Put Up Your Hands

   “Then came Amalek, and fought with Israel in Rephidim. And Moses said unto Joshua, Choose us out men, and go out, fight with Amalek: tomorrow I will stand on the top of the hill with the rod of God in mine hand. So Joshua did as Moses had said to him, and fought with Amalek: and Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill. And it came to pass, when Moses held up his hand, that Israel prevailed: and when he let down his hand, Amalek prevailed. But Moses’ hands were heavy; and they took a stone, and put it under him, and he sat thereon; and Aaron and Hur stayed up his hands, the one on the one side, and the other on the other side; and his hands were steady until the going down of the sun. And Joshua discomfited Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword.” (Exodus 17:8-13).

    Amalek came against Israel because they had become a threat. Israel was advancing on their territory. When the church becomes a threat to the devil, then he too will come at us with violence. At this present time, I doubt that the devil fears our church system.  He will fear the church again when she starts invading his territory. We the church invade territory by making believers out of nations. Wherever a believer stands, that piece of ground becomes holy ground. 

   Satan is not threatened by mega churches where large masses of so-called Christians meet. He isn’t threatened by little churches with just a handful of people. He fears wherever Christ is revealed. He fears saints who Christ has revealed Himself to. We will know that we have a real church when we threaten the devil. When you get a revelation of Christ, Satan will be on the attack. That is why it wasn’t long after God revealed His power to Israel, by destroying Pharaoh and his army, that the devil had to attempt to destroy Israel.

   So Amalek came, Joshua commanded the troops, and Moses, Aaron and Hur climbed the mountain. We all love mountaintop experiences. Don’t ever think because you are in the midst of one of the biggest battles in your life that you can’t be on the mountaintop. Don’t forget that when you are on the mountain others can and will be in the valley. Moses, Aaron and Hur were not on the mountain to escape the battle, they were part of the battle. While some in the church can be on the mountain, some of us are in the valley. Those on the mountain are interceding for those in the valley.

    So the fighting begins and when Moses holds the rod of God up, Israel prevails over Amalek, but when the rod is down, Amalek prevails. There are three significant things that took place up there on the mountain. There was a stone, Moses sat on the stone and Moses lifted his rod with help from Arron and Hur.

1)  A Stone
    The Old Testament is loaded with typology. Egypt is a type of the world. Israel is a type of the church. A rock or stone is a type of Christ. “Having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone.” (Ephesians 2:20). “He is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. And when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently against that house, and could not shake it, for it was founded on the rock.” (Luke 6:48). So there on the mountain Moses found Christ.

2).  He sat thereon
    Moses went and sat on the stone. Why was he doing that in the midst of battle? He was resting on Christ. Moses is teaching us all that the only place we can truly get any rest is in Christ. The phrase “in Christ” is found 78 times in the KJV and 87 times in the NKJV.  To be in Christ, first of all means that you have to be redeemed by Him. After that, it means being in His will and having His mind. There is no condemnation in Christ. In Christ we live by the law of the Spirit of life. In Christ we have the love of God. We have truth in Christ. We are one body, approved, sanctified, wise, hopeful and made alive in Christ. We triumph and are a new creature in Christ.  All things, workmanship, consolation, prize, perfect, purpose, faith, grace, salvation and peace are all in Christ. Everything godly we could or would ever be, will be because we are in Christ.

   When Jesus walked on this planet, He offered rest to all. “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” (Matthew 11:28). I think far too many Christians live in stress and anxiety because they have never really understood the call of God to come and get rest. Instead, they try to be religious with all kinds of doing, but not much resting in Christ.

   How do you rest in Christ? By obeying Him. By trusting Him. By believing Him. “And to whom did He swear that they would not enter His rest, but to those who did not obey? So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief.” (Hebrews 3:18-19). With unbelief comes anxiousness and fear. In Mark 6:6, it says that Jesus marveled at their unbelief. It is the opposite for us, we marvel when someone really believes God. God has revealed Himself over and over to many of us. Is it too much for us to really start believing God?

3).  Stayed up his hands
    Moses lifting the rod with his hands represents a posture of surrender. Don’t you remember playing cops and robbers as a kid and you would yell to the robber, “Put up your hands?”  It has been a sign of surrender my whole sixty plus years of life. If there was one thing that Moses’ life reflected it was total dependence on and surrender to God. Many times the Israelites witnessed Moses, along with Aaron, falling prostrate before God when the people rebelled in unbelief. Aaron and Hur learned from Moses the need to immediately surrender to the Lord, so they helped Moses lift up his hands. We need to help each other hold up our hands. It was only when Moses’ hands were up that the battle was being won. Since Moses, Aaron and Hur surrendered to God, the army of Israel didn’t have to surrender to the enemy.

   Who would ever think that the results of a war would be determined by someone sitting on a rock and holding up a rod? It is one of the great paradoxes in the Bible that the surrendered life is the victorious life. The surrendered life is the liberated life. 

   “And his hands were steady until the going down of the sun.” The surrendered life carries you all the way to the end, all the way home. One of the favorite ways for Christians to praise the Lord is by the lifting of hands. “I desire therefore that the men pray everywhere, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting.” (I Timothy 2:8). 

   The believer’s posture is one of resting on the Rock, Jesus Christ, and raising hands, whether literally or in the heart of surrender. If it wasn’t for man’s own pride, surrendering would be one of the easiest things we believers could ever do.