Lessons From Joshua’s Battle With Amalek

Feature 3 – April 2022 – Grace & Truth Magazine

Lessons From Joshua’s Battle With Amalek

In The Wilderness
Dead people do not fight. They can’t. Conversely, the living have enemies who must be fought. In the natural world these adversaries include bacteria, viruses and other disease-causing organisms. On a much grander scale we see armies battling one another. Each has the prime purpose of gaining the upper hand at the expense of a person’s health or nation’s wellbeing. As a conflict is waged, it leads to destruction and death.

The spiritual domain is similar but different. In nature, life comes first and death follows. In the spiritual sphere, one starts off dead and is made alive: “And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins” (Eph. 2:1 NKJV). In either realm a person must be alive to fight, and the healthier or stronger one is, the better the chance of winning. So too spiritually: the stronger Christian is in a better condition to endure tougher attacks and a constant battle.

In Scripture historical events are often used to teach us moral or spiritual lessons. Romans 15:4 says, “For whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that we through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope.” With this understanding Joshua’s personal conquests are important lessons for us. To adapt his experiences appropriately we must do so in the light of Ephesians 6:12, “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.”

The First Conquest Was Not His Own
In a spiritual sense the first conquest for the believer is not his own but one that was accomplished on the cross on his behalf, so that he could be made alive in Christ. The Lord Jesus Christ is the Victor over death, and all who come to Him through faith receive new life, being, as is described in the New Testament, “born again” (Jn. 3:3).

As a man of faith, Joshua was an Old Testament believer. Historically the Savior’s work on the cross was after the time when Joshua lived, but the value of it was already known to God (consider Rom. 3:25). Christ’s victory over death allowed Joshua to enjoy the blessings of the life He gives to us today. In Joshua’s physical life we see, in type, the constant conflicts of the believer. This includes the first time we read about Joshua in Exodus 17, when Moses instructed him to fight against Amalek.

The Conflict With Amalek
Amalek was a grandson of Esau. The Amalekites were outside the family of God and are seen in Scripture as a type of “the flesh.” The flesh is at enmity with God: “The flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh” (Gal. 5:17).

The battle with Amalek was in the wilderness before God’s people entered the Promised Land. The conflict is indicative of what the believer must fight throughout his or her journey in this world, from the day of salvation until taken to heaven.

Let’s consider Exodus 17:8-13 and draw out a few points as we go through the verses.

• “Now Amalek came and fought with Israel in Rephidim” (v.8). It is expected that the flesh will attack the believer.
• “And Moses said to Joshua, ‘Choose us some men and go out, fight with Amalek. Tomorrow I will stand on the top of the hill with the rod of God in my hand’” (v.9). The Christian is commanded to fight. However, the conflict cannot be fought by the believer alone. Power for the battle comes from above, as represented by Moses with the rod of God on the hilltop.
• “So Joshua did as Moses said to him, and fought Amalek. And Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill” (v.10). The battle against the flesh is real – this is not Satan’s attack, but one from within us, fed by the desire to get what we want when we want it.1 That is the action of the flesh!
• “And so it was, when Moses held up his hand, that Israel prevailed; and when he let down his hand, Amalek prevailed” (v.11). We must note that human types, including Moses, are imperfect in comparison to the antitype,2 or what they represent – in this case our Lord Jesus.
• “But Moses’ hands became heavy; so they took a stone and put it under him, and he sat on it. And Aaron and Hur supported his hands, one on one side, and the other on the other side; and his hands were steady until the going down of the sun” (v.12). Four individuals in this fight on God’s side are named, each fulfilling a partial aspect of the work of the Lord Jesus Christ. Bible teacher L. M. Grant3 indicated that Joshua is a type of “Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Col. 1:27). He alone is able, by the power of the Spirit of God, to overcome evil. Moses on the hilltop with the rod of God in his hand is typical of Christ in glory, the great Intercessor for His people. This is not Christ in us but Christ above us, interceding for us before God. Aaron, the high priest, is typical of Christ also, who is the High Priest interceding for us in order to preserve us from sin and the failure by which we may be tempted (Heb. 2:17-18). Lastly, Hur, meaning “white,” is typical of “Jesus Christ the Righteous,” who is our Advocate with the Father when we have sinned (1 Jn. 2:1).
• “So Joshua defeated Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword” (v.13). The battle was won by Joshua this time, but notice three things. First, it takes the four men, all types of Christ in some way, to give at least a faint picture of His wonderful work on our behalf in facing the enemy within our hearts – the lusts of the flesh. Therefore, we may fully count on the perfect sufficiency of the Lord Jesus to enable us to overcome this wretched enemy within ourselves. The victory then will be His, not ours. Second, the battle of the flesh is never over – the Amalekites are found again in Canaan; they continuously fight God’s people (Jud. 6:3; 1 Sam. 14:48; 1 Chr. 4:43). , it was recorded that Joshua defeated Amalek and his people. This would suggest that the battle of the flesh must be fought on many fronts. There are a number of lusts or snares from within the old nature of the believer that must be conquered.

