Scripture Reading: Exo. 17:8-16; Deut. 25:17-19; 1 Sam. 15:2-3, 9, 14-15, 22-23; Gal. 5:17
Ⅰ
Exodus 17:8-13 speaks of Amalek fighting against the children of Israel as they were journeying to attain to God's goal:
A
Amalek signifies the flesh, the leading enemy in frustrating us from going on with the Lord:
１
The name Amalek means "warlike," indicating that the flesh is warlike, destructive, and disturbing.
２
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.
３
The greatest destroyer of the Christian life is the flesh—1 Pet. 2:11.
４
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.
B
The flesh denotes the totality of the fallen old man, our entire fallen being—Gen. 6:3; Rom. 7:18a; Gal. 2:16:
１
The flesh is the living out and the expression of the old man—Rom. 6:6.
２
The flesh is enmity against God, the flesh is not subject to God's law, and the flesh is not able to subject itself to God's law—Rom. 8:7.
３
The flesh cannot be changed or improved; thus, we need to be mindful of the fact that the flesh is always with us—Rom. 13:14; Gal. 5:16.
C
The flesh is the camp of God's enemy and the largest base for his work—Gal. 5:19-21:
１
The flesh is the first among our enemies, taking the lead over sin, the world, and Satan to fight against us—Rom. 8:3.
２
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.
Ⅱ
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:
１
Amalek tried to overthrow God's throne, just as Satan once tried to do.
２
Our flesh is an enemy of God's authority and is in rebellion against God's governmental administration.
B
Saul lost his kingship because of his failure to deal thoroughly with Amalek—1 Sam. 15:2-3, 9, 14-15, 22-23:
１
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.
２
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.
C
When Amalek is dealt with, the kingdom of God immediately comes in—Exo. 18:1-26:
１
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.
２
Because the flesh is versus kingship, the flesh must be thoroughly dealt with before the kingdom of God can come in—1 Cor. 6:9-10; Eph. 5:5.
３
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.
Ⅲ
The picture in Exodus 17:9-13 shows us how to fight against Amalek:
A
We fight against Amalek by the interceding Christ and the fighting Spirit—Rom. 8:34; Heb. 7:25; Gal. 5:17:
１
Moses lifting up his hand on the mountaintop typifies the ascended Christ interceding in the heavens—Exo. 17:9, 11.
２
Joshua fighting against Amalek typifies the indwelling Spirit fighting against the flesh—Exo. 17:9, 13.
３
We need to be in union with the interceding Christ in order to cooperate with the fighting Spirit—Col. 3:1-3, 5; Rom. 8:34, 13; Gal. 5:24, 17.
B
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:
１
When we pray, we are one with the interceding Christ—Rom. 8:34:
ａ
In order to deal with the flesh, we need much prayer in union with the interceding Christ—Heb. 7:25; 1 Thes. 5:17.
ｂ
Our prayer needs to be sustained by the priesthood (Aaron) and the kingship (Hur)—Exo. 17:12b.
ｃ
Realizing that in ourselves we are not able to sustain a prayer life gives us the strong base (stone) we need for our prayer life—Exo. 17:12a.
２
When we put the flesh to death, we are one with the fighting Spirit—Gal. 5:17:
ａ
On the one hand, we must pray with Christ; on the other hand, we must slay the flesh by the fighting Spirit—Gal. 5:24.
ｂ
Crucifying the old man was God's responsibility; crucifying the flesh is our responsibility—Rom. 6:6; 8:13; Gal. 5:24.
ｃ
We need the Spirit, and the Spirit needs our cooperation—Rom. 8:13.