JEHOVAH-NISSI
Isa. 59:19, Ex. 17:15
INTRODUCTION
A. HUMOR
1. A pastor had a little kitten stuck up in a tree. The tree was not sturdy enough to climb so the pastor decided that if he tied a rope to his car and drove until the tree bent down, he could then reach up and get the kitten.
2. But as he moved just a little too far, the rope broke. The tree snapped upright and the kitten instantly sailed through the air and out of sight.
3. He felt terrible, but finally prayed, "Lord, I commit this kitten to Your keeping," and then went about his business.
4. A few days later he was at the grocery store and met one of his church members. In her shopping cart he was amazed to see cat food. She was a CAT HATER, so he asked her why she was buying cat food.
5. She replied, "You won't believe this but I’ve refused to get my little girl a cat even though she’d begged for one. I told her, “If God gives you a cat, I'll let you keep it.”
6. "I watched her walk straight out into the yard, get on her knees and ask God for a cat. And Pastor, you won't believe what I saw with my own eyes; God dropped a kitten right down in front of her! What could I say?”
B. SIGNIFICANCE OF FLAGS
1. FLAG BURNING, is an emotionally charged issue. How do you feel when you’re watching TV and see someone burning the U.S. flag? Is it really a “constitutional right?”
2. HISTORY OF. The flag standard is highly prized in war. In ancient times the names of special victories were written, engraved in it. It was the last disgrace to lose the standard. In many battles, men have fallen in heaps around the standard attempting to preserve it.
C. TEXTS
“When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord shall lift up a standard against him” Isa. 59:19 KJV.
8 The Amalekites came and attacked the Israelites at Rephidim. 9 Moses 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.” 10 So Joshua fought the Amalekites as Moses had ordered, and Moses, Aaron and Hur went to the top of the hill. 11 As long as Moses held up his hands, the Israelites were winning, but whenever he lowered his hands, the Amalekites were winning. 12 When 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. 13 So Joshua overcame the Amalekite army with the sword. 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.” 15 Moses built an altar and called it The Lord is my Banner. 16 He said, “Because hands were lifted up against the throne of the Lord, the Lord will be at war against the Amalekites from generation to generation.” Ex. 17:8-16
C. THESIS
1. We’re going to look 3 aspects of the Banner of the Lord; as a Banner of Resistance, as a Rallying Point, and as representing Jesus Himself and how we can wield His name to get the victory over the forces of hell.
2. The title of tonight’s message is “Jehovah-Nissi.”
I. THE BANNER: SYMBOL OF RESISTANCE
A. TWO PRESUPPOSITIONS. It presupposes…
1. We have an Enemy.
2. Our enemy will come at us ‘like a flood.’
B. TWO APPLICATIONS
1. UNIVERSAL.
a. When we see ungodliness pour into our society and world like a flood, will God just sit idly by?
b. No! He’s going to resist it! He’s going to raise His standard against it. It’s a prophecy!
2. PERSONAL.
a. Is the Holy Spirit in you? How are you responding to the ungodly deluge? Is there resistance in you? [Lot was vexed; Paul was grieved; Jeremiah was troubled, and Peter was emboldened.]
b. If God’s in you, there should be increasing resistance towards evil. If not, then He’s not in you!
II. THE BANNER: RALLYING POINT
A. BACKGROUND
1. Rephidim = “refreshment, rest” on the way to Mt. Sinai/Horeb.
2. Amalekites (grandson of Esau) attacked the stragglers of Israel at the tail of the nation; the weakest and worn down. It was a cowardly act.
3. Joshua & troops sent into the valley while Moses (& Aaron & Hur) stayed on the top of the hill with the rod of God in his hands.
4. The Amalekites represent the spiritual forces arrayed against us. Israel’s best men couldn’t defeat them; only by spiritual warfare could they be overcome.
5. After Israel defeated the Amalekite army, Moses built an altar, calling it “Jehovah-Nissi,” “The Lord is My Banner.”
B. MEANING BEHIND THE ALTAR’S NAME
1. The Hebrew word “Nes” is used 21X in the O.T. It means : a “banner, ensign, standard, flag” (or even the pole with a shining ornament on it).
