TITLES OF GOD: JEHOVAH-NISSI
DR. JIM DIXON
EXODUS 17:8-16
OCTOBER 29, 1989
During the war of 1812, the British took captive a man whose name was William Bean. They held him prisoner aboard a British warship in the Chesapeake Bay. Now, President James Madison gave two men from Washington DC permission to go to the British and seek the release of William Bean. These two men then went aboard the British warship and they sought the release of William Bean. Unfortunately, it was September 13th, Tuesday, 1814, and that was the day the British fleet had decided to attack Fort McHenry, which protected the city of Baltimore. And the British said to these two men, “We will release William Bean into your custody. But only after this battle.” And they put these two guys in a prisoner exchange ship at the rear of the British fleet, made them watch the attack, the bombardment of Fort McHenry. And so, these two men stood there on the deck of this prisoner exchange ship on September 13th, and they saw the British bombard Fort McHenry. They knew that Fort McHenry didn’t have much in the way of offensive weapons, and they wondered whether Fort McHenry would long stand. The bombardment went all day long and through most of the night, and even when it was dawn and the sun came up still, they couldn’t tell whether Fort McHenry was standing because of all the smoke and all the haze from the bombardment. But then at 7:00 AM there was a break in the smoke and the haze, and these two men could look through and they saw the American flag flying high over Fort McHenry and the fort still standing. One of those men was named John Skinner. The other man was a lawyer from Washington DC and his name was Francis Scott Key. And it was in that moment that he wrote our national anthem, the Star-Spangled Banner. “The rockets’ red glare, the bombs bursting in air. They proved through the night that our flag was still there. Oh say, does that Star-Spangled banner yet wave over the land of the free and the home of the brave.”
When, as Americans, we think of a banner, we think of our flag. What as Christians, what does it mean when we call God our banner? What does it mean when we say Jehovah-Nissi the Lord is our banner? What does that mean? Well, biblically it means two things. First of all, it means the Lord is our victory. The Lord is our victory. In our passage of scripture for today, in Exodus chapter 17, the eighth verse we’re told how the Amalekites attacked the children of Israel near Reem on the Sinai Peninsula in the days of Moses.
Now the Amalekites were descendants of Amalek, who was the grandson of Esau. They lived south of Palestine, north of the Negev, and they were enemies of the children of Israel, both during their wilderness wanderings and later in Palestine. Now the Bible says that Moses said to Joshua, “Go and gather the armies of Israel, gather our men and fight with Amalek.” He said, “Tomorrow, I’m going to go up on the top of the hill and I’m going to stand there with a rod of God held high over my head.” And we’re told how Joshua fought with Amalek and Moses and Aaron and Hur went to the top of the hill. And whenever Moses held his hands high with a rod of God in his hand, Israel prevailed. Their armies won. But whenever he lowered his hand, Israel began to lose, and the Amalekites began to win. We’re told how the arms of Moses grew weary. They brought a stone, put it under him, he sat down on it, and Aaron and Hur held up high the hands of Moses until the setting of the sun, the going down of the sun. And Joshua’s armies prevailed, and Israel won a great victory.
Now, I think it’s safe to say this is a strange story and theologians who love to debate, often debate the meaning of the lifted hands of Moses. What did it mean when he lifted his hands with a rod of God over his head? Some theologians say, well, that symbolized the power and presence of God. And whenever he lowered his hand, it symbolized the withdrawal of God’s power and presence. Other theologians say, well, no. That lifting of the hands represented the prayers of the people of Israel and the lowering of the hands represented their failure to pray. Other theologians say no, the lifting of the hands represented the faith of the children of Israel in the victory of God and the lowering of the hands represented the waning of their faith.
Now, this can be debated until the second coming of Christ. What we know for sure is this. We know that the victory is not attributed to Joshua. Israel’s victory is not attributed to the armies of Israel. We know that the victory is attributed to God. Jehovah-Nissi, the Lord is our banner. The Lord is our victory. And many times, this word banner simply symbolizes victory. As Christians, we’ve already won a great victory through Jesus Christ. Victory over death itself, victory over the consequences of sin. As Christians living day by day in this fallen world, we seek additional victories and we cry out to God every day for victory in many areas of our life. And as we do this, I’d like to give a few words of caution.
