Since God Is Your God, You Can Stop Fearing Your Enemies

Uploaded: 2026-08-29T06:00:00+00:00
Description: This sermon closes the first part of the series on the book of Exodus, preached at Église Saint-Lazare (Momentum, Paris).

Introduction

This sermon closes the first part of the series on the book of Exodus, preached at Église Saint-Lazare (Momentum, Paris). The text covers Exodus 17:8 to 19:6, a hinge point where the people of Israel, freshly out of Egypt, must learn what it means to "belong to God." Before this passage, the people grumbled in the wilderness and asked this terrible question: "Is Yahweh among us, or not?" (Exodus 17:7). You know that question too. It runs through your doubts, your seasons of transition, your church weariness, your personal emergencies. And yet, right at this point in the story, God unfolds his promise: "You shall be my people, and I will be your God" (Exodus 6:7). Three consequences flow from this, and they form the three parts of the message: since God is your God, fear no enemy any longer; since God is your God, proclaim his deliverance; since God is your God, know him so you can live according to his heart.

Outline of the message

1. Since God is your God, fear no enemy any longer (Exodus 17:8-16)

The people are free. They should be breathing in wide open spaces, like someone just out of prison. But at verse 8, an enemy appears: "Then Amalek came and fought with Israel in Rephidim." Moses tells Joshua to choose men and go fight. Moses himself climbs the hill with Aaron and Hur, the staff of God in his hand.
The story shows two weaknesses. The weakness of the people: as soon as Moses lowers his hand, Amalek prevails. The weakness of Moses himself: his hands grow heavy, he can no longer hold them up. A stone has to be brought for him to sit on, and Aaron and Hur hold up his hands, one on each side, until sunset. Victory does not depend on the people's strength. It does not even depend on Moses's endurance. It depends on God. As if he were saying: "You are weak. It is not you who wins, it is me."
Verse 16 shifts everything: "For he said, 'Yah has sworn: Yahweh will have war with Amalek from generation to generation.'" Amalek attacked Israel, but the Lord says Amalek raised a hand against his throne. This is what God declares to his people: "Your enemy is my enemy. You belong to me. Whoever attacks you attacks me." This is the fulfillment of the blessing given to Abraham: "I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you" (Genesis 12:3).
Throughout biblical history, God will pursue Amalek: through Joshua, through Saul, through David, and later, in the days of Queen Esther, through a foreign king all the way to the far reaches of the Persian empire. It is a fearful thing to be God's enemy, but infinitely reassuring to be his people. This can feel uncomfortable: the idea of "the war of Yahweh," waged by a people who were themselves unjust, sits uneasily with our sensibilities. Two things help here: first, God has always used imperfect people to restrain evil, and that kind of justice remains limited. Second, in history, God appointed one perfectly righteous man (Jesus Christ, his Son) to judge the world. He raised him from the dead to display that reign. "He will come again to judge the living and the dead."
But the good news is that this same Jesus first bore the judgment in the place of everyone who puts their trust in him, whatever their nation or origin. The prophet Isaiah announced a new Exodus through Jesus, the perfect Son of David, God's banner: the same word used here, "Yahweh my Banner" (verse 15). A victory flag planted in the world: God's enemies tremble at the sight of it, and those who believe rejoice and are saved.
So should you take up the sword? No. The coming of Jesus changes the whole framework. The language of war shifts toward spiritual warfare, not an abstract idea, but something concrete, playing out in our decisions, our relationships, our daily lives. Two New Testament passages show this. Hebrews 12:3-4: "For consider him who has endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, that you don't grow weary, fainting in your souls. You have not yet resisted to blood, striving against sin." The Christian's first battle is against sin, without mercy, without pity.
Ephesians 6:10-13: "Finally, be strong in the Lord, and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For our wrestling is not against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, against the powers, against the world's rulers of the darkness of this age, and against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places." Our worst human enemy is not the real enemy; the powers manipulating him, whose slave he is, are the real enemy. The promise is the same as in Exodus 17: a victorious people, not by their own strength, but because God fights for them.
How do we wage this battle? By hiding ourselves in Jesus, trusting him, clinging to him, praying. Many passages remind us that Satan is unleashed, that the devil wants to bring down even the elect if that were possible, that the whole world lies under the influence of the "prince of the power of the air." That is why we pray in the Lord's Prayer: "Bring us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one." The preacher's own example: he set an alarm on his phone for 2:38 p.m., a reference to Mark 14:38 ("Watch and pray, that you don't enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak"). A daily reminder to stay watchful.
Christ has already triumphed over the rulers and authorities (Colossians 2:15). We do not fight for the victory; we fight from the victory. People of God, you belong to God. Fear no enemy any longer.

