Battle

Scripture tells us of a battle, and it was not an easy battle to win. It was long and protracted, going back and forth, wearying and challenging the people of God. This battle, related in Exodus 17, involved Moses, the children of Israel, and the Amalekites, who attacked them at Rephidim, meaning "rest, refresh, support". During the battle, as long as Moses raised up his rod/staff in his hand, the Israelites prevailed. However, if Moses did not keep his hand raised, the Amalekites prevailed. Moses grew weary, so two of the elders of Israel sat Moses on a stone, stood on either side of him, and held up his hands. The battle lasted all day, until the sun went down, and finally, Joshua, who was leading the Israelites in battle, was able to weaken (discomfit) the enemy enough to overthrow Amalek. The LORD told Moses that He would have war with Amalek from generation to generation. This victory was not final, but the warfare with this nation would be a continuing thing. We would read of another campaign against the Amalekites in the future under King Saul, that would not be a complete success because of Saul's disobedience. Also, Haman, the persecutor of the Jews in the Book of Esther, was a descendant of Agag, a king of the Amalekites (Est. 3:1).
If we look more deeply into this battle with Amalek, we find some interesting things.
First of all, it must have shocked Moses to find that holding out his rod did not produce the immediate result that he had come to expect. This is the same rod that the LORD told Moses would be used to do signs in the authority of God (Ex. 4:17). It is the same rod that Moses used to  bring forth the plagues against Egypt (Ex. 7-10). It was this rod, outstretched in the hand of Moses, that parted the Red Sea, and allowed Israel to cross on dry land (Ex. 14:16, 21). Yet during this battle, Moses had to extend this rod of signs and wonders for hours, before seeing the eventual great victory. Who was this enemy, Amalek, and why was he so hard to defeat?
Amalek was Esau's grandson. Esau had despised his birthright as first born, and felt it had no value to him in the "now", as he expressed. He traded his birthright to his brother for a meal, because he was hungry. As firstborn, he would have carried the seed of promise (of the Messiah) inherited from His grandfather, Abraham, and from his father, Isaac, who was a prophetic type of the sacrificed Christ, but this covenant promise from God meant nothing to Esau. God in His foreknowledge, sovereignly had elected Jacob, the younger twin, instead, to carry this inheritance (Rom. 9:11). Esau even sought to murder his brother.
Esau had a son with his concubine, and named that son "Eliphaz", meaning "my God is pure gold". Eliphaz had a son named Amalek, meaning "valley, or depths". The Amalekites, the descendants of this son, attacked Israel in a place that means "resting place". They attacked the weakest stragglers at the rear of the Israelites. Amalek is described as not fearing God (Deut. 25:17-19). Amalek does not just represent a person, or even a nation, but also the eternal evil, who hates, persecutes, and seeks to murder those whom God has chosen for His own, especially when they are at their weakest.
The mention of the combination of resting place, a rod, and a valley mentioned in this account of the battle with Amalek, brings to mind Psalm 23:
"...He makes me to lie down in green pastures ; He leads me beside still waters (waters of rest). He restores my soul...Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; For You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me."
Also, as Moses had two to support his weary hands, David had two supports in this Psalm-goodness and mercy.
Moses (meaning to draw out of water, to save, to preserve) grew weary, and sat upon a rock (Christ, and the revelation of Him). Aaron (light bringer), Christ as the Light and the Word, which brings light (Ps. 119:105, 2 Pet. 1:19, 2 Pet. 1:19), and Hur (hole, crevice of a serpent, a cell of an abominable subterranean prison; root meaning: white cloth, fine white linen), held up the tired hands of Moses. Joshua ("Jehovah is Salvation") led the Israelites in battle. The fine, white linen, connected to the name "Hur", represents the righteousness of Christ. Christ as righteousness, delivered out of Hell. The righteousness of the saints, also, is founded in faith (Rom. 1:17, 3:22, 4:5, 9, 13, and many more), that faith being that Christ has delivered us from the power of sin, death, and Hell. This righteousness that begins in faith in Jesus, also produces works, or fruits of righteousness in the believer, and the wedding garments of the Bride of Christ for her marriage to the Lamb ( Rev. 19:7-9 ).
At the successful conclusion of this battle, Moses built an altar (sacrifice), and called the place "Jehovah-nissi", or The LORD my Banner (something lifted up, a signal pole, lifted up to be seen far off), like Jesus lifted on the cross of Calvary. An account of the battle was to be written in a book, which was to be read repeatedly to Joshua. "Joshua" would be a form of the name that we know as "Jesus". The memorial of this battle was for the use of Joshua.
