Moses was a great leader and prophet and we give him honor and credit to this very day for his being led by God’s Spirit as he led Israel out of Egypt, a type of the sinful world, and to the edge of the Promised Land. But Moses was a man and he was subject to fatigue just like you and I are. We are told in Exodus 17:9-13 of how Moses instructed Joshua to lead the actual battle against the Amalekites while Moses, Aaaron, his brother, and Hur, went up to the hilltop[ overlooking the battle scene and held up the rod before God. So long as Moses held up the rod, the Israelites were victorious, but when Moses’ arms became tired and came down, the enemy began to win.

Aaron and Hur saw the need and brought a large rock for Moses to sit on and then the two stood beside him and held up his hands. They did not just do this for a few minutes, either, but for as long as it took for Israel to decisively win the battle.

There are several points to be made here. As Moses raised his hands in surrender to God, the army of Israel was victorious against the enemy. Or was it in Victory, as a sign of victory over the enemy through the power of the Lord that Moses hands were raised? In any case, we must believe that Moses had gotten his orders from the Lord and was being obedient. He was obedient as long as his human body was capable of obeying his will. But there came a time when the aging muscles of the man began to quivver and ache and shake until he had no more strength, control or ability to hold them up. It didn’t matter then how strongly he WANTED to hold them up[. It didn’t matter that God had instructed him to hold them up, his body no longer had the ability to obey his mind or his will. In spite of the fact that he was sure the Lord had told him to hold up his hands until the victory was fully won, He had no doubt that holding up his hands was God’s will. He knew men would die and he would only see the victory won by Israel if he kept his hands and the rod up, but his arms still quivvered and shook and finally came down. In spite of his best and most determined effort, his tired arms would no longer stay up. And when his arms came down, Israel began to lose the battle. What more could Moses do? He had obeyed the Lord and held up his arms as long as he had the strength to do so.

God knew he intended to keep his arms up, but when they would no longer stay up, God allowed the enemy to begin to prevail in the battle. Moses’ intentions were not enough to win the battle. the old saying, ‘The road to hell is paved with good intentions’ certainly applies here!

The Bible does not say that Moses told Aaron and Hur what to do. We have no record in the Bible that Joshua had time in the heat of battle to pray, “Lord, help Moses to hold up his hands.” Nor did Joshua have time to intercede for his troops. No. What we do have recorded is that Aaron and Hur, seeing the problem, responded to the need. And because they responded to the need, the victory was won that day.
I have absolutely no doubt in my mind that it was God’s will for me to publish tracts and the UP WAY  for Christians magazine in 1972 -73, and I did so until I was unable to hold up my arms any more alone, but alas, my Aaron and Hur failed to respond to the need and the last issue of the magazine was never really published, although the articles were all written and edited, the typesetting completed, master photographic negatives were all ‘stripped and opaqued’ and delivered to the printer. I did all I could do to hold up my own hands, but none saw the need and my hands slowly shook and quivvered until at last they would stay up no more.
People often judge and find fault with ministreis that seemingly fizzle and fail, but I can see, both from the Biblical account in Exodus and from personal experience, that sometimes “one man and God” reach a human limit which for some reason, God in His wisdom decides not to override. I can also see where even the four issues that were published and sent out to almost 2,700 people as of the last issue, served a positive and beneficial influence in the hearts and lives of many who today are leaders in major churches and organizations that teach the original Apostles’ doctrine.
a victorious new life in Jesus Christ!