SATURDAY 12th
Exodus 17:8-16
NIV (v12) – ‘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.’
ESV (v12) – ‘But Moses’ hands grew weary, so they took a stone and put it under him, and he sat on it, while Aaron and Hur held up his hands, one on one side, and the other on the other side. So his hands were steady until the going down of the sun.’
The narrative before us today, speaks to us of the power of intercession, in that Moses acted as an intercessor for the people of Israel while they were fighting against the Amalekites. He represented the people before God. He held his hands up high while holding the staff of God, and while he did the Israelites prevailed, but if he lowered his hands the Amalekites prevailed. Understandably Moses hands were going to get tired holding them up all the time and so the two men with him, Aaron his brother, and Hur helped by holding his weary hands up for him until the battle was won.
On his own, perhaps Moses would never have been able to continue, but with the help of others together they brought success.
Whatever lessons we could bring out of this, the one I want to bring is that of teamwork or working together. For what was taking place involved more than just the main man Moses, it involved Aaron, Hur, Joshua leading the army and those battling with him. They were all dependent upon one another, they all needed the support of each other for the task to be completed both on and off the battle field for the battle to be won. Joshua and the army with him were dependent upon Moses holding up his hands, and Moses was dependent upon Aaron and Hur helping him when he grew weary.
Within the Church setting we need each other, we need the support of one another, and this can happen in different ways, but within the context of this story we can support each other by interceding or praying for one another. I as the pastor and the leadership team with me need your support, things do not just happen it requires prayer, planning, and careful consideration, and you praying for us is a means by which God by the Spirit can help us by bringing us the wisdom and revelation or knowhow in regards to moving the Church forward into the future that God has prepared for us. In particular at this difficult time with the ongoing situation with the pandemic, we as leaders need to know how to move forward with sensitivity and care, we want to act rightly and wisely and we need the whole Church to be continually holding us up in prayer, and we thank you that you have been and together we pray that we will win the present battle we are faced with and the future will be one of ongoing victory, for the battle belongs to the Lord.
This is the last devotion for a week as Elaine and I will be taking a few days holiday next week from Monday through till Friday, I will recommence the devotions on Sunday 20th. Thank you as you have prayed for us especially over the last few weeks with our house move.