Exodus 17:9 - Moses said to Joshua, “Choose some of our men and go out to fight the Amalekites.  Tomorrow I will stand on top of the hill with the staff of God in my hands.”

Moses once again was holding the staff of God in his hand.  This is the same staff that the Lord used to give Moses a sign when he first encountered the Lord (see Ex. 4:2-20), and that God had used in bringing plagues on Egypt (Exodus 9:23; 10:13), and for parting the Red Sea (see Exodus 14:16; 17:5).  

The Staff of God is a prophetic foreshadowing of the direction of the Holy Spirit in our lives.  In biblical times, the staff (or rod, or walking stick, depending on the version of the Bible someone uses) had several functions.  It helped men walk straight along a path in a rocky or mountainous area (see Ex 4:20).  Men always plant their staff ahead of their next step, as if were taking the next step they would follow.  It provided support when a man stumbled on his way, to prevent him from falling; and a weak man could lean on it to help him stand for worship (see Hebrews 11:21; Genesis 47:31).  It could help defend against attacks from animals along the journey (Psalm 23:4).  Finally, it came to symbolize that man’s legal authority, almost as a signature or passport might do today (see Genesis 38:18, 25; Genesis 49:10; Numbers 17:2-9; Judges 5:14; 2 Kings 4:29-31; Zech 11:10-14).

All of these functions of a staff relate to ways in which the Holy Spirit works in our lives.  He helps us walk straight on God’s path for our lives, always a step ahead of us, guiding our next step.  He keeps us from falling when we are tempted, and helps us to stand in the Lord’s presence when we feel spiritually weak.  He protects us from the forces of darkness that attack us in our minds and hearts as we try to serve God.  He is the seal of God’s ownership on our lives (2 Corinthians 1:22; Ephesians 1:13), our guarantee of our eternal inheritance.

Moses’ staff was particularly special because it marked the milestones in his experiences with God, and therefore the Bible refers to it repeatedly as the “staff of God.”  It turned into a snake and back into a staff when God first appeared to Moses in the burning bush.  It brought two of the plagues on Egypt (hail and locusts – for the other plagues God used Aaron’s staff), and God used it when He parted the Red Sea.  In the first incident, God demonstrated to Moses that He could overcome the Enemy, that he was more powerful than any forces of darkness; this is a preliminary lesson everyone must learn when they come to God.  While many of the other plagues of Egypt were a nuisance to the people there, the two plagues of hail and locusts destroyed all their crops, their only source of food.  Another experience the Holy Spirit gives new converts is disillusionment with the things in this world that we had relied upon, symbolized by the destruction of all the crops in Egypt.  God eliminates our reliance on this world.  The parting of the Red Sea symbolized the New Birth, passing from sin’s slavery to freedom in Christ.   Finally, in this story, the staff is there when God gives victory over the Amalekites.

Today we have the Holy Spirit as God’s Staff in our lives.  He overcomes the power of the Enemy in our lives (like the snake turning back into the staff), eliminates our reliance on the material things of this world, and leads us into New Birth, New Life in Christ.  This is the key to all of our victories.  We sometimes however forget what it was like when we first came to the Lord, when His Holy Spirit began to direct us.  This passage reminds us to return every day to the Lord’s revelation.  We must return to our first love and stop trying to handle everything ourselves.  When we go ahead with our own plans without the Lord’s approval, we operate outside of his protection and blessing, without God’s staff there to help us.  The Lord never grows weary of us asking for His direction, so we should always ask and obey what He reveals.

Amalekites represent our flesh, which works against the Work of the Holy Spirit in our lives – our flesh – which is at war with us.  “Remember what the Amalekites did to you along the way when you came out of Egypt.  When you were weary and worn out, they met you on your journey and cut off all who were lagging behind; they had no fear of God.”  (Deuteronomy 25:17-18)  The flesh overcomes those who are weary and worn out spiritually, who are falling behind the rest of God’s people as they journey forward on God’s path.  We cannot overcome the flesh without the Staff of God – the direction of the Holy Spirit.  We must have the direction of the Holy Spirit in all aspects of our lives to assure our victory.