Joel M Bradshaw

11As long as Moses held up his hands, Israel prevailed; but when he lowered them, Amalek prevailed. 12When Moses’ hands grew heavy, they took a stone and put it under him, and he sat on it. Then Aaron and Hur held his hands up, one on each side, so that his hands remained steady until the sun went down.–Exodus 17

I don’t know why battle unfolded as it did. God worked through Moses’ hands during the 10 Plagues so the nation would recognize God at work again. Also Moses was visible to the people as he raised his hands. It wouldn’t have taken Joshua or the soldiers long to realize that God was using Moses in that symbolic way.

This text has a fond place in my heart. 17 years ago a small church was considering hiring me as their pastor. They first wanted to hear a sample sermon and then after service they planned to vote on me. No pressure, right?

I remember that day I preached from this text in Exodus. I have since lost my sermon notes from then, so all I can drawn upon are faint memories from my preparation and delivery.

As I presented myself to the church, I remember saying that sometimes my efforts were going to seem more like Moses with the raised hands. Other times I would be more like Aaron and Hur as I supported their efforts. Ministry is often an all-hands-on-deck matter and even more so in a smaller church.

We would be journeying together, sharing the Gospel together, and doing active ministry together. And I served alongside those men and women for 10 years (so obviously the preaching vote was a YES). Ministry those 10 years was sometimes difficult and exhausting, but we never lost hope in Jesus and always maintained the perspective that God was at work in and through us.

Moses needed to remind Joshua the warrior of those things that day. Joshua got to see the boots-on-the-ground results of what happened with Moses, Aaron, and Hur.

As I lead support group teams today I am mostly Aaron and the group leaders are more like Moses. And sometimes they have a need and I have to step in and be more like Moses and they like Aaron. We serve a faithful God who equips us for the task and then uses our efforts for His glory. Can you be an Aaron or Hur to another today?–JMB