When the Israelites camped at Rephidim, the Amalekites came and attacked them. Moses commanded Joshua to choose men and fight while he held the staff of God. Lifting up his hands in prayer, Moses would pray for God’s aid. As long as Moses held up his hands, the Israelites would be victorious; but whenever he lowered his hands, the Amalekites would prevail. Therefore, Aaron and Hur helped Moses hold up his hands. Eventually, the Israelites won.
The Amalekites were enemies of God’s ways. God commanded Israel to fight them continuously, until they were annihilated from the earth. The Israelites were God’s chosen people and army, so they had to fight the Amalekites to the end. But the Amalekites were strong enemies; they could not be subdued unless Moses held up his hands in prayer.
As the Israelites crossed the Red Sea, while they were still advancing toward Canaan, the Amalekites came out to fight them and became their enemy forever. In the same way, after we are baptized in the blood of Jesus, even while we are still advancing toward heaven, the law of sin will often arise in us, determined to fight with the law of goodness within.
If we are true believers—believers’ whose hearts are set upon the journey to heaven—we must discern the conflict within us as a conflict between two opposing laws. The law of evil within us is as strong as the Amalekites, who were obviously stronger than the sojourning Israelites. But we should not fear the strength of the "Amalekites" we may face; rather, we should fear that we might forget to call upon the Lord for help. We must not allow ourselves to be overwhelmed by our enemies and suffer the pains of life.
"Whenever Moses held up his hand, Israel prevailed..." Holding up our hands once equates to a single victory; holding them up ceaselessly means continuous victory. Hopefully, we may all be enlightened by the battle at Rephidim. We can learn the secret of winning every battle on the spiritual battlefield today: prayer. Not until we reach the Promised Land can we be called to rest. Until then, let us continue a prayerful life in our journey of faith.
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