Our Helper

Author: Joseph

Date: July 8, 2018

When Israel was at Rephidim, they tested God again by complaining to Moses. Israel began accusing him of trying to kill them in the wilderness. They asked Moses to provide them with water although they already understood that Moses could not provide them with water by his own ability. Instead of humbly asking God to provide water for them, Israel chose to accuse Moses and taunt him to get their way.

Israel was afraid to approach God and request their need because they had become prideful. When Israel was enslaved in Egypt, they desperately called out to God, and He remembered His covenant with them. But now, in the wilderness, they lost their humility and thereby distanced themselves from God.

Moses was Israel’s servant and mediator, and it was not by accident. God had chosen Moses to go to Pharaoh and speak to him on behalf of the Israelites. It was Moses that was also responsible for communicating God’s messages to Israel as their prophet. He conveyed God’s will and God’s commands to them. Moses had humility and humility is what Israel needed to survive the wilderness. Moses, though, was not Israel’s leader because of his ability, but because he was sent by God to help them. He was representing God as Israel’s helper.

While Israel was still at Rephidim, Amalek and his armies attacked Israel. Moses instructed Joshua to choose men from Israel to go out and fight against the Amalekites. He did so, and Moses went on top of a hill over the battlefield with Aaron an Hur. The Bible states that as long as Moses’s hands were raised that Israel prevailed against Amalek, but when his hands began to fall, Amalek would prevail against Israel. After noticing this, Aaron and Hur supported Moses’s hands in the air until Israel was victorious.

In all their journeying, Israel’s success was dependent on their willingness to receive God’s help through Moses.

When we are in our own wildernesses in life, God sends help our way and He seeks to guide us through the challenges we face. If we maintain humility and stay close to God, He will be able to guide us smoothly through anything. But the more we distance ourselves from Him by choosing to be prideful and rejecting the help that He has given, we will make matters worse. Moses had to lead the people of Israel, or else in their pride they would have been destroyed. Israel’s battle with Amalek was significant because it showed how vulnerable they were, but also how great God’s protection is when they humbly follow Him and support the help He sends our way.

Do not think you can spare your relationship with God and do not reject those that He sends to help you. When we are doing well, we must remember that it is because of God’s goodness and mercy. When we are faced with challenges, we must maintain a close relationship with Him, believing in His power over all things. Our close relationship requires humility, repentance, and a willing spirit to do His will. He is the only One who can handle our lives. Do not take your life into your own hands.

Bible Passage: Exodus 17