The Victory (Ex. 17:9-13)

5/28/2008 9:28 AM

SPIRITUAL DIARY

My Worship Time           Focus:  The victory

Bible Reading & Meditation               Reference:  Exodus 17:9-13

            Message of the verses:  “9  So Moses said to Joshua, "Choose men for us and go out, fight against Amalek. Tomorrow I will station myself on the top of the hill with the staff of God in my hand."  10  Joshua did as Moses told him, and fought against Amalek; and Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill.  11  So it came about when Moses held his hand up, that Israel prevailed, and when he let his hand down, Amalek prevailed.  12  But Moses’ hands were heavy. Then they took a stone and put it under him, and he sat on it; and Aaron and Hur supported his hands, one on one side and one on the other. Thus his hands were steady until the sun set.  13  So Joshua overwhelmed Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword.”

            I can tell already that this lesson is going to step on my toes as the spiritual lesson here is intercessory prayer, something that I could be a whole lot better at.  How does this lesson teach me about prayer?   I would have never seen it if not for the commentary of Dr. Wiersbe in his book on Exodus.  There are a number of places in Scriptures that show the Jewish people raising their hands while in prayer and this is what Moses was doing with the rod of God in his hand, he had is hands raised.  While his hands were raised Joshua and his army would be winning the battle and when Moses grew tired and his hands came down Amalek would then begin to advance in the battle. 

            There are three elements in the victory for Joshua and his army:  “The power of God in heaven, the skill of Joshua and the army on the battlefield, and the intercession of Moses, Aaron and Hur on the top of the hill.” 

            When I look back at what I have been studying in Exodus I do not see the army of Israel doing any fighting, but only God doing the fighting for them as He used miracle after miracle to bring them out of Egypt and destroy that nation, but it is now time for the people of Israel to begin to fight in the power of the Lord to destroy their enemies as seen here.  “In this way God’s people would grow in faith and God’s name would be glorified.”

            As stated earlier Moses’ holding up of the rod was a picture of intercessory prayer, and intercessory is a difficult thing to do.  “True intercession is a demanding activity.” In Colossians 4:12 Paul writes about a man, Epaphras, who was a great prayer warrior and the word that Paul uses to describe the difficulty of intercessory prayer is a Greek word that the English get agonize from.  “12 Epaphras, who is one of your number, a bondslave of Jesus Christ, sends you his greetings, always laboring earnestly for you in his prayers, that you may stand perfect and fully assured in all the will of God.”  The word laboring means to agonize, “agonizomai ag-o-nid’-zom-ahee.” 

            Aaron and Hur supported Moses in holding up his hands so that the battle could be won and they picture believers who support others in obedience to God.  “God is looking for people who will share in the battle and the victory because they continue steadfastly in prayer.”  Anyone can be a prayer warrior for others, and it is one of the most important things that a believer can do.

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  There has been times in the past when the Lord used me to organize prayer for different things that were going on at our church and other places, yet it seems now that my prayer life is not what it should be and this truly bothers me as I certainly have time in my life to pray, and there are certainly things that are going on in my life that truly need me to pray about.

My Steps of Faith for Today:  It surely looks like that I must add one more thing to do in my steps of faith category and that is to pray.  I want to have a better prayer life like Epaphras had in Col. 4:12; I want to yoke up with the Lord Jesus Christ as seen in Matthew 11:28-30; I want to trust the Lord to guide my steps as seen in Proverbs 3:5-6; I want to trust the Lord to continue to teach me contentment as seen in Phil. 4:11; and I want to trust the Lord to deliver me from temptation as seen in 1 Cor. 10:13.

Memory verses for the week:                      Colossians 4:12

12.    Epaphras, who is one of your number, a bondslave of Jesus Christ, sends you his greetings, always laboring for you in his prayers, that you may stand perfect and fully assured in all the will of God.

5/28/2008 10:21 AM