JEHOVAH NISSI: GOD'S BANNER OF LOVE

JEHOVAH NISSI: GOD’S BANNER OF LOVE

Even while we reside in places of personal rebellion and disobedience, God shows up with amazing grace that breathes freedom, transformation and life into our futures.  God’s grace is prevenient, i.e. it is operative (while we are yet sinners) to form, forge and foster our faith. (Romans 5:8)  Moreover, God’s grace is sufficient, i.e. it is more than enough to free us forever from the power, penalty and practice of sin and to pave our path to His presence. (II Corinthians 12:9)

Such was the case of God’s interventions with the children of Israel.  After passing more than four centuries in Egyptian bondage, they were extricated by the power of ten miraculous plagues, dispatched from Heaven for their deliverance and liberation.  They avoided mass genocide at the Red Sea when the armies of Egypt were in hot pursuit.  And in a divine transaction of restitution for generations of labor, they exchanged the worthless shackles of slavery for the enormous wealth of Egypt.  Yet, they found it extremely difficult to trust their Awesome God to sustain them through the wilderness of the Sinai Peninsula. (Exodus 17)

They murmured.  They complained.  They doubted.  They dishonored God and His leader, Moses.

At Rephidim, the Israelites experienced a serious scarcity of water.  God revealed an ingenious solution to their pressing problem, utilizing a rock and a rod.  Nevertheless, as is typical when we succumb to fear and rebellion against God, the enemy appeared.  The Amalekites sought to destroy the Israelites at their moment of greatest physical and spiritual weakness.  Without divine intervention, they would likely have succeeded.

Moses enlisted Joshua to assemble an army.  They fought while Moses stood on the hilltop, solely empowered by the rod of God.  While Moses stretched forth his hands, the Israelites experienced military success.  When his arms grew tired and dropped down, the Amalekites prevailed.  Wisdom provided a solution.  A stone was put in place; Moses sat on it; Aaron and Hur held up his arms; the Israelites gained the victory.

Afterwards, God instructed Moses to record the events of the day and to pass on its lessons to Joshua and the people, who through the power of God would “utterly put out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven.” (Exodus 17:14)  Years later, in his final directive to Joshua, Moses reminded him to finish the job and totally annihilate this enemy of Israel, who had attacked God’s people in such dire circumstances.

Deuteronomy 25:19 (Moses’ Charge to Joshua)

Therefore it shall be, when the Lord thy God hath given thee rest from all thine enemies round about, in the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee for an inheritance to possess it, that thou shalt blot out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven; thou shalt not forget it.

At the site of their historic victory, Moses erected an altar to the Lord and named it “Jehovahnissi…because the Lord hath sworn that [HE] will have war against Amalek from generation to generation.” (Exodus 17:15-16)  Thereafter, “Jehovah Nissi” was revered by the Israelites as the title or name for God which means The Lord Our Banner.

Sisters and brothers, I stand in awe of God’s grace.  Grace is totally unmerited, yet constantly motivated by the merciful and matchless love of God.  For example, whenever I think of King Solomon, I picture him as a brilliant sinner.  That is to say, while his wisdom far surpassed his peers, his sins did also.  Yet, in the final analysis, Solomon had a crystal-clear vision of the grace of God.  In his own words, “He [GOD] brought me to the banqueting house [in spite of my condition], and his banner over me was love.  Undoubtedly, Solomon remembered that the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob was, is, and always shall be “Jehovah Nissi,” The Lord Our Banner.  What a mighty and marvelous God!