Exodus 17:8-16 tells of the first battle in which Israel is commanded to directly engage the enemy. But the battle strategy is a little, well, different. Moses instructs Joshua to select some men to fight Amalek. Meanwhile, Moses plans to stand on the hilltop holding the staff of God.
That’s it. That’s the plan.
The next day, Joshua dutifully engages the enemy, while Moses assumes the position on a hill with the staff of God’s judgment in his hand. As long as Moses’s hands are raised, Israel wins in battle. When Moses’s arms tire and his hands droop, Amalek gains the advantage. In Exodus 17:16, we learn about the specific direction toward which Moses’s hands were raised: “toward the LORD’s throne.”
This odd battle strategy makes no sense until we pause to actually picture Moses’s posture on that hill, his cruciform positioning with his arms outstretched, bearing the staff of God’s judgment. Until we recognize Moses’s position on that hill as a mediator between the children of God and God, and until we visualize the scene of battle, we’ll miss the message God is foretelling.
Because so many years later, a truer and better Mediator will take His place on a hill with His arms outstretched bearing the weight of God’s judgment against all sin for all time. And the arms of this truer and better Mediator, Jesus Christ, will not drop until the victory is fully and finally won.
Even on the day of victory, it is given to Moses to appreciate a great work of God on behalf of Israel. To commemorate the victory, he builds an altar named Jehovah Nissi—the LORD is my banner.
In battle, a banner or an ensign was crucially important. It was the symbol of the kingdom for which one fought. It identified the proper rallying point—the place where soldiers would fall back to summons strength or courage; a place to recover and reorganize when the battle threatened to scatter the troops. Moses was given eyes to see that the people of God fought under the banner of God for the kingdom of God by the power of God who would assure their victory until the end.
Indeed, the LORD is still our banner.
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