As Long as Moses Kept His Hands Raised Up, Israel had the Better of the Fight

10-19-2025Weekly ReflectionFr. Manasseh lorchir, VC

God has given us inherent capacity to accomplish many things by ourselves. There are also many other things that may be quite difficult if not outrightly impossible for us to accomplish without Divine help. St. Paul held that, "we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places." (Ephesians 6:12).

For this reason every Christian stands in need of God's help at all times as we journey towards the final fulfillment of the Kingdom of God in the world to come. The surest way to obtain Divine assistance, as taught by Jesus, is through persistent prayer. We lose nothing when we ask for God's help to accomplish the day to day tasks that we have. Instead, we gain everything when we ask for the help of His Holy Spirit and grace as we confront the daily challenges of life.

As they traveled through the desert towards the land promised them by God, Israel encountered many adversaries who harassed them and refused to grant them safe passage. One such nation was the people of Amalek. Confronted with an adversary that was violently reluctant to let them pass, Israel needed to fight in order to keep any hopes of getting to the promised land alive. Moses, the leader of the people of Israel devised some kind of division of labor, he sent Joshua with Israel's warriors to the front to fight for Israel while he, Aaron and Hur ascended the mountain to intercede for them. Moses did not send the whole of Israel, himself inclusive, to the front. Neither did he ask that all stay in the camp to pray away their adversity, nor did Joshua the youthful warrior object to any part of the battle plans of his mentor Moses.

The way God has designed our being, labor has its place in the scheme of things as does faith and prayer. When a complimentary relationship exists between prayer and work in an individual Christian or even in an ecclessial community, the yielding of good Christian fruits is often a natural consequence. It is worth noting that in the Old Testament, there were no completely "secular" wars. Each battle was both a physical and spiritual conflict because the opposing armies always called on their respective Gods. The conflict of nations was always a conflict of their divinities and the stronger divinities won. This is why Moses had to have his hands held up in supplication to Israel's God as Joshua and his team fought the physical battle.

As Christians, freed from the slavery to sin and on our way to the promised land, we encounter several challenges. The Exodus experience provides for us a formidable template for confronting them with the intent to triumph over them. Work and prayer is the counsel of Scripture. As individuals, we sometimes find ourselves in situations where we need to battle with an addiction or a relapse to an addiction after a period of freedom. If we work assiduously and pray persistently, God will always provide the grace with which we shall triumph.

Let us pray during this Liturgical celebration, that we may never grow tired of asking our heavenly Father for His Holy Spirit who will make all things possible for us in the name of Jesus our Lord. Please be kind and may God bless you.

Fr. Manasseh lorchir, VC