Rephidim was a rather interesting stop in the wilderness, and one heavily related to the mark of the beast. Let me first explain what it is about.

Rephidim looks like it could ambiguously come from one of two things. Either....

Both of these potential meanings have been well documented by several scholars, but I'll skip that for now and get to the meat of the issue. When we examine the stories that occured at Rephidim, we find that both meanings are part of the stories of what happened there, and that the message behind this stage is that when your hands are weak, spread them out. There are 3 stories of what happened at Rephidim....

All three of these stories involved a weakening of the hands of some sort, and all three had a solution that involved a spreading of the hands of some sort.

In the battle against the Amaleqites, Moses' hands were literally too weak for him to hold them up. When he couldn't hold his hand up, Israel lost the battle. So two others helped him hold his hands up so Israel could win the war.

At the rock of Horeb, Israel's experienced a "weakening of the hands" in a different sense. In Hebrew, the phrase "weakening of the hands" can mean to become fearful or discouraged or afraid for your life. It is similar to the phrase "weak in the knees" in English. If you can picture someone so scared they are trembling, that's the image of someone "weak in the knees" or a "weakening of the hands" in Hebrew. You can see examples of this usage of the term "weakening of the hands" in 2 Chron 15:7 and Jer 38:4 and a similar hint to it in Zech 8:13. At Horeb, Israel was literally afraid for its life, because they could not find water, and they were afraid they would die. that is a "weakening of the hands" in the idiomatic sense that it is used in Hebrew. The solution was that Moshe' (Moses) stretched out his hand and struck the rock. So just like the battle, the problem involved a "weakening of the hands" and the solution involved a spreading of the hand(s).

Just before the Law was given, Yithro (Jethro) told Moshe' (Moses) that he was not capable of judging all of Israel by himself. This is another sense in which the term "weak hands" are used in Hebrew. To have "weak hands" in Hebrew can also mean that you do not have the ability or power to get something accomplished. This usage is seen in several places in Scripture including Ezra 4:4 and Neh 6:9, though the translation you are using may not show this. So Moshe' (Moses) got other judges to help him. Of course, he was still the chief judge, since the others were told to bring the cases too hard for them to Moshe' (Moses). This could also be considered a "spreading of the hands" in Hebrew, that is, to get others to help you were your hands are "too weak" to perform what you need to. In fact, the whole symbolic meaning of the laying on of hands (smikha) is heavily related to this concept, and you just can't understand what the laying on of hands is about without understanding the Hebraic way of looking at these issues.

I talk more about the symbolic meaning of the hands, their getting weak and strong, and how this relates to Rephidim in my book, "The 42 Journey Pattern...". In fact, it is a topic I spend about 8 pages on in my book just laying the foundation of the wilderness pattern, on top of discussing this in other places, such as Rev 13, where it relates to the mark of the beast.

When Israel won the battle against the Amaleqites only when Moshe' (Moses) had his hands raised, this was heavily related to the idiomatic way that a weakening of the hands is used in Hebrew speech. God was using Moshe' (Moses) as a living parable to get across an important point symbolically, and it is an issue I discuss in detail in my book, "The 42 Journey Pattern...".

You may have remembered the pattern I posted earlier about how Revelation 12-16 shows this...

Location	Revelation
Leave Ramses for Sukkot (Num 33:3-5)	42 months of tribulation begin in Revelation chapter 12. Rev 11:8 says Jerusalem is "figuratively called Sodom and Egypt." The woman in Revelation 12 leaves Jerusalem (or wherever else she is) for the wilderness.
Etham (Num 33:6)	Etham means "with them," and in Revelation 12, Satan is cast to earth where men live and is now "with them" as never before, setting up a Government to control the earth through the "beast."
Pi HaChiroth (Num 33:7)	Pi means "mouth". HaChiroth means "wrath". In Rev 12:14-15, Satan unleashes his wrath (HaChiroth) against the woman in the wilderness by casting something out of his mouth (Pi). But "the earth helped the woman" (Rev 12:16), just as the Sea parted for Israel.
Marah (Num 33:8)	Marah means "bitterness" or "rebellion." In Rev 13:5-6, the beast is rebelling against the Most High.
Eilim (Num 33:9)	Eilim means "their leader." In Rev 13:7, the beast conquers the world and becomes "their leader" (Eilim).

I showed more detail last time, but when get to the verse that parallels Rephidim, it is the part on the mark of the beast on the right hand or forehead.

It is telling us that the mark of the beast is something that man can figure out. but it also tells us that it takes "wisdom". It is not a simply puzzle to figure out. But understanding how the 42 Journey pattern fits into Revelation provides the kind of wisdom to help solve this puzzle. There are patterns upon patterns in this section of scripture, and you need to understand what symbolism this is drawing from in order to understand what message there is behind the mark of the beast.

"The 42 Journey Pattern..." peals back layers of understanding that are hidden by translation and restores the original Hebrew thought to many things you will miss trying to read about the wilderness journey in English only. In this book, you will learn new information on every page, page after page, that will make you wish everything you read was this fresh and new. To order your copy today, see http://mywebpages.comcast.net/jovial/ads/42journeys.htm#ORDERS for more information.