Jehovah Nissi - God Our Banner
When our soldiers go to war nowadays, we have a lot of technology to help us. Every soldier knows where he is thanks to GPS. He can speak with his fellow soldiers instantaneously via radio. He can single-handedly attack and destroy entire buildings with explosives or air strikes. He can travel many hundreds of miles in just a few hours using modern transportation equipment, and can communicate with loved ones back home almost as easily as if he was stationed down the street from his own house (even though he may not be allowed to).
This is a relatively recent development. Even in wars as recent as World War II and Vietnam, soldiers did not have some of these abilities. Things were even more primitive thousands of years ago. One of the most well-known examples is the Roman Empire.
When the Roman Empire went to war, it rarely looked like we see in the movies. Their uniforms didn’t match. Most of their soldiers were pulled in from conquered regions, and wore either civilian clothes with makeshift armor strapped to their chests or simply wore the uniforms of their own fallen nation. Sometimes they didn’t even speak the same language! There was no radio and no GPS. In the chaos of a battle, the soldiers found it difficult to know who exactly they were fighting! Only one thing was able to keep some sort of order during all of the commotion -- the Imperial Standard.
A standard is really nothing more than a flag, banner, or even a simple pole with some sort of shiny object affixed to the top. I’m sure you’ve seen this in movies -- a long pole, sometimes with a red banner hanging off of it, with a golden eagle or spearpoint at the tip that glitters and flashes in the sun. Sometimes it would even have the Roman emblem of “SPQR” in gold lettering. This let the soldiers know where the rest of their own army was, which was important for many reasons. First, it’s extremely difficult to use any sort of tactics if you don’t know where you are and where your enemy is. Secondly, it lets you know where safety resides -- if you’re near your standard, you are “home”.
Each legion, century, or cohort would get their standard awarded to them by the Emperor himself. You couldn’t just get any long stick, shove a shiny bit of metal at one end, and say that you were a Roman Legion! Standards were special, and were treated with respect.
War worked very similarly in the Old Testament. Turn with me to Exodus, chapter 17, starting with verse 8. At this point in the book of Exodus, the Israelites have been wandering for quite some time. They’ve already experienced the miracle at Marah that we discussed two weeks ago, where God turned the bitter water sweet. They’ve already experienced God’s provision of manna. And, at the beginning of this chapter, they complain about not having enough water to drink, so God again provides a miracle. They finally get on their way again when they are suddenly attacked by the Amalekites.
“8The Amalekites came and attacked the Israelites at Rephidim. 9Moses said to Joshua, “Choose some of our men and go out to fight the Amalekites. Tomorrow I will stand on top of the hill with the staff of God in my hands.” 10So Joshua fought the Amalekites as Moses had ordered, and Moses, Aaron and Hur went to the top of the hill. 11As long as Moses held up his hands, the Israelites were winning, but whenever he lowered his hands, the Amalekites were winning. 12When Moses’ hands grew tired, they took a stone and put it under him and he sat on it. Aaron and Hur held his hands up—one on one side, one on the other—so that his hands remained steady till sunset. 13So Joshua overcame the Amalekite army with the sword. 14Then the Lord said to Moses, “Write this on a scroll as something to be remembered and make sure that Joshua hears it, because I will completely blot out the name of Amalek from under heaven.” 15Moses built an altar and called it The Lord is my Banner.”
The Amalekites were not just some random tribe of desert dwellers who decided the Israelites were easy pickings -- they were descendants of Esau. If you remember the story in Genesis, Esau was Jacob’s older brother. Jacob was then renamed Israel, and fathered an entire nation. The Amalekites were literally cousins to the Israelites! People like to say that family helps family, but in this case family was the enemy.
There are several things that stand out to me about these verses. First, look at verse 9 -- Moses tells Joshua to “choose some of our men and go out to fight the Amalekites”. Just some of their men! I can see Moses now. He gets word that the Amalekites are attacking, and he just sighs, calls Joshua over, and tells him to just take some guys and just deal with it.
It’s interesting that the Israelites don’t panic or complain here -- like they did whenever anything else negative happened to them in the desert. What’s even more interesting is that Moses doesn’t tell Joshua to take all of the men. He just says, “some”. What could possibly have been going through Moses’ mind when he said this? He was only sending a portion of his thirsty, weakened, tired men to fight a well-rested, experienced army?
He had a standard. Just like the armies of old, Moses had a banner that let him know where safety was. The second half of verse 9 shows that Moses would take “the staff of God” up to a hill. This staff wasn’t just an ordinary walking stick -- it was the very same staff that God turned into a snake in front of Pharaoh. It was the same staff that Moses held to part the Red Sea. This wasn’t just an ordinary stick, it was given to Moses by God Himself, and was therefore something special!
