“Aaron and Hur held his hands up—one on one side, one on the other—so that his hands remained steady till sunset.” (Exodus 17:12).
The other day I read a short passage from the Old Testament, and it struck me and stayed with me in the weeks that have followed.
Now, it is not often that I read from the Old Testament – possibly because it feels to me a more dense and difficult text to understand than the New Testament (though I have no real basis to make that assumption). And yet, when I read the passage (Exodus 17:8-13) the other day, I felt surrounded by the Love of God and was glad…
“The Amalekites came and attacked the Israelites at Rephidim. 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.’ So Joshua fought the Amalekites as Moses had ordered, and Moses, Aaron and Hur went to the top of the hill. As long as Moses held up his hands, the Israelites were winning, but whenever he lowered his hands, the Amalekites were winning. 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. So Joshua overcame the Amalekite army with the sword.” (Exodus 17:8-13).
You see, the Israelites worked as a team – they worked together – to solve their problem. Moses held the staff and Joshua fought the battle, and when Moses was tired, Aaron and Hur stepped in to support him. And the message in this passage seemed so clear to me that I could not forget about this battle of thousands of years ago, because it reminded me of an important truth about my spiritual battle for salvation today.
The battle was a big one. It was a risky battle, and it was frightening. And to my mind, that is not very different from the battles that we mere humans endure every day. Like the problems within families who are struggling with relationship breakdown, or the problems relating to addiction and abuse. That thousands of years old battle was not very different from the battle of those afflicted with cancer, who endure treatments and medications that must surely seem – at times – more horrendous than the disease itself. And that battle is not very different from the battle that families pray for their loved ones whose choices show evidence of their straying from God…
And when those terrible times come – when souls are in battle – there are souls to support, like Moses, who held the staff above on the hill. And when those souls of support become tired, there are also others, like Aaron and Hur, who step up and help through prayer. They stand on either side of those who battle and those who pray and they unite their prayers to those others, and in this way, they lend support to each other…
And as I look about me at the souls of the suffering, I cannot help but pray for the Grace to become one of those souls who stood with Moses on that hill during the battle against the Amalekites… For that is how battles are won…
For with prayer, I stand on Holy Ground where everything is clear. Here. At the Foot of the Cross.
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