“People to meet in heaven: Hur”
Exodus 17:8-13
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus.
Ever heard of Sandra Bullock, Cate Blanchett or Meryl Streep? Of course you have! Over the last few years, they earned (and deserved!) the coveted Academy Award for Best Actress. That’s also why you’ve heard of actors like Christian Bale, George Clooney and Christopher Plummer. They’ve received the award for Best Actor too.
Now let me try a few more names on you. Have you ever heard of Lupita Nyong’o, Patricia Arquette or Alicia Vikander? I didn’t think so. Pretty much no one has. They received the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress.
Each year, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences bestows that award on the one who best served in a supporting role in a film. The actors aren’t very well known, nor are they the biggest stars. They don’t have household names like Morgan Freemen or Tommy Lee Jones, nor do they make the most money. In fact, after the awards, most everyone forgets who they are!
But what would a movie be without them? You see, the main actor needs another actor to play off of. Think of Jennifer Connelly in A Beautiful Mind or Patty Duke in The Miracle Worker. The movies wouldn’t have been the same without them! That’s why they received an award too.
The Bible is full of people just like that. We know (and love!) so many of the stand-out stars like Noah and Abraham, David and Elijah, and Paul, Peter and John.
But there are more, lots more, women and men who stand in the background and serve a supporting role—people like Joanna, the wife of Chuza, a disciple named Stephen, a Bethlehem innkeeper, even two midwives named Shiphrah and Puah.
So it is in our text today. Please turn with me in your Bible to page 75, as I read the words of our text. I’ll start at chapter 17, verse 1: “All the congregation of the people of Israel moved on from the wilderness of Sin by stages, according to the commandment of the Lord, and camped at Rephidim, but there was no water for the people to drink. Therefore the people quarreled with Moses and said, ‘Give us water to drink.’ And Moses said to them, ‘Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you test the Lord?’ But the people thirsted there for water, and the people grumbled against Moses and said, ‘Why did you bring us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our livestock with thirst?’ So Moses cried to the Lord, ‘What shall I do with this people? They are almost ready to stone me.’ And the Lord said to Moses, ‘Pass on before the people, taking with you some of the elders of Israel, and take in your hand the staff with which you struck the Nile, and go. Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock at Horeb, and you shall strike the rock, and water shall come out of it, and the people will drink.’ And Moses did so, in the sight of the elders of Israel. And he called the name of the place Massah and Meribah, because of the quarreling of the people of Israel, and because they tested the Lord by saying, ‘Is the Lord among us or not?’”
As you can probably gather from those words, the people of Israel had just left Egypt. They crossed the Red Sea, and now they’re on their way to the Promised Land.
But the next forty years wouldn’t be easy. There would be dangers and troubles of all kinds.
Now look at verse 8: “Then Amalek came and fought with Israel at Rephidim.”
Who was Amalek? He was a grandson of Esau, Jacob’s brother. And his tribe, the Amalekites, was one of the oldest and biggest tribes around. And they were a hostile tribe, always out looking for trouble.
And now, as the people of Israel were just setting out toward the Promised Land, who should they meet, but the Amalekites. It was a completely unprovoked attack, a preview of more that was to come.
Look at verse 9: “So Moses said to Joshua, ‘Choose for us men, and go out and fight with Amalek. Tomorrow I will stand on the top of the hill with the staff of God in my hand.’ So Joshua did as Moses told him, and fought with Amalek, while Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill.”
We’ll stop there.
“The staff of God in his hand,” it says. What’s that?
It’s the same stick, the same staff, that Moses once held as he watched over his flock of sheep. It’s what he held in his hands when God called him from that burning bush and said, “Take off your sandals, for you are standing on holy ground.” It’s what he stretched out over the Nile to turn water into blood, that made hail fall from the sky and that parted the Red Sea. It’s the staff he used to strike the rock and cause water to flow for his people.
And notice, in verse 9, he didn’t say, “Tomorrow I will stand on the top of the hill with my staff in my hand.” He said, “Tomorrow I will stand…with the staff of God in my hand.”
It was His might, His strength and His power that would do all these things.
Now look at verse 11: “Whenever Moses held up his hand, Israel prevailed, and whenever he lowered his hand, Amalek prevailed. But Moses’ hands grew weary, so they took a stone and put it under him, and he sat on it, while Aaron and Hur held up his hands, one on one side, and the other on the other side.”
