Hello and welcome to the Middletown Baptist Church podcast,
where we are proclaiming the truth to the world.
In this podcast series, we're going to be looking into biblical
words that have great significance to our faith.
The name of this series is called the Word of the Week, where
once a week we will dive deeper into these words that we are
familiar with in scripture.
So come along with me.
Let's study the Word of the week.
Pastor Josh here with a special edition of the Word of the
Week.
We're studying the names of God, understanding what those names
of God mean for us as believers, and how we can understand
God's character through them.
And so this week, the name of God that we are studying is Jehovah
Nisi.
This name of God can be found in Exodus chapter 17, Exodus 17,
and that can actually be found in verse number 15.
And we see it's really the end of a battle.
Moses builds an altar and calls the name of the altar Jehovah
Nisi, which literally means God is my banner.
So we're gonna look at why God is Moses's banner and how God can
be our banner, what that even means.
And so to give some context to the story, Moses and the Israelites
are wandering through the a wilderness, and they come across
multiple enemies.
But one that they come across in this case would be the Amalekites.
And so verse 8 in Exodus 17 talk about how the Amalekites come
out to fight with Israel.
And Moses chooses Joshua as his commander.
And he tells Joshua to go out and get men and fight Amalek and
the Amalekites.
And Moses says that he's going to stand up on the hill and use the
rod that God gave him to hold it up in the air and hold the rod
up to God.
And he believes that holding the rod up to God will secure the
victory.
Um, and.
And he mentions.
I love how he mentions it.
In verse nine of Exodus 17, he says, the rod of God.
Not my rod, but the rod of God, he's gonna hold it in his hand.
And so Joshua goes and follows what Moses says and gets the men.
They go fight.
And as Moses is up on the hill holding up the rod of God, Aaron
and Hur are there with him.
And Moses, he's holding up his hand in the air, and his arms get
tired and they go down.
And the realization is, is that as the rod is in the air and
his hands are up in the air, there's victory.
When his hands go down, they begin to lose.
And.
And so Moses's hands get Heavier and heavier.
And ultimately Aaron and Hur hold up his hands.
And this was that great victory that God gave the Israelites
there against the Amalekites.
And so verse 13 tells us that Joshua and the army, they, they have
victory.
And verse 14, the Lord tells Moses to write in memorial in a book
and rehearse the victory in the ears of Joshua and in, in the
years of the people.
And so then we get to verse 15, our main thought today.
And Moses built an altar and named it Jehovah.
Nisi the God.
God is my banner.
Now what does it mean for God to be our banner?
Well, this, this has the understanding of, of a banner being
a, a thing of celebration, a symbol of victory.
And so the Lord is my banner is basically the Lord is my victory,
physical victory, spiritual victory.
And so as Moses lifted up that name of God, as God is my banner,
it's essentially saying, let's look to the Lord and give him honor,
and let's look to the Lord and give him our, our worship to celebrate
the victory that he has given us.
And so the, the armies of God won against the enemy.
And so all Moses is doing is giving the honor and glory to God.
And so what does it mean for, for God to be our banner today?
Well, just as Jehovah helped Moses at that time, Jehovah obviously
helps us, God helps us.
And so, so we know that when we have God working in our lives,
we should have a time and a place for remembrance.
We should remember what God has done for us, not only in the
circumstantial things that we go through every day, but ultimately
through the victory that we have in him in salvation.
And think about how many banners that we could lift up in
the concept of God giving us small victories and big victories
in our life.
The biggest banner that we can exalt for the cause of the gospel
is the salvation itself.
If you, if you go to, like, sometimes stadiums have banners that
are lifted up maybe the years that they won their championships
or maybe some, some players that they have remembered in their
history.
It's the same idea as, as those, those arenas, as they honor
their champion, so we are honoring our champion.
And so God is our champion.
And so banners are symbolic for victory.
And so God being our banner is God being our victory.
And so I think that the passage of scripture that comes to
mind for me would be Romans chapter 8 when we're talking about
the victory that we have in Christ.
And we know that In Romans chapter 8, towards the end of the
chapter, it speaks of this idea in verse 31 of what shall we
say then to say to these things?
If God before us, who can be against us?
He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us
all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?
So it's talking about God has given us his Son in Jesus Christ,
and in so doing, he's giving us everything that we've ever needed.
Verse 33.
Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect?
It is God that justifieth, who is he that condemneth.
It is Christ that died, yea, rather, that is risen again.
Who is even at the right hand of God who maketh intercession for
us?
Who?
This is an amazing question here, but I think the answer is even
more important.
Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?
Shall tribulation.
So should trials or distress or persecution or famine or nakedness
or peril or sword.
So the question here is posed.
It's.
It's a rhetorical question, because we know the answer.
Hope, hopefully we know the answer.
But the question is, is who can separate us from the love of
God?
What can separate us from the love of God?
To be pain, struggles, hopelessness, you know, the list
goes on and on there.
Violence.
Verse 36, it says, and it recognizes that we will face persecution
as.
As it is written, for thy sake we were.
We are killed all the day long.
We are counted as sheep for the slaughter.
