Jehovah Nissi - The Lord my Banner

 

Chapter 6 (from pillars of fire on the earth)

 

Jehovah Nissi  - The Lord my Banner

Exodus 17vs 8-16

Then came Amalek, and fought with Israel in Rephidim.  And Moses said unto Joshua, Choose us out men, and go out, fight with Amalek: tomorrow I will stand on the top of the hill with the rod of God in mine hand.  So Joshua did as Moses had said to him, and fought with Amalek: and Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill.  And it came to pass, when Moses held up his hand, that Israel prevailed: and when he let down his hand, Amalek prevailed. But Moses hands were heavy; and they took a stone, and put it under him, and he sat thereon; and Aaron and Hur stayed up his hands, the one on the one side, and the other on the other side; and his hands were steady until the going down of the sun. And Joshua discomfited Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword.  And the Lord said unto Moses, Write this for a memorial in a book, and rehearse it in the ears of Joshua: for I will utterly put out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven. And Moses built an altar, and called the name of it Jehovahnissi: For he said, Because the Lord hath sworn that the Lord will have war with Amalek from generation to generation.

 

In the first part of chapter 17 we looked at how God provided water to flow out of ‘the Rock’ and immediately after this great display of God’s love and grace an enemy came to attack the people.  Many times it can be just like that for us today.  It seems that just as we are beginning to make some headway, another battle comes out of nowhere. Just like the old saying “1 step forward and 2 steps back”.

I find it very interesting that God never seems to do things the same way twice.  We know that when the people were at the Red Sea with no way forward, and the Egyptians were chasing fast and furious behind them, God made a way to deliver the them and at the same time destroying the Egyptians.  God fought for them.   But in these verses in chapter 17, we see that God was working with them.  This time they had to do something more than just trust and obey. 

We must also remember that the Israelites were slaves, there were no trained fighting men among them but on this journey they were becoming stronger and stronger along the way.  So we can take courage today, as we continue on our Christian walk, we are also growing stronger along the way. 

We notice in verse 9, Moses commanded Joshua to choose men for the battle, while Moses would stand on the top of the hill with the rod of God in his hand. 

Have you ever watched a battlefield scene in a film and thought, “How do the men know who is enemy and who is friend?”  I have thought this many times.  When the battle begins each side, have their distinct uniforms or style of clothing but in the midst of the battlefield covered in the mud and the blood – everyone looks the same.  I have wondered to myself, if at some stage of the battle each man is just fighting for their own survival. 

I believe that in the heat of the battles that we face in our own lives; it can be easy to forget why we are fighting and lose sight of who we are fighting.  We can very easily become battle weary and lose sight of our identity and purpose.  Instead of pressing forward into the purpose of God in our lives, we can become distracted and lose our vision and passion.

Moses took his stand on the top of the hill where he could be seen as he held up the rod of God.  This was like a banner to the men which reminded them of what God had already done for them, and encouraged them to be strong, for the Lord was with them even in the midst of the battle.  But it wasn’t the men that were fighting who grew weary.  We read in verse 11 that as Moses lifted up his hands Israel prevailed and were taking ground but when Moses lowered his hands the enemy prevailed.

So we see that Moses was the one who grew weary.  Thankfully he was not alone, he did not have to bear the burden on his own, but Aaron and Hur put a stone under Moses and stood by his side and held his arms up until the battle had ended in Victory.  This speaks of the power of the prayer of agreement.

Reading over these few verses I am reminded of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane.  When he said to his disciples “My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death; tarry ye here, and watch with me” (Matthew 26 v 38) There was a battle in the Garden of Gethsemane as Jesus was faced with the reality of the death he was facing and in verse 39 we read “And Jesus went a little farther, and fell on his face and prayed saying O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt.”  We call it the Battle of the Will.  Jesus was feeling the weight of the heavy burden and the great cost of his destiny and purpose as it was drawing close.  He knew the sin of the world with all the sickness, disease and shame would be placed on him.  He had lived a sinless life, he had no guilt of his own and now he was alone.  But here in the Garden we see that Jesus did not forget why he was going to the cross and who he was dying for.  When he looked up to his Father he saw that banner of love and he received the strength and courage to finish the work of salvation.  Love lifted him, carried him and held him on the cross.  The perfect love that casts out all fear is expressed here in Jesus’ great love for his Father and the Father’s great love for his creation.  We will find ourselves many times in a battle of the will.  We are tempted to feel discouraged or weary in the battle, as the battle between our flesh and our spirit wages. The flesh says your tired, you need a rest while your spirit is saying don’t back down, stand strong.

Jesus asked his disciples to tarry here and watch with him.  But they could not as we read in verse 40 “and Jesus cometh unto the disciples, and findeth them asleep, and saith unto Peter, What, could ye not watch with me one hour?  Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak”.

I think this is beautiful, that Jesus the Son of God, asked his disciples to pray with him.  He wanted them to tarry and to watch with him. But they did not, they fell asleep.  When I am tempted to feel alone, I remind myself that Jesus knows and understands, because he faced a great battle for me.  This gives me courage and strength to press in and not to give up.

The definition to this word ‘tarry’ is to stay somewhere for longer than expected and delay leaving.  I love this definition because it spells out to me that in prayer we have to be willing to stay for longer than expected and not to be in a hurry to leave until we know the battle is over. 

We see in the story of Moses standing on the hill overlooking the battle that he had to tarry, he had to stay longer than he had expected and couldn’t leave unto it was over.  He needed help.  Thankfully Aaron and Hur were not like the disciples and were willing to help.

I see a great problem in the world today.  There are many battles, but there are few who are willing to stand on the hill top and hold up the rod of God and declare Victory.  The rod of God speaks of Authority.  Moses wasn’t standing on the hill, so men could see him; he was standing over the battle declaring the Authority of God.  He was holding up the Word of God, the Promise of God, and declaring that the great I AM, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob was with them.  In New Testament language he was saying “If God is for you, who can be against you”. 

The problem I see in the world today is that people have become tired of standing in the place of prayer and have become battle weary from holding up and declaring the authority of the Word of God.  As a result there are many who are being defeated in the battlefield and the enemy is taking more ground than he ought to be able to take.

The power of true intercession prayer has been lost in the midst of a sea of religious doctrines and false teachings.  Many still ask for prayer but I have often asked myself do they even know what prayer really is.

Moses took his stand that day to overlook the battle, and he held up the rod as a banner.  As we stand in the place of prayer today, we must stand overlooking the battle and hold up the rod of God, the authority of God like a banner for all to see.  A banner flying high that declares “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever”.  A banner lifted up for all to know that “Jesus is Alive”.   Joshua took his enemy down with a sword, and today we have been given the Sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God.

As prayer is lifted up, and the banner of the Lord upheld so the Word of God will prevail in every battle.

Moses could not stand on his own and Joshua and the men could not prevail by their own strength.  They worked together and God was working with them.  This is a powerful picture of unity.  Where God’s people operate in unity great is the blessing that surrounds them.

As God was leading Moses to the day where he would come down and cover the Mountain with FIRE – he was causing Moses to grow in wisdom and understanding, obedience and boldness.  And today as God is preparing his people for the last great FIRE – he is causing his people to advance, to stand tall, and to know that their Identity is in Christ Jesus.  We must not grow weary from the place of prayer; we must continue to uphold the banner of the Lord and stand strong by the power of the Holy Spirit. 

With our eyes firmly fixed on “Jehovah Nissi  - The Lord my Banner”.