2. Since God is your God, proclaim his deliverance (Exodus 18:1-12)

Then Jethro appears, Moses's father-in-law, priest of Midian. This is not Moses adding a few lines to greet his in-laws. This character is strategic. Jethro hears "all that God had done for Moses, and for Israel his people, how Yahweh had brought Israel out of Egypt" (Exodus 18:1). He brings back Zipporah, Moses's wife, and her two sons, Gershom and Eliezer, and comes to the camp.
The theme of deliverance and salvation runs through this chapter. Eliezer means "my God is help": "The God of my father was my help and delivered me from Pharaoh's sword" (verse 4). Then Moses tells his father-in-law "all that Yahweh had done to Pharaoh and to the Egyptians for Israel's sake, all the hardships that had come on them on the way, and how Yahweh delivered them" (verse 8).
This testimony bears fruit immediately. Jethro rejoices, then proclaims himself: "Blessed be Yahweh, who has delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians, and out of the hand of Pharaoh; who has delivered the people from under the hand of the Egyptians. Now I know that Yahweh is greater than all gods" (verses 10-11). This man, a Midianite priest of a pagan religion, changes his allegiance on the spot. He offers a burnt offering and sacrifices to God. Aaron and all the elders of Israel come to eat bread with him "before God" (verse 12). A pagan, until now the priest of another faith, enters the people of God through the door of proclaimed testimony.
Here again, the blessing of Abraham is fulfilled: "I will bless those who bless you... all the families of the earth will be blessed in you" (Genesis 12:3). Jethro is one of the first visible examples of a man from another nation blessed by the living God through Israel's testimony.
The preacher gives a Paris example. On the walls of the metro, the RER, on the posts along the ring road, someone has written "Jesus saves" everywhere. The act is illegal and questionable as graffiti, but the question it raises is a good one: someone set up, at their own risk, a constant reminder for everyone passing by. Moses, for his part, named his son Eliezer ("God is my help"), so that his father-in-law and everyone around his family would hear it. What are the clear markers in your life, in your words, that proclaim you belong to God?
Not just lip service. Not just "I went to church on Sunday," hoping a conversation might open up someday. The question is direct: what is your clear, loud, honest language that tells the people around you that you belong to the God who sets free, and that it is possible to come to him? The people around us need a clear testimony. Like Moses in his time, and even more so now in Jesus Christ, you are called to proclaim the deliverance God offers, so that other Jethros may enter the people of God.
If you are listening and you do not yet belong to God, this invitation is for you. Do as Jethro did. There is no other God, no other help, no room for half measures. It means coming to Jesus, leaving idols behind: money, sex, various allegiances, comfort, the belief that humanity will improve on its own, and saying with Jethro: "Now I know that Yahweh is greater than all gods." The promise is threefold: the same salvation as every other Christian, whatever your story; belonging now to God and no longer to yourself or to other powers; giving up every other help to live by his, in a hope that lasts forever.

