Daily Archives: January 19, 2012

Names of God Series, Uncategorized

Names of God Study: Jehovah-nissi

It’s time for another post in the Names of God series. We have done a little study on the names Elohim, El Elyon, El Roi, El Shaddai, El Olam, Adonia, Jehovah, Jehovah-jireh, and Jehovah-rapha.  Today we will look at Jehovah-nissi and discover what this name of God reveals to us about His character.

We are introduced to this name of God in the book of Exodus. I am going to post the entire passage because this event in Scripture is so very powerful and incredibly relevant for us as believers today. It holds the key to a truth that we all must know if we are going to live in the victory that is our in Christ.

Then Amalek came and fought against Israel at Rephidim. 
So Moses said to Joshua,
“Choose men for us and go out, fight against Amalek.
Tomorrow I will station myself on the top of the hill
with the staff of God in my hand.” 
Joshua did as Moses told him, and fought against Amalek;
and Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill. 
So it came about when Moses held his hand up, that Israel prevailed,
and when he let his hand down, Amalek prevailed. 
But Moses’ hands were heavy.
Then 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 one on the other.
Thus his hands were steady until the sun set. 
So Joshua overwhelmed Amalek
and his people with the edge of the sword.
Then the LORD said to Moses,
“Write this in a book as a memorial and recite it to Joshua,
that I will utterly blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven.” 
Moses built an altar and named it The LORD is My Banner; 
and he said, “The LORD has sworn;
the LORD will have war against Amalek
from generation to generation.”
Exodus 17:8-16
Did you see the name of God?
Jehovah-nissi means the LORD is My Banner.
So what is a banner? What exactly does this name of God tell us about His character? What does it mean to have the LORD as your banner? It might help to see a picture…
Those men are raising the banner of the United States of America. When our soldiers go into battle this banner goes before them. They have this banner to remind them what they are living, loving, and fighting for. Notice also that one could not keep the banner up alone… his brothers helped him.
But Moses’ hands were heavy.
Then 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 one on the other.
This banner is the banner of my earthly nation. I am a citizen of the USA while on this earth. I pledge allegiance to this flag and to this country, but this is not my eternal home. I have a citizenship in a kingdom that has supremacy over my allegiance to this United States.
For our citizenship is in heaven,
from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ; 
who will transform the body of our humble state
into conformity with the body of His glory,
by the exertion of the power that He has
even to subject all things to Himself.
Therefore, my beloved brethren
whom I long to see, my joy and crown,
in this way stand firm in the Lord, my beloved.
Philippians 3:20-4:1
In this kingdom I am to stand firm and the banner I am to be raising is my God. I am to go into the battles of life with Jehovah-nissi before me to remind me what I am living, loving, and fighting for. I am to keep my eyes on Christ and keep Him lifted up before me.
And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to Myself.
 John 12:32
Why do we need a banner?

Every kingdom on this earth has an enemy. The kingdom of God and those who are citizens of it are not excluded from this fact. So exactly who or what is the enemy?

Do not love the world nor the things in the world.
If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 
For all that is in the world,
the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes
and the boastful pride of life,
is not from the Father, but is from the world.
1 John 2:15-16
Be of sober spirit, be on the alert.
Your adversary, the devil,
prowls around like a roaring lion,
seeking someone to devour.
1 Peter 5:8
Did you discover the enemy?
Now scroll back up and read Exodus 17:8-16 again and this time replace Amalek with flesh.
Our own flesh, the world system, and the devil himself are your enemies if you are a citizen of the kingdom of God… and they are your enemy if you are not, because they are doing all they can to keep you from crossing the border into the promised land.
So now that you have met the enemy, how do you fight?
So it came about when Moses held his hand up, that Israel prevailed,
and when he let his hand down, Amalek prevailed. 
Israel was winning the battle as long as Moses had his staff lifted up. As long as the Lord was lifted up they had victory. As long as they were being led by God and were focused on Him they were successful in their battle… but when Moses became weary and his hands became heavy and his staff fell then the enemy prevailed. Oh precious one, it is no different with us and our enemy.
 But I say, walk by the Spirit,
and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh. 
For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit,
and the Spirit against the flesh;
for these are in opposition to one another,
so that you may not do the things that you please…
Now those who belong to Christ Jesus
have crucified the flesh
with its passions and desires.
Galatians 5:16-17, 24
Therefore,
since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us,
let us also lay aside every encumbrance
and the sin which so easily entangles us,
and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 
fixing our eyes on Jesus,
the author and perfecter of faith,
who for the joy set before Him endured the cross,
despising the shame,
and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
Hebrews 12:1-2
Now I don’t know about you… but my flesh is pretty tough, and the pull of the world and all it’s glitz and glam and shiny new stuff is pretty catchy to my eyes and well that Satan is pretty darn sneaky and quite persistent… so I get tired in this fight. What am I to do when I get tired? What am I to do when I see a fellow believer is getting tired?
 Encourage the exhausted, and strengthen the feeble.
Isaiah 35:3
Therefore, strengthen the hands that are weak
and the knees that are feeble, 
and make straight paths for your feet,
so that the limb which is lame
may not be put out of joint,
but rather be healed.
Hebrews 12:12-13
God created this amazing thing called the church. Not the building… the body. He said the gates of hell would not be able to prevail against His church. It is here that we find strength, encouragement, hope, help, fellow soldiers… It is here where we find those who gather around us and help us raise that banner. We need each other. We have a real battle, against a very real enemy, and our enemies are strong but…
 You are from God, little children,
and have overcome them;
because greater is He who is in you
than he who is in the world.
1 John 4:4

