Wednesday, March 5, 2025
Tonight’s Study – Session 7: Jehovah Nissi – The Lord is My Banner
Introduction: Have you ever felt like you were being defeated at every turn in your spiritual walk? It felt like the devil was hovering over you ready to pounce at any moment. The Christian life isn’t and shouldn’t be a life of defeat – it is a life of spiritual victory. But that victory is only possible when we are walking in a close, intimate relationship with Jesus.
The primary significance of the name Jehovah Nissi is that of victory, that God is our banner. The truth is that God will fight our spiritual battles against Satan for us and He will give us the victory if we will only let Him.
The first usage of Jehovah Nissi is found in Exodus 17:15. Jehovah Nissi declares victory and deliverance.
Key Scripture Passage Where Jehovah Nissi is Found
Then all the congregation of the children of Israel set out on their journey from the Wilderness of Sin, according to the commandment of the Lord, and camped in Rephidim; but there was no water for the people to drink. Therefore, the people contended with Moses, and said, “Give us water, that we may drink.” So, Moses said to them, “Why do you contend with me? Why do you tempt the Lord?” And the people thirsted there for water, and the people complained against Moses, and said, “Why is it you have brought us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our livestock with thirst?”
So, Moses cried out to the Lord, saying, “What shall I do with this people? They are almost ready to stone me!” And the Lord said to Moses, “Go on before the people, and take with you some of the elders of Israel. Also take in your hand your rod with which you struck the river and go. Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock in Horeb; and you shall strike the rock, and water will come out of it, that the people may drink.”
And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel. So, he called the name of the place Massah and Meribah, because of the contention of the children of Israel, and because they tempted the Lord, saying, “Is the Lord among us or not?” Now Amalek came and fought with Israel in Rephidim. And Moses said to Joshua, “Choose us some men and go out, fight with Amalek. Tomorrow I will stand on the top of the hill with the rod of God in my hand.”
So, Joshua did as Moses said to him and fought with Amalek. And Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill. And so it was, when Moses held up his hand, that Israel prevailed; and when he let down his hand, Amalek prevailed. But Moses’ hands became heavy; so, they took a stone and put it under him, and he sat on it. And Aaron and Hur supported his hands, one on one side, and the other on the other side; and his hands were steady until the going down of the sun. So, Joshua defeated Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword. Then the Lord said to Moses, “Write this for a memorial in the book and recount it in the hearing of Joshua, that I will utterly blot out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven.” And Moses built an altar and called its name, The-Lord-Is-My-Banner; for he said, “Because the LORD has sworn: the Lord will have war with Amalek from generation to generation.” (Exodus 17:1-16)
Israel’s grumbling and God’s victory
Israel has traveled from the wilderness of sin and camped at Rephidim. Here, once again, their faith is tested by the absence of water. In verse 3 the people complained and in verse 7 they tested the Lord. Israel displayed stubborn unbelief. You would think they would have learned to trust the Lord and not test Him. He had miraculously saved them at the Red Sea. He made bitter water sweet; He had rained food from the skies, and yet they tested Him.
A Spiritual Truth Worth Remembering!
Spiritual unbelief leads to a spiritual defeat.
When we fail to see God’s hand in our daily affairs and we fail to trust Him for our daily provision, we begin to fret and complain about our difficult circumstances. Like Israel, we need to understand what it means to have the Lord as our banner. The Israelites real issue was not their thirst for water, but it was the Amalekites that they fought against.
Another Nugget of Truth
We must recognize the real enemy.
The Amalekites were the descendants of Amalek, a grandson of Esau, Jacob’s brother. In Genesis 36:12 we read, “Now Timna was the concubine of Eliphaz, Esau’s son, and she bore Amalek to Eliphaz. These were the sons of Adah, Esau’s wife.” Even though the Amalekites were direct descendants of Isaac, they became an enemy of Israel, a constant prevailing threat to their spiritual national life. Thus, the Amalekites represent the forces of evil who stand in opposition to God’s people.
The Strategy of the Enemy
The strategy of Amalek is like that of our adversary, the devil. Peter describes his tactics, “your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.” (1 Peter 5:8b)
Moses tells the people of Israel that when the Lord gives them rest from their enemies, they must completely blot out the memory of Amalek. You cannot strike a truce with Satan. You can’t make a deal with the devil!
1 Samuel 15:2-3
Thus says the Lord of hosts: ‘I will punish Amalek for what he did to Israel, how he ambushed him on the way when he came up from Egypt. Now go and attack Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and do not spare them. But kill both man and woman, infant and nursing child, ox and sheep, camel and donkey.’
When we read these verses, we sometimes recoil from the implication of God’s command to utterly destroy Amalek because we do not fully comprehend the strategy of the enemy. The Amalekites represent the forces of evil as they oppose the work of God and the people of God. Where there is compromise with sin, sin begins its insidious work to corrupt and ultimately destroy us.
The Deceptive Power of Sin
The adversary and his one goal
Satan’s one goal is to steal, kill, and destroy the work of God in the lives of His people. This is precisely the reason that Jesus clearly articulates the need to destroy the power of sin in our lives.
Jesus said this in Matthew 5:28-29, “If your right eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell.”
Jesus says this in John 10:10, “The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.”
The adversary is out to destroy so we must not deal lightly with the presence of sin in our lives. We often use 1 John 1:9* as if it were a spiritual Band-Aid. We can be tempted to think that sin really doesn’t impact our lives, and we have this “forgiveness credit card” that lets us sin with impunity.
*If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
We often forget that sin grieves the heart of a Holy God and seeks to destroy our spiritual victory. Deal with sin by letting Jehovah Nissi, The Lord is My Banner, defend us, fight the battle for us, and defeat again and again the already defeated foe, Satan.
The Lord is My Banner
The sure victory is the Lord’s. It was not simply Moses’ dramatic and visible posture on the hilltop that inspired confidence in his troops; it was the rod of God that brought them victory. The rod was likely nothing more than a shepherd’s staff, but God used it as an object lesson to show Moses His power to accomplish His work.
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; For You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me. (Psalm 23:4)
It is this same rod that is now called “The Lord is My Banner.” This visible symbol was intended to illustrate graphically to all of Israel’s warriors that the victory over Amalek belonged to God. Israel could do nothing in themselves to defeat the Amalekites, but under the banner of the Lord, victory was assured.
Conclusion: The first issue in the life of every person is that they have truly resolved the issue of Jesus being their Jehovah Nissi. He was lifted up on a cross as the sacrifice for sin. He is the banner of salvation. He has given us victory over the adversary, Satan and victory over the grave. The victory that Jesus gives us isn’t a one-time victory over sin when we were saved. It is a daily victory that Jesus offers us every day. We are called to “fight the good fight of faith.” To do so, we must put on the whole armor of God, living in continual confession and repentance, walking daily with God, and standing under the banner of Jehovah Nissi – The Lord is My Banner!
Next Week, Session 8: Jehovah Shalom – The Lord is Peace