NAMES OF GOD-----JEHOVAH NISSI
THE LORD IS MY BANNER
Our Scripture comes from Exodus 17: 1-16, the story of how Israel complained about God not giving them what they wanted when they wanted it rather than being grateful for His care of them and giving Him the glory of bringing them out of Egypt and now taking them to the blessing He has in store for them. As we read and study, let us find ourselves in these passages that we might grow in our relationship with Him.
1) And all the congregation of the children of Israel journeyed from the wilderness of Sin, after their journeys, according to the commandment of the LORD, and pitched in Rephidim: and there was no water for the people to drink.
2) Wherefore the people did chide with Moses, and said, Give us water that we may drink. And Moses said unto them, Why chide ye with me? wherefore do ye tempt the LORD?
Moses had been tested and found true to God, so when the Israelites complained about him, they were complaining against God, Himself.
3) And the people thirsted there for water; and the people murmured against Moses, and said, Wherefore is this that thou hast brought us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our cattle with thirst? (to kill us, our posterity, and our wealth)
4) And Moses cried unto the LORD, saying, What shall I do unto this people? they be almost ready to stone me.
5) And the LORD said unto Moses, Go on before the people, and take with thee of the elders of Israel; and thy rod, wherewith thou smotest the river, take in thine hand, and go.
6) Behold, I will stand before thee there upon the rock in Horeb; and thou shalt smite the rock, and there shall come water out of it, that the people may drink. And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel.
7) And he called the name of the place Massah, and Meribah, because of the chiding of the children of Israel, and because they tempted the LORD, saying, Is the LORD among us, or not?
This has got to be the question of the ages: Is the LORD among us or not? Is He with us? Is He for us?
8) Then came Amalek, and fought with Israel in Rephidim.
9) And Moses said unto Joshua, Choose us out men, and go out, fight with Amalek: to morrow I will stand on the top of the hill with the rod of God in mine hand.
10) 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.
11) And it came to pass, when Moses held up his hand, that Israel prevailed: and when he let down his hand, Amalek prevailed.
12) 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.
13) And Joshua discomfited Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword.
14) 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.
15) And Moses built an altar, and called the name of it Jehovahnissi:
16) For he said, Because the LORD hath sworn that the LORD will have war with Amalek from generation to generation.
COMMENTARY
1-3) This is a recurring human condition: we face insurmountable odds and feel that surely we shall die; there is no hope. They blamed Moses and God for their predicament. I have found that when I am facing situations that are out of my control, I ask God what would He have me do. He is just to direct my path and has never let me down.
4-7) Moses did what the congregation should have done: he took the matter to the LORD. He had Moses lead the lead everybody out to a rock in Horeb. The LORD said He would stand before him on the rock and Moses was to strike it with the staff he used to part the waters when coming out of Egypt. He would produce water to come out of the rock.
8, 9) In Deuteronomy 25: 17, 18, we read about the unprovoked attack on this Israelites by Amalek:
17) Remember what Amalek did to y'all when you came out of Egypt;
18) How he came upon you and killed those who were straggling behind, those that were feeble, when you were faint and weary; and he didn't fear God.
19) Therefore it shall be, when the LORD thy God gives you rest from all or your enemies round about, in the land which the LORD thy God gives you for an inheritance to possess it, you are to blot out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven. You shall not forget it.
my translation of the King James Version (KJV) Public Domain
So, Amalek was the first to go to war with Israel. He was unprovoked. He was after the spoils, which were probably carried in the back of the caravan. He attacked the weak, women, children, and the sick. The thing here, is, that Israel had never fought a war. God had fought for them, so they didn't know how.
10-12) Moses sent Joshua with men to fight Amalek, while Moses, his brother Aaron, and his brother-in-law, Hur went to the mountain to pray for deliverance. He prayed with his arms uplifted to the heavens, holding the staff, which was God's "banner", as it was His battle. While his arms were uplifted, the army in the valley prevailed; when they drooped, the Amalekites prevailed. So, when his arms grew heavy, Aaron and Hur sat him down and they kept his arms up, one on each side of him, until the sun went down.
13-17) Joshua won the battle in the valley; and Moses et. al. won the battle on the mountain.....the LORD won the battle and was given the glory with an altar unto THE LORD IS MY BANNER (Jehovah Nissi). The LORD has promised to battle the Amalekites until they are wiped out. Some say the Amalekites are symbolic of "the flesh", our human nature, which makes war against the spirit.
How about you? Do you have a relationship with Jehovah Nissi? Do you live your life under His banner? Click here to begin your journey, which is through His Son, Jesus Christ: https://omaswisdom.blogspot.com/p/path-to-salvation.html
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in Psalm 20 commentary, the banners are "our flags of defiance to the enemy, or our tokens of triumph to God's glory, Who has given us the victory
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