October 3
‘You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised.’ Hebrews 10:36
Bible reading: Exodus 17:8-16 (Go to the Bible passage)
Did God not tell His people during the exodus from Egypt: ‘The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still’ (Exodus 14:14)? And yet here we read: ‘…Joshua fought the Amalekites.’ From this we can learn that we can never sit back with folded arms when the Lord is fighting for us. He always involves us. Sometimes He wants us to sing (2 Chronicles 20:22), another time He calls us to battle, like Joshua in this passage. But whatever God tells us: while carrying out our orders, we must be fully aware that it is only God Who wins the victory!
Therefore it is written: ‘Joshua fought the Amalekites (…) and Moses, Aaron and Hur went to the top of the hill. As long as Moses held up his hands, the Israelites were winning, but whenever he lowered his hands, the Amalekites were winning. (…) So Joshua overcame the Amalekite army.’ We cannot say: So Moses overcame the Amalekite army. Moses only stood there as God's witness to remind Israel that - through the full commitment of our lives - it is, ultimately, only God Who wins the victory. That is why it was so important that Moses kept raising his hands until God had gained the victory.
As Christians, we may learn from this that – if we long for God to win the victory – we must persevere in raising our purified hands praying and blessing until… God shows and tells He has won the victory. Therefore it is written that we need perseverance, so that when we have done the will of God, we will receive what He has promised.
Perhaps we still need a rough life in the wilderness to learn to trust God like this!

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