I would like to begin today with a question. How many of you think that the more you try, the less territory you gain? In other words, how many of you are fighting a battle against things or circumstances that appear to be invincible? I ask these questions because many of us are confronted with situations in our daily life, whether it is in our family, workplace, or church that on many occasions seem to be invincible or impossible. Due to this, many of the people of God get tired of battling, and consequently surrender to the forces of the enemy. Many get tired of battling and surrender territory to the enemy that does not belong to him. We surrender territory and he encamps his army of demons in our surroundings. An army of demons that is ready invade our life with the sole purpose of destroying what God has initiated in us, and with the purpose of stealing the blessings that God gives his people. This is something that happens frequently, and that is why I would like for us to focus on this subject today.
The truth of the matter is that the ministry is in serious trouble. Let me pause here for a second and clarify something. When I say the ministry, I am not referring to this ministry in particular, when I speak of the ministry; I am referring the church of Christ. The ministry is suffering due to the apostasy, negligence, and discouragement on the part of the people God. But it also suffers greatly because on many occasions, God’s servants get tired of battling. So today we will be utilizing some verses that will demonstrate what the church needs. We will be analyzing what is needed in every moment in all congregations. Let’s now turn to the word of God, and let’s learn what is needed today by studying the past.
Exodus 17:8-13 - Then came Amalek, and fought with Israel in Rephidim. 9And Moses said unto Joshua, Choose us out men, and go out, fight with Amalek: to morrow I will stand on the top of the hill with the rod of God in mine hand. 10So 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. 11And it came to pass, when Moses held up his hand, that Israel prevailed: and when he let down his hand, Amalek prevailed. 12But 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. 13And Joshua discomfited Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword.
Here in these verses we find that soon after leaving Egypt, the people of God enter into a great battle with the kingdom of Amalek. Please note that it was “soon” after their departure from Egypt, because this is a pattern that the enemy uses with frequency. In other words, what I want us to notice here is that the enemy launched a strong attack against the people of God after a great blessing. When we analyze the chapter from the beginning, we see that that the people of God was discouraged and was starting to take a rebellious path, and it all started because they were thirsty in the middle of the desert. This is something very well reflected in Exodus 17: 2-3 when we read “Wherefore the people did chide with Moses, and said, Give us water that we may drink. And Moses said unto them, Why chide ye with me? wherefore do ye tempt the LORD? 3And the people thirsted there for water; and the people murmured against Moses, and said, Wherefore is this that thou hast brought us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our cattle with thirst?” However, even with this initiation of rebellion, God shed a great blessing over his people. God glorified Himself so that there would be no doubt in their minds that He would supply and guard them in their walk. This is something clear for all to see in Exodus 17:6 when we read “Behold, I will stand before thee there upon the rock in Horeb; and thou shalt smite the rock, and there shall come water out of it, that the people may drink. And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel.” So, without any doubt we can see the pattern of the enemy, he attacked the people of God in a very strong way right after they received a great blessing. I ask you, does this continue to happen today? I tell you that what happened to these people is not much different than what happens to us individually, and what happens to the ministry. What happened to them is something that continues to happen to the people of God. I say this because if we were to analyze the times when we are most harshly attacked, we would soon discover that in the majority of times it happens right after a great blessing.
The Amalekites were a nomadic and predatory tribe; the enemy’s army is not much different. The enemy’s army is constantly looking for people that are not completely firm, it is looking for people that may be in a situation similar or the same to the people of God in those times, trying to find people that are starting on a path of rebellion, people that are not trusting in the grace and providence of God. They are looking to attack the people of God to rob them of the blessings that God has given them. What lesson should we learn from this historic event? There are three essential points we need to learn.
FIRST: We must recognize that all of us here, all of us who follow Christ have a common enemy. Here Moses and this nation had the Amalekites who wanted to destroy them. We have to realize that just like that nation confronted the Amalekites; we are in a state of war against the army of the powers of darkness. This fact should not come as a surprise to any, as it is something clearly stated in Ephesians 6:12 when we read “For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.” Our enemy is very astute in his tactics, and he will try anything at any moment to destroy us. He will take advantage when we may be tired and our guard may be down. I have said it in various occasions, and I do not get tired of repeating it, the main field of battle is our mind, and the enemy uses it to trick, tempt, lie, inspire bad thoughts, confusion, doubts, fear, discouragement, etc. This war has been fought for a very long time, and the kingdom of God has suffered great losses. In the battle that we are studying today we see that two armies participated, the Amalekites and the nation of Israel. In the spiritual war, there are also two participating armies, the army of God and the army of Satan. A great reality concerning our adversary is that he is a powerful and evil governor. Our enemy, just like the Amalekites, comes to destroy and rob, but Christ came to the world so that we may receive the blessings of God, and that we may receive them abundantly. Jesus said it best in John 10:10 when we read “The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.” The reality of it all is that our enemy has great power, he has at his disposal an army of demons that does not rest; he is a masterful tactician; he is extremely intelligent. But with all of this that he is, he is also something else. What else is he? Satan is a defeated enemy. This is something clearly reflected in Colossians 2:15 when we read “And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it.” And because Jesus has defeated him, we, as children of God can also defeat him and drive him out of our life. This is something that is clearly reflected in 1 John 4:4 when we read “Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.” Jesus destroyed the works of Satan! Look carefully at what we find in I John 3:8 when we read “He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil.” And because Jesus did this, we too can drive the enemy from our life.
