Ex 17:15, And Moses built an altar, and named it The Lord is My Banner…
	It is very appropriate that we have this passage after the battle with Amalek during which Moses held forth the staff of God unto victory for the nation of Israel. When the battle was won by the Lord, Moses built an altar and named it Jehovah-nissi, The Lord is my banner. 
	Initially, this was to be a single week consideration. However, as I began earnest study of this seemingly simply passage, I was overwhelmed at the very core of this name of God, given to us in the scripture. We should never be in a hurry when it comes to the Character and Nature of God that He gives us in His Word. We must not just quickly think that we have a basic understanding that will serve us well for a day or a week until the next time that we gather together. Every name given by God to us in His Word is significant and worthy of time and deliberation and effort to seek out why He is so named. 
	We will approach this name, Jehovah-nissi, through a variety of quotations as well as through other passages which highlight the fact that His standard, His banner, is planted by Him for us to respond and to gather unto Him. The essence of Moses’ declaration rests in the truth that it was God Who gave the Israelites the victory in this, their very first battle as a nation. 
It was not their superior battle tactics, since they didn’t have any. It was not their superior training, since they were completely ill-equipped and ill trained for fighting. It was not their endurance and energy, as they were continually being pushed back whenever Moses’ arms and energy lagged. It was not their superior battle position on the field, as according to a vast number of authorities, the Children of Israel was attacked from the rear where the women and children were stationed. The only thing they had on their side was the Lord and He was all they needed to utterly defeat this enemy.
	Therefore, Moses built the altar and named it Jehovah-nissi. It was under the victorious covering of the Lord that the battle was won. Moses wanted all the Children of Israel to recognize that truth. The banner was the ensign or the flag under which the nation fought. It was not under the individual tribal flags or the flag of Joshua or the flag of Moses. It was the symbolic standard of God that flew mightily over the nation for all to see. 
For those who may not realize it, the banner, or the standard, or the flag was necessary so that the soldiers, in the midst of the fray with all the dust and fog of war, would know where their leader was and where to rally and proceed forth. There is so much confusion and disarray and chaos on the field of battle that the troops needed that standard to know exactly where they were in relation to which direction to head for victory. 
When the banner was extended high and aloft, victory was extremely feasible and imminent. When the banner was cast down and no longer visible, it was a sign that things were not going well, and oft times the troops would break and flee the battlefield. That is why it was imperative to hold forth the flag to be identified as the rally point for those fighting under its colors. 
Some sense of this is given in our first quotation by A. Nevin in the Biblical Illustrator. Quote, Jehovah-nissi: -- Jehovah my banner. We acknowledge and honour Him as such four ways.
1. By voluntarily and inflexibly adhering to Him as our Leader and Commander.
2. By confessing Him the author of every success with which we have been crowned.
3. By our courageously trusting in Him to enable us to overcome in every future conflict.
4. By looking to Him for the remuneration of victory at last. As Jehovah's banner floated over the triumphant host…so should the assurance of victory be as complete as the sense of forgiveness, seeing both alike are founded upon the great fact that Jesus died and rose again. End Quote. (from The Biblical Illustrator Copyright © 2002, 2003, 2006 Ages Software, Inc. and Biblesoft, Inc.)
We are covered by the reality that the Lord is our banner. We are gathered unto Him, beneath the victorious ensign of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. With the victory in place, the enemy’s forces are skirmishing and harassing, but with the futility of those who have no possibility or even hope of overcoming the Omnipotence of God’s grace and mercy and love and salvation. 
Being under His glorious banner, we need to recognize the awesome power and majesty of God and give Him homage and fealty in complete service. He is our Leader, Our Commander, Our Lord, and Our King. It is by His power that the war has been won and we have been redeemed. The remaining skirmishes ahead of us, as we face the death throes of the power of this age, are assured. It is our trust and our faith in Him which needs to be further established and maintained each moment of each day of our walk on this earth. To do this, we must keep our eyes on Jesus, Our Lord, and Our Savior, and Our Victory. 
 The Psalmist gives this great hope and exclamation in the evident power of the Lord God as Jehovah-nissi as detailed in Ps 20:5-8. Ps 20:5-8. We will sing for joy over your victory, And in the name of our God we will set up our banners. May the Lord fulfill all your petitions. Now I know that the Lord saves His anointed; He will answer him from His holy heaven, With the saving strength of His right hand. Some boast in chariots, and some in horses; But we will boast in the name of the Lord, our God. They have bowed down and fallen; But we have risen and stood upright. 
	We live in the knowledge of the fact that God saves His anointed. This is the realty that we recognize as we proclaim, through the victorious manner in which we live our lives, that Jesus Christ is alive, raised from the dead! Death no more has dominion over Him or over us because we are now covered by His awesome triumph. We are raised up with Him, praising His splendid and awe-inspiring and overwhelming name. 
In this truth, we now go forth into this realm to face every obstacle, every trial, every circumstance, and every situation with the full knowledge that we belong to the Glorious One. Yes, we have great struggles as our residue of the old nature is being cleansed from us. But we also celebrate and rejoice in the full measure of God’s working power in our lives. 
Again, the Psalmist’s declaration of the fact that God works mightily and fully in the lives of His people for the ultimate purpose of showing forth His gracious salvation is expressed in Ps 60:3-5. Ps 60:3-5. Thou hast made Thy people experience hardship; Thou hast given us wine to drink that makes us stagger. Thou hast given a banner to those who fear Thee, That it may be displayed because of the truth. Selah. That Thy beloved may be delivered, Save with Thy right hand, and answer us! 
