staff of God in my hands

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. (Exodus 17: 7-13 NIV)

This story is one of many where the power was given to Moses through God’s staff.  In the preceding verse, verse 6, Moses hit a stone with the staff to release water for the parched Israelites.  Another story is found in Exodus 14:21-28; Moses raises his hands to part the Red Sea, escaping the Pharoah of Egypt and the Egyptian army. When they attempt to follow the Israelites across the dry ground, Moses again swept his hand across the sea and all the Egyptians perished.

The scripture passage about Joshua’s battle against the Amalekites is my favorite example of the staff of God because it illustrates and emphasizes the importance of Aaron and Hur coming alongside Moses to help him when his arms grew tired. Why wasn’t Moses able to continue holding up and lowering his staff on His own?

When Moses held his hands up, his bicep muscles were working and his triceps muscles were relaxed.  When Moses lowered his hands, his triceps muscles were working and his bicep muscles were relaxed.

Two different muscle fibers interact when a muscle is working and then relaxed.  One fiber, actin is thin compared to the thick fiber myosin.  In order for a muscle to contract, the myosin fiber has to attach to the actin fiber and pull it to the center.  This takes energy!  ATP is the energy currency of your body.  ATP is produced as a byproduct when oxygen enters your muscle cells.  ATP energizes the power stroke to form a cross-bridge connecting the myosin fiber to the actin fiber. Then the actin fiber is pulled towards the middle. When the ATP energy is used up, the cross-bridge breaks and the actin filament slides back to its original position. God created the ATP energy molecule so it can easily be regenerated.  But without the presence of oxygen, your body cannot produce ATP. 

Here’s another visual diagram to help you visualize what is happening in your muscles when they contract or relax. Take another look at the first diagram and relate the change in the muscle with the sliding and releasing of the actin muscle fiber over the myosin fiber.  Now do you understand what is happening when you stretch your muscles?  Can you understand why muscles lock in place once a person dies?  Have you ever noticed the rigidity of a dead animal lying by the road? Have you ever heard of the term, rigor mortis? Forensic scientists use knowledge of the rigor mortis process to estimate the time of death.

Have you ever tried to hold something up with your hands for an extended time?  As you tired, did you hold your breath?  I know that a big mistake I make when I am exercising is I forget to keep breathing!  I hold my breath and grit my teeth to keep on going! When I was younger, I loved to swim and run.  But I never learned how to swim or run long distances because I wasn’t trained to synchronize my breathing pattern with exercise.

So why wasn’t Moses able to continue holding up and lowering his staff on His own? When Moses was holding up his hands, he was tired and out of breath.  Aaron and Hur supplied the power stroke energy needed for Moses’ muscles to keep working. God is our ultimate power stroke: “I can do ALL things through Him who strengthens me,” Phil. 4:13 (emphasis mine). However, like Aaron and Hur, we can strengthen those in our own lives by lifting them up. Is there someone in your life who could use your power stroke of energy to keep on going? Can you pray for them?  Send them words of encouragement in a card? Go for a walk with them? You may be surprised at the ways God will support you as you support others.

Illustration 197898637 © Designua | Dreamstime.com

https://www.quora.com/What-is-sliding-filament-theory-of-muscles

Illustration 210945497 © Blueringmedia | Dreamstime.com

https://www.gospelimages.com/paintings/91/the-fight-against-amalek?