We first see our guy, Joshua, in Exodus as the captain of the Israel army and Moses’ right-hand man. “And Moses said unto Joshua, Choose us out men, and go out, fight with Amalek: tomorrow I will stand on the top of the hill with the rod of God in mine hand.” (Ex 17:9)
What follows is the famous story of the battle with Amalek in which Moses held up his rod, and as long as his hands were up in the air, the Israelites under Joshua were winning the battle, and when his hands went down, Amalek was winning.
That’s a nice story, but an understanding of the main characters makes it more interesting. Who was Amalek? He was the grandson of Esau of Esau and Jacob fame. You know, the Bible says that the sins of the fathers carry on to their children’s children. (Ex. 34:7) If you recall, in Genesis 25, Esau sold his birthright to Jacob for some soup. He and Jacob were twins born to Isaac and Rebekah, but Esau came out of the womb first, making him older and therefore the one who was destined to receive the family blessing. But God knew Esau before he was born and chose Jacob to receive the blessing. It happened through the deception of Rebekah and Isaac’s poor eyesight (read about it in Gen. 27). In sin, Esau married the daughters of Canaan. The Israelites weren’t supposed to intermarry, because the pagans would turn their hearts to their false gods. God’s summary of Esau was this: As it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated. (Rom 9:13) How many people does God hate? That is a strong statement about God and about Esau. There’s something deeper there to pay attention to.
After all that, now we see the path of how Esau’s grandson, Amalek, could become an unsavory character. He was living the life and consequences of the sins of his grandfather.
Our first mention of Joshua is in connection with this famous battle to defeat Esau’s grandson Amalek. And Joshua discomfited Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword. 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. (Ex. 17:13-14) That’s a pretty strong statement, too. Throwing out Amalek from under heaven? Who else will someday be thrown out from under heaven?
Joshua, who is a type of Christ, as we saw yesterday, fought Amalek, who was an evil force God opposed and planned to wipe out completely. Is it possible that if Joshua is a type of Christ, Amalek is a type of Satan, and this battle pictures the spiritual battle that continues and that will ultimately end with Jesus reigning and Satan defeated?
There are devotional applications to this story, for sure. But as we start our journey into the life of Joshua, it’s important to see his significance as a mighty warrior in the grand scheme of things past and future.
I promise, we will look at his life more devotionally in the days ahead.
Comments