Moses’ Tired Arms

“Then Aaron and Hur held his hands up, one on each side.” — Exodus 17:12

The Israelites travelled on through the desert, and they came to a place called Rephidim. But there was no water there to drink.

Once again the people grumbled. They argued with Moses. “Give us water to drink!” they said. “Why did you bring us up out of Egypt? To make us and our children and our animals die of thirst?” They were so angry that Moses thought they might throw stones at him.

Moses cried out to God. “What am I to do with these people?”

God told Moses to take some of the leaders and walk on ahead, holding the staff he had used to strike the River Nile. “I will stand there in front of you by the rock at Horeb,” God said. “Strike the rock, and water will come out of it for the people to drink.”

So Moses did, while the leaders watched. He struck the rock with his staff, and out gushed water! There was enough for all the people and all their animals.

Then, while they were still at Rephidim, an army came to attack them. They were called the Amalekites.

Moses said to a young man called Joshua, “Choose some men and go out and fight the Amalekites. Tomorrow I will stand on top of the hill with the staff of God in my hands.”

So Joshua went out to fight, and Moses climbed to the top of the hill with his brother Aaron and a man called Hur.

And a strange thing happened. As long as Moses held up his hands, Israel was winning the battle. But whenever he lowered his hands, the Amalekites began to win.

Have you ever tried to hold your arms up in the air for a long time? It doesn’t take long before they start to ache and feel heavy. Moses’ arms grew so tired that he couldn’t keep them up any more.

So Aaron and Hur found a big stone and put it under Moses, and he sat on it. Then Aaron stood on one side and Hur stood on the other, and they held Moses’ hands up. They held them steady all day, until the sun went down.

And Joshua and his men won the battle.

Moses built an altar to thank God, and he gave it a name: “The Lord Is My Banner.” A banner is a flag that an army carries into battle. Moses was saying that the battle belonged to God, and God was the one who had won it.

Moses couldn’t do everything on his own. He needed Joshua to fight, and he needed Aaron and Hur to hold up his arms. God’s people need each other. Sometimes we are the ones who need help. And sometimes we are the ones who can hold up someone else’s tired arms, by helping them and praying for them.

Looking ahead to Jesus: The Bible says the rock that gave the Israelites water in the desert pointed to Jesus: “that rock was Christ” (1 Corinthians 10:4). Jesus gives us what we need most, just as the water came from the rock.

Read it in your Bible: Exodus 17

Dear God, thank you for giving me friends and family who help me. Show me how I can help other people when they are tired or having a hard time. Amen.