Exodus 17 verse 8-16 is about Moses and the Israelites meeting the Amalekites in battle.
It is when the Israelites lead by Joshua wage war against the Amalekites while Moses along with Aaron and Hur went up to the top of the hill and lift Moses’ hands and staff. Every time Moses puts down his hands, the Amalekites is gaining the upper hand. But as long as Moses’ hands are lifted up the Israelites are winning.
There are few things that I have learned from this story. We can consider it as principles in winning the spiritual war.
To win the war, God must be present.
One of the reasons why we always fail in our spiritual war is because God himself is not present in our lives. We still don’t have a personal relationship with our creator. If God is not present in our lives, who then can protect and empower us from our enemies?
Who is the ruler of your life? Who takes control of your life? Apart from God we can do nothing. We can never win the war with our own strengths. We can never overcome evil if God’s power is not at work in us. And this can only happen IF we come humbly to the Lord and let Him control our life.
To win the war, our leaders must be lifting their hands.
As Joshua fights with the whole of Israelites, Moses is up in the hill lifting his hands upward so that they may win the battle. Unless his hands and staff are lifted, the Israelites are in no way to win the war.
The same thing is true in our ministerial life. If our leaders does not lift their hands, does not pray for the people. If you are a pastor or a team leader, or a cell group leader, your team will have difficulty in overcoming sins and temptations. Leaders should have the patience in praying.
But praying and lifting hands for the whole team is not easy. Moses himself got tired. There are times that he put down his hands. Likewise, there are times that leaders get tired of lifting their hands too. And this is where our ministry aid comes in. Moses have his own assistants. Aaron and Hur went up with him, helping him to keep his hands up.
Leaders should have people around him that can help him lift his hands. Without them, it is almost impossible to be consistent. Without them it is harder to keep on pursuing.
Finally, to win the war, people themselves should fight the war.
Winning the war is impossible without a fight. The Israelites fought the battle while Moses, Aaron and Hur are up in the hill. They are there at the background of the war.
If the people will not fight, there will be no win. God is there, God is giving them blessing to win it. But it doesn’t mean God is there, they don’t have to fight anymore. They have to fight.
Likewise, as we fight our own battles, we just can’t wait for a miracle to happen. We need to fight to win. We need to stand up and exercise and allow God’s power to move within us. We need to fight for the glory of God.
Conclusion
The story happened literally yet we can learn a good deal of spiritual lessons from it. We can never win the battle without God. Always remember that it is first and foremost the battle of our Lord. Secondly, the prayers of our leaders is essential for the win. But know that they too can grew tired and they need the help of others. And finally, the people themselves has to face and fight for the win. God strengthen us when we face the battle, but at the same time, we need to fight.
