God's Glory & Banner

By Pam Burton

In the Bible we learn that the Lord has many names for Himself that reveal His character. One of the names of the Lord is Jehovah-Nissi which means “the Lord our Banner”. We can find the reference for this in Exodus 17:15 “and Moses built an altar, and named it the Lord is My Banner”.

The context for this verse is a battle in which Israel fought and prevailed against Amalek while Moses held up his hands.

Jehovah-Nissi, which means the Lord our Banner, is speaking of God on the battlefield from the word which means “to glisten” or to “lift up.” Psalm 4:6b exclaims, “lift up the light of Thy countenance upon us, O Lord!”

And isn’t this what we desire that the Lord would be the God who goes before us on the battlefield and that His name would glisten and be lifted up and that His countenance would shine upon us?

Number 6:24 through 26 is known as a doxology (an expression of praise to God) and we’ve heard it, I’m sure, many times: “the Lord bless you, and keep you; the Lord make His face shine on you, and be gracious to you; the Lord lift up His countenance on you, and give you peace.” Another corresponding verse with the same theme is Psalm 80:3, 7, 19 which, to me, is almost like a musical score with a crescendo from one verse to the next.

Verse 3:”O God, restore us, and cause Thy face to shine upon us, and we will be saved.”

Verse 7 adds:” O God of hosts, Restore us, and cause Thy face to shine upon us, and we will be saved.”

Then at the climax, in verse 19, it states, "O Lord God of hosts, Restore us, and cause Thy face to shine upon us, and we will be saved.”

The Lord our Banner (Jehovah-Nissi) denotes that God is the One who goes before us in the battle and we are to lift up the standard of the banner of the Lord and let His name glisten and be glorified. When we think of lifting up the banner, which is also like a standard, we think of God‘s holiness and how we are to stand out in the world and not compromise. Reflecting on God’s glory and the banners in our chapter; the two thoughts seemed to come together. We are to be the salt of the earth that Jesus speaks of in Matthew 5:13 “you are the salt of the earth; but if the salt has become tasteless, how will it be made salty again? It is good for nothing anymore, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men.”

Salt is known for having four different qualities.

Salt is used to flavor or season and it is used to preserve as well as clean and heal wounds and also create thirst.

So when Jesus says that we are to be the salt of the earth this is how we are to be to unbelievers: we give flavor and season, we preserve, we clean and heal wounds and we create thirst.

May the Lord give us the strength we need to continue to fight the good fight of faith.