Remind the Man of God

Exodus 17:1 And all the congregation of the children of Israel journeyed from the wilderness of Sin, after their journeys, according to the commandment of the LORD, and pitched in Rephidim: and there was no water for the people to drink. 2 Wherefore the people did chide with Moses, and said, Give us water that we may drink. And Moses said unto them, Why chide ye with me? wherefore do ye tempt the LORD? 3 And the people thirsted there for water; and the people murmured against Moses, and said, Wherefore is this that thou hast brought us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our cattle with thirst? 4 And Moses cried unto the LORD, saying, What shall I do unto this people? they be almost ready to stone me. 5 And the LORD said unto Moses, Go on before the people, and take with thee of the elders of Israel; and thy rod, wherewith thou smotest the river, take in thine hand, and go. 6 Behold, I will stand before thee there upon the rock in Horeb; and thou shalt smite the rock, and there shall come water out of it, that the people may drink. And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel. 7 And he called the name of the place Massah, and Meribah, because of the chiding of the children of Israel, and because they tempted the LORD, saying, Is the LORD among us, or not?

8 Then came Amalek, and fought with Israel in Rephidim. 9 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. 10 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. 11 And it came to pass, when Moses held up his hand, that Israel prevailed: and when he let down his hand, Amalek prevailed. 12 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. 13 And Joshua discomfited Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword. 14 And the LORD said unto Moses, Write this for a memorial in a book, and rehearse it in the ears of Joshua: for I will utterly put out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven. 15 And Moses built an altar, and called the name of it Jehovahnissi: 16 For he said, Because the LORD hath sworn that the LORD will have war with Amalek from generation to generation.

1. The Lord leads His people to a place of need Exodus 17:1 And all the congregation of the children of Israel journeyed from the wilderness of Sin, after their journeys, according to the commandment of the LORD, and pitched in Rephidim: and there was no water for the people to drink.

2. You would think that God would lead us where all our needs would be met immediately

3. God often leads us to a place to test and strengthen our faith

4. They are not thirsty because of disobedience.

5. They are thirsty while obeying the commands of the Lord

6. They had seen God miraculously supply bread, Manna, but now they will need water

7. The lesson for us is that being in the will of God does not mean that we will not face needs

8. Being in the will of God doesn't mean we will have a life free from trouble and stress

9. Being in the will of God doesn't free us from the ups and downs of life

10. Being in the will of God just means we will have to trust Him and wait on Him to provide what we need

11. Being in the will of God means we will learn to wait and not worry and accuse

12. The people became angry with Moses when they got thirsty 2 Wherefore the people did chide with Moses, and said, Give us water that we may drink. And Moses said unto them, Why chide ye with me? wherefore do ye tempt the LORD? 3 And the people thirsted there for water; and the people murmured against Moses, and said, Wherefore is this that thou hast brought us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our cattle with thirst?

13. The word chide here is to accuse, quarrel, complain

14. People need someone to blame when things do not work out. They blame the spiritual leader

15. They asked Moses to do for them what he could never do

16. Moses realized that the complaint wasn't against him but against the Lord

17. The people quickly forgot that it was God that brought them out of Egypt and now blame it on Moses

18. Instead of thinking of how God had just given them Manna they immediately despair

19. How quickly we forget His blessings

20. I need to be aware of how fast my emotions can change

21. I can be so excited about what God is doing one minute and discouraged the next

22. I can be thankful one minute and accusing God the next

23. I can be pleasant to be around one minute and then in my frustration strike out at those that I love the most

24. I need to learn not to live by my emotions. I should let the Word of God influence me more than my emotions

25. I can feel but I can’t live off of feelings

26. Moses knew where to go when he had problems 4 And Moses cried unto the LORD, saying, What shall I do unto this people? they be almost ready to stone me. 5 And the LORD said unto Moses, Go on before the people, and take with thee of the elders of Israel; and thy rod, wherewith thou smotest the river, take in thine hand, and go. 6 Behold, I will stand before thee there upon the rock in Horeb; and thou shalt smite the rock, and there shall come water out of it, that the people may drink. And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel. 7 And he called the name of the place Massah, and Meribah, because of the chiding of the children of Israel, and because they tempted the LORD, saying, Is the LORD among us, or not?

