Daily Devotional for Wednesday, August 31

Captain of the Army

The attackers came from out of nowhere! They were marauders who just happened onto the weak and straggling rear guard of an exhausted people. God had provided an oasis at Rephidim so His people could recover during their journey away from Egyptian lands. Now here, where they felt safe, safety had been shattered by an ambush. Typical of the enemies of God, the enemy attacked viciously with a hate that can only come from an opposition to all that is good. 

Amalek was the first nation to attack Israel. They never acted for God’s glory but entirely for their own selfish ambition. Sometimes those actions were even dressed up as devotion to the Almighty. God is forever at war with that mind-set. 

God’s response to this attack was to have Moses choose a captain, unafraid, dependable, and totally dependent on God. Wherever Satan attacks, we must fight, but the battle is always won through the power of God. Joshua, God’s man for the job, moved into battle. His support would be three elders, Moses, Aaron and Hur. Success in our battles with the enemy of God is often dependent upon the support of others in the army of God. You should always choose to rely on godly people who recognize God’s power to assist you in trying times. 

Joshua and his men moved into the fray and the battle went back and forth. Sometimes it seemed that victory had passed from their grasp when Moses allowed the staff of God to lower from its place of prominence. The staff of God represents the power of God and holding the staff high was the opposite of the Amalekite dependence on self. It took the whole team but when the team depends on God’s power for the result, God’s people always win.

REFLECTION: Will you depend on yourself, or will you depend on God when He sends you into battle today?

David Thompson