“Whenever Moses held up his hand, Israel prevailed, and whenever he lowered his hand, Amalek prevailed. But Moses’ hands grew weary, so they took a stone and put it under him, and he sat on it, while Aaron and Hur held up his hands, one on one side, and the other on the other side. So his hands were steady until the going down of the sun.”
Why in the world is this necessary? If God wanted to strike the armies of Amalek, display his power, and rescue Israel why did he not simply send a tornado or something cool like that? Why does it depend on a bearded dude raising a stick in the air?
I do not know for sure but I have a couple of guesses. There are a couple of things that this act communicates. Lessons that are vitally important for Israel—and remain vitally important even for us. One thing that this story communicates is that Moses is the conduit of grace that God is going to use to lead Israel fully out of Egypt and into the Promised Land. God works through leaders. Leaders are important.
But the second lesson is just as important as the first—Moses is only a conduit of grace. Even though the mission vitally depends on God using Moses to lift up his hands, Moses is still just a man that cannot hold up his hands all day.
Can you imagine trying to do what Moses was asked to do?
Do you remember in grade school whenever the teacher for some unknown reason refused to call on you? (Perhaps, she had had enough wisecracks). I do. And I remember it didn’t take long for my little hands to get tired and I had to start propping it up with my other arm. Then I’d switch hands. And then switch hands. And then again. (Now, that I’m thinking about this…come on teacher…why didn’t you call on me?)
Well those few minutes in grade school always felt like an eternity. I cannot imagine what Moses felt like having to hold his hand up for hours upon hours.
The Pressure of Leadership
But this is more important than getting to answer a question (or at least make a funny remark). If Moses lets down his hands some of his people are going to bite the bullet. That’s a lot of pressure. Moses cannot afford to take a 15 minute break and rest his hands. In 15 minutes a battle can be decided. So Moses cannot take a breather.
This helps us to kind of realize that leaders face much pressure. Often if we “let down our hands” the movement suffers, or even worse real-true-to life individual people suffer. So leaders get weary keeping their hands held up all day. We know that if we let our hands down it will be for our detriment and the detriment of others.
The Necessity of Aaron’s and Hur’s
But the reality, like with Moses, is that sometimes you just cannot do it. Conduits of grace need to be propped up. Even the best of men are men at best. And that means we will have to let our hands down. We aren’t the savior. We aren’t the provision. God is. We are the conduit and sometimes conduits get weak and can’t do their job anymore.
Thankfully, there is a third way. Leaders can be propped up. It’s still Moses keeping his hands up, but Aaron and Hur are standing beside him and lifting up his weary hands when he cannot. Leaders need Aarons and Hur’s in their lives.
I am thankful for the men and women that God has placed in my life to be my Aaron or Hur. I have had dear brothers and sisters in Christ come alongside me in times of my greatest weaknesses and prop up my leadership. They’ve been used, by God’s grace, to keep my weary hands from dropping. Aaron and Hur are just as vital as Moses.
Victory is a community project!
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