First of all, as we come to God with respect to this subject of victory, do not thank him for what he has not done. Do not thank him for victories he hasn’t won. We only grieve him when we do that. You see, last Sunday, Denver Broncos won a victory over the Seattle Seahawks at the Kingdome in Seattle, 24-21. And it was a great victory. If you’re a Bronco fan as I am, you watched that. And I was excited, and my brother and I were jumping all over the room. And I mean it was a great victory. And after the game, and of course you might remember during the game, David Treadwell, the Bronco place kicker, missed a field goal, which could have won the game for Denver in regulation. The game then went into overtime. The Seahawk place kicker missed a field goal, which could have won the game for them. Treadwell had a second chance and he made the field goal. Denver won in overtime. After the game, Bronco players were interviewed, and a number of the Bronco players gave God the credit that David Treadwell got a second chance to kick a field gold and some of the Broncos gave God the glory for the victory. Thank God we won.
Now if you’re a Bronco fan, see I know if you’re a Bronco fan, this is hard…but you see, God just doesn’t wear orange. He’s not a Bronco fan. Now, it’s true that there are Christians on the Broncos and, Bob and I have done Bronco chapels and we know there’s some outstanding Christian people on the Broncos. And Dan Reeves himself is a professing Christian. He’s claimed Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior of life. But this is true of most of the teams. And in fact, I would guess all of the teams in the NFL, there are many Christians on all of them. And God just doesn’t give the victory to one team or another.
Well, I suppose there might be times, I would think, unusual times when God might give a victory to one athletic team for some reason known only to him, maybe even the Broncos. Certainly, sometimes it looked like it. But you see, basically God has given us freedom and that freedom has simply played out on the football field. And when we come to him and we give him credit and we thank him for a football victory, that’s really not serving his kingdom, it’s not serving the gospel. You see people living in Seattle who don’t believe are not impressed when Christians in Denver give God the credit for the Bronco victory. And even unbelievers in Denver are not impressed. Doesn’t serve God, don’t give him thanks for what he hasn’t done.
And a second word of caution is don’t ask for what he cannot do with respect to this whole subject of God’s victory and Jehovah-Nissi. Don’t ask God for victory he just can’t give because it’s outside of his character.
Now, I know many of you have probably heard of the Knights of St. John. And the Knights of St. John is a Christian Order established around the year 1000 A.D. by a man named Gerard. And initially shortly after the year 1000, they were headquartered in the city of Jerusalem. And a monastery there in the Knights of St. John were people who performed a ministry of compassion. And they reached out to people who were sick and travelers who were sick and injured and poor and needy. And they had and exercised the gift of hospitality. But you see in the year 1071, Muslims conquered Palestine and the Islamic people took over the Holy Land in the city of Jerusalem and they began to possess the holy sites and the places where once Jesus walked.
And Christians throughout Europe began to be offended and they viewed this as a desecration of what they call holy places. And Christians began to form armies and began to militarily attack the Muslims and the Islamic people trying to repossess Jerusalem for Christ. And this movement historians refer to as the Crusades.
Well, you see, the Knights of St. John became part of all this, and they begin to change. Instead of becoming a Christian order of compassion, they became a Christian military order and they began to fight, and they built castles and they were forced, of course, out of Jerusalem. And they built their headquarters on the island of Cyprus and then later on the island of Rhodes in the Mediterranean and they built a great fortress castle there and they begin to build fortress castles all over the Mediterranean world.
When we were in Turkey on the coast of Turkey in Bodrum, we saw the castle of St. Peter built by the Knights of St. John centuries ago, still standing majestic, an awesome fortress. And they built these fortresses all over the world in the days of the crusade. And the Knights of St. John became great warriors and they were fierce in battle and they were feared throughout the Mediterranean world. And it wasn’t easy to become a knight in the order of St. John. You had to come from a royal house in Europe and you had to prove four generations of royalty, uninterrupted royalty. And you had to serve three years in the galleys, and you had to serve two years in one of the fortress castles of the night and receive the military training. And then you had to take the vow of consecration under death in the service of Jesus Christ. And then you are proclaimed a knight. And many of these knights would from time to time return to Europe to their lavish estates, but they could be summoned at any time by the Grand Master of the Knights of St. John.