To me, this battle represents not only Jesus, and His sacrifice, but also what the battle must have been like that Jesus fought in the three days that He descended into Hell. While there, He preached "to the spirits in prison" (1 Pet. 3:19). He was able to lead those captives (root meaning: precious stones in the high priest's breastplate) out of that captivity (Ps. 68:18-20). Jesus entered Hell in the same manner as He died, as the Son of Man, while also being the Son of God. During those three days, in what we refer to as Hell or Sheol, Jesus, I believe, must have had to do intense spiritual warfare in order to escape the bars of death for Himself and the captives. I base this thought on what Jesus said about Jonah. Jesus told an "evil and adulterous generation" that the only sign that would be given to them was the sign of the prophet Jonah (Mt. 12:39-40, 16:4, Lk. 11:29-30). Jonah was in the belly of the fish for three days and nights (Jonah 1:17). He cried out to the LORD from that terrible place of death:
"Out of the belly of Sheol I cried, and You heard my voice...The waters surrounded me, even to my soul; the deep closed around me...I went down to the moorings of the mountains; the earth with its bars closed behind me forever; Yet You have brought up my life from the pit, O LORD, my God."  Jonah 2:1-6 (excerpt)
In the Psalms, there are also many references of the psalmist crying out to the LORD to rescue him from death, the pit, the grave, the mire, deep waters, darkness, Hell/Sheol, etc. Here are some examples:
"The pangs of death surrounded me...The sorrows of Sheol surrounded me; the snares of death confronted me. In my distress, I called upon the LORD, and cried out to my God..."
"I am counted with those who go down to the pit; I am like a man who has no strength, adrift among the dead, like the slain who lie in the grave...Will You work wonders for the dead? Shall the dead rise and praise You? Selah. Shall Your lovingkindness be declared in the grave? Or You faithfulness in the place of destruction?...But to You I have cried out, O LORD..."  Ps. 18:5-6, Ps. 88:4-13 (excerpt)
Jesus, the Word, must have earnestly prayed all of these many verses on our behalf while He battled the hold of death in the depths of the earth. If death on the cross was unimaginably torturous, why would we think that the battle to break the bonds holding Him in death and Hell would be any less difficult?
This battle between Moses and the Amalekites to me, especially because of the meanings of the names and places involved, is a prophetic type of Jesus' warfare in the pit-to come out of it alive, in resurrection: not only for Himself, but for the other captives there, and for us, the generations who followed. He descended into the depths, and He who lives and was dead, and alive again forever, has the keys of Hades and of Death (Eph. 4:9, Rev. 1:18).
Why is the war ongoing then, according to what the LORD spoke to Moses? The victory is already assured and won for those who believe Jesus' atonement for them, but death, hell, and the grave for all others, will exist until after the  reign of Messiah on earth. At that point, there will be a final warfare. At its conclusion, the devil, those who refused the salvation of God, who were not written in the Book of Life, also Death and Hades, will be cast into the lake of fire, the second death (Rev. 20). Paul says that at Christ's coming, "Then comes the end, when He delivers the kingdom to God the Father, when He puts an end to all rule and all authority and power. For He must reign till He has put all enemies under His feet. The last enemy that will be destroyed is death."  1 Cor. 15:23-26
Similarly, the Amalekite enemy in Exodus 17, is described as one with whom the LORD will have war for many generations because the LORD has sworn it (v. 16). He swore that promise to Abraham when Abraham obediently offered his son Isaac, a type of Christ, on the Mount:
"By Myself, I have sworn, says the LORD, because you have done this thing, and have not withheld your son, your only son...your descendants shall posses the gate of your enemies. In your seed (Messiah, Christ) all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice."   Gen. 22:16-18
Included in the reference to the enemies' gate above, are also the gates of Hell: "...on this rock (the revelation of the person of Christ-Moses was sitting on a rock) I will build My church (called out assembly-called out of the darkness and into His marvelous light), and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it."  Mt. 16:18
How powerful and awesome is Christ's accomplishment for us!
There are so many more things that can be revealed in this account of the battle against the Amalekites, but even if we stop here, it is more than enough to think about!