The truth is the Person of Jesus Christ by Whom everything comes into the proper relationship of eternal perfection. What God is accomplishing through the fiery trials and dilemmas and hard times and bitter wine is to make us those trained and sturdy spiritual warriors who can stand firm in the full armor of God against all the wiles and snares of the enemy. We are brought face-to-face with our inability in order to learn to utterly rely fully upon God’s might and God’s wisdom and God’s understanding and God’s perfection. That is what is found under the banner of the Lord. 
R. Newton, in The Biblical Illustrator, gives us a marvelously detailed description of Jehovah-nissi in the following, lengthy extract. Quote, The Lord my banner: -
…In the first place, this covenant banner is a wonderful banner when looked at with reference to its ANTIQUITY. It is very easy indeed to tell, for ourselves individually, when we were first made acquainted with this banner. With some it was in the lessons of earliest childhood. With others, it was later on in life, when our knowledge of it began. When this banner was first unfurled, for any of our race to gaze upon, it is easy enough to tell. We go back to the garden of Eden. But this is only the date of its first unfolding. The design of it was not first formed then. To get at this, we must go back far, far beyond that distant date. That takes us indeed to the farthest shores of time. Standing there we gaze upon the ocean that lies before us. It is the shoreless ocean of an unmeasured eternity. Far back in its hidden depths the design of this banner was formed.
…But now, let us take another look at this banner, and we shall see that it is not less wonderful in its MATERIAL than in its antiquity. The material of which our flags or banners are ordinarily composed is a coarse woolen substance known as bunting. True, we sometimes see banners made of more costly materials, as silk or satin. And gold and silver, and gems and jewels, are not infrequently employed to enrich and adorn the material employed in making the banner. These things, of course, very greatly enhance the value of the banners on which they are employed. But when we speak of the Lord as our banner, and think of His revealed truth as the material of which this banner is composed, and then contrast it with the material of which our ordinary banners are made, how unspeakable the difference! Jehovah-nissi -- the Lord my banner. All the names, or titles, or symbols applied to God in Scripture, are the elements of truth that make Him known. And so it is when He is spoken of as the covenant banner, unfurled over His people. The folds of this banner are woven out of the truth of His blessed word -- "the truth as it is in Jesus." This constitutes the material of which this banner is composed.
…It is a wonderful banner…when considered with reference to its INFLUENCE on the hearts and lives of men. Doubtless the flag of every nation has a history, in this respect, that would be deeply interesting if the incidents connected with it could be collected and written out. But who can tell how many hearts have been stirred, and how many enterprises of great pith and moment have been started, and led on to successful issues, by the influence of this blessed banner? Every motto emblazoned on its waving folds, or, in other words, every passage of saving truth within the leaves of the Bible, has a history of its own. How wanderers have been reclaimed! -- how slumbering consciences have been aroused! -- how anxious inquiries have been directed! -- how depraved hearts have been renewed! -- how sorrowing spirits have been comforted!-- how listless energies have been quickened and consecrated! -- how useless lives have been ennobled and lost souls have been saved, through the influence of the mottoes on this banner -- or of particular passages of God's Word -- who can tell!
…And then, lastly, this is a wonderful banner in view of its DURABILITY. This is a quality which cannot be imparted to our national banners. The materials of which they are made is frail -- and subject to decay. But how different it is with the banner of the covenant of our salvation! This is something which the hand of violence cannot rend. Time, with his effacing finger, can make no impression upon it. End Quote. (from The Biblical Illustrator Copyright © 2002, 2003, 2006 Ages Software, Inc. and Biblesoft, Inc.)    
	This detailed comparison to the banners of humanity over history highlights just how full and glorious is the fact that God is Our Banner. His Eternal Nature, His essence of Holiness and Truth and Justice, His Omniscience, Omnipotence, and Omnipresence, His Majestic and Everlasting Sovereignty, all comprise the gloriousness of what is lavished upon those who are gathered together unto Him, our Banner.
	This is detailed for us in the Song of Solomon, in a passage that we used to sing frequently. Song 2:3-6. Song 2:3-6. "Like an apple tree among the trees of the forest, So is my beloved among the young men. In his shade I took great delight and sat down, And his fruit was sweet to my taste. "He has brought me to his banquet hall, And his banner over me is love. "Sustain me with raisin cakes, Refresh me with apples, Because I am lovesick. "Let his left hand be under my head And his right hand embrace me." 
	The measure of the full richness of the love of God for you and me is detailed in this lavish setting within the scene of this peace-filled and relaxed and pleasant descriptive poetry. There is a full sense of shade and comfort and calmness from the tribulations and conflicts of the battlefield. Under God’s banner of Truth and Victory, there is delight and sweetness and satisfaction, and refreshment in His loving embrace. There is no pain or sorrow or tears or fears or stress in this description of being under His banner of love, settled into the sumptuousness of all that God has given us in Jesus Christ. This is the result of why we are to cherish and obey and stand eternally in the personal reality of Jehovah-nissi, The Lord my banner. We will look at this in greater detail, next time, Lord willing. So be it!
And Moses built an altar, and named it The Lord is My Banner… Amen.

	This morning’s benediction is Ps 67:1. God be gracious to us and bless us, And cause His face to shine upon us — Selah. Amen.