^{Exodus 17:8-16 (NIV)
8} The Amalekites came and attacked the Israelites at Rephidim. ⁹ Moses said to Joshua, “Choose some of our men and go out to fight the Amalekites. Tomorrow I will stand on top of the hill with the staff of God in my hands.”

¹⁰ So Joshua fought the Amalekites as Moses had ordered, and Moses, Aaron and Hur went to the top of the hill. ¹¹ As long as Moses held up his hands, the Israelites were winning, but whenever he lowered his hands, the Amalekites were winning. ¹² When Moses’ hands grew tired, they took a stone and put it under him and he sat on it. Aaron and Hur held his hands up—one on one side, one on the other—so that his hands remained steady till sunset. ¹³ So Joshua overcame the Amalekite army with the sword.

¹⁴ Then the Lord said to Moses, “Write this on a scroll as something to be remembered and make sure that Joshua hears it, because I will completely blot out the name of Amalek from under heaven.”

¹⁵ Moses built an altar and called it The Lord is my Banner. ¹⁶ He said, “Because hands were lifted up against^[a] the throne of the Lord,^[b] the Lord will be at war against the Amalekites from generation to generation.”

We all have battles to fight in our lives. Things we face: grief, illness, difficult choices, uncertainty, and doubt. More than that, we also have a spiritual battle to wage against unbelief around us, and we are called to share Christ with the world.

Here, the people of Israel are fighting a battle against the people of Amalek, who are their archenemies throughout the Bible. They win when Moses holds up his hands with the staff of God in it. Otherwise they lose.

Imagine being a soldier there on the battle ground. There are tons of soldiers around you. At first, perhaps, the battle feels like a chaos. You win some ground here; you lose some there. It feels like there is no real rhyme or reason to it. Who’s in control? Can you even win? Will you live to see the next day?

Then you notice the staff above the hilltop that Moses is holding in his hand. You notice, perhaps, also, that you keep winning. God is with you – you can see the staff up above on the hill. You are encouraged, knowing He is on our side.

We too can be encouraged that it is God who is our banner. He’s the one fighting our battles.

Or perhaps, you, like Moses, are praying. You feel like you’re weary. You want someone to hold your hands up. You tire. But you find fellow believers holding your hands, helping you pray.

More than that, though, Jesus is our ultimate intercessor. Moses is, I believe, a figure of Jesus, interceding for us. Jesus is our ultimate mediator, as it says in Hebrews, and in Romans 8:34, it says that Jesus is interceding for us.

With Jesus as our intercessor, and the victory of the battle resting on Him, we can trust that we will win!

Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. – Romans 8:34b