My friend… before a soldier goes into battle, they make sure their armor is on and they have all their weapons ready… then they are prepared to fight and they are prepared to defend and help others…

Remember to go into each day with your Jehovah-nissi!  
Devotional Studies Through the Bible, Uncategorized

>Nobody’s Listening!

>

Then Moses said,
“What if they will not believe me
or listen to what I say?
For they may say,
‘The LORD has not appeared to you.'”  
Exodus 4:1
How many times have you made this argument before God? “God, what if they laugh in my face? What if they think I’m crazy? What if they get angry? God, what is the point nobody is going to listen?”
Moses asks this question before God and this question comes right after God has told him in Exodus 3:18, “They will pay heed to what you say.” This word “heed” is shama in Hebrew, and it means to hear intelligently with attention and obedience. God had already told Moses that they would listen. Oh precious one, our God is patient with us and he has an answer for our what if’s.
God responds to Moses and asks “What is that in your hand?” (Exodus 4:2). God did not ask Moses to acquire some new resource. God used what Moses had in his hand when He called him. God meets us where we are and then He does His wonders.
God took the staff in Moses hand and turned it into a serpent before his eyes and then restored it to the staff. God took the hand of Moses and turned it leprous before his eyes and then restored it. These where two signs that God gave to Moses. They were simple yet powerful. God then gave Moses a third sign that He was to use if the children of Israel still did not believe. Moses took water from the Nile and poured it on the dry ground and God turned the water into blood.
As we read through the Scriptures we see over and over again how God does the most amazing things with very ordinary things. David slew a giant with a stone and slingshot (1 Samuel 17:50). Samson killed a thousand men with the jawbone of a donkey (Judges 15:15). Elisha split the waters of the Jordan with a cloak (2 King 2:14). God tells us in Zechariah 4:6 that it is not by might nor by power, but by His Spirit that mountains are changed into plains.
My friend, God loves taking the simple and the foolish and using it to confound those who think they are so strong and wise. Our victory in God’s call on our life is not according to our own natural ability. It is according to our faith in the supernatural ability of our God. 
It’s interesting to me that God gives Moses three signs. In Hebrews 2:4 we read that God testifies with those who are his “by signs and wonders and by various miracles.” God gave Moses a sign, a miracle, and a wonder to show to the Israelites that He did indeed come with a message from the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
I also find God’s words to Moses in Exodus 4:8 very interesting. God tells Moses “If they will not believe you or heed the witness of the first sign, they may believe the witness of the last sign.” Oh precious one, did you catch that, “they may believe”. God never guarantees us that everyone that He sends us to will believe. Their belief has nothing to do with our obedience.
So don’t let a handful of anger be held in your chest or keep stress in your head… because whatever pain you feel in your heart from the lack of listening from those you are trying to reach will not be in vain. You do have something to gain… you have everything to gain and absolutely nothing to fear. You have an example to follow, His name is Jesus.
Jesus came to this world and He performed signs and wonders and various miracles and yet so many still refused to believe. Romans 3:3 asks us “What then? If some did not believe, their unbelief will not nullify the faithfulness of God, will it?” Jesus did not turn away from His call or His mission simply because there were those who would not believe or listen to what He had to say. Our faithfulness to God should never be determined by the actions of others.
Oh Father,
How thankful I am that the unbelief of others did not stop the one who shared Your truth with me. I know that on this earth there will always be those who mock Your Word and refuse to believe, but they shall not stop my obedience to what I know You have called me to do. Your faithfulness is not nullified by unbelief and so neither shall mine be. Even if they will not believe. Even if they will not listen, I will stand firm. Father, help me to stand firm. Help me to be strong in my faith and steady in my walk, with my face set like flint and my eyes set on Christ.
My Jesus it is in Your name I pray,

Amen