SECOND: If we want to defeat the attacks of the enemy, we have to do it united like the great army of God that we are. In these verses that we are using today we read: “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.” Here we see that Moses chose Joshua as leader and told him to unite an army, to unite men to go out and fight against the enemy that they would be facing. Let me tell you that the army of men that Joshua gathered was nothing compared to the army of the Amalekites. Joshua set out to fight against this army with great disadvantages; the army that Joshua united was lacking discipline, was not armed well, and was afflicted due to a long time of slavery. But it would not be the force of the army that would defeat the Amalekites; it would be the intercession and prayers of Moses that would give them the victory. It would not be the military power that would give them the victory; it would be the power of God.
Continuing we read, “As long as Moses held up his hands, the Israelites were winning, but whenever he lowered his hands, the Amalekites were winning.” While Joshua fought, Moses prayed and had the staff of God in his hand raised to the sky; Moses would lift up the staff to encourage the soldiers, it was like a raised flag that would wake up the enthusiasm in them. They would fight, but Moses interceded appealing to God so that He would grant them the victory. The great error that we make is that in many occasions we start interceding for a person or a situation, but when we do not receive an immediate answer, we stop praying. In many occasions we start interceding with fervor, we shake up the heavens with our prayers, but quickly lose interest and we do not persevere because we have not received the results we were waiting for. In other occasions, we get so involved in the things of this world, we forget to intercede. We are so preoccupied with the things of this world, our mind is so preoccupied with insignificant things, that we forget to raise a loud cry to the heavens. We forget the promise that we have as we find in Philippians 4:19 when we read “But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.” This is why I say unto to you today, STOP! Stop allowing the enemy to plant the seed of doubt in your mind. Stop allowing the enemy to break the line of communication between you and God. This leads me to the third point.
THIRD: We all need help. Because the battle was not easy or ended rapidly, here we read that something happened, we read “And Moses hands grew tired”. I want to pause here for a moment and analyze this of being tired in more detail. In the case of Moses, we see that his arms grew tired of holding the staff raised in his hands for a long time. Fatigue is something that affects many is this walk. It is something that affects the people of God in general, but I can tell you that it is something that greatly affects many leaders, that greatly affects many pastors, deacons, and ministers. Just like Moses, there comes a time in the life of many leaders in which they are completely tired of struggling and battling. The leaders are tired of seeing that the more they try, the more they make an effort, the less response they receive from the people, and note that I said from the people, not from God. The people of God today is very discouraged, very apathetic, it seems that the more of God’s word they hear, the less they understand. That is why we see that the sects and false religions grow more and more each day. That is why we see that many abandon their ministry; others undervalue the blessing that God has given them to be able to serve his church. We see how our brothers in the faith get tired of battling against sin and consequently fall again in Satan’s trap. We see all this because the union and support inside the church that should exist, does not. The hands of Moses grew tired, but notice that at that moment they did not abandon the battlefield, at that moment they did something that we should learn and do, the word tells us, “they took a stone and put it under him and he sat on it. Aaron and Hur held his hands up, one the other, so that his hands remained steady till sunset”. They helped him at the moment that he was weak; they helped him at the moment of exhaustion and weariness. If we want to have success as a church, then we must recognize that we need each other. This is something that is very well reflected in Philippians 2:3-4 when we read “Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves. 4Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others.” We must recognize that we need to lift and hold the arms of those that may find themselves debilitated. Paul said it best in 1 Thessalonians 5:14 when we read “Now we exhort you, brethren, warn them that are unruly, comfort the feebleminded, support the weak, be patient toward all men.” We must recognize that we all need help, we all need intercession, and it is the responsibility of each one of us to help our brothers and sisters with those loads that debilitate them or cause them weariness. This is something clearly stated in Galatians 6:2 when we read “Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.”
In conclusion: Like I told you at the beginning, the ministry is in a grave problem; the church of Christ is in a grave problem. The church needs you! The leaders cannot do it all; the leader cannot be the only one responsible to battle. We need men and women like Joshua; we need people that are obedient and willing to confront the battle, willing to face the army of the enemy, even when the number of people that you lead is not the most powerful. We need men and women like Aaron and Hur, people ready to lift up the arms of the weary. Ready to help at all times everyone that may find themselves weak or weary. When this happens, when we take the responsibility that belongs to us, then we will obtain a victory. What happened with the people of God in this instance? The word tells us: “So Joshua overcame the Amalekite army with the sword”. We can also be victorious. As the people of God we also should be moving forward at all times, because we also have the sword which is the word of God. But we must take our positions and responsibility. Joshua fought, Moses interceded, and Aaron and Hur served as support; a complete team defeated the attack of the enemy, through the power of God and not their own. The church needs this team; the body of Christ needs these types of persons and interaction amongst believers. I began today with a few questions; I am going to leave you with another one, what type of person are you?