3. Since God is your God, know him so you can live according to his heart (Exodus 18:13-27 and 19:1-6)

The next day, Moses sits to judge the people, from morning until evening. Jethro watches and asks the right question: "Why do you sit alone... you will surely wear away, both you, and this people that is with you; for the thing is too heavy for you" (verses 14-18). He then gives advice that God's people of every era have received in writing: represent the people before God, teach them the statutes and the laws, make known to them the way they must walk, then look for "able men, such as fear God: men of truth, hating unjust gain," and appoint them as rulers of thousands, of hundreds, of fifties, and of tens (verses 19-21).
Note carefully: this passage is not first a lesson in business management or church organization. Jethro's central concern is not efficiency. It is "that this people also will go to their place in peace" (verse 23), that is, that every member of the people can know their God and live according to his heart. Look at the summary of the plan: "the people come to me to inquire of God... I make them know the statutes of God, and his laws" (verses 15-16). The whole purpose of the structure is that 100 percent of the people come to know God.
Jesus takes up this same organizing pattern in the New Testament. He chooses twelve disciples, then seventy. Then the apostles choose deacons. Elders are appointed in the cities, who in turn appoint deacons. To what end? Not for administrative efficiency, but so that "everyone in the church can know their God and walk according to his ways."
Here is the picture: imagine you take a new job at a company but receive no information about its values, its mission, its strategy. How could you serve joyfully? It's impossible. How would you know if you were fighting the right fight? How could you live out hope and salvation? How could you give a true testimony? How could you shine the right light? If God is your God, your heart should burn to know him, and knowing him is necessary to live according to his law. Exodus announces a transfer of authority: another king, another law, another life.
At Église Saint-Lazare, a season of restructuring is underway (the departure of Brian and Carly Coffman forces this discernment, but it is not an exception: every local church carries this same responsibility). The call of this text is not to reproduce an ancient org chart. It is to make sure that elders, deacons, weekly small group leaders (the "rulers of tens"), winter group leaders, children's club leaders, and even those meeting one-on-one, are all trained toward the same goal: that 100 percent of the people know their God and live according to his heart. It is not enough to organize the church structurally; it must be organized so that the whole church knows God and obeys him.
Why is this advice recorded in the Bible, rather than remaining a private letter between a father-in-law and his son-in-law? Because every member of God's people, in every era, needs to hear this counsel and desire it. One hundred percent of God's people should want to know the God who saved them, because he is their God, because we belong to him in Jesus Christ, and because we want to live according to him. This shapes your participation in your weekly small group, your faithfulness to the Word in daily life, your family plans, and how you treat others. Not only so that we can struggle together in prayer, but so that we can hear together the word of our God who saved us, so that we can be, in the world, "a kingdom of priests."
Two names sum up the calling of God's people. Moses's two sons. First Gershom: "I have lived as a foreigner in a foreign land" (verse 3). When we belong to God, he makes us strangers in this world, because we belong to another kingdom and are called to eternity, unlike the rest of the world. Then Eliezer: "God is my help" (verse 4). We carry within us, in this world from which we are set apart, the banner of Jesus the Savior, and we announce: "God saved us, and God can save you."
That is why the beginning of chapter 19 concludes this way: "You shall be to me a kingdom of priests, and a holy nation" (Exodus 19:6). God does not want just a few priests; he wants the whole people to become a nation of priests in the world. Not to stay apart, but to be bridges between people and God, inviting others to turn their eyes to Jesus Christ, the one mediator and the one Savior. Peter confirms this: "You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God's own possession, that you may proclaim the excellence of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light: who once were no people, but now are God's people" (1 Peter 2:9-10).

Key takeaways

"You shall be my people, and I will be your God" (Exodus 6:7) is not an abstract clause. It is the foundation that produces three concrete outcomes in your life: losing your fear, proclaiming deliverance, and knowing your God.
Your enemy is God's enemy. Victory does not depend on your strength, nor even on the steadiness of your raised arms; it depends on the One who fights for you. Christ has already triumphed (Colossians 2:15); you fight from the victory, not in order to win it.
The battle is no longer against flesh and blood. It is against sin (Hebrews 12:3-4) and against the powers that manipulate our lives (Ephesians 6:10-13). It is fought by hiding in Jesus, through prayer, and through daily watchfulness.
Jethro shows that a heart that hears deliverance proclaimed can be so moved that it changes gods entirely. Your clear testimony, like Eliezer ("God is my help"), is not optional: it opens the door for others to enter the people of God.
A well-organized church does not aim at efficiency, but at 100 percent of the people knowing God and living according to his heart. Elders, deacons, and group leaders exist for this purpose, and every believer is personally called to it.
Your dual identity: Gershom (a stranger in this world) and Eliezer (rescued by God, carrying his banner). A holy nation, a kingdom of priests, sent to others to announce that God saves.

