WEBVTT 00:00:04.879 --> 00:00:06.959 Today we're gonna be learning about Jehovahese. 00:00:06.959 --> 00:00:10.400 And when my dad asks me, Do you want to talk about Jehovanese? 00:00:10.400 --> 00:00:13.199 I said, I don't even know what that means. 00:00:13.199 --> 00:00:19.679 But I'm kind of hoping y'all don't know really what that means either, because then it's an easier place for me to start. 00:00:19.679 --> 00:00:24.879 So we're gonna be looking in Exodus 17 for our story today. 00:00:24.879 --> 00:00:28.960 This is the only time in the Bible that the name Jehovanese is used. 00:00:28.960 --> 00:00:30.960 So we're gonna be in here a lot. 00:00:30.960 --> 00:00:35.600 Um, and just to give y'all some quick context of where we're at. 00:00:35.600 --> 00:00:38.320 So the Israelites are in the desert. 00:00:38.320 --> 00:00:41.280 They are in the beginning of their wandering. 00:00:41.280 --> 00:00:45.840 So they are being led by the pillar of cloud and the pillar of fire. 00:00:45.840 --> 00:00:49.200 And manna has just come from heaven. 00:00:49.200 --> 00:01:06.719 And but what they do not have in the desert is water, which is a significant problem, obviously, but it's also specifically for the Israelites because they are also shepherds and they don't have anything for their flocks, which is their livelihood as well. 00:01:06.719 --> 00:01:10.879 And so the people start to get restless and afraid. 00:01:10.879 --> 00:01:14.640 And the first thing that they do out of that is they start quarreling. 00:01:14.640 --> 00:01:18.000 They start quarreling with Moses, saying, Give us water to drink. 00:01:18.000 --> 00:01:21.200 And Moses says, Why are you so mad at me? 00:01:21.200 --> 00:01:22.640 Ask God about it. 00:01:22.640 --> 00:01:23.840 And what am I supposed to do? 00:01:23.840 --> 00:01:26.000 He says, Why do you test the Lord? 00:01:26.000 --> 00:01:29.120 Moses like, Have you not seen all the things that the Lord has done? 00:01:29.120 --> 00:01:33.760 How are we not more on the same page in real in relying on the Lord at this point? 00:01:33.760 --> 00:01:44.719 But the people thirsted there for the water, and the people grumbled again against Moses and said, Why did you bring us out of Egypt to kill us and our children and our livestock with thirst? 00:01:44.719 --> 00:01:47.120 And so Moses cries out to the Lord. 00:01:47.120 --> 00:01:55.760 Which this is one of the things that Moses does the best in scripture is Moses takes all of his problems, he takes it from the people, and he goes straight to the Lord with them. 00:01:55.760 --> 00:02:06.239 So he takes this problem to the Lord, the Lord tells him exactly what to do, to go out and to strike a rock with his rod, and that the Lord would provide the water. 00:02:06.239 --> 00:02:24.960 And so the Moses goes all about this, and they name the place of the rock Masa and Meribah, which means fighting and quarreling, because they tested the Lord by ask by saying, Is the Lord among us or not? 00:02:24.960 --> 00:02:27.520 I think we've all been there, right? 00:02:27.520 --> 00:02:32.080 We've all had a moment in our lives where we've said, Is the Lord really among me? 00:02:32.080 --> 00:02:34.560 Is the Lord really for me or not? 00:02:34.560 --> 00:02:41.280 And so, right out of that question, that's the big question that the Israelites are asking in this time frame. 00:02:41.280 --> 00:02:49.120 And so then we go in, the Israelites are there, and what happens is Amalek comes and attacks the Israelites. 00:02:49.120 --> 00:03:00.319 And we see in Deuteronomy, when he talks about it, um, Amalek comes from behind without being provoked and attacks them from behind with while they are faint and weary. 00:03:00.319 --> 00:03:05.520 Now the Israelites have not fought together because God took care of the Egyptian army. 00:03:05.520 --> 00:03:14.479 And so this people has been in captivity and in slavery for 400 years, and then the Lord has fought every battle for them, and then they are attacked from behind. 00:03:14.479 --> 00:03:17.360 And the Lord does not take kindly to that. 00:03:17.360 --> 00:03:27.840 So, verse 8 says, Then Amalek came and fought with Israel at Rephidim, and Moses said to Joshua, Choose for us men and go out and fight with Amalek. 00:03:27.840 --> 00:03:32.319 Tomorrow I will stand on the top of the hill with the staff of God in my hand. 00:03:32.319 --> 00:03:38.800 So Joshua did as Moses told him and fought with Amalek, while Moses, Aaron, and her went up to the top of the hill. 00:03:38.800 --> 00:03:45.759 Whenever Moses held up his hand, Israel prevailed, and whenever he lowered his hand, Amalek prevailed. 