Battle On, Lift Up Your Hands

As long as Moses held up his hands, the Israelites were winning, but whenever he lowered his hands, the Amalekites were winning. 

Exodus 17:11 NIV

Joshua led the army and fought the battle, yet the focus of this narrative is Moses holding his arms up to the Lord, interceding, if you will. Later in the chapter the Lord  tells Moses to make sure that Joshua hears about it. 

The lesson for Joshua was that it was the Lord who gave him the victory. As Moses, Aaron and Hur recounted the day to Joshua, recalling when Moses' arms lowered and they lifted them back up, Joshua remembered how the battle took its ups and downs. It was a lesson I believe he learned and knowing that it was God who fought his battles gave him the courage to lead the Israelites when Moses died. 

The lesson for us is that while we may think we are all alone in the battle Christ is interceding for us (Hebrews 7:25) and the battle is not just us, but the Lord with us. Christ is always interceding for us and the good news is that he never gets tired. There is one other part of the lesson and that is that sometimes we are called to lift up holy hands in prayer for someone we know who is in a battle, to be the intercessor. So, battle on and lift you hands in prayer to those you know in the battle they are fighting.

Because, That's Why

How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God! 

For this reason Christ is the mediator of a new covenant, that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance—now that he has died as a ransom to set them free from the sins committed under the first covenant.

Hebrews 9:14-15 NIV (emphasis mine)

When I was a kid we used to have stupid arguments and sometimes one person would say, "Ya, but why?" and the other person would say, "Because, that's why." Now, the message of Hebrews, especially in these verses, is not some silly argument, rather, it one of crucial importance to our faith. 

The writer of Hebrews takes chapters six, seven, eight, nine and ten, to solidify in our hearts and minds the truth about the ministry of Christ as our High Priest. Christ's sacrifice sets us free from sin. His blood cleansed us so that we can serve him, the living God. 

Our conscience, sometimes paralyzes us. We fixate on the act of our sin. We need to fixate on the act of Christ. His sacrifice, which was once for all. For me, one truth that I must remember is that Christ didn't die to give me a second chance to be good enough, he died to cleanse me from all sin, so that I might serve the living God. If I am cleansed then I need to be focusing on serving him, not being good enough to serve him.