Arms Up!!
When God told the people of Israel in the Old Testament what to do and they obeyed, they were successful. But when they refused to obey, they failed.
Exodus 17 tells of how the people found a good place to settle, but it provided no water. People complained that Moses had brought them out into the wilderness just to die of thirst.
Moses came before God and asked Him what to do. He told God that the people were ready to stone him. God gave Moses this answer—He told him to walk out in front of the people and lift his staff, the one that he had used to hold back the waters of the Nile when the people of Israel were saved. Then God told him to stand on the rock and hit it with the staff, and water would come gushing out. So, Moses did as he was told, and the water gushed.
Moses named the place Massah which means test and Meribah because the people questioned, “Is the Lord here with us or not?” Moses told Joshua to take his troops and go out the next day and fight against the Amalekites. God told Moses to stand at the top of the hill and hold up the staff that God had given him in his hand. Moses and Joshua obeyed.
Whenever Moses held the staff in the air, the people of Israel were winning, but when he lowered the staff because his arms were tired, the Amalekites would gain the advantage. Seeing this, Aaron and Hur got a stone so Moses could sit on it, and they stood on each side of Moses holding up his arms so that his hands could remain steady until sunset. The result was that Joshua defeated the army of Amalekites in battle. Now get this picture—Moses needed to hold up his arms, but being human, he could only do so much. He then had Aaron and Hur come and hold up his arms.
In life, we all need someone to hold up our arms. We go through a lot of issues that we can’t face alone. God always has some people available who could hold up our arms and lead us to victorious and successful living. How willing are we to be like Aaron and Hur and hold up the arms of somebody else?
I have seen this recently. I have a good friend who is having major cancer surgery at MD Anderson. Some friends have come, and they are holding up his arms. I have another friend who has fought a long battle with cancer. He has discovered a recurrence and hopes that it is localized in one spot. Friends are holding up his arms.
I attended a graduation where many people have broken the chain of addiction to drugs and alcohol and incarceration. They are now going out into a new world to live a life of freedom. Look around you and find some of them and others that need you to hold up their arms.
Each of us needs somebody to help hold up our arms. The result was that Moses was obedient, and God gave a great victory to the Israelites as they defeated the Amalekites. God can defeat any enemy—sometimes we just need to obey what God tells us even when it might seem a little foolish.
Because of the great victory, God instructed Moses to make a permanent reminder of what had happened. He built an altar and named it Yahweh—Nissi, which means “the Lord is my banner.” When someone has helped hold up your arms, do something to make it a reminder of the mighty act of God. It’s easy to forget—it’s important to remember!
It’s arms-up time.
