Paradise Primitive Baptist Church, Arlington Texas- Services Every Sunday 10:30 AM - Elder Keith Ellis Pastor

Morning Thoughts Daily Devotionals by Elder Philip Conley

Exodus 17:12, "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."

This morning, there are passages of the Holy
Scriptures that literally transpired the way they read
on the page, but yet, they are also pictorially or
allegorically significant to point us to other things.
Paul declares as much in Galatians 4 when talking
about two literal sons of Abraham (Ishmael and Isaac).
While the account of their lives is real as found in
the book of Genesis, Paul asserts the allegorical
significance of the two sons that points to two
covenants. So, we see the Biblical precedence for
such teaching, but we must always take care not to
extend the picture too far or make symbology where
none exists. One of my favourite illustrations for
this point is that red paint in a picture "may" have
some symbolic reference depending on the artist's
intent, but it may just be used to construct the
portrait (as in painting apples red). May the Lord of
glory give us the wisdom to know when something is
symbolic and when it is just the paint of the story's
colour.

In the account from Exodus 17, we read of a
marvellous, providential victory of Israel over the
Amalekites. Joshua's army is blessed to prosper
whenever Moses' hands were raised. But, the
providential blessings were withheld whenever Moses'
hands were lowered. Again, we cannot stress strongly
enough that the account is as literal as it reads.
Nothing short of the power of God is displayed in the
account of the battle. This is not some fable that
teaches a lesson but never happened. It teaches us
lessons, but it literally happened. Yet, let us dig
some to see some beautiful pictures of church activity
in this account to glean some rich truths of how we
should interact with one another. There is more here
than this segment can investigate, but may these words
stir up our pure minds to search and diligently
inquire into these things.

Moses, as a prophet of God, leads the children of
Israel as their undershepherd from Egypt to the edge
of Canaan's Land. Many things in Moses' life point to
other things, but here we find Moses as a good picture
of the Lord's ministering servants. The Lord is the
One due all the glory for the prosperity of the
people, but He calls upon His servants to keep their
hands raised in earnest contention of the faith once
delivered to the saints. The watchman is to stand
upon the walls of Zion and cry aloud and spare not.
Should the watchman become lazy, discouraged, or
exhausted, the wolves have better opportunity to come
in to devour the flock. Notice that Moses got
physically tired from holding up his hands, and the
Lord's ministers today still get tired from the
service and duties called upon to perform.

To help Moses in his time of need, the Lord blessed
Aaron and Hur to stay up his hands during the time of
battle. While all the saints should be found
encouraging the ministers in their efforts, I believe
the officework of a deacon should be prominent in
this. Since the office of a deacon was instituted to
begin with to relieve the burden of natural
necessities from the apostles (Acts 6), the
illustration fits. There will be cares and
tribulations in life. That is a given fact, and we
need to encourage one another in the journey (and
especially in the church) to keep the hands from
hanging down and the feeble knees from faltering.
(Hebrews 12:12) These two men helped the prophet keep
his hands up. Today, we need to be found helping each
other keep our hands up so that we are not
ill-prepared for the wiles of the devil and the
cunning craftiness of men.

In all of this, however, it would be quite easy to
miss the most important thing. Too many times, we
speak of church offices, church work, and our daily
duties without mentioning the "main thing." The main
thing is Jesus Christ and Him crucified. Without
that, duty is meaningless, church work is worthless,
and church offices are pointless. With the thought of
Jesus Christ and Him crucified, these things are of
the greatest worth and importance. The main thing in
Moses lifting his hands with Aaron and Hur helping him
stay them up is that they rolled a stone for Moses to
sit on. The foundation of all church activity must be
upon the cornerstone of Jesus Christ. Without that
firm foundation, we have shifting sands as our
foundation that will fall each and every time the
winds of life come beating. With Him as our
foundation, capstone, and all in all, we can surely
say that, "I can do all things through Christ which
strengetheneth me." (Philippians 4:13)

Many times, Old Baptists get charged with the
"do-nothing religion." Ours is the only "do-something
religion" I know of that does not boil down to
self-worth. All the do-somethings out there (that I
have seen) come down to the focus of "ME." Ours comes
down to the focus of "HIM." We fulfill our service of
love and effort not to make Him love us or "coerce"
Him to love us. We do these things while resting in
His love, as Moses sat upon the stone. Without being
able to rest in His love, the staying of the hands
would be impossible.

Finally, in this situation, we need to remember two
things. The first thing to remember is that God gets
all the glory for the victory and prosperity. The
second thing is that the people suffer when we do not
do as we have been called upon to do. I have seen the
people suffer when the hands were beat down by those
within, and I have seen the people suffer when the
help of staying up the hands was shrugged off by the
minister. Thankfully, I have seen the people prosper
when the hands were up, each filling his place in the
Lord's vineyard, and the armies that opposed Zion were
defeated by the upholding of the truth as it is in
Christ Jesus. May we rest in the love of Christ
today, and fill the place that He has called us to
fill in His house, helping to encourage one another
down through the further scenes of our lives.

In Hope,

Bro Philip