00:03:45.759 --> 00:03:47.919 But Moses' hands grew weary. 00:03:47.919 --> 00:03:55.840 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. 00:03:55.840 --> 00:03:58.879 So his hands were steady until the going down of the sun. 00:03:58.879 --> 00:04:02.400 And Joshua overwhelmed Amalek and his people with the sword. 00:04:02.400 --> 00:04:13.520 Then the Lord said to Moses, Write this as a memorial and a book, and recite it in the ears of Joshua, that I will utterly blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven. 00:04:13.520 --> 00:04:27.920 And Moses built an altar and called the name of it, The Lord is my banner, Jehovah Nisi, saying, A hand upon the throne of the Lord, the Lord will have war with Amalek from generation to generation. 00:04:27.920 --> 00:04:36.959 So we looking back in the story, we see Moses deciding to send Joshua. 00:04:36.959 --> 00:04:39.920 He's not the one who's saying, I'm gonna lead this charge. 00:04:39.920 --> 00:04:40.240 Right? 00:04:40.240 --> 00:04:45.600 He picks Joshua, he sends him out, and he goes up onto this hill really to intercede. 00:04:45.600 --> 00:04:50.160 And as he holds up his hands, holding up his hand is the Israelite posture of prayer. 00:04:50.160 --> 00:04:58.480 So he's holding up his hands, and Moses is learning how to lead with prayer and how to let someone else lead in the thick of battle. 00:04:58.480 --> 00:05:00.000 That's hard. 00:05:00.000 --> 00:05:05.040 I think it's a lot easier for us to go and want to be the ones in the thick of it. 00:05:05.040 --> 00:05:16.000 And instead, sometimes it's best to say, you know what, I'm gonna stand back and I'm gonna do what I am called to and I'm going to intercede and trust that the Lord will be the one to tip the scale in my favor. 00:05:16.000 --> 00:05:22.480 And on the other hand, Joshua and the other men, they don't have this bird's eye view of what's happening. 00:05:22.480 --> 00:05:26.160 They don't know that there's this magical rod that's being held up that is making them win the battle. 00:05:26.160 --> 00:05:28.240 They're a little busy right now. 00:05:28.240 --> 00:05:35.040 And so sometimes when we're in the thick of it, we can't see the Lord turning this, tipping the scale in our favor. 00:05:35.040 --> 00:05:38.079 You know, we have to be faithful with what's before us. 00:05:38.079 --> 00:05:42.800 Joshua still had to fight, even though prayer turned the tide of the battle. 00:05:42.800 --> 00:05:47.279 So Moses and the Israelites as a whole are learning how they need one another. 00:05:47.279 --> 00:05:50.079 Each of them has a part to play in this story. 00:05:50.079 --> 00:05:55.600 We are not called to bear the full weight of intercession or of battle alone. 00:05:55.600 --> 00:06:03.360 And so, in this picture of Moses holding up his hands, we can see a picture of Jesus. 00:06:03.360 --> 00:06:14.240 Because Jesus also was a man on a hillside with his arms stretched wide, with a man on his right and a man on his left. 00:06:14.240 --> 00:06:21.279 And as he as he took the pain of sin and he won the battle for us. 00:06:21.279 --> 00:06:28.319 Amalek in this story is a picture of true evil, a lack of fearing the Lord, and of sneaky unrighteousness. 00:06:28.319 --> 00:06:33.759 Eventually, the failure to root him out completely is what costs King Saul his throne. 00:06:33.759 --> 00:06:41.680 But the Lord is faithful to his promises, and one day he will utterly blot out the memory of the evil one from under heaven. 00:06:41.680 --> 00:06:50.560 Verse 15 says, Moses built an altar and called the name of it the Lord is my banner, saying a hand upon the throne of the Lord. 00:06:50.560 --> 00:06:54.000 The Lord will have war with Amalek from generation to generation. 00:06:54.000 --> 00:07:01.040 A banner is not something that is given out freely. 00:07:01.040 --> 00:07:03.360 A banner is something that is victorious. 00:07:03.360 --> 00:07:05.199 Banners are for winners. 00:07:05.199 --> 00:07:08.480 And so this is something, a banner is a flag. 00:07:08.480 --> 00:07:10.480 We think about a banner, we can think about a flag. 00:07:10.480 --> 00:07:16.000 It is something you fight under, it is something that identifies who you are in a people group. 00:07:16.000 --> 00:07:18.800 A banner is our identity. 00:07:18.800 --> 00:07:22.240 So the Lord banners our identity. 