Priority

Exodus 17:¹¹ “As long as Moses held up the staff in his hand, the Israelites had the advantage. But whenever he dropped his hand, the Amalekites gained the advantage.”

Today we start by delving into Exodus 17:^8-16 “While the people of Israel were still at Rephidim, the warriors of Amalek attacked them.  Moses commanded Joshua, “Choose some men to go out and fight the army of Amalek for us. Tomorrow, I will stand at the top of the hill, holding the staff of God in my hand.” So Joshua did what Moses had commanded and fought the army of Amalek. Meanwhile, Moses, Aaron, and Hur climbed to the top of a nearby hill. As long as Moses held up the staff in his hand, the Israelites had the advantage. But whenever he dropped his hand, the Amalekites gained the advantage. Moses’ arms soon became so tired he could no longer hold them up. So Aaron and Hur found a stone for him to sit on. Then they stood on each side of Moses, holding up his hands. So his hands held steady until sunset.  As a result, Joshua overwhelmed the army of Amalek in battle. After the victory, the Lord instructed Moses, “Write this down on a scroll as a permanent reminder, and read it aloud to Joshua: I will erase the memory of Amalek from under heaven.” Moses built an altar there and named it Yahweh-Nissi (which means “the Lord is my banner”). He said, “They have raised their fist against the Lord’s throne, so now the Lord will be at war with Amalek generation after generation.” (emphasis added).

We see in the scriptures that Moses was on the mountain top, while Joshua was in the valley. The question is which is more important, the mountain or the valley? The answer is both. Joshua had to be in the valley engaging the Amalekites, and Moses had to be on the mountain engaging the supernatural. Moses had to hold up his staff and hold on to the forces of Heaven. While Joshua had to be on the ground engaging the forces of the earth. But the ‘Joshua’s’ are tempted to look at the ‘Moses’ and disdain them and vice versa.  When Moses said to Joshua, ‘You go to the valley, let me go to the mountain and sit down’. Joshua could have said, ‘Who does not know how to put meat in his mouth, and make it disappear? It is easy for you to sit on the mountain while we are risking our lives in the valley.’ But both Moses and Joshua understood that if the battle was to be won ultimately, it must be won from the mountaintop and the results will be seen in the valley low. Exodus 17:¹¹ “It turned out that whenever Moses raised his hands, Israel was winning, but whenever he lowered his hands, Amalek was winning.” (MSG). The priority of the spiritual is indispensable if you are going to have victory in life.

Prayer: Father, I ask for the grace to sustain engagement in the spiritual so that I can have sustained victory in the physical, in the Name of Jesus. Amen!