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The Israelites now went on,
through the wilderness of Sin, to Rephidim. How did they know the
way? God went before them in the pillar of cloud by day, and in the
pillar of fire by night. When the pillar stopped, they stopped; and
when the pillar moved, they moved, and followed it wherever it went.
While we live, we are like the Israelites traveling in the wilderness;
but, if we are God's people, we need not fear, because He is always by
us. He does not go before us in a pillar of cloud and fire; but His
hand is always over us to guide and keep us, and His eye sees us wherever
we are. We must pray God to lead us in the right way, in the way to
Heaven. There was no water
at Rephidim; and the people murmured again, and were very angry with
Moses, and very unthankful to God. Then Moses cried to God, and He
heard the prayer. God told him to go to Mount Horeb, and strike the
rock; and He promised that then water should come out. Moses obeyed
God, and struck the rock, and water came out. It was God's power
that did this miracle; not Moses, nor the rod, but God alone, could bring
water out of the rock. There
were some wicked people, who lived not far from this wilderness, called
Amalekites, and now they came to fight with Israel, in Rephidim.
Moses called Joshua his servant, and said to him, "Choose men, and go
and fight with the Amalekites; and I will go up to the top of the
mountain, with the rod of God in my hand." So Joshua and the
soldiers went to fight; and Moses and Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of
the hill. What did they do there? Moses held up his hand, with
the rod of God in it, and prayed God to give the Israelites power to
conquer their enemies. God heard Moses pray, and put strength into
the soldiers' hands, and gave them power over their enemies. But
Moses was tired of holding up his hands; they were heavy, and fell down,
and then the Amalekites became strong, and the Israelites became
weak. But Aaron and Hur took a large stone, and put it under Moses,
and he sat upon it; and Aaron and Hur held up his hands all the day, till
the sun went down. And God blessed the Israelitish soldiers; they
conquered their enemies, and drove all the wicked Amalekites away.
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