Exodus 17:8-16 tells us about a battle against the Amalekites and how this battle was won through prayer and working together as God’s people. Battles tend to come at inconvenient times: the Amalekites attacked when the Israelites were weary and worn out, jaded from the journeying through the wilderness. (Deut 25:18) We have to be sober and alert, watching and praying against temptation at all times (Matt 26:41, Mark 14:38, 1 Thess 5:8), for battles often come when we are least expecting them and are not ready to fight. That’s why we are urged to put on our spiritual armour all the time!
Moses’s strategy for winning this battle was two-fold. He told 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.’ (Ex 17:9) The first part seems full of common sense, but the idea that Moses’s role is to stand on top of a hill with God’s staff seems bizarre!
Spiritual weapons do not look impressive or powerful, but we have to understand that to win battles, we cannot rely on human strategy alone. Moses’s staff was ordinary in itself, but it had been used by God in miraculous ways (see Ex 8:5, 16; Ex 7:17, Ex 9:23, Ex 10:13, Ex 14:16, Ex 17:6). God is able to take our ordinary offerings and make something extraordinary out of them (see Jn 6:9, 1 Sam 17:40).
God’s Word and prayer are the chief spiritual weapons we have, and these are ‘powerful God-tools for smashing warped philosophies, tearing down barriers erected against the truth of God, fitting every loose thought and emotion and impulse into the structure of life shaped by Christ.’ (2 Cor 10:3-5, The Message) Jesus used the word of God to defeat the enemy (see Matt 4:4, 7, 10) and promised great results in prayer (Jn 14:14, Jn 16:24, Matt 18:19). Do we believe these are powerful weapons?
Joshua’s role is easy to understand in this battle, but the roles of Moses, Aaron and Hur show us the importance of corporate prayer. Moses needed these two men to hold up his hands and their help was directly influential in the victory that followed. From the seemingly insignificant place of prayer, victory and blessing came and Moses also received a new revelation of God:‘Jehovah Nissi’, ‘The Lord Is My Banner.’ (Ex 17:15) God is our unifying force and our rallying point. His banner over us is love and love too is a powerful weapon in our hands.