27. When you are in trouble turn to the Lord?

28. People will disappoint you

29. People will fail you

30. Looking at people will only cause you to get wrong attitudes and think and do what will embarrass you later

31. The whole point is that God is trying to get our eyes on Him

32. Get instruction from the Lord about what to do in your time of trouble

33. You will not get this instruction directly from God like Moses did

34. God no longer speaks to us that way

35. This is why often we pray and hope God will say something while He is saying to us that He has already given us His Word

36. Learn to go to the Word of God to see what God would say

37. Learn to ask God for wisdom and then search His book of wisdom

38. Don’t ask God to not let something happen

39. Don’t ask God to make the circumstances like you want them but rather get His wisdom and obey it

40. Remember if they had prayed like we do then they would never have gotten thirsty or they would have been super frustrated just like you feel right now because you have been praying when you should have been obeying

41. When you find what God says to do in this circumstance then just do it whether you feel like it or not

42. Remember that murmuring and complaining is actually accusing God

43. It is telling God that you do not believe that He is here with us

44. Our doubts are accusations. Our complaints against our God is praise to Satan

45. How many places and times in your life need to be named Meribah or the place where I doubted God, accused Him, and told Him that He had left me

46. Standing and fighting 8 Then came Amalek, and fought with Israel in Rephidim. 9 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. 10 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. 11 And it came to pass, when Moses held up his hand, that Israel prevailed: and when he let down his hand, Amalek prevailed. 12 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. 13 And Joshua discomfited Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword.

47. Moses chose Joshua to help him lead the army

48. Joshua will begin learning from Moses

49. This is the first time Joshua is seen in the Bible

50. His training will mainly be spending time near, helping Moses, and learning by watching

51. It is more caught than taught

52. Joshua chose out men to go and fight

53. Joshua goes out among the men of Israel and chooses those that will go and fight

54. I would hope to be one of the chosen

55. I would hope to be ready, practiced up with my weapons, living the life that would cause those in leadership to want me on their team

56. While Joshua fights Moses will pray

57. Joshua will be in the valley fighting as he prays

58. He will swing the sword but Moses will be asking for him to have strength and ability to do so

59. This is not a separation of praying and serving but an example of how all are involved

60. If you are the one on the ground fighting and we all should be then go praying

61. Either way we all pray

62. Men helped Moses pray

63. Moses holds up the rod which is a symbol of God’s presence and power

64. As the rod is up they win and as it droops they lose

65. The work of God goes forward on the prayers of God’s people today just like it did then

66. As you pray God works

67. Will you be the Moses praying

68. Will you be Aaron and Hur helping the prayer

69. We need both standers and fighters

70. Pray for the man who swings the sword

71. Help the man that holds the rod

72. But get totally involved

73. Feel the pressure of accomplishing something for God

74. God is at work but in no way does He want us to think that we just sit, soak, and sour

75. Joshua sees a great victory this day

76. Keep telling the story to Joshua 14 And the LORD said unto Moses, Write this for a memorial in a book, and rehearse it in the ears of Joshua: for I will utterly put out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven. 15 And Moses built an altar, and called the name of it Jehovahnissi: 16 For he said, Because the LORD hath sworn that the LORD will have war with Amalek from generation to generation.

77. They were to write down what they had seen God do

78. They were never to forget how God won the victory that day

79. You should keep a regular record of how God has used you

80. Remember His great deeds so that you can believe Him

81. Remember His great deeds to not get discouraged

82. They were to rehearse it or recite it in the ears of Joshua

83. I wonder if Joshua someday would need to be reminded of what God had done

84. Would he need to be reminded of how God did it, through the banner, the rod, the prayer, the chosen men, the looking to God to do something

85. Would it be that God would want them to believe later when Moses wasn't there that God could still use Joshua?

86. Was it so the people would be reminded of how God allowed Joshua to have the great victory even while Moses was alive

87. Whatever it was, God wanted it to be remembered and talked about

88. Sometimes we are embarrassed to talk of the great things that God has done with us, in us, and through us but we know for sure that God wanted them to remind Joshua of it

89. He was also to be reminded because God was going to totally get rid of this enemy, Amalek for I will utterly put out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven.

90. Maybe someday in the future, Joshua would want to make a truce or forgive them

91. Maybe the people would later not want to see war against Amalek

92. God wanted them to remember that He had plans of war and destruction for these people

93. The word Jehovahnissi is used here and to be remembered.

94. Often to give a characteristic to God and His name an ending is added to Jehovah

95. Here the ending means that God is their banner, their flag, their rod

96. Jehovah is the leader and He has plans that they should carry out

• Remember that God leads you to places where you will have needs and hurts.

• You cannot expect that serving God means that all goes well, you have no hurts and disappointments

• Praying that God will not allow you to make a poor decision is not the wisest prayer

• Thinking that if you pray about it you will not have problems is crazy

• Complaining is like praising the devil

• Your doubts will cause you to feel frustration and cause conflict with those you love the most

• Feelings are often good but we do not live by them

• Emotions aren’t how God guides and directs us

• When you have needs get to God and His Word as soon as you can

• Realize that God seldom controls the circumstances to make everything go well for you

• Get involved in the battle where ever you are able

• Keep remembering what God has done and remind your loved ones of how good God is and what He has done

• Never forget we are following God and not a man. Jehovah is our flag, our banner, our rod