Personal application

What "Amalek" is standing against you today: a trial, a temptation, a human enemy, a fear? Are you still trying to fight it in your own strength, or are you climbing the hill to lift your hands, remembering that victory depends on God?
Who are your Aaron and Hur, the brothers and sisters who hold up your hands when they grow heavy? Do you let them fill that role, or do you insist on carrying alone what is too much for you?
What does your concrete spiritual battle look like this week? Against which sin do you refuse to resist to the point of blood (Hebrews 12:4)? Which of God's weapons (Ephesians 6) do you leave unused: prayer, the Word, truth, faith?
Like Moses naming his son Eliezer so those around him would hear "God has helped me," what are the clear markers, words, choices, priorities, that let people around you hear that you belong to the God who saves? Where are you still holding back, offering only lip service?
Is there a "Jethro" in your life, someone who does not yet belong to God but who is watching how you live? What do you want them to hear from you this week?
Does your faithfulness to the Word, to your small group, to your church life reflect that 100 percent of you wants to know God and live according to his heart? Where have you let service or routine take the place of knowing God?

Verses cited

Frequently asked questions

What does "since God is your God, fear no enemy any longer" mean?

The phrase draws on Exodus 17:16, where the Lord says that Amalek "raised a hand against the throne of Yahweh," even though, humanly speaking, it was Israel that Amalek attacked. God identifies his enemies with the enemies of his people. In practice, this means you never face your adversary alone. Christ has already won the decisive victory over the powers (Colossians 2:15), and he calls you to fight from that victory, not in order to secure it. "Fear no enemy any longer" is not a slogan of self-confidence: it is a call to hide yourself in Jesus and wage the spiritual battle of prayer, watchfulness, and holiness (Ephesians 6:10-13).

How do we wage "the war of Yahweh" today without launching a crusade?

The coming of Jesus changed the framework entirely. The military language of the Old Testament is taken up in the New Testament, but transposed into spiritual warfare, which is nonetheless not abstract. It touches your thoughts, your decisions, your everyday relationships. Two fronts are made explicit: against the sin that so easily surrounds you (Hebrews 12:3-4), without mercy, without pity; and against the principalities and powers that manipulate people and hold them captive (Ephesians 6:10-13). The method: hide yourself in Jesus, cling to him, pray "bring us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one." The preacher gives his own example: an alarm on his phone at 2:38 p.m., a reference to Mark 14:38, as a reminder to stay watchful.

Why is Jethro so important in this chapter?

Jethro is not a family footnote Moses slipped in. He is a Midianite priest of a pagan religion, and he hears Moses's testimony about what God did to deliver Israel. His response is immediate and radical: "Now I know that Yahweh is greater than all gods" (Exodus 18:11), followed by a burnt offering and a meal in the presence of God. He leaves his religion, his responsibilities, his certainties. This fulfills the blessing given to Abraham (Genesis 12:3): "all the families of the earth will be blessed in you." Jethro shows what becomes possible when God's people proclaim their deliverance: others, outside the people, come to the living God. This raises a direct question for every believer: what is your clear testimony?

Is Jethro's advice (Exodus 18:13-27) a church organization plan?

Not first and foremost. That is exactly what the message emphasizes. Jethro's central concern is not administrative efficiency but that "this people also will go to their place in peace" (verse 23). The system of rulers of thousands, hundreds, fifties, and tens exists so that 100 percent of the people can come to know God and live according to his ways. Jesus takes up this pattern in the New Testament (twelve, then seventy disciples); the apostles choose deacons; elders are appointed in the cities. The structure exists for the knowledge of God, not the other way around. In practice, in a local church, this means every leader (elder, deacon, weekly small group leader, children's ministry worker) is called to this one goal. And every member is personally called to it too.

What does it mean to be "a kingdom of priests and a holy nation" (Exodus 19:6)?

God does not want to settle for having a few priests within his people: he wants the whole people to become a nation of priests in the world. Distinct from the world (like Gershom, the foreigner), yet sent into the world (like Eliezer, rescued and carrying the banner). A priest's mission is to be a bridge between people and God. Peter applies this phrase directly to the church: "You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God's own possession, that you may proclaim the excellence of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light" (1 Peter 2:9-10). Your calling, as a believer in Jesus, is to make the world hear that there is one mediator, one Savior, and that it is possible to come to him.

All sermons on "Épreuve"

Never miss a sermon from Église Saint-Lazare

A clear summary of every new message, delivered to you.

to take notes and ask questions.