Transcription of the Video: The Blood Cries Out: Israel Becomes a Community

In Pharaoh's Egypt, some were strong, powerful. Others, weak. And in a system like that, sometimes, the weak suffered - and suffered a lot. The Bible tells us that when the Hebrew people became the victims of that suffering, that brutality, that God heard their cry. He's a God who's sensitive to the cry of those who are hurting. And he wanted a people who would have that same sensitivity. One would expect that those people who had been the victims of some pretty severe oppression, according to the Bible, would never lose their sensitivity to the pain of those who suffer. 

But I do know this. Once the Hebrew people left Egypt and got to the desert, God continued to teach them the importance of hearing the cries of those who are hurting. Come. Let's go join that lesson.

We've picked this place today because it's in the general location of the traditional place called Rephidim, and there's a significant event from the Exodus experience that happened at Rephidim. We're not saying it happened here, but it happened in a place like this and within sight of Mount Sinai. If you remember, the whole story we've been exploring started, in a sense, with God heard their cry - the slaves in Egypt - and decided to take action. So sure enough, a godly couple had a baby. Eventually, he's named Moses. He becomes an Egyptian for a while. You know the story.

Now, you would think that when Israel had been slaves in Egypt and they were the ones who had cried, you'd think they would never ever have forgotten to listen for the cry of hurting people. But apparently, Egypt gets into you pretty deeply. Because one of the lessons God brings them out here to teach them is, in a sense, a reminder of that lesson. Let's walk with them a bit. 

It went something like this. God had been slowly testing them ever since they left the Red Sea. Some of those tests they failed pretty badly. But it seems that each of the tests, they learned something from. So they're growing as well. They're being trained. The last test, they raised a serious question. "Is God among us or not?"

It appears from the text that God's reaction to that comment, that attitude was to discipline them by an attack of a group of people called the Amalekites. Because that's the next story. In fact, they had failed to be a community in several ways. And partly because of that failure to be a community, God allowed them to be attacked. 

Now, their attackers were called Amalekites. Amalekites are people who lived in this desert. They're sort of a warlike tribe of nomads descended from Esau. They're one of the tribes of Esau. So they're distant relatives, in a way, of the Hebrews. Their, shall we say, specialty apparently was the slave trade. In fact, one of the times they're in the Bible besides this one is the story of King David, where his city called Ziklag is attacked by the Amalekites [1 Samuel 30], and they take out of Ziklag his children, wives, the wives' and children of his fighting men and disappeared into the desert with them on their way to Egypt - apparently to sell them as slaves. They didn't kill any of the captives. 

So when the Israelites say to God, "Are you among us or not? Why did you bring us out here from Egypt," it's as if God said, "That's too far. So you really want to go back to Egypt? Maybe an attack of the slave traders will bring you to your senses." I'm not sure that's what he had in mind, but it seems that the two come right together. 

The second thing we ought to note is the Amalekites, as they would do on other occasions, make a serious mistake. And the mistake isn't attacking the Hebrews necessarily; although, that turns out to be a mistake too. The mistake is they attack the people in the rear of the column. And the book of Deuteronomy [25] describes them as the weak and those who had lagged behind. Now, God doesn't react kindly when weak and those who lag behind scream out in pain. So he reacts. 

There's another piece that we ought to know before we address the story itself. According to the Torah - and they hadn't gotten that yet - so we don't know how soon they learned all these things. There are two tribes that have unique responsibilities when you travel. The one out front, of course, you could guess - Judah, the tribe of the Messiah. You take the lead. The word means "God praiser". You're out front. 

The tribe that takes up the back is the tribe of Dan. Now, Dan has an interesting history if you trace it [Genesis 49]. Dan's symbol is the snake - the tribal symbol. So you know right away there's going to be a struggle in this tribe. They're assigned the territory when they get to the Promised Land called the Shephelah, which is right in between where the Israelites lived and where the Philistines lived. And you know their history. They had a hero named Samson from that tribe, who has a mixed record. But once Samson was gone, they said [Judges 18], "Forget this. We're sick of doing this - defending our brothers and sisters up in the mountains." And they took off and headed somewhere else and picked a new inheritance. That's not the kind of thing that God expects from his people. 

In fact, when you get to the list in the Book of Revelation of the 12 tribes, Dan is left out of that list. I'm not suggesting Dan isn't going there. But biblically, I think, you can say, "We have a choice. Which tribe do you want to be a part of?" The tribe of Judah, not flawlessly, carries out their God-given responsibility. The tribe of Dan seems to symbolize people who say, "We're not going to carry out what we've been asked to do." Whether or not they were assigned to be in the back of the column here, yet, or not no one knows, because the Torah hasn't been given. But at least, you begin to see that somebody isn't carrying out their responsibility. So the Amalekites attack. 

