“So Joshua fought the Amalekites as Moses had ordered, and Moses, Aaron and Hur went to the top of the hill. As long as Moses held up his hands, the Israelites were winning, but whenever he lowered his hands, the Amalekites were winning. When Moses’ hands grew tired, they took a stone and put it under him and he sat on it. Aaron and Hur held his hands up — one on one side, one on the other — so that his hands remained steady till sunset. So Joshua overcame the Amalekite army with the sword.” (Ex 17:10-13NIV)
When Joshua led the nation of Israel to fight the Amalekites, as we see in our opening bible text, Moses also went with Aaron and Hur to the top of a hill to view the battle. But soon enough, Aaron and Hur observed that Moses was not just there to look at how bravely their men would fight. Rather, he was there to intercede on behalf of those men so that they would win the battle.
How did Aaron and Hur know this? It was by being observant. As the account shows us, when they got to the top of the hill, they could see that Moses was holding up his hands. And I am sure they must have initially felt that he was just blessing the men to win the victory. But as they stayed longer on the hill with him, they realised that he was not bringing down his hands at all – he simply continued to hold them up. That was when they began to pay attention to the significance of what he was doing.
Now what they did they discover? They discovered that as long Moses held up his hands, the Israelites were winning, but whenever he grew tired and lowered them, the Amalekites were winning. That, of course, showed them that what Moses was doing was spiritual. Truly, he did not open his mouth to pray out. But he was actually in a position of intercession for his people to win that battle by lifting up his hands towards the throne of God.
See, Moses himself was observant and spiritually sensitive to what was going on at that time. He had sensed in his spirit that offering some minutes of prayer or words of blessings for Israel’s army would not be sufficient on that occasion. He would need to intercede for them from start to finish, if they would win that battle. And that was exactly what he intended to do. He intended to keep his hands up with a heart of intercession till the job was done.
In like manner, there are times that we need to stay in a spirit of prayer or intercession till some problems are once for all solved. For example, some people have had certain problems come and go in their lives for years or decades. When these problems show up and they pray about them, they will disappear. But once they have some days or weeks of relief, the problems will show up again.
Such problems are just like the Amalekites Moses battled with. And hands must be steadily raised in prayers and intercessions until they are permanently solved or crushed. But we need to be observant and spiritually sensitive to know situations of our lives that require such approach. Otherwise, such situations will not stop irritating us.
Moses was observant and spiritually sensitive enough to know that he would have to pray from start to finish in order to defeat the Amalekites. And he gave himself to doing just that. But then, at some point, as it was to be expected of any human being, his strength began to fail him. The battle was hot. He probably did not anticipate that it would take as long as it did to defeat the Amalekites. But that was the reality. The enemy was not giving up. And though he had access to God’s power to defeat them, his human strength was already failing him. What was he going to do?
Well, thankfully, the men he took with him were also observant and spiritually sensitive. So, they were quick to do the maths and decide how to respond to what was happening. And how did they respond? They found a stone for Moses to sit on, when he grew tired, and each of them held each of his hands up till Joshua won the battle. Praise God!
We too need such people around us. Yes, we need people that are spiritually sharp and sensitive in our lives as our closest companions. Otherwise, when we are faced with Amalek, they may not know that we are losing until we finally lose a battle that we could actually win. So, don’t just keep people as friends for the sake of doing so. Instead, keep as friends people of great spiritual substance that will be able to recognise your hour of need and give you adequate support in it.
Then you too should be that kind of person to those in your life. Be one that is not just looking out for himself but for others as well. Otherwise, if some trouble should come for those in your life, you will not know a thing until it has destroyed them. And if all the good people in your life should end up being destroyed in that manner, who would be there for you in your own hour of need? So, wake up and stop being insensitive to the needs of others. And may the Spirit of God enable you to do the right thing. Amen.
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