What does Tribe teach about amalekite attacks?
Drawn from the messages where it was actually addressed: the words said from the front, the passages taught, and where to hear the whole thing.
At Tribe, the teaching on Amalekite attacks starts with a simple observation from Exodus 17: Israel had just watched water pour from a rock, their thirst was gone, children were playing in the stream, and that is exactly when the Amalekites struck. Brian Hunter draws from that pattern to say that sudden opposition tends to arrive not in the middle of a desert stretch but right at the moment a season of provision or peace has begun. That timing is the point, and it is not accidental.
Brian is careful to note that Amalekite attacks come in two shapes. The obvious one is direct opposition, an unexpected bill, a crisis at work, something pressing hard against you. But opportunity can be just as disruptive. He told the story of putting his and Lissa's yes on the table for Mongolia, only to have an internal promotion and an outside job offer arrive within days. Neither was bad in itself, but both would have pulled them off what they had already said yes to. The attack is whatever interrupts obedience. And on that point Brian says, "The devil has no problem with you being moral. What he can't stand is surrender and obedience to Jesus Christ."
The story of Moses on the hill, arms raised while Joshua fought below, gave the teaching its clearest image. There was no obvious mechanical connection between a staff held up on a hillside and soldiers winning in a valley, yet the congregation at Tribe kept returning to what that means: obedience in one place unlocks something in another. As Brian puts it, "Your obedience in one area unlocks victory in another area." Aaron and Hur holding Moses' arms up meant the victory was never about physical strength. And when Jesus says in John 16:33 that in this life there will be trouble but to take heart because he has overcome the world, Brian reads that not as a reason to live in dread but as honest preparation. As he put it directly, "Life comes with Amalekite raids. Jesus himself has said it."
Taught from Exodus 17:8-16 · John 16:33 · 1 John 4:4 · Philippians 4:6-8
“Your obedience in one area unlocks victory in another area.”
From The Lord Is My Banner
The passage taught · 1 John 4:4
4 You are of God, little children, and have overcome them; because greater is he who is in you than he who is in the world.
World English Bible
Messages that go deeper
- October 27, 2025 The Lord Is My Banner Brian Hunter walks through Exodus 17 to show why life comes with unexpected attacks, and what it looks like to stand firm when they hit.
- October 26, 2025 Annihilating the Amalekites A Wyoming pastor uses a desert battle in Exodus 17 to talk honestly about the unexpected setbacks that knock us sideways right when life is finally going well.