But then here's the answer, and this is our victory.
He says, nay or no.
In all things and all these things, we are more than conquerors.
I love that phrase, more than conquerors.
Super conquerors is what it really means.
And so in all these things and all these struggles and all these
trials and difficulties that we might face in our life, we are
more than conquerors through Him, God that loved us.
And so it's because of God's love that we can have victory in
Him.
That's that idea of being victorious in the battle, being victorious
on the.
On the battlefield of life, the spiritual warfare that we face.
And so he goes on to say in verse 30, For I am persuaded that
neither death nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers,
nor things present, nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor
any other creature shall be able to separate us from the love
of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
And so the reason why we can say that God is our banner, the reason
why we can say that God is our victory is because we have victory
in Him.
We didn't Earn it.
We didn't fight the battle on our own.
It is God who fought the battle for us and we're on his side.
And that's what we can see past, present and future.
The past victory would be what Jesus did on the cross for us.
The current victory is the salvation that he is providing for
us.
And the future victory is ultimately our eternal destination
with him.
And God's, God's conquering power that he's going to extend to
the whole world.
And so the Lord is my banner is a testimony that we can have.
The Lord is my victory.
The Lord is my conqueror.
The Lord has given me the opportunity to be on his side and
therefore I can claim to be a super conqueror with Him.
Now, again, it's not prideful.
It's not saying I've done this work.
It's saying that God has done the work and I get to be a beneficiary.
We see that in Romans chapter 8.
It is the love of Christ that gives us that opportunity, is the
access that we have through Him.
And so I love that name, Jehovah Nisi that God is my banner.
And so when Moses built the altar and called it the Lord is My
Banner, he's creating a place of remembrance, he's creating a place
of celebration, specifically of that victory.
He's expressing worship and thanks to God.
And so he's making ultimately a testimony.
He's declaring that God is the one who gave him the victory.
And so any follower of Jesus today, any believer, any, any person
who is saved by God's grace can share in that same victory because
of Jesus Christ.
And so we can say, the Lord is my banner and, and God is our salvation.
God is our victory.
There's that classic song, Victory in Jesus.
And it is, it is an amazing testimony to know that our victory
is in what Christ has done for us, us.
And so we can celebrate who God is and what he has done.
And all of us can.
It doesn't have to be just those that are in certain places
of ministry.
It's not just those people that have gone through physical battle,
even though that could be an element of God's provision.
But it's all those that have trusted in Jesus because that brings
us the hope of victory, that brings us the hope of our eternal
life with Him.
And So Romans chapter 8 ties right together with that in Exodus
chapter 17, that God is our banner.
And so you can think about it this way.
God is.
Faith is the victory, victory in Jesus.
And so we all like to win, right?
And some People say win at all costs, depending on what sports team
you follow and what your preference is on that regard.
You know that some people have more victories than other others
on their side.
But there's only one victory that ultimately matters, and that
is the victory that God has extended in this world and given
to us and that we could be beneficiaries of.
And so Jehovah Nisi God is my banner.
God is My victory.
And so you can claim that today, if you're a believer in Jesus
Christ, you can claim that victory for yourself.
And then the challenge would be to live in that victory, to live
in the confidence and knowing that the same God who's extended
eternal life to you is the same God who's working through every
element of your life.
And you can trust in him and that you can rely on him and that
you can believe and trust in his truth.
And so that's really what the word of God is.
It's his truth.
And he extends that truth to us to not only believe, but to live
in light of in everyday matters, whether it be our workplace,
whether it be our home life, whether it be our thought life, whatever
it might be, we can rely on His Word to guide us.
And so therefore, to believe in the victory of God is to believe
in his work and in His Word.
And do we believe in his work?
I hope you do.
Because if you believe in his work, that's believing that Jesus
died on the cross for your sins and that he can forgive you
of your sins and that he can grant you eternal life in heaven
with Him.
But do you believe in His Word?
His Word is the Word of God.
The Scriptures, Bible, from Genesis to Revelation, we see that
the Word of God is given to us.
It's inspired, it's God breathed.
And so that's an exciting element of our life, is that we can
directly hear from God through His Word and therefore we can walk
in his ways to the best of our ability when it comes to submitting
to him and obeying His Word and believing His Word and living
His Word.
So that is our victory.
Today we have the victory in Jesus.
Well, I hope that this has been a helpful study for you when
we're looking at these names of God.
Next week we'll be back and we will be looking at another name of
God.
And I hope that it'll be a beneficial study for you as you grow
in your understanding of who God is and what he has done for you.
Well, take care.
Hope you have a wonderful week.
We will talk to you next time.
Here on the Middletown Baptist Church podcast.
Hey, I really appreciate that you listen to the Word of the Week
podcast.
If you have any questions about the podcast or about our church,
Middletown Baptist Church, you can find more information about us
on Facebook or YouTube.
Or you can find the podcast on NBCPodcast.org you can contact me
directly at Josh Massaro at Middletown Baptist Church Stay tuned
for future Word of the Week episodes where we dive deeper into
words that impact our life according to scripture.
Thank you so much.
God Bless.
We'll talk to you soon.