engracedmike
Memorise: Plead my cause, O LORD, with them that strive with me: fight against them that fight against me. Psalm 35:1
Read: Exodus 17:8-16 (KJV)
17:8 Then came Amalek, and fought with Israel in Rephidim.
17:9 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.
17:10 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.
17:11 And it came to pass, when Moses held up his hand, that Israel prevailed: and when he let down his hand, Amalek prevailed.
17:12 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.
17:13 And Joshua discomfited Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword.
17:14 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.
17:15 And Moses built an altar, and called the name of it Jehovahnissi:
17:16 For he said, Because the Lord hath sworn that the Lord will have war with Amalek from generation to generation.
MESSAGE
Jehovah Nissi is the third revealed compound Name of God, meaning “The Lord is my Banner”. It was the Name Moses gave the altar he built following Israel’s victory over Amalek in Exodus 17:15. The word “nissi” means banner, standard or flag.
A banner is the rallying point for warriors in the time of battle. Moses named the altar “the Lord is my banner” to acknowledge God’s active role in fighting for the nation of Israel, and at the same time, to testify to God’s continued war against the people of Amelek from generation to generation (Exodus 17:16). This altar stood as a witness to the whole world that the God of Israel was behind the victory over the Amalekites. You may recall that this battle with Amalek took place under the upraised hands of Moses, holding the rod of God. Moses therefore named the alter Jehovah Nissi with the consciousness of the role that God played in the battle. Starting from today, the hand of God will be so evident against all your enemies and detractors that you will begin to sing “The Lord is my Banner” in Jesus’ Name.
It is amazing to note that the ordinary rod that Moses used in his years as a shepherd had become the rod of God in today’s Bible reading. This shows that anything we surrender to God or commit into His hands in support of His kingdom is made to pass through an unseen divine transformation over time. I therefore pray that as you submit yourself under the mighty hand of God today, He will transform you and your natural gifts into supernatural objects and vessels of honour to achieve great and mighty things for His Name in Jesus’ Name. It is important to note that Amalek came out of the blues and decided to wage war against Israel without any provocation.
This provoked the anger of God against them, so much so that He promised to completely wipe out the memory of Amalek from the face of the earth (Exodus 17:14). Therefore, I decree by the word of the Lord that Jehovah Nissi will raise His standard against anyone who is angry with you and plotting evil against you without cause, or fighting against you without any provocation, and they will be completely destroyed in the mighty Name of Jesus. The story in our Bible reading is more like a blueprint of how God’s children should deal with anyone or anything that is identified as an enemy of God’s kingdom. The strategic tools deployed here include fervent prayers, knowledge of God’s word, the advocacy of Jesus, the rod of divine judgement, and believers’ unity. We should learn to deploy these tools to spur Jehovah Nissi into action against the enemy on our behalf.