00:07:22.240 --> 00:07:25.759 Throughout the Israelites' time in the wilderness, family banners were used to keep order. 00:07:25.759 --> 00:07:27.199 We see this in Numbers 2. 00:07:27.199 --> 00:07:31.120 When the Israelites set up camp, each tribe will be assigned to its own area. 00:07:31.120 --> 00:07:37.920 The tribal divisions will camp beneath their family banners on all four sides of the tabernacle, but at some distance from it. 00:07:37.920 --> 00:07:45.360 The Lord is proving himself to be the thing and the person that connects this group of people. 00:07:45.360 --> 00:07:47.120 He is teaching them who they are. 00:07:47.120 --> 00:07:51.680 They haven't had an identity as a people outside of being slaves for a long time. 00:07:51.680 --> 00:07:53.920 And so they need to figure out what does it mean? 00:07:53.920 --> 00:07:55.839 Is the Lord really among us? 00:07:55.839 --> 00:07:57.360 Is the Lord really for us? 00:07:57.360 --> 00:07:59.199 Is he going to be who he says he is? 00:07:59.199 --> 00:08:00.480 And who is this God? 00:08:00.480 --> 00:08:03.839 Like you said, these names of God, these are the first few things. 00:08:03.839 --> 00:08:07.199 These are the things that the Lord is choosing to reveal to this people. 00:08:07.199 --> 00:08:09.439 And that matters to us today. 00:08:09.439 --> 00:08:13.120 Because the Lord is the same yesterday, today, and forever. 00:08:13.120 --> 00:08:16.480 So our banner is an identifying piece. 00:08:16.480 --> 00:08:20.160 When I know whose banner I'm under, I know who I am. 00:08:20.160 --> 00:08:28.240 Because I know who I'm serving and I know what that banner stands for, what that standard of righteousness is. 00:08:28.240 --> 00:08:31.839 In the Song of Songs, it says that his banner over us is love. 00:08:31.839 --> 00:08:38.559 And in the same way, as we operate under the Lord our banner, believers are to be known by our love for one another. 00:08:38.559 --> 00:08:41.840 Our banner is who we are, it's our identity. 00:08:41.840 --> 00:08:44.399 The Lord, our banner, is our covering. 00:08:44.399 --> 00:08:50.080 Not only does it give us allegiance, it gave the Israelites allegiance and buy-in individually. 00:08:50.080 --> 00:08:55.120 In Psalm 60, David refers to a banner as a rallying point in the face of attack. 00:08:55.120 --> 00:08:59.360 It's a place for people to come together, to serve together. 00:08:59.360 --> 00:09:02.080 So it gives them, it unified them as a people. 00:09:02.080 --> 00:09:04.799 I think about the opening ceremonies at the Olympics. 00:09:04.799 --> 00:09:16.320 You know, when they walk in, they all have their outfits and they have their flag, and it's like, this is who I am, this is who I'm fighting for, this is who I'm serving under, this is who I'm here to be proud of and to represent. 00:09:16.320 --> 00:09:19.679 And that's what these people are learning is okay, we are together. 00:09:19.679 --> 00:09:29.600 We're not gonna, we're learning not to grumble against each other, we're learning not to quarrel with Moses, but to truly walk under the identity and the safety of the Lord. 00:09:29.600 --> 00:09:32.000 The Lord, our banner, is our covering. 00:09:32.000 --> 00:09:34.559 To be covered by the Lord is to be protected. 00:09:34.559 --> 00:09:38.879 Hidden in the shadow of his wing, he is answering their question. 00:09:38.879 --> 00:09:40.799 He is among them. 00:09:40.799 --> 00:09:44.480 He's not just beating the battle for them and letting them sit aside. 00:09:44.480 --> 00:09:49.679 There is something important that we learn when we work shoulder to shoulder, not just see face to face. 00:09:49.679 --> 00:09:52.399 He's inviting them to partner with him. 00:09:52.399 --> 00:09:56.399 He's saying, We're gonna fight together, but I'm I'm gonna hold up. 00:09:56.399 --> 00:09:58.960 I'm gonna hold you up, I'm gonna fly over you. 00:09:58.960 --> 00:10:01.679 I'm going to be the one that tips the scale. 00:10:01.679 --> 00:10:05.759 The Lord is also showing them that they don't need to trust in Moses. 00:10:05.759 --> 00:10:07.440 He isn't on the battlefield. 00:10:07.440 --> 00:10:09.279 They trust in the Lord. 00:10:09.279 --> 00:10:17.120 Perhaps we've all had a time when we've come out from the Lord's covering and tried to take the world on on our own. 00:10:17.120 --> 00:10:20.399 It's not how we're meant to live because we're not safe alone. 00:10:20.399 --> 00:10:28.720 When we lose, we come out from the covering of the Lord, we lose who we are, and we lose our covering, and we are vulnerable for attack. 