Next, look at verse 10. “So Joshua fought the Amalekites as Moses had ordered, and Moses, Aaron and Hur went to the top of the hill.” Moses, Aaron, and Hur went to the top of the hill. Moses wasn’t alone -- he took along Aaron and Hur. We all know that Aaron was Moses’ brother, but who is this Hur character? Well, we don’t really know for sure. All we do know is that he was a companion to Moses, and a trusted friend.
So Moses goes up to the top of the hill with two men he trusts completely -- a member of his family and a close friend. This becomes important later on in verses 11 and 12: “11As long as Moses held up his hands, the Israelites were winning, but whenever he lowered his hands, the Amalekites were winning. 12When Moses’ hands grew tired, they took a stone and put it under him and he sat on it. Aaron and Hur held his hands up—one on one side, one on the other—so that his hands remained steady till sunset.” Notice what Moses did -- he had to hold his hands up. This is all well and good for a short time -- maybe an hour or so, even -- but Moses’ arms got tired. He learned, though, that when he put his arms down the Israelites began to lose! Winning the battle took effort! Moses didn’t just pray for assistance, sit back, and wait for God to take care of it. Moses had to put something in himself.
And what an effort! Moses didn’t just hold his arms up for a few minutes, or an hour or two. The battle raged on until sunset -- all day! I don’t know about you, but I don’t think I could hold my arms up constantly, all day, by myself. Eventually your arms would go numb, you would lose muscular control, and your arms would fall by your side, useless. But look what happened: Moses’ companions helped him when he was weak. They got a stone for him to sit on and rest, and they each held up one of his arms until the battle was over. It took longer than Moses would have liked, I’m sure. It took more effort than Moses would have liked, I’m sure! I wouldn’t blame Moses at all if he just wanted to snap his fingers and have the entire Amalekite army just disappear! But he didn’t grumble, he didn’t complain. He did what needed to be done, for as long as it took to complete the task.
Moses could not have done what he did without the help of his family and friends. But, on the flip side, Aaron and Hur wouldn’t have known that Moses needed help unless one of two things happened first. Either they already knew Moses well enough to understand his weaknesses, and went to help because they understood that he would need them; or Moses straight up asked them to help him on the hill. Either way, it involved Moses being completely honest and open with his family and his friends about what he needed, and why he needed it. Aaron and Hur didn’t judge Moses for his weakness, they didn’t put him down or tell him he wasn’t good enough. They didn’t say that he didn’t have enough faith because he should have “trusted in God to give him the strength he needed”. No, they simply went to help, and that was all.
Let me pause right here to encourage you for a moment. I know that it’s difficult to open up about the things you struggle with, or the things you’re weak in, to anyone -- much less family or friends! But it’s extremely important! Find people you trust and be open and honest with them. If you’re struggling with your faith, or if you’re doubting, tell someone and let them help! If you’re weak against a certain sin, tell someone, and let them help! If you’re so down that you simply can’t hold yourself up anymore, tell someone and let them hold you up like Aaron and Hur did for Moses. There’s no shame in that.
Now, back to our previously scheduled program, already in progress. Brief recap -- we know that Moses only sent a fraction of his men to fight this army. We know that Moses went up with Aaron and Hur to the top of a hill to hold up the staff of God. When the staff was high, the war went well. When the staff fell low, the war went poorly. Moses relied on the help of his family and his friends to make sure he was able to finish the task, even though it took a long time. So, what’s next?
Verse 14: “Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Write this on a scroll as something to be remembered and make sure that Joshua hears it, because I will completely blot out the name of Amalek from under heaven.’” Why do you think God said this? What difference do you think it made whether or not Joshua knew what happened up on the hill during the battle?
God wanted Joshua to remember the victory and what it took to achieve it. It’s important that we remember the past victories God has given us -- but it’s also important to remember what we went through at the time. A lot of people recommend keeping a prayer journal -- you write down your prayers, then as God answers them, you write down what He says. Tonight I challenge you to go even further than that -- write down your struggles, the emotions you feel, everything. Then start recording your prayers and answers. That way, when more struggles come, you can look back at your prayer journal and see not only how God got you through that struggle, but what you felt at the time. You will remember the effort you put in, and I think you will be encouraged when that effort is again required of you.
But that’s not all. Look at the second half of the verse: “I will completely blot out the name of Amalek from under heaven.” God is saying that His victory is complete and eternal! God won’t just win the battle for you; He’s out to win the war.
Finally, we get to verse 15, where we actually see the name of God. “Moses built an altar and called it The Lord is my Banner.” In Hebrew, this is Jehovah Nissi. Remember how the ancient armies would rely on the battle standards -- or banners -- to know where a safe place was, and where the rest of their comrades were? God is that battle standard! When we’re in a battle -- and, let’s be real, here: we all are, all of the time -- it’s important to know where we are safe. It’s important to know where we can have help. But Jehovah Nissi can mean more than that -- knowing that God is our Banner is great, and all, but it’s also important to know that God will grant us victory! It will take effort on our part. We will get tired; we may even get hurt. The important thing is to remember that the victory is there -- so long as we rally around God.
