Jehovah Nissi

The Lord is my banner

The name Jehovah Nissi comes from two root names. “Jehovah” which means “the self existent one.” “Nissi” means “banner, raised up, exalted.” The full translation of the name with both names together means “the Lord is my banner.” This name for God is only found once in the entire Bible and was used in Exodus 17.

What does a banner do?

A banner is used to rally the troops, bestow honor, declare who is represented, calls attention to, heralds an event, unifies the company, proclaims victory, and puts flight to enemies. It goes before us, and over us.

When we say the lord is my banner what are we saying? Let’s look at the text it originally came from.

Exo 17:8 Then Amalek came and fought with Israel at Rephidim.
Exo 17:9 So Moses said to Joshua, "Choose for us men, and go out and fight with Amalek. Tomorrow I will stand on the top of the hill with the staff of God in my hand."
Exo 17:10 So Joshua did as Moses told him, and fought with Amalek, while Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill.
Exo 17:11 Whenever Moses held up his hand, Israel prevailed, and whenever he lowered his hand, Amalek prevailed.
Exo 17:12 But Moses' hands grew weary, so they took a stone and put it under him, and he sat on it, while Aaron and Hur held up his hands, one on one side, and the other on the other side. So his hands were steady until the going down of the sun.
Exo 17:13 And Joshua overwhelmed Amalek and his people with the sword.
Exo 17:14 Then the LORD said to Moses, "Write this as a memorial in a book and recite it in the ears of Joshua, that I will utterly blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven."
Exo 17:15 And Moses built an altar and called the name of it, The LORD Is My Banner,
Exo 17:16 saying, "A hand upon the throne of the LORD! The LORD will have war with Amalek from generation to generation."

This is a powerful scripture of victory and promise. This is the first battle Israel fought after the exodus out of their enslavement to the Egyptians and is right before they would receive the 10 commandments and the law. It is also the first scripture where God tells someone to record an event.

Why did Moses call the Lord this name through an alter?

The important thing here is that this is their first victory as a nation. They may have run from the Egyptians and succeeded but there was no empowerment from God in that. God completely, without the use of anyone, destroyed the Egyptian army. This time was different. God used his people for victory over the enemy. He used them to have victory over something attacking them.

Moses understood that with God, victory was theirs. He was reassured God’s promises are true. More than that though, I think Moses is telling God on behalf of Israel, “I will have you lead us in every battle and in every circumstance that we are going to face. You are our banner. Go before us. Cover us. We trust in you.” This deep understanding would aid Moses and Joshua for the rest of their days while leading Israel.

Here is the issue for us. We need to raise the banner of Christ to go before us and cover us in everything that we do. Are you doing this? Are you humbling yourself before him, raising a banner, and having him go before you in anything that you do? We are not fighting a physical war like Israel did, but we are fighting to have our lives completely given to and saturated with Christ.

Raising a banner for us, most of the time, applies to our decision making. Look at this scripture.

Jas 4:13 Come now, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit"--
Jas 4:14 yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes.
Jas 4:15 Instead you ought to say, "If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that."
Jas 4:16 As it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil.
Jas 4:17 So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.

Simple decision making and simple planning. Are you raising the banner of God before you do these things?  Do you come before God and have him lead you in all that you do. Before you buy a car, before you decide to go to this church, before you decide to move, before you plan a vacation, are you trusting in God as your banner to go before for you before you do all these things? Are you seeking him to find the answer? Are you allowing his will to have an impact on these decisions?

We don’t have an issue raising him up when there is trouble attacking us, but are we raising him up in everything?