00:10:28.720 --> 00:10:32.080 A banner isn't for an individual, it's for a people. 00:10:32.080 --> 00:10:40.799 And we see that in Moses' story and how Joshua, Aaron, and her all needed the Lord and one another. 00:10:40.799 --> 00:10:44.639 The Lord, our banner, is our victory. 00:10:44.639 --> 00:10:47.759 So, like I said before, banners are for winners. 00:10:47.759 --> 00:10:56.559 My husband works at the hockey team in town, and um, they here's the thing in hockey: you either win or you don't. 00:10:56.559 --> 00:11:08.480 And in the Coliseum, there are banners hung, and the banners are not participation banners, they are for the regular seasons and the championships that the team has won. 00:11:08.480 --> 00:11:09.519 And they stay there. 00:11:09.519 --> 00:11:11.840 There are banners that are up there from 20 years ago. 00:11:11.840 --> 00:11:18.399 Because once you've won it, you've won it, and it's something that proclaims to people that we've done it before and we can do it again. 00:11:18.399 --> 00:11:29.440 And so we can trust that the Lord has defeated evil before and that he's going to do it again. 00:11:29.440 --> 00:11:41.600 When I was a child, um, my older brother and I used to play together a lot, and he always wanted to play Playmobil, which are these like little figurine guys. 00:11:41.600 --> 00:11:46.320 I'm sure there's a tougher, manlier name for them, but they had little outfits that you could click on. 00:11:46.320 --> 00:11:47.919 You can Google it later. 00:11:47.919 --> 00:11:50.960 But I really wanted to be in my room reading alone. 00:11:50.960 --> 00:11:57.120 But Jordan really wanted to play together, and so he would call me into his room and he would say, Hannah, here's what we're gonna do. 00:11:57.120 --> 00:12:01.919 This is my army, and this is your army, and our armies are going to fight. 00:12:01.919 --> 00:12:04.480 And my army is going to win. 00:12:04.480 --> 00:12:07.600 And I would say, I don't want to play. 00:12:07.600 --> 00:12:10.159 It's and you're looking at it, okay. 00:12:10.159 --> 00:12:19.759 His army, he's got the castle with all the red lion, you know, figurines, all the flags, all the banners, all the things. 00:12:19.759 --> 00:12:28.320 And he's got all his little guys lined up perfectly, and they all got their shields and they got their spears, and and my army is everyone who didn't fit into the regime, you know what I mean? 00:12:28.320 --> 00:12:32.159 So it's this tiny little pile, they're all broken and laying down. 00:12:32.159 --> 00:12:36.559 And I would say, Well, I want to play the prince and the princess. 00:12:36.559 --> 00:12:39.679 And he would say, No, I'm gonna, that's so boring. 00:12:39.679 --> 00:12:41.120 And I'm like, Well, I don't want to fight. 00:12:41.120 --> 00:12:47.519 So the conclusion we always came to was our armies are going to fight, and your army is going to win. 00:12:47.519 --> 00:12:50.240 But it's because they're coming to rescue the princess. 00:12:50.240 --> 00:12:54.399 And at the end of the story, they're going to get married and live happily ever after. 00:12:54.399 --> 00:12:57.120 And then we will play that for a while too. 00:12:57.120 --> 00:13:09.600 And so I thought about this when I was reading this story, because, like I said, Amalek really represents evil in this world. 00:13:09.600 --> 00:13:10.159 Okay. 00:13:10.159 --> 00:13:18.240 And it's he comes from behind and strikes out, just like we see in the curse in Genesis 3, of the serpent striking the heel. 00:13:18.240 --> 00:13:18.720 Okay. 00:13:18.720 --> 00:13:21.679 This is an image of evil and the Lord fighting evil. 00:13:21.679 --> 00:13:26.399 He says, that's why the Lord says he will have war with Amalek from generation to generation. 00:13:26.399 --> 00:13:31.360 And the Lord is still our banner because the battle isn't done. 00:13:31.360 --> 00:13:36.720 Maybe, like the Israelites, we don't know if he's really among us. 00:13:36.720 --> 00:13:41.679 Or maybe, like Moses, your service to the Lord is weary hands held high. 00:13:41.679 --> 00:13:46.960 Maybe like Aaron and her, you're called to uplift your brother who is struggling. 00:13:46.960 --> 00:13:50.240 And maybe like Joshua, you're deep in the fight. 