8 Now Amalek came and fought with Israel in Rephidim. 9 And Moses said to Joshua, “Choose us some men and go out, fight with Amalek. Tomorrow I will stand on the top of the hill with the rod of God in my hand.” 10 So Joshua did as Moses said to him, and fought with Amalek. And Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill. 11 And so it was, when Moses held up his hand, that Israel prevailed; and when he let down his hand, Amalek prevailed. 12 But Moses’ hands became heavy; so they took a stone and put it under him, and he sat on it. And Aaron and Hur supported his hands, one on one side, and the other on the other side; and his hands were steady until the going down of the sun. 13 So Joshua defeated Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword. 14 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Write this for a memorial in the book and recount it in the hearing of Joshua, that I will utterly blot out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven.” 15 And Moses built an altar and called its name, The-Lord-Is-My-Banner; 16 for he said, “Because the Lord has sworn: the Lord will have war with Amalek from generation to generation.”
Exodus 17:8-16
Life is a Battleground
Someone said life is not a playground but a battleground. Many just want to enjoy life but God trains us by fighting for Him and with Him.
When the Israelites left Egypt, the army of Pharaoh was chasing after them. They did not have to fight the Egyptian army because God has completely destroyed them. This is similar to God’s accomplishing our salvation and defeating Satan on the cross for us, without us doing anything.
However, after the Israelites left Egypt, they have to fight their way to Canaan. This is similar to the battles we have to face after we accepted salvation. God wants us to do what we can to accomplish the His plan for us.
Victory in Life
The first victory of Israelites provides some insights into how we can achieve victory in the battleground of our lives. Three components can be observed:
- Prayers. You’ll not be able to find a better demonstration of the importance of prayer.
- Fighting. Someone has to fight in the actual battleground.
- God. Moses attributed the victory to God.
Prayers Lead to Victory
Lifting up hands was a custom practice of Israelites when they were praying. Whenever Moses lifted up his hand, the Israelites prevailed, when he lowered his hand the enemy prevailed. This demonstrates the importance and effectiveness of prayers.
Moses lowered his hand sometimes because he was tired. Make no mistake, prayer is a very demanding activity. From time to time we may lose the strength to pray. The solution to this is, that we need help from others like Moses needed help from Aaron and Hur. In prayers, we need:
- People to pray with us.
- People to encourage us to pray.
So, to help with your prayers, I encourage you to find those people in your life.
Fighting in the Battleground
Some may suggest that our real battleground is a spiritual one, but notice this, Moses sent Joshua to lead the fight in the battleground. Joshua was an important assistant to Moses, the actual fight was also very important to Moses. I hope we learn that while prayer is important, we cannot just pray, we have to actually work on what we ask from God. Learn how to do things correctly.
The Lord is My Banner
The “banner” here refers to victory. Moses did not attribute the victory to His prayer nor the fight of Joshua (both are needed), but to God. This can be seen when Moses built an altar to commemorate the victory, he named it “The-Lord-is-My-Banner”. It is always important for us to remember that victory is from God. He is the one who answered our prayers and helped us to fight life’s battles.
Raisins & Apples Bible Devotional & more 