Sermon Recap
The Lord Is My Banner
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Brian Hunter · October 26, 2025
“As long as Moses held up his hands, the Israelites were winning… Moses built an altar and called it, ‘The Lord is my Banner.’”
Scripture Referenced
Recap
Continuing the walk through Exodus, Brian brought the church to chapter 17, where the Amalekites attack Israel at Rephidim shortly after the exodus from Egypt. Joshua leads the fight on the ground while Moses stands on a hill holding up the staff of God, and the battle turns on whether his arms stay raised. When Moses tires, Aaron and Hur physically hold his arms up until sunset, and Israel wins. Moses responds by building an altar named “The Lord is my Banner.”
Brian traced a darker thread through biblical history connecting the Amalekites to later opposition against Israel, including the Amalekite king Agag and, generations later, Haman in the book of Esther, framing recurring hostility toward Israel as a long pattern rather than an isolated incident. He also shared findings from a recent trip to the Arabian Peninsula with a group that included archaeologists, describing ancient rock art some believe may depict this very scene of a figure with raised, supported arms, a claim tied to alternative theories about the location of the biblical Mount Sinai that Brian presented as an intriguing possibility rather than settled fact.
The practical application moved the “Amalekite attack” into everyday life: an unexpected bill, a demanding request from a coworker, any sudden trouble that threatens to throw someone off balance. Brian pointed to Philippians 4:6-8’s call not to worry, framing every ordinary crisis as its own moment to look for “Moses on the hill”: to trust that God provides and fights on your behalf even in small, unglamorous battles.
Touch Points
- Moses couldn’t hold his arms up alone, he needed Aaron and Hur to support him. Who holds your arms up when you’re worn out, and who could you support in the same way?
- What “Amalekite attack” are you facing right now, and where do you need to look for God’s provision in it?
- Philippians 4 says not to worry. What’s one specific worry you could hand over to God this week instead of carrying it yourself?
- Moses named the altar after what God had just done. Is there a moment in your own life worth marking and remembering that way?