Quick Note – Exodus 17:8-13 – Three Roles in the Work of God

Exodus 17:8-13 – 8 Then Amalek came and fought with Israel at Rephidim. 9 So Moses said to Joshua, “Choose for us men, and go out and fight with Amalek. Tomorrow I will stand on the top of the hill with the staff of God in my hand.” 10 So Joshua did as Moses told him, and fought with Amalek, while Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill. 11 Whenever Moses held up his hand, Israel prevailed, and whenever he lowered his hand, Amalek prevailed. 12 But Moses’ hands grew weary, so they took a stone and put it under him, and he sat on it, while Aaron and Hur held up his hands, one on one side, and the other on the other side. So his hands were steady until the going down of the sun. 13 And Joshua overwhelmed Amalek and his people with the sword.

One of the greatest basketball movies of all time is known as Hoosiers, which tells the story of a basketball team in Indiana, who was coached to the championship by none other than Gene Hackman.  In that movie, there were a bunch of talented players on the team, but none could work together.  To solve this problem, Gene Hackman enforced a rule where the ball had to be passed at least four times before anybody would get to take a shot.  By running this exercise, the team was supposed to learn teamwork and team play.  Of course, this type of play doesn’t work well during a game when you pass up open shots, but eventually, maybe or maybe not due to this system, the team learned to rely on each other without this rule and climbed their way up to the top.  Although this was just a simple, inspirational sports movie, it definitely illustrates something that is forgotten in many churches today – team work.  Very often, when it comes to church ministry, the one group that gets noticed and receives the credit for all the work is the group that is actively, physically ministering.  It is the pastor who does the preaching every Sunday.  It is the outspoken Sunday school or Bible study teacher, who helps disciple.  It is the choir director or music leader who leads worship.  It is the evangelist who preaches at crusades that bring in millions.  It is the missionary who goes out every day to serve people in a foreign land.  These are the people who are doing the hands-on work, and these are the people who are congratulated, maybe not by the world, but by many Christians.  The rest of us just sit in the pews, twiddling our thumbs wondering what role we can play.

In our passage today, we find that there are actually three major roles that can be played in the work of God.  Each one is important in its own right, and all are necessary for the work to be done to the glory of God.  The first and most obvious role that we see is found in vs. 9 with Joshua and the men who fought the Amalekites.  They were the soldiers who were presently fighting for their lives and the lives of the people of Israel.  They were the ones clashing swords, bashing shields, and defending their nation.  They were the front-line, active, hands-on workers.  In the church today, these are the ones that we know about and see in the public light – the pastors, the teachers, the missionaries.  This role comes with a special calling, for only when you know for certain that God has called you to fill one of these positions can you truly excel at them, for they are very difficult yet rewarding positions.  Without these men and women, the work would not get done, so they are definitely important and should be honored and respected.  The second role is the role that Moses took in vs. 9 as well.  He told Joshua to do the active fighting, but he did the spiritual fighting on top of the hill overlooking the battle.  He was the one that prayed and petitioned and lifted up this whole situation to the Lord.  This role was just as crucial as Joshua’s sword fighting, for every time Moses’ hands went down, the Amalekites started winning.  In the church today, these are the ones who petition and pray for the work that is being done.  They are the ones that are constantly lifting up those who are doing the work of God.  This is a role that should be filled in by each and every Christian, for we all can come before the throne of God and pray.  It is said that the actual work is done in the prayer closet.  That is so true; for prayer is where the spiritual sowing is done, the rest is the manual labor of reaping.  The last role that we see is the one that Aaron and Hur took in vs. 12.  When Aaron and Hur noticed that Moses was getting tired and was starting to lose the strength to keep his hands up, instead of just watching Moses’ hands fall, they went and helped lift them up for him.  They would not let his hands fall down.  They took a supporting role in lifting Moses up.  Without their help, Moses’ hands would have went down, the Amalekites would begin to win, and Joshua might have been overcome.  But because of their faithfulness and in a way, encouragement, Moses would continue to petition while Joshua would continue to win.  In the church today, these are the backstage encouragers.  They are the ones who encourage pastors, teachers, and missionaries; but not only them, they also encourage those who are praying and supporting the more limelight roles, for even prayer can at times become discouraging.  Without their encouragement, many of those in God’s work would have already given up on it.  I can attest that if I wasn’t encouraged by my parents when I was in school to work hard and continue pushing for those high marks, I probably would have given up and become a high school dropout.  I can also attest that without my dad encouraging me to attend prayer meeting, I would have stopped going to our church’s Saturday morning prayer meetings a long time ago.  Encouragement is so important that we are told in 1 Thessalonians 5:11 that we are to encourage one another and build each other up.  Once again, any and every Christian should fill this role, for it is crucial.

Now that you know about all three of these necessary roles, you have no excuse for sitting on the pews and just twiddling your thumbs.  God may not have you actively working on the mission field or preaching to millions, but He still has the important roles of prayer warrior and encourager for you to fill.  Without you taking a part, the whole work could crumble.  Let us not be discouraged because we may not get noticed, but let us take joy that we are an essential part of God’s ministry.  Whatever role you find yourself in today, do it to the glory of God and know that you are needed.