“Moses’ hands grew weary,” it said. That’s no surprise. For one thing, Moses was more than eighty years old, not exactly a spring chicken! And for another, you try holding up your hands all day, and see how well you can do!
But there, on that hill, overlooking the battle of Rephidim, standing at Moses’ side, we find a man named Hur, someone we want to meet in heaven.
Did you catch that in verse 12? It says, “Aaron and Hur held up his hands, one on one side, and the other on the other side. So his hands were steady until the going down of the sun.”
Who was Hur? We’re not completely sure, but we have a guess. According to Jewish tradition, he was Miriam’s husband, making him the brother-in-law of Moses.
But whoever he was and whatever part he played in the salvation story, Israel wouldn’t have won without him!
Notice, he wasn’t a great leader like Moses. He wasn’t a great high priest like Aaron. Nor was he a great warrior like Joshua. He was just Hur.
But how it important it was that he was there! Aaron could have helped for a time, but he would have grown tired too. And if Moses’ hands fell, Joshua wouldn’t have been able to lead and the army of Israel couldn’t win the victory. The battle would have been lost and Israel would have been defeated. And there was no way they could make it to the Promised Land.
And it was all because of this man named Hur.
So what does this story mean to teach us?
Simply this—not everyone can stand and preach a sermon. Not everyone is a gifted singer. Not everyone can play the piano, the guitar or the drums. Not everyone can do the jobs that are “visible.” But every Christian has a place in the body of Christ.
Whether you realize it or not, there are quite a lot of people who make Faith happen—like the ones who go from pew to pew, every Sunday, to make sure the hymnals, Bibles, pencils and cards are where they should be, and stray bulletins aren’t where they shouldn’t be, who polish communion rails, change light bulbs and vacuum a really big stretch of carpet, who order Sunday School lessons, print bulletins, and greet you as you walk in the door. And if these many faithful servants didn’t do their part, I couldn’t do what my part.
So how thankful we are that you hold up our hands! We couldn’t do it without you.
So that leaves us then with just two questions. The first is this—who’s your Hur? Who is it that supports you, that makes it possible for you to do what you do? Is it your wife or husband? Is it a good, close friend?
Whoever it is, and whatever they do, take a moment to thank them and to honor them. For without them, you couldn’t do what you do. Even a man as strong as Moses once needed a Hur. You need one too!
And the second question is this—are you a Hur for someone else? Who is it that needs you to support them and to lift them up, to make it possible for them to do what they do?
Be a Hur. Help lift up the hands of someone else.
So you’ve seen them, Moses, Aaron and Hur, standing on that hilltop, arms held high, with Amalek and Israel fighting down below.
Now look to see the One far greater than Moses--Jesus, the Messiah--on another hilltop. He’s the One of whom Moses said: “The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your brothers—it is to Him you shall listen.”
See Him with His arms held high, not by men, but by nails on a cross. Hear Him pray for those who tormented Him. Hear Him cry, “It is finished. Father, into Your hands I commend My spirit.”
And because He held His hands so high, you and I are forgiven for our drooping hands. And each time He feeds us with His life-giving body and blood shed on that hill, He strengthens our weak hands, and lifts us up, by His grace, to sit at His own right hand.
After all, that is what He once promised, “Do not fear, for I am with you. Do not be afraid, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with My victorious right hand.”
One more thing. You know that the military awards ribbons and medals of all kinds, like the Distinguished Service Cross, the Purple Heart, and the Silver Star.
But there’s one you’ve probably never heard of before. It’s an award given only by the Army Chief of Chaplains. It’s called, “The Order of Aaron and Hur.”
As the award certificate reads: “With profound devotion and exceptional dedication, this soldier contributed immeasurably to the enrichment of the religious life and the promotion of high moral precepts among those who served in the Armed Forces of their country.” It’s an award that’s rarely given.
None of us will likely ever receive that award. But there’s another award given not by merit, but by grace—the crown of everlasting life in heaven.
In the words of Isaiah chapter 35: “Strengthen the weak hands and make firm the feeble knees. Say to those who have an anxious heart, ‘Be strong; fear not! Behold your God will come with vengeance, with the recompense of God. He will come and save you.’…And all will see the glory of the Lord.”
There are many unsung heroes of the Bible, dear Lord, women like Shiphrah and Puah and men like Aaron and Hur. Lift us up, that we may lift others up, till all may see the salvation of our God. This we ask in Jesus’ name. Amen