Our Father has won the victory over Death and Hell for us through His Son, Jesus.


"The Anthem"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hkAREE-h2Dc

"10,000 Reasons"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DXDGE_lRI0E

Touched

"Now a woman having a flow of blood for twelve years, who had spent all her livelihood on physicians and could not be healed by any, came from behind and touched the border (hem) of His garment. (For she said to herself, "If only I may touch His garment, I shall be made well.") And immediately her flow of blood stopped. And Jesus said, "Who touched Me?" When all denied it, Peter and those with him said, "Master, the multitudes throng and press you, and You say, "Who touched Me?" But Jesus said, "Somebody touched Me, for I perceive that virtue is gone out of Me."  Lk. 8:43-46, and Mt. 9:21
Jesus was on His way to the house of the leader of the synagogue, whose daughter was very ill. His journey to heal the young girl was interrupted by this event, above.
The woman, who was not only afflicted by a physical condition, she was also considered "unclean" according to the Law of Moses. For twelve years, no one else would have been willing to touch her, because of this. She was not allowed to touch others, even her own family, because of this. Yet she reached for the part of Jesus' garment that represented the Law of Moses, the hem, or "fringes" on a prayer shawl. Why would she reach for that part of His garment for her healing, when that is the very part that condemned her as unclean according to the understanding of those around her? Isn't that interesting? Perhaps it goes to Jesus' identity as the Law, which is part of the Word, and as His identity as the fulfillment of the Law. He fulfilled the Law for her, when she, having spent all of her desire, effort and money on physicians, could not fulfill the Law for herself.
Jesus didn't ask, "Who touched My garment?" He asked, "Who touched Me?"
She needed to "touch" His hem. He felt "touched". The word, "touch/touched" here means "to fasten or attach one's self to, adhere to, cling to". The root of the word means "to fasten fire to a thing, to kindle, to set on fire". He's got the dynamite, and she's got the flame to light the fuse! Awesome!
His disciples couldn't discern the difference between the crowd pressing against Jesus, and the "touch" of a woman appealing to the King for mercy in the face of the Law. Jesus could tell the difference. He was stopped in His tracks, and would not proceed further until He found out who had "touched" Him.
He very easily felt the difference, because at her "touch", Jesus felt "virtue" go out of Him.
"Virtue" used here means "power for performing miracles, power consisting in or resting upon armies, forces, hosts". The root meaning is "might, to be capable, strong and powerful...to have power by permission of law or custom".
The woman approached Jesus "from behind" Him. Her reticence to make herself known, probably because of the nature of her affliction, seems to be apparent throughout the event. However, "behind" also has the root meaning "to see, to look at, to behold". She had some sort of revelation, or divine understanding, that she was seeing the source of her healing, which none of the others in the surrounding, "pressing" crowd had perceived. It was this revelation, or spiritual sight, that brought her the healing she had desperately wanted (v. 48).
How do we "see" Jesus? How do we "touch" Jesus? How we do so can make all the difference in the world.

Our Father has provided virtue to us in His Son.

"Break Every Chain"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E2y2OPqJJag

"One Touch"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TW5PjZzTz-s

Wife

 

The Book of Proverbs is a book of wisdom written by King Solomon. At the conclusion of this book, Solomon recounts the advice that his own mother gave him.

His mother told him that one of the most important decisions he would make would be his choice of the woman who would become his wife, and the eventual mother of his children. So important a role does a wife and mother play in a household, even the household of a king, that his choice would make the difference between success and failure, between an everlasting godly legacy, or a descent into historical oblivion, between honor and dishonor.

There is a great depth to the description in chapter 31 of the woman that the king, or any man, should marry.

