So Joshua fought the Amalekites as Moses had ordered, and Moses, Aaron and Hur went to the top of the hill.  As long as Moses held up his hands, the Israelites were winning, but whenever he lowered his hands, the Amalekites were winning.  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.  So Joshua overcame the Amalekite army with the sword. Exodus 17:10-13

Israel was in trouble.  Big trouble. The people were barely 3 months out from Egypt when they came under attack from the Amalekites (v.8).  The Amalekites were a warrior nation who descended from Jacob’s twin brother Esau and were well trained in the art of warfare.  It was an unprovoked, cowardly attack on unsuspecting men, women and children who were exposed, vulnerable and weary from months of wilderness travel.

Moses ordered Joshua, “Choose some of our men and go out to fight the Amalekites” (v.9). But what could recently freed slaves do against a well trained army?  It would be shovels, rakes and hoes against swords, spears and shields.

On the day of the battle, Joshua and his courageous men went out to meet the Amalekite army while Moses and his aides looked on from a nearby hillside.  And here, Moses discovered a curious thing.  When he raises his hands, Israel was victorious. But when he lowers his hands they began to lose.

I’ve heard this story since childhood.  It’s a favorite among Sunday school teachers who have over-active boys in their class.  They love to act it out. But there’s something I always wondered. How, do you suppose, they discovered that odd association in the first place?  Was Moses stretching or scratching his head or picking fruit off a nearby tree? And then Aaron said, “Hey bro, you’ll never believe this, but when you just lifted your hands….(?)” What was Moses doing with his hands raised in the first place? As a boy, I imagined all kinds of fanciful scenarios. But when I got older and actually studied my Bible, things became a bit clearer.  An Old Testament saint raised his hands for one of two reasons: praying or praising.

Hear my cry for mercy as I call to you for help, as I lift up my hands toward your Most Holy Place. Psalm 28:2

I will praise you as long as I live, and in your name I will lift up my hands. Psalm 63:4

This was no arbitrary discovery. Moses was either praying or he was praising with his hands lifted up.  And both are activities demonstrate his utter dependence on God in a desperate situation.

I love this.  Right at the beginning of Israel’s existence as a nation, before they journeyed to the promise land or even had any real battles, God wanted to teach them something foundational to the way he operates and a key to relationship with him. So, he gave them an object lesson- raise your hands and you win, lower your hands and you lose.  Victory doesn’t happen on the battlefield; it happens on the mountain.  It’s not about flanking maneuvers or state of the art weapons.  It’s about prayer, faith and simple dependence on a sovereign God.

It’s the same today. This is simple stuff.  Christianity 101. But, oh how quickly we forget.  Do you need power?  Want God to act?  Need deliverance?  Overwhelmed with a problem? Pray and praise.  And in those simple acts of dependence and faith, we become just the kind of people God can use to do extraordinary things.

So, let’s hold up our hands in the middle of the battle!