CHRIST,  OUR
SYMPATHETIC  GUIDE

8 Then came Amalek, and fought with Israel in Rephidim.
9 And Moses said to Joshua, Choose us out 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.
10 So Joshua did as Moses had said to him, and fought with Amalek: and Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill.
11 And it came to pass, when Moses held up his hand, that Israel prevailed; and when he let down his hand, Amalek prevailed.
12 But Moses' hands were heavy; and they took a stone, and put it under him, and he sat on it; and Aaron and Hur held up his hands, the one on the one side, and the other on the other side; and his hands were steady until the going down of the sun.
13 And Joshua defeated Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword.
14 And the LORD said to Moses, Write this for a memorial in a book, and recount it in the ears of Joshua; for I will utterly blot out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven.
15 And Moses built an altar, and called the name of it Jehovah-nissi:
16 For he said, Because the LORD has sworn that the LORD will have war with Amalek from generation to generation.

18 And the LORD said to Joshua, Stretch out the spear that is in your hand toward Ai; for I will give it into your hand. And Joshua stretched out the spear that he had in his hand toward the city.
19 And the ambush arose quickly out of their place, and they ran as soon as he had stretched out his hand; and they entered into the city, and took it, and hastened to set the city on fire.
20 And when the men of Ai looked behind them, they saw, and, behold, the smoke of the city ascended up to heaven, and they had no power to flee this way or that way; and the people who fled to the wilderness turned back upon the pursuers.
21 And when Joshua and all Israel saw that the ambush had taken the city, and that the smoke of the city ascended, then they turned again, and killed the men of Ai.
22 And the others came out of the city against them; so they were in the midst of Israel, some on this side, and some on that side. And they struck them down, so that they let none of them remain or escape.
23 But they took the king of Ai alive, and brought him to Joshua

26 For Joshua drew not his hand back, with which he stretched out the speak, until he had utterly destroyed all the inhabitants of Ai.

-- Joshua 8:18-23, 26

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When Joshua stretched out his hand holding the speak, he was guiding the Israelite armies, giving them a signal of who was to do what, and when. He was indicating that the time had come for the ambush to enter the vacated city of Ai and set fire to it, after which the rest of the army would turn back and fight the army of Ai. Since he's a type of Christ, this incident teaches us of how Christ guides us from heaven. He was prepared to guide us from heaven, by His experience during His earthly life. He is a sympathetic guide, having proven by experience that He understands us. He is touched with our problems, and is able and willing to lead us through them.

Christ was PREPARED for His present mission of guiding us, BY  DOING  THE  FATHER'S  WILL, by which He had experience in being guided from heaven according to His Father's will. He was prepared for this mission by being SENT  ON  IT. He kept His disciples reminded of this by frequently referring to the Father as "Him that sent Me."

Moses' raising of his hands was not an indication that he was praying. Rather, he was using his rod, held in his hands, as a banner. That is why he called the place "The LORD, my banner" (verse 15). Banners in antiquity were not flags, but rather rods with jewels at the tip, which glittered in the sun. Raising a banner indicated an order to charge the enemy and stake a claim for the cause for which one was fighting. Therefore in Moses' raising of his rod as a banner, he was indicating an order to charge Amalek. This order was a type of the Father's will to defeat Satan, represented by Amalek, who "feared not God" (Deuteronomy 25:18), and which nation's character was described as "wicked" (I Samuel 15:18) and cruel (I Samuel 18:33). By obeying this order, Joshua was a picture of Christ's obeying the Father's will, on which He had been sent.

Being sent on this mission, Christ was FAITHFUL  TO  IT.  He persevered in it even through all the human suffering to which He was subject.

Amalek attacked Israel when they were weary (Deuteronomy 25:17, 18). Christ likewise experienced weariness, particularly when He rested at the well of Samaria (John 4:6). On that very occasion, Satan attacked Him with a suggestion to side-track Him from His purpose, suggesting that He take time out to eat when it was the time to minister to needy souls (John 4:31-34). But He showed His firm determination to do the Father's will by saying, "My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His work" (verse 34). The Father's will was His whole delight (Psalm 40:8). Thus Christ was prepared to aid us when we're tempted with side-tractions from His will.

Angels ministered to Christ after His victory over temptation in the desert, in which He showed His attachment to the Father's will. This ministry of angels was support from heaven, which He experienced during His conflict on earth, and thus prepared Him to send us help now.

During Joshua's battle with Amalek, there were times when Israel seemed to be winning, and other times when they seemed to be losing. Even so, there were times during Christ's earthly mission when, to human sight, He appeared to be a great success as the Messiah. About the middle of His second year of public ministry, He may well have been the most popular Man in Israel. There were also times when He appeared to be defeated-- most of all, on the Cross. But He was equally in the Father's will at all times. The apostles later recognized this in their prayer in Acts 4:27, 28, by saying that evil men had conspired to do "whatever Thy hand and Thy counsel determined before to be done."

Besides being sent on His earthly mission, and faithful to it, Christ was. TRIUMPHANT  THROUGH  IT. We are told in verse 13 that Joshua defeated Amalek. The Hebrew word carries the idea of totally disabling them. Thus Christ, "having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a spectacle of them openly, triumphing over them" (Colossians 2:15).

