battle down on the battlefield , while Moses is seen , praying with raised hands and his staff in his hand . As a result , Joshua and his men were successful in their day of battle . But if Moses became tired and lowered his hands , Joshua and his men would be pushed back .
While Joshua dealt with the human problem of the Amalekite army , Moses was simultaneously dealing with the spiritual issues . As Paul would remind the Ephesians :
“ For our struggle is not against flesh and blood , but against the rulers , against the authorities , against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms .” - Ephesians 6:12
Moses as an intercessor was praying for God ’ s will to be done . In this case , this was the preservation of the Jewish people . But he was also praying against the enemy ’ s strongholds , which the Adversary was using to try to destroy the Jewish people . Such also reminds us of the story of Passover and how Pharoah abused and tormented the Israelites , as it was later with the Amalekites who hated Israel . Of Pharaoh , Exodus 1 reminds of such cruelty in stating ,
Now there arose a new king over Egypt , who did not know Joseph . He said to his people , ‘ Look , the people of Bnei-Yisrael are too numerous and too powerful for us . Come , we must deal shrewdly with them , or else they will grow even more numerous , so that if war breaks out , they may join our enemies , fight against us , and then escape from the land .” ( Exodus 1:8-10 )
Yet although Pharaoh was used by the Adversary to oppress and enslave Godspeopleas an act of holy intercession , God sent Moses to deliver them and bring them to Adonai ’ s promised land !
As with Exodus 17 , the battle was ultimately won against the Amalekites because both Aaron and Moses did what they were called in the moment to do by the Lord . Joshua fought while Moses prayed . Both the physical and spiritual aspects needed to be dealt with for the battle to be won .
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