00:13:50.240 --> 00:13:54.480 Maybe like Amalek, you're still an enemy to God. 00:13:54.480 --> 00:14:04.559 But because there was another man like Moses on a hill with his arms stretched wide across a piece of wood, with a man on his right and on his left, the battle was won. 00:14:04.559 --> 00:14:11.519 The Lord is our banner, our flag to fly, our family symbol, our rallying cry. 00:14:11.519 --> 00:14:24.720 Ephesians 6, 12 through 13 says, For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. 00:14:24.720 --> 00:14:32.559 Therefore take up the whole armor of God that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all to stand firm. 00:14:32.559 --> 00:14:40.960 Brothers and sisters, we can say to the Prince of Darkness that our armies are going to fight, and our army is going to win. 00:14:40.960 --> 00:14:47.679 And then the bride and her Christ, Jehovah Nisi, will marry and they will live happily ever after. 00:14:47.679 --> 00:14:57.360 I'm just going to read this passage of prophecy regarding Jesus from Isaiah 11 over us, and then we'll pray. 00:14:57.360 --> 00:15:04.879 A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse, from his roots, a branch will bear fruit. 00:15:04.879 --> 00:15:19.440 The spirit of the Lord will rest on him, the spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the spirit of counsel and of might, the spirit of the knowledge and the fear of the Lord, and he will delight in the fear of the Lord. 00:15:19.440 --> 00:15:31.840 He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes, or decide by what he hears with his ears, but with righteousness he will judge the needy, with justice he will give decisions for the poor of the earth. 00:15:31.840 --> 00:15:37.600 He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, with the breath of his lips he will slay the wicked. 00:15:37.600 --> 00:15:43.120 Righteousness will be his belt, and faithfulness the sash around his waist. 00:15:43.120 --> 00:15:52.559 The wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the goat, the calf and the lion and the yearling together, and a little child will feed them. 00:15:52.559 --> 00:15:59.440 The cow will feed with the bear, their young will lie down together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox. 00:15:59.440 --> 00:16:04.799 The infant will play near the cobra's den, and the young child will put its hand into the viper's nest. 00:16:04.799 --> 00:16:13.679 They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain, for the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. 00:16:13.679 --> 00:16:19.360 In that day, the root of Jesse will stand as a banner for the peoples. 00:16:19.360 --> 00:16:25.279 The nations will rally to him, and his resting place will be glorious. 00:16:25.279 --> 00:16:42.480 So, Lord Jesus, we just thank you that in the times that we have quarreled against you in the face of your provision, that you have instead proven that you are with us, that you are for us, and that you are over us. 00:16:42.480 --> 00:17:03.120 That we would walk with the confidence that you have done it before and you will do it again. 00:17:03.120 --> 00:17:09.200 That you are not a God that stands idly by, but one who is actively tipping the scales in our favor. 00:17:09.200 --> 00:17:15.839 Lord, we thank you that you are with us and for us and victorious. 00:17:15.839 --> 00:17:28.720 We ask that you would give us a new understanding of that, that you would give us boldness to step out and to fight when we need to, and also the courage to be the one that steps aside and lifts up holy hands to you. 00:17:28.720 --> 00:17:51.759 Lord, I just I thank you that you that you have won the battle, that your battle with Amalek, that your battle with evil will not be over until the day when you return, when you defeat all evil and you restore everything to exactly the way you want it to be, when you make all the wrong things right again and all the bad things untrue. 00:17:51.759 --> 00:18:08.960 We just ask that you would help us to live in the light of that reality, to hold your banner up high, that we would be proud of your name, that we would not shy away from sharing it or being outward with our faith, but that you would encourage us with boldness. 00:18:08.960 --> 00:18:24.079 We thank you that you have unified us as a people, and we just ask that you would keep that unity, that we would not turn against one another or against authority or against you, Lord, but that you would unify us as the body of Christ. 00:18:24.079 --> 00:18:29.039 We thank you, Lord, for being our banner. 00:18:29.039 --> 00:18:32.640 Forever and always the victorious king. 00:18:32.640 --> 00:18:34.799 Amen.