Battle Meditation

Moses, Aaron, and Hur; with the name of Israel in Hebrew, Arabic, and English. (Image from USHMM.org)

  
The topic of last Sunday’s lectionary readings was on prayer; centered on the Gospel reading on the Parable of the Persistent Widow (Luke 18:1-8). In Roman Catholic churches, the first reading was Exodus 17:8-13, the story of the battle between the Israelites and Amalek.

According to the Torah, after the incident at Meribah and Massah (Exodus 17:1-7), the Amalekites, descendants of Esau (Genesis 36:12), “fought with Israel at Rephidim”. Joshua ben-Nun was chosen to lead the men of Israel into battle. Meanwhile, Moses ascended a hill taking with him “the rod of God.” Whenever his hands were raised, Israel “prevailed” in the battle; but when his hands became weary, the Amalekites got the better of the battle. Finally, a stone was taken for Moses to sit on; and Aaron and Hur helped Moses lift up his hands until sunset. “And Joshua discomfited Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword.”

I do not think that the winning of Israel because of Moses’ uplifted hands is superstition. In at least 13 instances in the Bible, the lifting up of hands is a symbol of prayer. Meanwhile, the rod of God is a symbol of God’s power. Thus, the act of Moses lifting up his hands is an act of prayer, or, as I would like to think of it, battle meditation.

In the Star Wars universe, “battle meditation” is an ability of the Jedi (and the Sith) to use the Force to strengthen their allies in battle (and at the same time, demoralize the enemy). According to Wookieepedia, the Star Wars Wiki:

Battle meditation was a Force ability which considerably boosted the morale, stamina, and overall battle prowess of an individual's allies while simultaneously reducing the opposition's combat-effectiveness by eroding their will to fight. With the Force, one could coordinate entire fleets of ships, allowing them to perform at maximum efficiency, acting as a single entity with the ability to counter every enemy move quickly and effectively. Though ideal for meditating large-scale conflicts, battle meditation was equally effective when employed for the benefit of one's comrades in small skirmishes, attacks, and duels.

For example, Master Yoda used battle meditation to help rally the Wookiees during the Battle of Kashyyk against the Droid army of the Trade Federation during the Clone Wars (as seen in Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith).

 

Yoda using Battle Meditation during the Battle of Kashyyk.

What Star Wars calls “battle meditation”, we Christians call “prayer”.

In the passage on the armor of God (Ephesians 6:10-17), after Paul describes the various parts of the armor, he goes on to talk about prayer:

Praying always by the Spirit with all prayer and supplication, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints, And for me, that utterance may be given me, by the opening of my mouth to make known boldly the mystery of the gospel, For which I am an ambassador in bonds, that I may speak boldly therein, as I ought to speak. (Ephesians 6:18-20, John Wesley New Testament).

Prayer is related to warfare because wars are not just fought on earth, but ultimately in “the heavenly places”. Therefore, a battle in the heavenly places can only be fought with prayer.