2. It’s most often used of a banner raised to rally troops for battle.
3. WHY THIS ACCOUNT IS SIGNIFICANT. It wasn’t only Moses’ intercession that won the battle, but it was the ROD OF GOD in Moses’ hand that was God’s Banner! It was the same wonder-working ROD which:
a. Brought the 10 plagues on Egypt;
b. Parted the Red Sea and closed it.
c. Smote the Rock and brought forth water.
4. It was the ROD, as the Banner of God, which brought the victory. Under God’s raised banner, victory is always certain.
III. THE BANNER: OUR REDEEMER
A. JESUS IS GOD’S BANNER, HIS RALLYING POINT
1. “See, I will beckon to the nations, I will lift up my Banner to the peoples; they will bring your sons in their arms and carry your daughters on their hips” Isa. 49:22.
2. “Raise a banner for the nations. The Lord has made proclamation to the ends of the earth: “Say to Daughter Zion, ‘See, your Savior comes! See, his reward is with him, and his recompense accompanies him.’” Isa. 62:10-11.
B. THE SERPENT ON THE POLE
1. Remember when the Israelites were bitten by venomous snakes and Moses was instructed to put a serpent of brass on a pole and all who came & looked at it would be healed (Num. 21:6-9; John 3:14-15)?
2. That Emblem they rallied to represented Jesus Christ and His death on the cross to atone for their sins. He was the Rallying Point for salvation, the Banner!
C. WHAT THE ROD WAS TO MOSES, THE NAME OF JESUS IS TO N.T. CHRISTIANS!
1. How did the disciples carry out the miraculous ministry even before Jesus had been crucified? By the power of the name of Jesus!
2. SCRIPTURES ABOUT THE NAME OF JESUS
a. Mt. 18:20 -- we gather in the name of Jesus.
b. Mt. 9:38-39; Luke 9:49. The other disciple casting out devils in Jesus name.
c. Mk. 16:17 -- believers doing things in Jesus’ name.
d. Lk. 10:17 -- "Demons are subject to us in your name."
e. Jn. 1:12 -- we're saved by believing on his name.
f. Acts 3:16 -- the lame man was healed through the Name.
g. Jn. 14:13-14 -- we're to ask in Jesus’ name.
3. It's not so much just that we wield a name, as it is that our invisible friend is with us, and will invisibly fight our battles for us, as we step out in his name.
D. JESUS IS OUR FUTURE VICTORY
1. Isa. 11:10 says the day will come when He “shall stand as an ensign (Banner) of the people; to it shall the Gentiles seek: and His rest shall be glorious.”
2. When Francis Scott Key wrote “Does the Star-Spangled Banner yet wave?” he was concerned about victory.
3. The first thing an Enemy does is take down your flag and put up his.
4. But with the Lord Jesus as my Nissi/Banner, the believer can say, “My Banner is raised on high. No enemy can go to heaven and take Him down!” We’re on the winning side!
CONCLUSION
A. ILLUSTRATION
1. Some years ago a young man looking for work approached the foreman of a logging crew and asked him for a job.
2. “It depends,” replied the foreman. “Let’s see you take this one down.” The young man stepped forward and skillfully felled a great tree. The foreman was impressed and exclaimed, “you start Monday!”
3. Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday rolled by. Thursday afternoon the foreman approached the young man and said, “You can pick up your paycheck on the way out today.”
4. Startled, the young man asked, “I thought you paid on Fridays.” “Normally we do,” answered the foreman, “but we’re letting you go today because you’ve fallen behind; our daily charts show that you’ve dropped from first place on Monday to last place on Wednesday.
5. “But I’m a hard worker” the young man objected, “I arrive first and leave last, and I even work through my coffee breaks!”
6. The foreman sensing the boy’s integrity, though for a minute and then asked, “Have you been sharpening your axe?” The young man replied, “Well, no, sir. I’ve been working too hard to take the time.”
7. We somehow get the idea that busyness = effectiveness. Prayer is like sharpening your axe; the time
spent in prayer makes everything else you do more effective!
B. THE CALL
1. Whose flag is waving over your heart? Jesus’ or the devil’s? Have you allowed God to rule your heart?
2. Is the Spirit creating resistance in you? If not, you need to pray!
3. Are you willing to die to preserve the standard?
