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.
Our enemy’s army is constantly searching for people that are not standing firm, it is seeking people that may find themselves in the same or similar situation as the people of God at that time, seeking for people that may have started down that path of rebellion, people that have begun to doubt God’s grace and divine intervention. Our enemy’s army is seeking people in the Body of Christ to attack, and to steal the blessings that God has given them. This is why in 1 Peter 5:8 we find a great warning about all of this when read: “Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.” Tell the person sitting next to you, be alert. Now, what must we learn from this historical event that we are studying today? There are three essential points that we must learn.
Number one; we must recognize that everyone in this world, especially all of us that follow Christ, have an enemy in common. In the verses that we are studying today we find that Moses and the people had the Amalekites that wanted to destroy them. In the same fashion we must recognize that we are in a state of war against the powers of darkness. This is something that is clearly stated by the apostle in Ephesians 6:12 when we read: “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” One thing that I have said on numerous occasions, and that you will hear me repeat in the future, is that our enemy is very astute in his tactics, and he will try anything at any time in his attempt to destroy us. Our enemy will not waste the opportunity when we may be tired and our guard is down. Another thing that I have also said on numerous occasions is that the main battle field is in our mind, and the enemy will attempt to implant lies, temptations, inspire evil thoughts, confusion, doubt, fear, and discouragement, etc. This is why in Ephesians 4:23 we find that we are told: “to be made new in the attitude of your minds.” The spiritual war that we are in began a long time ago, and God’s people have suffered great losses. In the battle that we are examining today we find that there were two armies involved; the Amalekites and the people of Israel. In the spiritual war there are also two armies engaged in battle, God’s army and the powers of darkness. The truth about our adversary is that he is a powerful and evil ruler. Our enemy, just like the army of the Amalekites comes to destroy and plunder, which is the complete opposite of God’s plan for us. It is as the Lord tells us in John 10:10 when we read: “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” It is true that our enemy has great powers; it is true that he has a vast army at his disposition that never rests; it is true that our enemy is very astute in his tactics; but it is also true that although he is all of these things, he is in fact a defeated foe. This is something that is clearly stated in Colossians 2:15 when we read: “And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.” Tell the person sitting next to you, Jesus was triumphant.
Number two; if we want to defeat the attacks from our enemy, we must do it united as the army of God that we are. In the verses that we are examining today we read: “Moses 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.” I want us to note something here that is of extreme importance; I want us to notice that Moses told Joshua to choose some of their men; Moses did not say take all of our men. Why is this important to note? It is important to note this because this small statement lets us know that Moses was not depending on the strength of their army, he was depending in God. Here we see that God chose Joshua as the leader and he told him to gather an army to fight against this enemy that was now confronting them, and let me tell you that the army that Joshua gathered was nothing compared to the Amalekites. Joshua went into battle against the Amalekites with a great disadvantage. I say this because the army that Joshua gathered lacked discipline, they were not well armed, and they were still emotionally affected due to the slavery that they had endured. But Moses knew that the forces that attacked them would not be defeated by his army, what would in fact defeat this much greater force would be his prayers and intercession. Military might would not give them the victory, God’s power would make them victorious.
Continuing we read: “So 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. While Joshua was engaged in battle, Moses prayed and had God’s staff lifted towards heaven. Moses lifted this staff to encourage the soldiers, and it was as a raised flag that awakened their enthusiasm. The army fought, but Moses interceded, appealing to God so that He would deliver to them the victory. We have a lot to learn from here. I say this because the biggest mistake that many of us commit is that we will begin to intercede for a person or situation, but if we do not receive an immediate answer, then we stop interceding and praying. Quite frequently we will begin to intercede with great fervor, we shake the heavens with our prayers, but we quickly lose interest because at time we do not receive the answer that we expected or wanted. On other occasions, we get so wrapped up in the things of this world that we forget to intercede all together. We become so preoccupied with the things of this world, our mind becomes so wrapped up in the insignificant situations that surround us that we forget to lift our voice unto God. Tell the person sitting next to you; keep me in your prayers. This leads me to the third and final point.
Number three; all of us need help. Because the battle was not easy and it did not finish fast, we see that something that is very important to our message today happened. Here we find that: 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.” Here we are told that “Moses' hands grew tired.” I want to make brief pause here to analyze this about being tired. Here we see that Moses’ hands grew tired from holding the staff up as a raised flag for such a long time. The truth is that weariness is something that affects many in our walk. It is something that affects God’s people in general, but I can tell you that it is something that affects many leaders, pastors, deacons, and ministers. This happens because just like Moses, there comes a time in the life of many leaders when they find themselves completely exhausted from battling. There are many leaders that grow weary from seeing that no matter how hard they try, or how much effort they put in, the less response they receive from the people, and I want us to note that I said the people and not God. God’s people today are very discouraged, they are apathetic, and it seems that the more they hear God’s word, the less they understand. This is why we see how the sects and false religions grow more and more each day. This is why we see that many abandon their ministry, and how others give very little or no value to the blessing that God has given them to serve in His church. We see how our brethren in the faith grow weary from fighting against temptation, and subsequently fall once again in our enemy’s trap. And all of this happens because the support and union that must exist within the church is missing.
Moses’ hands grew tired, but I want all of us to note that they did not abandon the battle field. At that time we see that they did something that all of us must learn to do, the Word tells us: “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.” They helped him in his moment of weariness and exhaustion. If we want to be successful as a church, then we have to recognize that we need each other. We have to do as the Word tells us in Philippians 2:3-4 when we read: “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. 4Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.” As a church we have to recognize, and we must lift up and hold the arms of those that may be weak. We must do as the Word tells us in 1 Thessalonians 5:14 when we read: “And we urge you, brothers, warn those who are idle, encourage the timid, help the weak, be patient with everyone.” We have to recognize that we need help, that all of us need intercession, and that it is our responsibility to pray and intercede for all of our brothers and sisters.
In conclusion; like I said at the beginning, the ministry is in serious trouble; Christ’ church is in serious trouble. The church needs you! The leaders cannot do it all; the leaders cannot be the only responsible persons to fight the battles. The church needs men and women like Joshua; the church needs men and women willing to enter into battle against our enemy’s army, even though the people that you may be leading may not be the best equipped that there is.
The church needs men and women like Aaron and Hur, people willing to lift up and hold the arms of those that have grown weary. People that are willing to help at all times all of those that may find themselves in a weakened to exhausted state. When this happens, when we assume the responsibility that we have, then we will receive the triumph. What happened with the people at that time? The Word tells us: “So Joshua overcame the Amalekite army with the sword.” All of us can also obtain this victory; God’s people can and must advance at all times because we do have His sword, we have the Word of God. But in order for this to happen we must assume our position and responsibilities. Joshua fought, Moses interceded, and Aaron and Hur supported him. It was an entire team that defeated the enemies attack by using God’s power and not theirs. The church needs this team; the Body of Christ needs this type of people and interaction between the believers. Now the question that remains is: what type of person are you?
