Crystallization-Study of Exodus (1)
The Glorious Triumph of Jehovah as a Man of War and the Continual War with Amalek
Scripture Reading: Exo. 15:1-18; 17:8-16
I. Exodus 15:1-18 is a song of praise concerning the glorious triumph of Jehovah as a man of war for His salvation and His victory leading to God's habitation and His kingdom:
A. In verses 1 through 12 the children of Israel praised God for His salvation and His victory—v. 1b:
1. Salvation is related to God's people, and victory, to God's enemy.
2. At the same time that God defeated the enemy, He also saved His people—cf. Heb. 2:14-15.
B. Exodus 15:13 speaks of God's habitation, even though the temple as God's dwelling place was not built until centuries later:
1. God's habitation was first the tabernacle and then the temple, both of which typify the church; the tabernacle was constructed within a year after the exodus from Egypt, and it remained until the temple was built—13:4; 40:17.
2. The mention of God's habitation in Exodus 15:13 indicates that baptism leads to the church life—Acts 2:38-47.
C. In poetic form Exodus 15:14-15 is a prophecy that the children of Israel would defeat God's enemies and take possession of the good land:
1. The peoples in verse 14 signify the unbelievers, the heathen:
a. The Philistines, who lived between Egypt and the good land, signify the people of the religious world—v. 14; 1 Sam. 6:1-18.
b. The Edomites, the descendants of Esau, signify those who are natural, those who are not chosen, redeemed, regenerated, and transformed—Exo. 15:15a; Rom. 9:10-13.
c. The Moabites, the descendants of Lot, signify the fleshly ones, for their source was an act of incest—Exo. 15:15b; Gen. 19:30-38.
d. The Canaanites are related to the evil powers in the heavenlies—Exo. 15:15c; Eph. 6:12.
2. The intention of all the enemies was to keep God's people from reaching His goal—the building of His dwelling placefor the fulfillment of His purpose; however, in the eyes of God His goal has already been achieved, and that is why Moses used the perfect tense when speaking of God's habitation—Exo. 15:13, 17.
D. Verse 18 refers to the kingdom—"Jehovah shall reign forever and ever":
1. God's habitation, God's house, brings in God's kingdom, God's reign.
2. Today the church is first God's house and then His kingdom—1 Tim. 3:15; Rom. 14:17.
3. The church brings in God's kingdom to the earth—Eph. 2:19; Matt. 16:18-19:
a. Exodus 15:1-18 indicates that the goal ofGod's salvation is the building of His dwelling place for the establishing of His kingdom.
b. For this we, like Moses and the children of Israel, should praise the Lord—cf. Rev. 15:2-4.
II. In Exodus 17:8-16 there is a picture showing the continual war with Amalek:
A. Amalek fought against the children of Israel as they were journeying to attain to God's goal:
1. Amalek signifies the flesh, the leading enemy in frustrating us from going on with the Lord:
a. The name Amalek means "warlike," indicating that the flesh is warlike, destructive, and disturbing.
b. The flesh works in a hidden way to undermine God's people and even to kill them—Esth. 3:1-15; 7:6, 9-10; Gal. 4:29.
c. The fact that God has a continual war with Amalek reveals that God hates the flesh and desires to exterminate it—Exo. 17:16; Gal. 5:17.
2. The flesh denotes the totality of the fallen old man, our entire fallen being—Gen. 6:3; Rom. 7:18a; Gal. 2:16:
a. The flesh is the living out and the expression of the old man—Rom. 6:6.
b. The flesh cannot be changed or improved; thus, we need to be mindful of the fact that the flesh is always with us—13:14; Gal. 5:16.
3. The flesh is the camp of God's enemy and the largest base for his work—vv. 19-21:
a. The flesh is the first among our enemies, taking the lead over sin, the world, and Satan to fight against us— Rom. 8:3.
b. God hates the flesh in the same manner that He hates Satan, and He wants to destroy the flesh in the same manner that He wants to destroy Satan—Exo. 17:16; Deut. 25:17-19; 1 Sam. 15:2-3.
4. With Amalek there is a hand against the throne of the Lord—Exo. 17:16; 1 Sam. 15:22-23:
a. The flesh is in rebellion against God and against His throne.
b. Amalek tried to overthrow God's throne, just as Satan once tried to do.
c. Our flesh is an enemy of God's authority and is in rebellion against God's governmental administration.
5. Saul lost his kingship because of his failure to deal thoroughly with Amalek—vv. 2-3, 9, 14-15, 22-23:
a. Sparing the good flesh and offering it to God is hateful to Him because such a practice involves demons and idols of vanity—vv. 22-23.
b. Saul lost his kingship because he did not utterly destroy Amalek, and we also will lose our kingship if we do not utterly destroy our flesh—vv. 26, 28; Rev. 5:10; 1 Pet. 2:9.
6. When Amalek is dealt with, the kingdom of God immediately comes in—Exo. 18:1-26:
a. The kingdom of God denotes the authority of God by which all things are subject to God—Mark 1:15; John 3:3, 5; Rev. 11:15; 12:10; Dan. 2:44.
b. Because the flesh is versus the kingship, the flesh must be thoroughly dealt with before the kingdom of God can come in—1 Cor. 6:9-10; Eph. 5:5.
7. If we follow the Lord's word to utterly destroy the flesh, we will have the kingship and will be in God's kingdom— Gal. 5:19-21; 2 Pet. 1:5-11.
B. The picture in Exodus 17:9-13 shows us how to fight against Amalek:
1. We fight against Amalek by the interceding Christ and the fighting Spirit—Rom. 8:34; Heb. 7:25; Gal. 5:17:
a. Moses lifting up his hand on the mountaintop typifies the ascended Christ interceding in the heavens—Exo. 17:9, 11.
b. Joshua fighting against Amalek typifies the indwelling Spirit fighting against the flesh—vv. 9, 13.
2. In the battle against Amalek we need to cooperate with the Lord by praying and by putting the flesh to death—Luke 18:1; 1 Thes. 5:17; Rom. 8:13; Gal. 5:24:
a. When we pray, we are one with the interceding Christ— Rom. 8:34.
b. When we put the flesh to death, we are one with the fighting Spirit—Gal. 5:17.
C. Eventually, in order for us to live within the veil, in the Holy of Holies, there is the need of a stronger experience of the cross in dealing with the flesh—Heb. 10:19-20:
1. Although the sanctuary of God is in the heavens, it is divided into two sections—the outer Holy Place and the inner Holy of Holies—by the veil, which signifies our flesh.
2. In God's economy the sanctuary of God has a negative thing—our flesh:
a. In relation to Christ, the veil in the sanctuary of God was split at the time of Christ's crucifixion—Matt. 27:51.
b. In relation to the believers, the veil remains so that God may use it to perfect His seeking ones and so that they may be one with God by dwelling in Him as the Holy of Holies—2 Cor. 12:7; Rev. 21:22.
c. No matter how mature and spiritual we may become, as long as our body has not yet been transfigured, we still have the flesh, which is the veil: 1) In our experience the veil, the flesh, must be riven, and then we need to pass the riven veil to live in the Holy of Holies—Heb. 10:19-20. 2) We need to learn the lesson of the cross daily, passing through the veil by a stronger experience of the cross in dealing with the flesh so that we may live within the veil—in the Holy of Holies, in the consummated Triune God—Gal. 5:24.