The altar built after this battle represents the Cross, where Christ's victory was won. But Israel was instructed to write of the occasion in a book for a "memorial" (verse 14). Thus New-Testament saints are expected to keep a memorial of Christ's victory on the Cross, the basis of His "bruising Satan's head" and "crushing him" (Genesis 3:15; Romans 16:20). The war with Amalek "from generation to generation" is like Satan's condemnation to be "tormented day and night forever and ever" (Revelation 20:10), and of Christ's enemies' being "put under His feet" (I Corinthians 15:25).

But now that Christ has ascended back to heaven and is seated at the right hand of God, He is NOW  GUIDING  US  BY  HIS  WILL.  This is typified by Joshua's guiding Israel with his spear that he stretched out to guide Israel in the battle to conquer Ai-- which doubtless recalled to Israel how Moses had lifted his rod during the battle with Amalek.

A missionary had to cross a dangerous swamp in Africa. There were clumps of grass all over, and they all looked alike to him; but some had sold ground underneath, while others grew out of quicksand. An African guide went ahead of him and showed him which clumps were safe to set foot on, and warned him not to step on any others. Having crossed that swamp many times himself, he knew the way perfectly by experience. Thus Christ is able to guide us perfectly because He knows the way by experience.

In His sympathetic guidance from heaven, Christ GUIDES  AUTHORITATIVELY. As Joshua indicated by his previous instructions and his gesture with the spear, who was to go where and do what-- likewise Christ decides how He wishes to use us. Israel had promised to Joshua, before going into any battle--

All that you command us we will do, and wherevery you send us, we will go. According as we hearkened to Moses in all things, so will we hearken to you (Joshua 1:16, 17).
The New-Testament saint is just as committed to do as Christ commands in all things.

But while Christ guides authoritatively, He GUIDES  GRACIOUSLY. Israel had failed God in their first attempt to take Ai, through the sin of Achan (chapter 7). But as soon as the sin was dealt with, God told them through Joshua to "fear not" (verse 1).

At this point the human part of Satan's army thought it was victorious, just as it now thinks it has defeated us-- though Satan and his demons know they're doomed. That human part of Satan's army bases this notion on the past failures of saints, thinking that they have fallen permanently. However, Christ never leads saints to quit after a failure; it's always His will that they "get up and go on." In the case of scandalous failures (such as gross sin), there may be permanent consequences of the sin; but taking the right attitude about them is part of how to "get up and go on."

Christ GUIDES  CONDITIONALLY. The key men in this battle were those in the ambush, who were stationed "between Bethel and Ai. The name "Bethel" means house of God, while "Ai" means heap of ruins. This pictures the situation required of any saint who would be guided by God. he must have his back turned to the world, which he regards as being a heap of ruins to him. His face must be turned toward "the house of God"-- that is, wherever God manifests His presence. Where is that? While God is present everywhere, He manifests His presence in a special way through the saint's body (I Corinthians 6:19), in gatherings of saints in Christ's Name (Matthew 18:20), and through His heavenly sanctuary, to which He gives us free access. Have we thus rejected the world, and are our hearts attached to wherever the presence of God is made evident?

Christ  GUIDES  CERTAINLY. His guidance may allow times when we temporarily appear to be defeated; but at such times let us remember, "Who led us here?" This is how it was when Israel fled from the army of Ai, as though they were defeated as in their first attempt to take the city. They needed to remember all along that God was leading them.

Joshua led the ambush directly in verses 18, 19, by the signal with his spear, indicating that they were to enter the city and set it on fire. But in verse 21, the main body of the army was led to turn and pursue Ai, by seeing the smoke from the fire set by the ambush. Thus Joshua led them indirectly. And they were the greater number. The ambush was composed of the thirty thousand in verse 3, plus the five thousand in verse 12, which made thirty-five thousand. The entire army consisted of six hundred thousand men (Numbers 11:21; 26:51). Therefore the main body, led indirectly, counted five hundred and sixty-five thousand. Yet, both the ambush and the main body were led. This reminds us that, while God sometimes intervenes directly in our lives in a spectacular way, He more often leads us by ordinary incidents in the normal course of life. We're equally led by Him in either case.

In all the ways where He leads us, Christ  GUIDES  PURPOSEFULLY. On Joshua's indications in verse 19, the ambush entered right into the city of Ai to take it. Likewise on Christ's indications, we can enter right into Satanic strongholds with "the sword of the Spirit." For example, we can bring the Gospel to places where there's extra great resistance to it. We can help saints to find deliverance from extra-great problems. We can do things for Christ, which are particularly difficult for our temperaments. We can do all things through Christ, who strengthens us (Philippians 4:19).

Israel sought to conquer the inhabitants of Ai with the sword (verse 23); but the king was to be put to death in a manner that indicated a curse on him-- hanging him on a tree (verse 29; see Deuteronomy 21:23). Similarly, it is our aim to conquer the people of the world for Christ with "the sword of the Spirit" (the Word of God); but Satan is under a curse and without hope.

This pair of stories teaches us that part of Christ's High-Priestly ministry consists of guiding us. He does so in the capacity of a High Priest who became like us so as to sympathize with us (Hebrews 2:17); and He understands our weaknesses. He was prepared to guide us by having experienced being guided by the Father's will, and receiving support from heaven in it. Let us therefore trust Him fully as a faithful and infallible Guide who will show us His way sympathetically. He watches us from heaven, sees the pitfalls ahead of us, and will make the right way clear to us. Let us follow our Guide.

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