Exodus 17b
14 May 2026 - Theology
Test of the Might
Exodus 17:8 - “Then came Amalek, and fought with Israel in Rephidim.”
Deuteronomy 25:17-18 - “ Remember what Amalek did unto thee by the way, when ye were come forth out of Egypt; How he met thee by the way, and smote the hindmost of thee, even all that were feeble behind thee, when thou wast faint and weary; and he feared not God.”
The Amalekites always attacked the back of the traveling camp where the weak and disadvantaged people were. It is because of this that the Lord promised to remove the name of Amalek from history (14).
Deuteronomy 25:19 - “Therefore it shall be, when the Lord thy God hath given thee rest from all thine enemies round about, in the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee for an inheritance to possess it, that thou shalt blot out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven; thou shalt not forget it.”
In the book of Numbers we see that the Lord commanded the tribe of Dan to set out last, so that it would be at the back of the pack to watch over and guard the rest. God does not want the sick and the weak to lag behind, He wants them to be in the middle where they are protected by others.
Numbers 10:25 (NIV) - “Finally, as the rear guard for all the units, the divisions of the camp of Dan set out under their standard…”
You will always know whether or not you are looking at a community of Shalom [noun], or a community of Empire [noun] based on where you find the weak and the marginalized. Are those who don’t have enough on the bottom or the outskirts of the community, or are they in the middle with the wagons circled around them?
The people learned this lesson today in the test of the meod, which is often translated to “very” or “might”. It simply means with all your strength, energy or resources - with whatever you have to offer. Are the people going to use their strength and resources to protect the weak?
Moses knew what to do: stand on a hill with the staff of God in hand. (9)
Exodus 17:9 (ESV) - “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.”
The rabbis say that the words “for us” are really important here. You can move the words around so it says “Choose men for us who will go out and fight”, or “Choose men who will go out and fight for us.” Moses was looking for those amongst the people that would fight for the entire community, rather than just to defend themselves.
The Midrash connects this story to Judges 7, where God instructed Gideon to choose his army to fight the Midianites by observing how the men drank from a stream. Soldiers that knelt down at the stream to drink were dismissed, while the 300 men who drank water from their hands were chosen to fight. The rabbis say that the men drank from their hands because they were trying to get out of the way for all of the other people that needed to drink. Those are the people who will fight “for us”, who care for people in need.
Exodus 17:11 - “And it came to pass, when Moses held up his hand, that Israel prevailed: and when he let down his hand, Amalek prevailed. But Moses hands were heavy; and they took a stone, and put it under him, and he sat thereon; and Aaron and Hur stayed up his hands, the one on the one side, and the other on the other side; and his hands were steady until the going down of the sun.”
This story was not only a test of Moses’s might, but also a story of how we help other people, as Aaron and Hur used their might to hold the arms of Moses up. The message of the story is to show how God wants us to use our might (energy, strength, and resources) for our larger community, especially those who don’t have it.
The Lord told Moses to record the story of this victory against the Amalekites in a book, and read it to Joshua (14).
Exodus 17:15-16 - “And Moses built an altar, and called the name of it Jehovah-nissi: For he said, Because the Lord hath sworn that the Lord will have war with Amalek from generation to generation.”
Jehovah-nissi = The Lord my banner
A banner itself does not carry any significance, but a banner signifies what is behind the banner. When the Israelites who were fighting looked up at Moses on the hill, they saw him with his staff raised. But it wasn’t just Moses they were looking at, they were also looking at the God who was behind the raising of the staff. They knew then that God wanted them to fight for other people, those who could not defend themselves.
It is interesting that every test we have talked about so far seems to be testing the same thing - what will the community do for those who can’t do for themselves.
Deuteronomy 6:5 - “And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.”
Matthew 22:37-40 - “Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.”
If you are loving God will all your heart, soul, and might, then you will automatically take care of those around you and be loving your neighbor as yourself.
References:
- The Hebrew - Greek Key Study Bible (KJV Version)
- The BEMA Podcast, Episode 21: With All Your Soul & “Very”
- The Torah Portion-by-Portion by Rabbi Seymour Rossel (2007)