First in the description is that the woman should be virtuous (v. 10). In Hebrew, the word used here is different from what we might think. It means strength and might, especially in a warlike way. It means to be valiant and to show oneself strong. The root meaning includes travailing, writhing, to bring forth, to wait longingly. Her warfare is to bring something forth. The man has to "find" this woman. It means he has to detect or recognize her, discern her. Her price, meaning betrothal or marriage price, because she is so valuable, it is greater than the rarest gem on earth-the ruby. The word for "ruby" also signifies a corner, or turning point. Finding this woman is so spiritually powerful, that it becomes a turning point in the man's life.

Her husband's heart can safely trust in her (v. 11). Her spiritual quality is such that she affects her husband's inner most mind, will, understanding, and seat of courage. He becomes "enheartened". His soul is productive enough "to make cakes". He becomes so inwardly confident and hopeful because of her presence in his life, that he fears nothing. He neither feels he has to offer himself as spoil, nor spoil others. She will do (deal bountifully, reward, benefit) him good, and not evil all the days of her life (v. 12).

She seeks wool and flax (v. 13), which means that she inquires into and studies the makings of white garments (spiritual righteousness), even to the individual threads of which they are composed. Not only does she study it, but she puts these things into practice. She works (fashions, produces, puts in order) willingly (with delight) with her hands (open hands, or palms, of humble strength). This wife and mother does not just look to dress herself, but her whole household, in righteousness.

Spiritually, she is like a conveyance that goes back and forth bringing spiritual bread: waging war, doing battle, overcoming, prevailing, and bringing that bread from and to distant places (v. 14). She stands, establishes, and fulfills, even in gloom and adversity, and consecrates and devotes prey, and spoil torn in pieces for all in her household, including future descendants. She establishes the statutes and decrees of the law to the younger members and servants (v. 15).

She meditates and envisions wide spiritual places, an expansive future, and lays hold of these visions and establishes them for her progeny. The fruit that she establishes from these meditations is noble and worthy of kings (v. 16).
This wife surrounds her waist and back (the weakest parts of the body) with prevailing strength and boldness, and with courageous strength, with military force, she produces and sows spiritual seed. She is pregnant with it (v. 17). She tastes (experiences) and understands her value in pleasing and producing beneficial results, and therefore, her light and glistening shine are not extinguished by adversity (v. 18). She is not idle. With a powerful stretched out hand, she sows rightness, direction, success, and advantage, and with the other open, humble hand, she seizes, impacts and lays hold of the environs or district around her (v. 19). She spreads and scatters with her humble hand to the poor, and wretched, and stretches out and looses her hand of power and strength to the oppressed, and abused in need of God's deliverance (v. 20).
This wife is not terrified of the idea of white corpses or linens of the slain regarding her household as others are, because her household is arrayed with the bright, shining crimson (of the Blood). She creates (and as a wife, IS) larger coverings that spread out, containing many colors from fine alabaster white to purple and blue tinged with red. These colors of the coverings reflect her works and character of strength, honor, splendor, adorned with glorified majesty that she rejoices in now, and to the uttermost last of times (v. 21, 22, 25).
Her husband is covered with respect. He has become known at the entrance of the city, also at the entrance of the temple, and the temple in heaven. Because of this respect, he dwells (as in a marriage dwelling) in the place of the older men who have authority and governing power over the earth and its inhabitants, over the land of the living (v. 23).
In this wife's mouth is the wisdom that opens graves, commandments that dash them to pieces. Her language is from the Word of God, the instruction and teaching of scripture with a spirit of loving kindness, faithfulness, favor, beauty, goodness and even pity. She is diligent to keep watch closely over her household-their ways, doings, and walk. Even as she keeps watch over them, she shines and looks up. She does not slack in her vigilance (v. 26-27). Because of this diligence, her children of several generations become powerful, set, fixed, established, fulfilled, and her husband (lord) praises her ecstatically. (v. 28).
This was a long entry, but so important regarding the spiritual value of a Godly woman, not only to her own household, but to all the vicinity around her. She is powerful in wisdom and influence, while remaining humble in her strength.
Jesus dealt amazingly with women as the Spirit directed Him, often confounding and offending others, including His own disciples, by so doing. He revealed powerful truths to women, and even lost (on purpose) an argument with a woman, as she contended that even a Gentile could receive healing from the Messiah to Israel (Mt. 15:22-28). Jesus welcomed women engaging with Him in His ministry, and He even positioned Himself purposefully to encounter them, changing their lives, and the lives in their community (Jn. 4:5-30). Jesus even told one woman to come out of the kitchen!! (Lk. 10:38-42).
However, this chapter of Proverbs not only speaks about an individual woman and wife, but about a wife of a king. We, collectively, are the wife of the King of Kings, the Bride of Christ. This chapter of Proverbs is the spiritual standard for all of us.

