We’ve all needed help in our lives. To begin with, we require God’s constant grace and mercy to sustain us, as his Word holds all creation together (Colossians 1:7), including our very lives. Beyond his direct involvement, God also gives us help through others in our family and the church. He created us for connection and collaboration, and we find our greatest fulfillment within those relationships.
Too many of us feel alone. We face struggles and resistance, and we have responsibility for others in our life, to act for their good. Whether we're facing trials from the world or the devil, we all need to have people stand with us through life’s difficulties.
The Bible deals with these issues, bringing light and wisdom to such problems. The story of Moses holding his arms up during a crucial battle can particularly teach us important lessons today.
Biblical Background of Moses and the Israelites
Exodus 17:8-13 describes the event when Moses held his hands up during a battle with the Amalekites, and two men had to help him.
God chose Moses to lead Israel out of Egyptian slavery. Born to Hebrew slaves during a time when Pharoah ordered the death of all Israelite boys, Moses' mother placed him in a basket on the Nile River to keep him alive. Pharoah’s daughter found and adopted him, raising him among Egyptian royalty. When he was grown, Moses fought to protect another slave and ended up killing an Egyptian. So he fled to Midian, and after forty years, God called to him from a burning bush to free God’s people.
Moses confronted Pharoah with God’s power, bringing ten plagues upon Egypt. After the last plague, the death of every Egyptian firstborn, Pharoah released the Israelites. Moses then led the freed slaves through the Red Sea, where God supernaturally parted the waters, saving the people of God and destroying the Egyptian army that chased them.
The Israelites traveled the wilderness on the way to Mount Sinai and the Promised Land. They complained about water and food, doubting God. God gave manna from heaven and water from a rock at Rephidim. That's where Moses and the Israelites would face another trial and yet again see God's power to rescue them.
What Happened to the Israelites When Moses Held His Arms Up?
While the Israelites were in the wilderness, the Amalekites attacked them. The Amalekites were nomadic raiders, and they saw an opportunity to kill and take resources from the wandering Israelites. A battle ensued, and the former slaves had to fight the powerful Amalekites.
While Joshua led the men of Israel into battle, Moses went to the top of a hill, holding the staff of God. Two men, Aaron and Hur, joined him.
Aaron was Moses’ older brother and he would become Israel’s first high priest. Aaron was Moses' spokesman when Moses confronted Pharoah during the plagues. The Bible doesn’t say much about Hur. Jewish tradition says Hur might have been the husband of Moses' sister Miram. Exodus 24:14 records Hur as an overseer while Moses was at Mount Sinai.
As the battle with Amalek continued, Moses and the men with him noticed a pattern. When Moses’ hands were raised, with the staff of God in the air, Israel would start winning. But when he lowered his arms and the staff, Amalek would gain the advantage. The strength to win didn’t come from Moses, however. The raised staff enacted God’s power and favor.
Over time, Moses grew tired. He was an old man, and his arms started to drop. Not wanting the Amalekites to kill their people, Aaron and Hur intervened. They brought a stone for Moses to sit on and they physically held up his hands, one on each side, until sunset. Aaron and Hur’s support kept Israel winning. Ultimately, God wanted to show Israel and Moses how victory didn’t come from their own strength but from trusting him alone.
Because Aaron and Hur held up Moses’ hands, Joshua and the Israelites defeated Amalek. These former slaves, untrained in war, fought throughout the day until sunset, and with God’s power, they defeated the enemies out to destroy them at the beginning of their journey.
After the victory, God told Moses to record the event, and the Lord declared he would erase Amalek’s memory from the earth as a consequence for attacking God’s people. Moses built an altar and named it Jehovah-Nissi, the Lord is My Banner, declaring that victory belongs to God.
Following the victory against the Amalekites, Moses led Israel to Mount Sinai, where God gave the Israelites the Law and established a covenant with the people.
How Do Different Bible Scholars View the Story of Moses Holding His Arms Up?
Many scholars view Moses’ raised hands as a symbol of God’s power over all others, and how people need the Lord’s intervention for victory. The raised hands become an act of faith and obedience. When people obey God, they trust him to reward and keep his promises to protect and bring them to rest in a good land. Real victory comes from dependence on God, as 2 Chronicles 20:15 records God’s words, “The battle is not yours, but God’s.”
