Aaron and Hur

And it came to pass, when Moses held up his hand, that Israel prevailed: and when he let down his hand, Amalek prevailed. But Moses' hands were heavy; and they took a stone, and put it under him, and he sat thereon; and Aaron and Hur stayed up his hands, the one on the one side, and the other on the other side; and his hands were steady until the going down of the sun. – Exodus 17.11-12

Israel was in battle against the Amalekites. It seemed like they were always in a battle of some sort and this battle was no different. It was long and tough and arduous so Moses and Aaron and Hur went up into the mountain to pray for the army.

Moses had his rod of authority. It was the rod he had used to part the Red Sea. As Moses prayed he lifted up his rod to heaven and as long as the rod was raised the armies of Israel prevailed and when the rod was dropped the Amalekites prevailed.

That was okay. But Moses was a man and men have problems. One of Moses problems was a very simple one. His arms got tired and dropped. He couldn’t hold them up on his own. Moses, God’s man, the leader, needed support.

So Aaron and Hur came by his side and held up his arms. They held them up all the rest of the day. And at the end of the day Israel had the victory. Israel had her victory not just because of her leader, but because the supporters of that leader.

I think God gave us this lesson to teach us the importance of all of His people. I think we all tend to look to leaders who are dynamic and personable and strong. We can even think that our leaders are so great they can do it on their own.

But they can’t. Our leaders need our support. Our leaders need their Aarons and Hurs to support them in prayer and with their help. The role of Aaron and Hur is just as important as the role of Moses.

God may not put us in the role of leader. But we can all act as Aarons and Hurs. Let us all get behind our leaders and hold up their arms in the day of battle.