Our Father has prepared a bride for His Son, the King.

"A Mother's Prayer"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GcuMG_-159U



 

 

 

 

 

Unbreakable

All things in this life are breakable, it seems. We expect that something will break at some point in its use, and we will have to fix or replace it. Even those things that call themselves unbreakable, really can be broken. Promises are broken every day, so that we really no longer rely upon them. However, when God calls something unbreakable, that's exactly what it is. The LORD showed something to His prophet Jeremiah that He described as unbreakable. He starts off by promising Jeremiah, and us, something remarkable:
"Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know."   Jer. 33:3
The things that God was willing to reveal to Jeremiah were so hidden and secret, that the words in Hebrew imply something kept behind a high wall, so fortified as to make them inaccessible. This prophetic word came to Jeremiah while he, himself, was shut up in an inaccessible place, the king's prison. The king had Jeremiah placed there so the prophet could no longer prophesy Judah's coming defeat and captivity by the king of Babylon. However, no place is inaccessible to God, and His prophets still hear and prophesy His word even in prison. What secret, inaccessible thing did God show Jeremiah that day in prison?
God (YHWH) promised Jeremiah that even though Judah would be conquered and taken into captivity by Babylon, that would not be the end of the story. God would restore them:
"Behold, I will bring it health and healing; I will heal them and reveal to them the abundance of peace and truth. And I will cause the captives...to return, and will rebuild those places as at the first. I will cleanse them from all their iniquity...and I will pardon...Then it shall be to Me a name of joy, a praise, and an honor before all nations of the earth, who shall hear all the good that I do to them; they shall fear and tremble for all the goodness and all the prosperity that I provide for it."   Jer. 33:6-9
The miraculous restoration that God would bring to both Judah and Israel after their great defeat would be a testimony to all the nations of the earth. Though the land would become completely desolate, God would work this great restoration, and He would tie that work to His promised Messiah:
"Behold, the days are coming, says the LORD, that I will perform that good thing which I have promised to the house of Israel and to the house of Judah: In those days, and at that time, I will cause to grow up to David a Branch of righteousness; He shall execute judgment and righteousness in the earth. In those days, Judah will be saved, and Jerusalem will dwell safely. And this is the name by which she will be called:  THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS (YHWH TSIDKENU)."   Jer. 33:14-16
The LORD makes this promise based upon His covenant with David (king), who was long dead by this time, and the Levites (priests). He describes this covenant as "unbreakable":
"Thus says the LORD: If you can break My covenant with the day and My covenant with the night...then My covenant may also be broken with David My servant, so that he shall not have a son to reign on his throne, and with the Levites, the priests, My ministers."  v. 20-21
To the eye, it would seem that the LORD was breaking His covenant with David and the Levites-the kings of Judah and Israel were dethroned, killed, or exiled, the temple in Jerusalem was looted and torn down, the cities and fields became desolate. Both the people and the nations judged God's covenant with the Israelites to be ended (v. 24). Perhaps even Jeremiah, from his place in prison, wondered the same thing. However, this covenant made by God, and the prophetic promises He made based upon it, are unbreakable. Again, He repeats:
"Thus says the LORD: If My covenant is not with day and night, and if I have not appointed the ordinances of heaven and earth, then I will cast away the descendants of Jacob and David My servant, so that I will not take any of his descendants to be rulers over the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. For I will cause their captives to return, and will have mercy on them."  v. 25-26
The thing that made the LORD's covenant with Israel eternally unbreakable, is the fact that the covenant is rooted and created upon the foundation of His Messiah. The LORD's covenant with us is also rooted and founded upon His Messiah, Jesus, sealed by His own blood, and is unbreakable.

Our Father reveals to us the unbreakable covenant in His Messiah.

"Unshakeable"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FLW0zV6eqeY

"Ancient Words"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3vmTkXNpwzs

"The Promise"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cyX-uriW3qk