Raised hands bring to mind surrender, prayer, worship, and praise. The posture reflects a common position of intercession (Psalm 28:2). Augustine and the early church fathers saw Moses as a priest figure standing in the gap between God and his chosen people. Israel’s victory depended upon prayer. Additionally, Jesus is now the High Priest in heaven (Hebrews 7:25). Just as Moses interceded on behalf of Israel, Jesus intercedes for Christians before the Father, bringing strength and blessings to believers. While no one needs to help Jesus, he does call believers to pray with him before the throne.
There’s a lesson for leaders within the story, as well. Leadership experts use this passage to show how leaders can’t succeed alone. Moses had the role and the action, but he needed others to support him to protect the people and win the battle. Moses’ weariness reveals the limits of human efforts, and the two men express how everyone needs trusted people to advise and give wisdom and resources. As the wisdom of Solomon says in Ecclesiastes 4:9-10, two are better than one because they can lift each other up during difficult times.
Other scholars see the battle with Amalek as a symbol of spiritual warfare. Early church fathers connected Moses’ lifted hands and the staff with Jesus’ arms stretched out on the cross. As Moses suffered and endured through the day for Israel’s victory, Jesus’ sacrifice ensures victory over sin and death for believers, now and forever.
What Can Christians Today Learn from Moses Holding His Arms Up?
As we can see, this story teaches powerful lessons with several layers. For instance, Aaron and Hur first had Moses rest upon a stone. The New Testament connects Jesus with various stone images, like the cornerstone (Ephesians 2:20) and the rock that followed the Israelites in the wilderness (1 Corinthians 10:4). As believers, when we face a battle, we must first rest upon Christ alone.
And we are in a battle, whether we know it or not. We have an enemy in the Devil and the world, even our own fleshly desires, all conspiring against us to destroy us. God had delivered the Israelites from one enemy, the Egyptians, only for them to face a new one in the wilderness before they encountered God at Sinai. God has us on a journey, too, and we will face enemies all along the way. An unseen spiritual battle happens all around us (Ephesians 6:12), and even if we aren’t always aware of it, good and evil beings are at war for our souls.
We can’t defeat these evil angels or demons. They always prove too powerful for us. We need God to fight for us, to fight with us, because his power overwhelms and overcomes all others. We overcome these spiritual enemies in his strength. Prayer, faith, and obedience to God are our weapons.
Each of us is a leader in some way. We have a spiritual responsibility to intercede on behalf of family or friends. If spiritual leaders, those responsibilities extend to a congregation or community. We must take seriously the call to prayer. God calls us to pray for others, the ultimate form of love, to bring people to the throne and seek their good before the Father in heaven. Whether it’s pastors praying for a faith community, parents praying for their kids, or friends praying for one another, we intercede with the High Priest within us by the Spirit. True leadership doesn’t order people around but serves them, always first with prayer.
Moses was called and anointed by God, but he was still human. When his strength failed, Aaron and Hur willingly helped him. Just as we’re supposed to join Jesus in prayer, we need the support of other believers in our journey with God. Trusted Christian brothers and sisters can pray for us, to give us strength in our calling with God, as we do for them. And when we pray for our loved ones, we can share those requests and individuals with our faith community and pray corporately to win spiritual battles.
We all need support. No matter how strong or anointed we may be, we can’t carry the burdens of life alone. People behind the scenes are crucial to spiritual victory—pastors, mentors, friends. Without such help and accountability, anyone will fall. We need teamwork in churches, organizations, and families. Aaron and Hur helping Moses reflects Jesus’ prayer for unity the night before his death. Our spiritual unity and love reveals Jesus to the world (John 17:21). Victory comes when we stand together.
Our fight isn’t with human beings (Ephesians 6:12). We shouldn’t treat any person as an enemy, even if they resist us as one. Our true battle is with the forces of darkness and the lies that enslave people to sin. With God’s help, interceding for others individually and corporately like Moses raising his arms while resting on the rock, we can see God win battle after battle and fulfill his promises.
Peace.
Photo credit: Wikimedia Commons/Phillip de Vere
