June 15 - ALONENESS v. COMMUNITY - Exodus

⁸ Then Amalek came out

and fought with Israel …

¹¹ Whenever Moses held up

his hand, Israel prevailed.

¹² But Moses hands grew weary;

so they took a stone and put it

under him, and he sat on it.

Aaron and Hur held up his hands …

¹³ And Joshua defeated Amalek …

Exodus 17

 

This is one of my favorite stories in the Bible. It’s point: We can’t do it alone … x2!

 

1.    If we can’t do “it” alone, whose help do we need? God’s!

 

And I must say, that our Lord has an interesting method of working in this world, and nothing you think or do will ever make sense until you understand it. God can do anything, anytime, anywhere. He’s God. He’s powerful. He’s King. But He’s also a gentleman. He’s chosen to involve us in this project called earth.

 

Apparently to teach specifically today’s lesson, God ordained that Israel would win only when Moses and Israel trusted in God’s power – which God engaged whenever Moses raised his hands. Our Lord was confirming that we can’t do “it” – win life’s victories – alone; therefore, we must trust in him.

 

And yet it was more than that …

 

2.    If we can’t win life’s victories alone, who else’s help do we need? Each other’s!

 

Read that again: We need each other! We’re designed that way.

 

At Creation God kept calling everything “good,” “good,” and “very good.” But do you know what was the first thing in creation that was literally “not good”? God says it himself -- Genesis 2:18 -- that “it is not good for the man to be alone.”

 

Yes, in many ways, this is a marriage passage – see verses 24-25. Nevertheless, it also testifies to God’s priority regarding all relationships. If it’s not good for anyone to be alone, then it is absolutely God’s plan that we live in community!

 

Now, flash to that mountain top, overlooking the battle with Amalek, Moses needed 1) God’s help, but he also needed 2) community. God could have rained down fire on Amalek, but God chose – in his wisdom (which I trust, but don’t always fully understand) – to allow Israel to participate in this battle. Apparently they needed this in order to learn that God would fight for them. But they had to participate by 1) trusting in him (Moses had to raise his hands) and by 2) trusting in each other (Moses had to depend on Aaron and Hur … and Aaron and Hur had to serve their brother).

 

We need each other! That’s the point. We need God and we need each other.

 

And as long as we place barriers between God (doubt, disobedience, etc.) and others (anger, jealousy, unforgiveness, etc.) we won’t experience victory (including nearly as much love, joy, peace, etc.)