Now, Moses is gone. He's on his way to Mount Sinai to hit the rock because they've been complaining about water and the water is going to come back. It appears, in the text, that that attack happens either immediately after he returns or even while he's gone. So the Amalekites attack, and Moses said, "Choose some people and we're going to fight them tomorrow."

What's intriguing about that is notice the maturing of Israel. At the Red Sea, there's a pretty good battle with the Egyptians. And the Israelites' job - stand and watch. God will fight for you. Now, God said, "It's 40 days in. I expect more from my partner. Choose some people who will fight for you." Notice the community. People who will fight for you. Not great warriors. I'm sure they were. Not great battlers. I'm sure they were. "Choose some people who will fight for you. Let's be a community here." Choose some people who will stand up for the community, in other words. 

So Joshua does, and Israel goes to battle. Israel goes to battle. These former slaves, 40 days earlier, go to battle. But God doesn't want them to forget either, that when you partner with God, even the part you play is all God. So to indicate that it was all God and that they needed to know that, Moses chose a high hill overlooking the valley where the battle took place. And he said to Joshua, "I'm going to go up there with the staff of God in my hand. I'm going to take the stick." 

This stick has got quite a history at this point. It's been the stick that became a snake in front of Pharaoh. It's been the stick that was stretched over the Nile River when it turned to blood. It's been the stick that divided the Red Sea. No. It's been the symbol of God's power when it divided the Red Sea. It's been the stick that hit the rock. And you remember those stories. This is quite a seasoned stick. 

But as we learned at Marah, it was pretty clear that this is a symbol of the authority of God's power. As Pharaoh always had a stick, whether like this or up in his arm, this is not a stick, not even worth mentioning. This is a symbol of the power of Almighty God. So Moses said, "Tomorrow." And I don't know why he waited until tomorrow. Maybe he wanted Israel to learn their lesson. "Tomorrow, I'm going to go stand on the hill with the stick of God in my hand. Tell the people this." 

So he stood on one of these plateaus in a place like this with arms raised, stick in hand. He soon got tired. Give him a break. He's 80. You know how you feel climbing up here today. Stick in hand, he got tired. And so, his two-- shall we call them assistants or maybe disciples is a better word-- his two disciples, Aaron and Hur, stood on either side supporting his arms.

And the text says [Exodus 17] when his arms were up, Israel was victorious. When his arms got tired before Aaron and Hur got there, the Amalekites prevailed. Now, think about that for a moment. It isn't that when his arms went down, God said, "Okay, I'm not going to help you." The key is Moses is up here for their sake. "Look fellow Israelites. There's Moses with a stick of God. Yesterday, we asked, 'Is God among us?' Today, we say, 'He is. God is among us. Keep your mind, your eye, your confidence on him. It's his battle. Fight for him.'" And the reason I can say that with such confidence is that when it's finished and Israel is victorious and you see the Amalekites on their camels disappearing in the distance in defeat, Moses names something. An altar? The stick? And the name is Adonai Nissi. 

Most of your English Bibles translate that and translate it correctly. "The Lord is my banner." Now, come with me back to Egypt. Let's say Karnak. Do you remember those gigantic slots in the wall where those poles stood with those banners? Notice the slots. Do you see the slots? Those are flagpole slots. Every temple has them. In those slots stood gigantic poles. They found some that they believe-- not the poles but the slots-- where the poles were 200 feet high. Now, you could have seen those flags all the way from the Nile. 

Now, apparently the flag idea (they're called banners) comes from the origin of Egyptian temples, which were connected to military expeditions. And like a soldier carries a banner in battle, their temples always had banners on them. So you would put your eyes up and say, "Keep your eyes on that. Follow where that leads. That's who our allegiance is with. That's the banner of the enemy. That's the banner here." Now, that became such a big deal that the shape of a banner - a pole with a little flag sticking out - is the symbol in the hieroglyphic language for God. God is my banner. 

Because the idea was that if you keep your eye on Osiris, you keep your eye on Pharaoh, you will be victorious. Pharaoh is my banner. Ra is my banner. Horus is my banner. And if I live and fight for him... 

So Moses said, "Israelites, the lesson, Adonai is our banner. We walk, we fight, everything we do, we do for him." And as long as they kept their eyes up to him, there was a power within them they probably didn't realize they had. And the moment that pointing to heaven stopped, they were just former slaves. 

That's an interesting connection for us. Later, Israel will send - and their penalty will be poisonous snakes come and bite them. So God says [Numbers 21], "Moses, put a snake on a pole." Except he uses a word that means banner. "Put a snake on a banner and the snake becomes like a banner."

In Isaiah [11], Isaiah says there will be a chute out of Jessie's stump - the Messiah. And he will be our banner. So when Jesus said [John 3], "As Moses lifted up a snake on a pole, so I have to be lifted up." In a sense, he's saying, "I become your banner." 

