Held His Hands Up

I do not know how may of you are paying attention to what is happening around us, but I can confidently say that the ministry is in grave trouble. Now, let me stop here for a moment to clear something up. When I say that the ministry is in trouble, I am not referring to our ministry in particular; glory to God everything with us is going well, and all of us should feel extremely blessed. Therefore, when I speak about the ministry I am speaking about the Body of Christ here on earth, I am speaking about the church in its entirety. The ministry is in grave trouble due to the apostasy, negligence, and discouragement by the people of God. And the sects and religions that only serve to distance men from God’s presence continue their relentless attack against Christ’s doctrine. Why is this happening? The main reason why this is happening is because there are a large number of God’s servants that have abandoned the battlefield because they have grown weary. In other words many have abandoned the battlefield and have surrendered territory to the enemy. There are many that have allowed the forces of the enemy to evict them from the place that God has given them. This is why today I want us to analyze some verses from the Old Testament that will reveal to us what the church needs; today we are going to analyze what is needed at all times in all congregations.

Exodus 17:8-13 - The Amalekites came and attacked the Israelites at Rephidim. 9Moses said to Joshua, "Choose some of our men and go out to fight the Amalekites. Tomorrow I will stand on top of the hill with the staff of God in my hands." 10So Joshua fought the Amalekites as Moses had ordered, and Moses, Aaron and Hur went to the top of the hill. 11As long as Moses held up his hands, the Israelites were winning, but whenever he lowered his hands, the Amalekites were winning. 12When 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. 13So Joshua overcame the Amalekite army with the sword.

Like I always say, in order to have a better understanding of the message that God has for us today, it will be necessary to conduct a brief review of history. The first thing that we need to note is that the battle at Rephidim took place shortly after the people of Israel receiving a great blessing. I want us to note this detail because it is a pattern that the enemy uses quite frequently. In other words, the enemy quite frequently launches an attack against believers shortly after receiving a blessing. Why do I say this? I say this because when we take the time to analyze this chapter from the beginning, it is not difficult to find that the people of God were discouraged and on the path to rebellion. This is something that is very well reflected in Exodus 17:2-3 when we read: “So they quarreled with Moses and said, "Give us water to drink." Moses replied, "Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you put the LORD to the test?" 3But the people were thirsty for water there, and they grumbled against Moses. They said, "Why did you bring us up out of Egypt to make us and our children and livestock die of thirst?" However, regardless of this first step toward rebellion, God bestowed a great blessing upon hem. God glorified Himself so that they would have no doubt that He would supply and guard them in their path. This is something that is clearly documented in Exodus 17:6 when we read: “I will stand there before you by the rock at Horeb. Strike the rock, and water will come out of it for the people to drink." So Moses did this in the sight of the elders of Israel.” I think that these brief details help us begin to recognize the pattern that the enemy uses; as the attack by the Amalekites took place shortly after the blessing that the people of God had received. Therefore, keeping this in mind let us now continue with our study for today.

Now we should ask ourselves, does this continue to happen today? The truth of it all is that what happened to the people of that time is not too different from what happens to us individually, and what happens to the ministry. I say this because when we take the time to analyze our life, many of us will find that the worst attacks that we have received have come shortly after receiving a blessing. The Amalekites were a nomadic and predatory tribe, and our enemy’s army is not too different.