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Blessed Through Blessing God's Leader
Blessed Through Blessing God's Leader
Blessed Through Blessing God's Leader
CHAPTER NINE
Background
This text takes place during the forty-year wilderness journey. God had brought His people out of the
bondage and slavery from Egypt. But they complained against Pastor Moses and accused him of bringing
them too far too fast. Does that sound a little familiar to us? Hard times fell upon them, and they had no
water. They told Pastor Moses that they should have stayed in bondage. You should have kept us in bondage.
You should have let us stay back in Egypt. You should have let us stay in slavery. It would have been better
for us to be back in slavery drinking vinegar water rather than being out here headed for the Promised Land
with no water at all. They accused Pastor Moses of setting them free, and by setting them free they had too
much responsibility. They said that if all this is required, we would rather not be blessed.
Freely Shared
The Journey
Pastor Moses has been instructed to lead, to go before the people, and take some of the elders and the
deacons with him. The Lord said to him, take thy rod and strike the rock. He struck the rock and water came
out of the rock and the people drank. He called the place Massah and Meribah because Massah means
tempted or tested, and Meribah rebelliousness or strife. He called it that because this was the place where they
lost faith. This was the place where they got stuck on the way. This was the place where they became stunted.
This was the place where they began to question whether the Lord was with them or not. Amalek comes up
against them. Amalek, a descendant of Esau, attacks God's people. Pastor Moses chooses the young man
named Joshua to lead the army. You will remember that Joshua, forty years later, will lead the people across
the Jordan River into the Promised Land. Look at God preparing Joshua to be the new pastor. Joshua was
doing his OJT (on-the-job training). Moses said to Joshua, you take them in to fight the battle, but I will go up
on the mountain. I will fix my eyes upon the hills from whence cometh our help. So Pastor Moses goes up on
the mountain with rod and staff in hand. The Bible says that as long as Pastor Moses lifted up his hands the
people of God were winning. But when Moses dropped down his hands, the Amalekites were winning. Lifted
hands in prayer and praise brought the victory. But dropped hands brought defeat. We have heard over and
over again that there is power in prayer and praise. Uplifted hands, power and victory. Dropped down hands,
no power and defeat. Get the picture. Uplifted hands, we win, and dropped hands, we lose.
A problem occurred. Pastor Moses got tired. Pastor Moses' arms grew tired and weary. Pastor Moses could
no longer lift up his hands. Surely defeat was on the way. But help was also on the way. Aaron, the brother of
Moses, and Hur, the brother-in-law of Moses, got a stone or rock and propped Moses up from behind. Moses
sat on the rock. They came along beside Moses and held up Moses' arms. They supported Moses' arms. They
kept his arms lifted up until the sun went down. They kept his arms lifted up until the victory was won.
Notice, they lifted his arms up. They supported Moses. They did not try to take the rod from Moses. They did
not try to take the leadership from Moses. They could have said, "But Moses you are too tired, let me lead."
They could have said, "But Moses you are too old, let me lead." They could have said, "But Moses you didn't
know what you were doing in the first place. I am the one that really should be leading this congregation."
They could have said all these things. But no, they supported the Pastor. They lifted him up. They blessed
him. There is a blessing in lifting up the leader. Wherever we go, it doesn't matter what church or who the
pastor is, there is a blessing in blessing the leader. We ought to always support the leader. We ought to always
support the vision. We ought to always support the ministry. Wherever we go, let it be known that God's
Word says that there is a blessing in blessing the leader.
Sometimes the leader gets weak. The leader may not always be able to lead us in praise. The leader may
not always be able to do a holy dance. The leader may not always be able to run a victory lap. Somebody
might have to run a victory lap for the leaders. Keep on praying for our leaders. Keep on praising God for our
leader. Notice that they propped Moses up as he sat on a stone or a rock. They gave him a rock to sit on. The
rock is the Word of God. Jesus is the Rock. He is the chief cornerstone. Paul says no other foundation can be
laid other than Jesus Christ. The songwriter said, "Be very sure your anchor grips the solid rock." This rock is
Jesus. He is the One. We must support the leader with the Word of God. We must be rooted in the Word. We
must go to discipleship training. We must be a disciple. It is not enough just to be a Christian, we also need to
be a disciple. We must support the leader with discipleship and support the leader with prayer. We must
support the leader with the gift of the Spirit and with the fruit of the Spirit, and be blessed.
Summary
We can be blessed by blessing God's leader. In Exodus 17:5-16, the people of God were blessed with a
victory over their enemy because they blessed the man of God by supporting him when he grew tired and
weary. Blessings carry responsibilities. When we live up to our responsibility of supporting God's leader, God
gives us the blessing of victorious living. This cannot be done in the flesh, but it can be accomplished in the
Spirit. Therefore, the victory is not ours, but the victory belongs to the Lord. Remember that because the
victory belongs to the Lord, we are fighting from a blessing rather than for a blessing. We are reminded to
always remember past victories by rehearsing them and always staying under the protective banner of the
Lord. We must bless the leader and be blessed.