Jehovah Nissi- You will Not lose-You are call to be victorious in everything

Jehovah Nissi

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 This revelation of who God is to us is found in Exodus 17:15.  Jehovah Nissi means Jehovah our Banner.  The crisis that lead to the revelation was only a few weeks after the Children of Israel had left Egypt.  They had seen the plagues, the pillar of fire and cloud that led them, the parting of the Red Sea, Moses struck the rock which provided water, and manna was their food.  It seems that we are so flesh encrusted that we must constantly be reminded of who God is and what He means to us. 

Now they are about to encounter a new experience, warfare.  The Amalekites were a descendant of Esau. Amalek was Esau’s grandson. You would of thought their cousins would have been sympathetic, but instead they were a terrible foe.  The Amalekites would pick off the week and feeble from the end of the procession. God had waited to deliver Israel until the sins of the Nations they were to conquer were full.  You may remember that later in Israel’s history King Saul was told to wipe out every single Amalekite and their animals too.  He spared some of them and their animals and Samuel announced that God had torn the Kingship from him. Later an Amalekite bragged to David that he had dealt the death blow to Saul. What a lesson! The things that God warns us to destroy from our lives are our worst enemies.  He tells us that because they are vicious and will destroy us if we allow them to continue.

When Israel faced the Amalekites they had never fought in battle. A man named Joshua (Jehovah is our salvation, the same as Jesus in the NT) led Israel’s troops. EXODUS 17:11-13 Moses went to a height overlooking the battle and held the rod of God (Elohim) up in the air. As long as he held it up Israel was winning, but as his arms grew tired and came down the battle turned against Israel. This was the same rod that was held over the Red Sea, the same rod that was used for so many miraculous plagues, the same rod God anointed for use when Moses was commissioned at the burning bush.  It was a sign of God’s presence with them.

When you think of banner you may think of a flag, but this Hebrew word actually means ______________ or ensign, to glisten, a standard, or a miracle.  As Moses held the rod which was probably adorned with some glistening object the people could see, they had confidence. When his arms tired, did they say, “Come on Moses, buck up, do your job”? No, they assisted him. Hur and Aaron held his arms. We need to support our leaders as they hold forth the Word of God to give us direction and hope that God is with us.  When they are tired and weary we have a tendency to ridicule instead of stand beside.  That is only to our detriment. What can you do to encourage your leaders when they look tired?  

EXODUS 17:14-16  Jehovah Nissi is the Lord our victory. When He is lifted high and our eyes are on him we are victorious over sin in our lives 1Jn 5:4. In the Song of Songs we also learn that the banner over us is Love. His ultimate display of love was on a pole dying for our sins. John 3:14 – Numbers 21:7-9  That is our ultimate banner – the cross.  It is under this banner that all our foes are defeated.  We can look at our flesh and the world and Satan and then turn our heads up and look at the cross. He is our Jehovah Nissi! Feeling like the enemy is winning? Look up at our banner!

Is 11:1,10  His banner is Victory! When I march through life under that banner, I win!

 1Co 15:57, 2Co 2:14, Ro 8:31,37 2Tim 2:3,  Eph 6:11-17