Hands Held High

On a hilltop, an old man stands with his arms raised toward the sky. His shoulders burn. His hands tremble. And down in the valley below, everything depends on whether those hands stay up.

Israel is still camped at Rephidim, where water has just poured out of a rock. The people are tired travellers, not soldiers. Most of them were brickmakers in Egypt only weeks ago. And then, without warning, the Amalekites attack. They are a desert people, and they come against Israel in the wilderness. Later, the book of Deuteronomy remembers how they struck: from behind, picking off the stragglers at the back of the line, the faint and the weary who could not keep up.

Moses turns to a young man named Joshua. This is the first time the Bible mentions him, but it will not be the last. “Choose some men for us,” Moses says, “and go out and fight Amalek. Tomorrow I will stand on top of the hill with the staff of God in my hand.” So Joshua gathers the men and goes down into the valley. And Moses climbs the hill, with two companions beside him. His brother Aaron, and a man named Hur.

From the top of the hill, Moses can see everything. He lifts his hands, holding the staff of God, and down below, Israel begins to win. But arms get tired. Slowly, slowly, his hands drop. And as they do, the battle turns, and Amalek begins to win. Moses lifts them again. Israel pushes forward. His arms sink. Israel falls back. Up. Down. Up. Down. The text never says that Moses' arms were working magic. The lifted hands and the staff of God are a sign that Israel's strength comes from the Lord, not from swords. And Moses cannot keep them up on his own.

Aaron and Hur see what is happening. They don't give a speech. They find a stone and roll it over, and Moses sits down on it. Then they stand on either side of him, Aaron on one side, Hur on the other, and they hold up his hands. One arm each. And so his hands stay steady, all through the long afternoon, until the sun goes down. Down in the valley, Joshua and his men hold firm, and with the edge of the sword they defeat Amalek and his army. Victory, not because Moses was strong enough, but because he did not have to be strong alone.

When it is over, the Lord tells Moses to write it down in a book, as something to be remembered, and to make sure Joshua hears it. Then Moses builds an altar. He gives it a name. The Lord is my banner. In a battle, a banner is lifted high so that everyone can see where to rally. Moses has learned that Israel's banner is not a flag or a weapon. It is the Lord himself.

This short passage holds a quiet first. When God tells Moses to write the victory in a book as a memorial, it is the first time in the Bible that anyone is told to write something down. A people who had been slaves were becoming a people with a written memory. And the young man told to listen, Joshua, would one day lead Israel into the promised land.

Hands Held High. You'll find it in Exodus chapter 17, verses 8 to 16. Even Moses could not hold his arms up all day. He needed Aaron and Hur, and they were ready. So here's the question to carry with you. Whose tired arms could you help hold up this week?