responding in faith and love. But for the sake of our divided world, we have to try.
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