So as we live, whatever we do, wherever we go, whatever it is God calls us to, the Messiah is our banner. Live for him. Walk for him. Everything you do, for him.

But there's another piece here. Another part of their training. When those poor were attacked, they cried out. I don't know if they cried out to God or not. It doesn't say. In the Bible, there is a word for that kind of cry. Not just crying because you're upset or sad. Not just crying because you're in some trouble. But it's the cry of someone who's in utter terror because a disaster is happening. The word - ze'akah. Sometime you'll want to do a study of that word. Because when that cry goes up, no matter what he's doing, God hears it. And when he hears it and acts, it often isn't pretty. It's the ultimate chaos that God detests, especially when the ze'akah is caused by someone else. 

The word first shows up in the Bible in the story of Cain and Abel we say in English [Genesis 4]. Cain killed his brother, a righteous young man. The blood went into the ground and cried out, "Ze'akah!" And God heard it and banished Cain. 

It's the cry of the Israelites in Egypt. It's the cry of Moses when they're going to stone him. It's the cry of Mordecai when all the Jews are going to be killed by Haman. And every time that cry comes from suffering people, God reacts with great power. 

The Jewish tradition of Jesus' time, they thought a lot about that. They noticed that in the book of Daniel [7] there is a coming judge who will judge all nations. He's called in Daniel the Son of Man, and he will bring God's vengeance on anyone who's brought injustice. In Hebrew, man is Adam. Who is the son of Adam? Abel. And they said, "A-ha. Someday, Abel will be the judge for he is the Son of Man." And it helped them to explain why, during the period of the Seleucid Greeks, when so many Jews were slaughtered for being righteous, they would be vindicated someday. Because someday, the blood of those who are oppressed and butchered will judge. Whether you agree or not, when Jesus calls himself the Son of Man, he not only said, "I, like Abel, will suffer. But I will be vindicated for one day I will judge." 

Now, if you want to hear an amazing thing about our Messiah [Mark 2], one day as they let a man down through the roof and he raised him up, he said to him before healing his lameness, "Your sins are forgiven."

Some said, "How can you say this?"

And Jesus said, "In order that you may know that the Son of Man has the power."

They all thought to judge the wicked. 

He said, "In order that you may know that the Son of Man has the power to forgive." Imagine Cain coming in front of his judge one day, and lo and behold, it's Abel. And Abel looks his brother in the eye and says, "I forgive you."

But when that ze'akah comes, God reacts. He reacted first as Moses held the stick and Amalek was defeated [Exodus 17]. Then, God said, "Write it down. Make sure Joshua sees it. Moses, write it down. The first command to write in the Bible. Write it down. I will be at war with Amalek forever. Write it down." 

And it shows up again in the Book of Deuteronomy [25]. Saul gets the job. They all have to be destroyed. You don't cause ze'akah for the poor and weak. Unfortunately, Saul doesn't do the job. And we discover in Chronicles, for example, there are still Amalekites around. He loses the kingship because he doesn't do his job [1 Samuel 15]. 

One of those Amalekites gets permission to kill every Jew in the world. His name is Haman. God raised up a young woman who's a descendant of Saul, the one who failed - Esther - and gave her the privilege of being his instrument of finally defeating Amalek. In Jewish history, in Jewish tradition, Amalek becomes the picture of the oppressors of God's people throughout history, whether that's the Babylonians, the Romans, the Greeks or unfortunately, us too in the crusades. And you can guess in modern time who Amalek is. 

But back to the point, when God hears ze'akah, his heart is deeply stirred. And he comes with great ferocity because God will not tolerate the helpless, the poor, the weak being oppressed and being caused to suffer. And you would think that Israel would never ever have forgotten that. But apparently they needed to learn it again here. 

Make no mistake, when God hears ze'akah, he listens. In fact, he will say in the Book of Exodus [22], "Do not make the orphan or the widow cry out, because if they cry out, my anger will burn against you, and you will be destroyed."

In Isaiah [5], Isaiah writes, "This is the word of the Lord to Jerusalem and the men of Judah. 'Why, when I look for righteousness - zedekah - instead did I hear ze'akah. What have you done to the poor and the weak? How could you? Don't you remember when you were in Egypt?'"

When God listens to today's world, what does he hear? When God listens to your hometown, what does he hear? The homeless, the single parent, the unborn, the old - abandoned in a nursing home. 

He brought Israel here to become his witness, partner in a sense. The Kingdom of Priests he will call it over there at Mount Sinai, wherever that is. He wanted them to be like him. “Be holy as I am holy,” he said. Walk in my ways. Do you hear ze'akah? 

And you say to me, "That's the same lesson we had over in Egypt." 

The answer is, "Yeah. Isn't that something?" You would not think you need it again. And yet, I don't think sometimes God's community hears the cry of the broken. So it's wonderful to stand and say, "The Lord is my banner. I live for him." The one who lives for God will always hear the cry.