“And Moses built an altar and called the name of it, ‘The Lord is my
Banner,’ saying ‘A hand upon the throne of the Lord! The Lord will have war with Amalek from
generation to generation.” – Exodus 17:15-16 (ESV).
The Great I Am told Moses, “I am
the Lord, your banner.” This occurred
just after a terrible battle the Israelites had with the Amalekites, a very
warlike tribe of people who attacked the Israelites at Rephidim shortly after
their exodus from Egypt. Amalek was the
grandson of Esau, the son of his son Eliphaz and the concubine Timna (Genesis
36:12). The Amalekites dwelt in the
desolate wasteland of the northeast Sinai peninsula. The first battle was won when Moses held up
his hand with the rod of God in it. If
he tired and lowered his hand, the battle favored the Amalekites. Then Aaron and Hur came to Moses’ assistance,
holding up his hand for him. Joshua was
able to rout the Amalekites and win the battle.
These warlike people were actually kinsmen of the Israelites,
descendants of Esau, brother of Jacob, whom Jacob had tricked in order to
receive Isaac’s blessing and the birthright intended as Esau’s as firstborn of
the two sons. And here, as kinsmen
(although they may not have known fully the descendency lines), the Amalekites
chose to fight the Israelites and try to keep them from settling in the
land. Joshua, mighty warrior, with God’s
help, won the victory. But the
Amalekites were not through harassing the Israelites. After Israel settled in Canaan, war with the
Amalekites continued. God commanded the
first king of Israel, Saul, to completely rid the land of the Amalekites. When Saul did not obey God, he lost his life
at their hands (see I Samuel 15). They
kept harassing the Israelites until the eighth century B. C. (see I Chronicles
4:43). It is interesting that in all the
archaeological explorations in that area of the Holy Land, no artifacts have
been found of the Amalekite tribe. In
the “Great I Am as the Banner” that went into battle for the Israelites, it was
a sign that God was with them. It was
used, both figuratively and with a specially-made flag on a staff to indicate
God’s presence. When Israel left Sinai
to march into Canaan, they marched under the flags (banners) of four of the
tribes, Judah, Reuben, Epharim and Dan (see Numbers 10). Much later, when Babylon threatened Israel,
the prophet Isaiah made this rallying cry:
“On a bare hill raise a signal;
cry aloud to them” (Isa. 13:2).
How many of us have thrilled to
the strains of “The Star Spangled Banner”?
During the War of 1812, after an especially hard battle, Francis Scott
Key looked out early one morning upon Fort McHenry and saw the U. S. flag still
waving. To him it was a symbol that God
had spared the U. S. forces. The flag
was still flying and the battle had been won.
Key’s words speak of God as our banner:
“Blest with vict’ry and peace/may the heav’n-rescued land/Praise the
Pow’r that hath made/and preserved us a nation!/Then conquer we must,/when our
cause it is just;/And this be our motto:
‘In God is our trust!”
But there is a requirement for
God to be our banner. Frances Scott Key
expressed it, and Moses and the great leaders of the past emphasized it: “God our Banner—‘In God is our trust!” If we forget this major tenet and fail to put
our trust in God, then His banner will not go before us to herald victory nor
will it fly in triumph over won battles.
Oh, America, return, return to God!
We need to say again, and mean it from the depths of our hearts, “In God
we trust!” Only then will His banner
distinguish us as a called-out, God-destined nation. “Yahweh Nissi”—God our Banner, will help us
fight our battles, both personal and corporate, and win the victory. But we must first acknowledge that God is in
charge and we are soldiers in the Lord’s army, as our childhood song taught us
to be. May our faith increase, as well
as our assurance that God wants us to be victorious over sin and evil and over
those who dishonor His name-- “God our
Banner”!
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