Cover of Today God Is First
Our Staff as Our Protector
TGIF Today God Is First Volume 2 by Os Hillman
Tuesday, August 07 2012
“The Amalekites came and attacked the Israelites at Rephidim. 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’”(Ex 17:9).
Moses’ staff represented his vocation as a shepherd. When God first met Moses’ in the desert at the burning bush, he told him that he was going to use his staff to perform miracles and bring a people out of slavery. God related to Moses through his vocation as a shepherd.
Moses later faced one of his enemies in the new land, the Amalekites. God told him to go to the top of the mountain and hold his staff up to heaven. As long as his staff was outstretched to heaven, Israel would win the battle. But if it was not uplifted, they would suffer defeat.
“So Joshua fought the Amalekites as Moses had ordered, 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.” (Ex 17:10-11).
Isn’t this an interesting picture? When we raise our “staffs” up to the Lord, He becomes our protector. He is our defender. As long we offer up our staffs before the Lord, He can work through it. He works on our behalf. When we lower it, we lose the blessing of God.
When God told Moses He was going to use his staff to bring a people out of bondage, he first had to lay his staff down on the ground. God changed it into a snake and then God told Moses to pick it up by the tail. God was telling Moses to take authority over the serpent in this prophetic act. When Moses picked up the staff, the scripture tells us it is no longer Moses’ staff, but it is now the staff of God.
Friend, the lesson for us is to continually offer up our work lives to the Lord and see His protection and blessing upon us as we continually raise our work to the Lord for His use.
Related articles
- Making the Lord Our Banner (wdednh.wordpress.com)
- Our Staff as our Protector (maddmedic.wordpress.com)
- The (extra)ordinary man of God is you (hopeandvictorydaily.wordpress.com)
- The Consequences of Faith (wdednh.wordpress.com)
- Hold up your Pastor in Prayer (kelund.wordpress.com)
- Why Don’t We Call Moses and Elijah “Saint”? (jimmyakin.com)
- Sunday Scriptures – Growth (katharinetrauger.wordpress.com)
- Outstretched (steveatwood.wordpress.com)
- Chelsea: Moses set for Chelsea (clubcall.com)
- Too Many Snakes (bongodogblog.com)
Pingback: Go to Christ Church | YOU DECIDE
Pingback: Self-Deliverance | YOU DECIDE
Pingback: Will You Enter? | YOU DECIDE
Pingback: Affirming New Leadership | YOU DECIDE
Pingback: The Butterfly Principle | YOU DECIDE
Pingback: Unless the Lord Goes With Us | YOU DECIDE
Pingback: The Way of God | YOU DECIDE
Pingback: The Perfectionist | YOU DECIDE
Pingback: Moving With the Cloud | YOU DECIDE
Pingback: Going Against the Flow | YOU DECIDE
Pingback: Having a Great Number Two Man | YOU DECIDE
Pingback: Free to Stand | YOU DECIDE
Pingback: Beware of the Thief | YOU DECIDE
Pingback: Pride that Leads to Arguments | YOU DECIDE
Pingback: Stoplight Faith | YOU DECIDE
Pingback: Things I Cannot Understand | YOU DECIDE
Pingback: Our Staff as Our Protector | YOU DECIDE
Pingback: The Causes of Failure | YOU DECIDE
Pingback: The Causes of Failure | YOU DECIDE
I’m finding that God wants me to give Him whatever I’ve got – even if it is only a little. A little in my hands can turn into great abundance with God. Thanks for linking to my post.
You are Welcome
I love the Old Testament history/stories (true stories, of course). They always touch me, and if we apply them to our lives, we learn a lot. I enjoy reading the Old Testament again and again. I know what it means to say the Bible is living; because each time I read, I realize something new. Thanks for the post!
Your love is well placed. Too many people disregard the Old Testament. Yet without the Old Testament, the New Testament would not make as much sense as it does.
I also believe God gives us a clear look at who He is. In the Old Testament, we see the wrath of God, His anger, His “I don’t mess around with sin,” attitude. In the New Testament, we see the God of love, forgiveness, and compassion through Jesus, and the outpouring of His Holy Spirit. So we see that not only is God the God of wrath and anger..the jealous God..and all of that, we see that He is forgiving, loving, and compassionate as well. God bless you, and thanks again!
Thank you so much.