Exodus 17:8 – 16 “After this, the Amalekites came and attacked the Israelites at Rephidim. So Moses said to Joshua, “Choose some of our men and go out to fight the Amalekites. Tomorrow I will stand on the hilltop with the staff of God in my hand.”
Joshua did as Moses had instructed him and fought against the Amalekites, while Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill. As long as Moses held up his hands, Israel prevailed; but when he lowered them, Amalek prevailed. When Moses’ hands grew heavy, they took a stone and put it under him, and he sat on it. Then Aaron and Hur held his hands up, one on each side, so that his hands remained steady until the sun went down. So Joshua overwhelmed Amalek and his army with the sword.
Then the LORD said to Moses, “Write this on a scroll as a reminder and recite it to Joshua, because I will utterly blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven.” And Moses built an altar and named it The LORD Is My Banner. “Indeed,” he said, “a hand was lifted up toward the throne of the LORD. The LORD will war against Amalek from generation to generation.”
It’s one of the most enduring images from the story of the Exodus. The Israelites are facing their first real battle, and they need divine help. Remember that although these people are very strong from years of slavery, they also have a “go along to get along” slave mentality. These people are NOT seasoned warriors, at least, not yet. Moses knows that he will have to contribute his share if there is to be victory.
Moses ascends a nearby hill and holds up the staff of God as a symbol of God’s help and protection for Israel. As long as Moses keeps holding up the staff, the Israelites are winning. But eventually Moses’s arms get tired of holding the staff, and Moses’s legs are giving out after hours of standing. Aaron, Moses’s brother, and Hur, another one of the elders, have accompanied Moses. For victory to be complete, Moses must continue to hold up the staff; neither Aaron nor Hur have been selected by God for that task. But Aaron and Hur have been called to a ministry of helps; they arrange a large rock for Moses to sit on and then each of them holds up one of Moses’s arms so that the staff of God remains uplifted and the victory is assured and complete.
APPLICATION: This is a great story, and we should note several points:
1. Moses had a special calling from God and an anointing to fulfill that calling. Moses was the one who had to hold up the staff of God; neither Aaron nor Hur could take that calling away from Moses. If you have a calling to be a leader, you must do everything you can to fulfill that call as God guides you. You cannot delegate a calling to someone else!
2. Although Moses was not physically in the battle, he was certainly there spiritually. The Amalekites knew nothing of the One True Living God; therefore, any spirits they invoked for help in the battle would have been demonic. Remember that when Lucifer rebelled against God, one third of the angels in heaven followed him and became demons. This battle was not merely a physical one, but also a spiritual one. Ephesians 6:12 describes spiritual warfare well. “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this world’s darkness, and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” The territorial spirits whom the Amalekites had been serving were now having a power encounter with God, perhaps for the first time since they had been rebellious angels who got evicted from heaven.
3. If Aaron and Hur had failed to help Moses, the Israelites would have lost and might have been annihilated. Their ministry was just as vital to success that day as was Moses’s. Those of us who have been called to a ministry of assisting others have an important role to play. If we succumb to self – pity because we haven’t gotten as much attention as the head person, we will fail and the enterprise to which we have been called will also fail.
4. For Aaron and Hur to fulfill their mission, they had to be willing to let Moses be the star while they remained in the background. This was no time for anybody to have an ego trip! When someone asked John the Baptist about Jesus, John told them, “He must increase and I must decrease.” (John 3:30) John the Baptist knew that his mission was to prepare the way for the Messiah, Jesus. Once the Messiah arrived, John’s work would be complete. Those of us engaged in helping must have a sense of when to back off.
For years I ran a bush hospital in a remote part of northeastern Ghana as the only doctor. I was on – call 24/7. I faced all kinds of challenges, many of them related to our location in a small town with few amenities. At times I had very little administrative support. I handed over my responsibilities as head of the institution in November 2015. My challenge since then has been to help, support, and advise without infringing on someone else’s authority.
What is God calling you to do? Very few of us are called to the kind of leadership role that Moses fulfilled; however, helpers are always needed. Is there someone whom God wants you to support? Is there a situation to which you can contribute greatly if you will only be willing for someone else to get the credit?
PRAYER: Father God, thank you for the example of Aaron and Hur! Lord, help us to copy their actions. Help us to be effective helpers, supporters, and encouragers. And thank you for your love and your grace that empowers us to be helpers. In the mighty Name of King Jesus. Amen.
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