Surrender

DEVOTION

EXODUS

SURRENDER

Ex 17:8-16

8 The Amalekites came and attacked the Israelites at Rephidim. 9 Moses said to 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." 10 So Joshua fought the Amalekites as Moses had ordered, and Moses, Aaron and Hur went to the top of the hill. 11 As long as Moses held up his hands, the Israelites were winning, but whenever he lowered his hands, the Amalekites were winning. 12 When Moses' hands grew tired, they took a stone and put it under him and he sat on it. Aaron and Hur held his hands up — one on one side, one on the other — so that his hands remained steady till sunset. 13 So Joshua overcame the Amalekite army with the sword. 14 Then the LORD said to Moses, "Write this on a scroll as something to be remembered and make sure that Joshua hears it, because I will completely blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven." 15 Moses built an altar and called it The LORD is my Banner. 16 He said, "For hands were lifted up to the throne of the LORD. The LORD will be at war against the Amalekites from generation to generation."

NIV

We would want to think this narrative is all about a battle with the Amalekites which it is in some sense. But this battle, the winning and losing of it, the ebb and flow of who was having the advantage was dependent upon what position the hands of Moses were in. We might want to think this narrative is about Aaron and Hur holding up the hands of Moses, which we should either be ready to help our fellow believer, or support our spiritual leader, or be willing to accept the help of others. As good any of those would be as a lesson for our lives, they are not the main lesson here. The true lesson here is about God and man. When Moses was holding his hands with staff up toward God, the Israelites were winning, but when he dropped his arms, the Amalekites were winning. This is our life. When we look to God for our defense against the forces of evil, we are winning. But when we drop our arms, when we are not looking to God, the forces of evil are winning against us. We cannot fight this battle in the flesh, on human strength. Surely the Armor of God plays into this battle and we need to remember it is the Armor of God, it is not our armor. We cannot dress ourselves in it. Yes, we are to put on this armor, but without God, it is not his armor, it is ours, and it is weak. Now there is something to be said about Aaron and Hur and that does relate to the Armor of God. When we take up the shield of faith, it is a good thing to have our fellow believers standing at our side with their shield of faith as well. Nevertheless it still all depends on God. We might be tempted to think it is about our faith, our shield of faith, but it is our faith in God for the battle. It is not our faith that wins the battle, it is God. If we are thinking it is our faith, then we are not looking toward God, but rather toward our faith. That seems like a fine line, maybe just semantics, but it is our faith in God, it is not us, but God who brings the victory over the forces of darkness that attack our soul. When the enemy attacks we need to raise our hands toward God and allow him to win the battle. In some sense raised hands mean we surrender. For the most part we think raised hands are a sign of worship, but in all reality they mean, we surrender. Any army would know when the enemy raises their hands they have given up, they have surrendered. Maybe if we are not raising our hands toward God, we have not really surrender the battle to him. Maybe we are thinking we can win it on our own. Even in our time at church, many stand with their hands down instead of surrendering to God. Is this a lesson we should be teaching to others? Maybe we all should stand with raised hands together. Then the body of Christ would be winning more souls for Jesus. Are we as a church depending on our programs to win the battle? Should we not be depending on God? Let us just surrender, but not to the enemy, rather to God.