Joshua, a man of faith, not only won this conflict but also continued to be victorious throughout his life. There appears to be no mention of personal failure throughout the book that bears his name. All Christians may, therefore, be assured that Christ in us, Christ above us, the Christ who is both High Priest and Advocate, is He who can defeat the flesh in our lives (see Rom. 7:18-25).

Peer Pressure
On the border of the Promised Land, Moses chose 12 men to spy out the whole territory of Canaan, of which Oshea the son of Nun – Joshua – was one (Num. 13:8 KJV). This name means “saved by God” and “helped by God.”4 These phrases describe the path to be taken by every person who becomes a believer. Salvation is only in and by the Lord our God, and then the power for Christian living is found in the help of God alone.

Having picked him for the mission, Moses changed his name to Jehoshua (v.16), or Joshua, which means, “Yahweh is salvation.” This apparently became Joshua’s motto, not only for the battles of Canaan but also already for the conflict with Amalek, and for the one waiting for him on his return to the Israelite camp after spying out Canaan.

Reporting the findings of their 40-day scouting expedition, ten of the spies claimed that it was too dangerous to undertake the conquest of the Promised Land. Peer pressure could have repressed the belief of the other two spies if they had wanted to show agreement with the crowd. However, Joshua and Caleb offered a minority report because they had faith to trust in the promises of God. Being helped by the Lord not to bow to the pressure of popular opinion, they found Him to be their salvation and strength to stand for Him. Doing so, they were blessed by the Lord. As to the other spies, the Lord slew them in judgment (Num. 14:36-38).

God is salvation in all circumstances and at all times, both for Joshua and for the believer today!

Closing Comments
Joshua’s conflicts can teach us several important realities of the spiritual realm:

• Every person starts off spiritually dead, therefore each individual must be made alive to live in Him. This can only be accomplished through the work of Christ, who alone can create new life. First Corinthians 15:22 says, “For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive” (NKJV). Ephesians adds, “And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins” (2:1).
• The conflict of the flesh – the attacks from within us – cannot be won in our own strength. Here, too, it is a work of the spirit of Christ. The Christian must be empty of what is of “self” to allow Him to provide the power for battle.
• God’s attributes, as revealed in the names of Joshua, are available to every believer. All through the Christian’s wilderness journey, He is truly the only One who saves eternally, the Helper in every aspect of the believer’s conflict of the flesh, and the Savior from the power of sin and the judgment thereof.

ENDNOTES
1. Comments on the Book of Exodus by Leslie M. Grant, pg. 74.
2. One that is foreshadowed by or identified with an earlier symbol or type (Your Dictionary).
3. Comments on the Book of Exodus by Leslie M. Grant, pg. 74.
4. All interpretations of names are from The Name Meaning.

By G. H. B.

Christ is the answer to all our struggles against sin. In Him alone is the power we need for victory. What relief we get from our misery, what victory we experience when we give ourselves over completely to Him to let Him deliver us from the bondage of sin by His power! “For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh, that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit” (Rom. 8:2-4 NKJV). As long as we cling to any confidence in ourselves and struggle on in our own strength, we only hinder Him from working in power by His Spirit in our lives. The Christian has no power in himself to produce fruit, even though in the new nature he longs to do so. All his struggling in his own strength only ends in miserable failure. But when he realizes his powerlessness, gives up the struggle and looks to the Lord, power flows from Him by the Holy Spirit to give victory over sin and to produce fruit in his life, thereby bringing joy and peace. —E. C. Hadley, adapted from The Believer’s Two Natures, a booklet available from Grace & Truth.