Scripture: Exodus 17:12
When Moses’ hands grew tired, discount they took a stone and put it under him and he sat on it. Aaron and Hur held his hands up—one on one side, hospital one on the other—so that his hands remained steady till sunset.

Thought for the Day: Somewhat unfortunately, and this loving image of support takes place against the backdrop of war. The Amalekites attacked the Israelites. Moses, Aaron and Hur went to high ground to oversee the battle. Moses carried with him the staff of God. They noticed that every time Moses lifted his hands toward God, the battle went in their favor, and every time Moses put his hands down, the battle went in the Amalekites favor. So Aaron and Hur literally give Moses a hand (and I wonder if this might be the origination of that term—to give someone a hand?) and the Israelites win the battle.

A surface reading of this story leads us to some pretty heinous conclusions: God fought for the Israelites, or God favored one people over another. This sort of reading has led to countless atrocities throughout human history. “Today, God fought for Britain!” Henry V notably exclaims. But remember, at least in my point of view, absolutely nothing in the Bible is to be read literally. It’s all metaphor. People in the ancient world wrote to convey meaning, not fact.

The story is set during a war because when it was written, war is what the people knew and experienced far too often. The meaning of the story is much deeper than the idea that God helped the Israelites win a battle. It offends me to even consider God would condone war of any sort. It certainly offended Jesus. The message the story conveys is that when we are being attacked by a foe—an army of stress or financial burdens; the failing health or death of a loved one; lack of steady income, lack of shelter, lack of food or clothing, a lack of love, the type of oppression that the Israelites were experiencing, or many of these things at once—when we lift our hands to God, we find a way to persevere and overcome.

Perhaps more importantly, notice that Moses doesn’t lift his hands to God by himself—he has the help of his community. So the moral of the story is this: It’s our duty as people who have, to assist people who have not. As people of God, we are compelled to help everyone around us. Only together can we can defeat all the enemies that surround us in this modern world, the real Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse: poverty, hunger, homelessness, and oppression. We cannot do it alone. At some point, all of us need someone else to help us raise our hands to God, so together we can change the world.

Prayer:  Everlasting God, who helps me overcome all my hardships, I lift my hands to your presence and offer my mind, body, and soul to You. Put my mind at ease, my body at rest, and task my soul to serve all of Your glorious creation. Amen.