And throughout the world, Christians were praying, they were saying, “Lord, give the Knights of St. John victory, victory over the Islamic people, victory over the Muslim world, help them to repossess Israel for Christ, help them to kill Muslims.” And they were praying not only for the Knights of St. John, but they were praying for all the movements of the crusades. Jehovah-Nissi give us the victory and it just didn’t happen.
And in the year 1521, Suleiman the Magnificent, an Islamic military leader conquered the Grand Master in the Knights of St. John on the island of Rhodes in the Mediterranean. The Knights of St. John fled from all their castles and they returned to Europe. Today, the order of the Knights of St. John continues, headquartered in England, but they are no longer a military order. Once again, they are an order of compassion and they give food to the poor and they minister to the sick. And they are winning more victories today than they ever won during the crusades.
But we might say, why? Why did Christians all over the Christian world pray for military victory for the Knights of St. John and the crusaders over the Islamic world? And it didn’t happen. Why didn’t it happen? Clearly because Christians were asking for that which God simply could not do out of God’s character because the Bible is clear that Christianity cannot be defended and should not be defended by military force. The earthly nation of Israel could be defended by military force, but the kingdom of Jesus Christ, no.
And when Peter drew his sword and he cut off the ear, ear of Malchus, in the garden of Gethsemane, Jesus commanded Peter to put his sword away, not to fight. And when Christ stood before Pilate when Christ said, “My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would would fight.” But he said, “My kingdom is not of this world.” And the Bible says, if your enemy is hungry, feed him. And if he is thirsty, give him to drink. And as it says in Ecclesiastes, “His banner upon me is love.” And the weapons of the kingdom of Christ are the weapons of love infused by the power of the Holy Spirit and the gospel.
Do not ask for that which God simply cannot do. We grieve the Holy Spirit when we do that. A final word of caution. Do thank God for what he has done. Don’t thank him for what he hasn’t done. Don’t ask for that which he cannot do, but always thank him for what he has done. Every victory. And when you come to Christ and, you say, “Lord, you know, as I share the gospel with this Islamic man or woman, when I share the gospel with this Muslim and I reach out in your love, bless this.” You can expect a victory, some kind of victory because that’s in his character to bless the gospel. And when, when you come to him and say, “Lord, heal me because I’m ill, or I’m sick.” You can anticipate some kind of blessing because that’s in his character to heal. And when you say, “Lord, forgive me of my sins and I repent.” You can know he’s Jehovah-Nissi and victory is going to be given because it’s in his character to forgive. And when you say, “Lord, I don’t have food on my table or clothing on my back”, you can know the victory is coming when you ask because it’s in his character to feed the birds of the air and clothe the lilies of the field. And when you’re under Satan’s attack and you say, “Lord, give me the victory and deliver me.” You know victory’s coming because it’s in his character to defeat Satan in your life. And he has said, “Behold your adversary, the devil prowls around like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour, resist him firm in the faith knowing that the same experience of suffering is required of your brotherhood throughout the world. And when you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace who has called you to an eternal glory in Christ Jesus will restore, establish, and strengthen you.” Jehovah-Nissi, to God be the glory.
And he wants you to know that as you are faithful to thank him and praise him for those victories, he does give, for every good and perfect gift is from above. You’re going to have more and more of his victories in your life. Jehovah-Nissi.
Well, secondly and finally, this title has another meaning. Jehovah-Nissi not only means the Lord is our victory, but it means the Lord is our unity. The Lord is our unity. See, when the people of Israel said Jehovah-Nissi, they didn’t simply view God as their victory, but they viewed God as the one who bound them, their banner, their unity. And of course, as we have seen, oftentimes a banner is a flag. And of course, in the United States we have a flag. And that flag has 50 stars. And each star represents a state. And each state has some measure of autonomy and each state has some measure of uniqueness. But all states are bound together under one banner, under one flag, the United States.
But, you see, in the Church of Christ and in the Kingdom of Christ, there are many Christians and many individuals, and I don’t know how many, God only knows, we are told there are 1,700,000,000 nominal Christians on the earth. God only knows how many truly believe in Jesus Christ. But all who truly believe are meant to be bound in unity under one banner. All who truly believe in Jesus Christ are meant to be bound. Unfortunately, too often, many times, many places throughout the generations, Christians, true Christians have not been united. And of course, it’s the great work of Satan in this world to sow seeds of dissension and the kingdom of Christ so that denomination is pitted against denomination, church against church. And even within churches, dissension.
J.R.R. Tolkien wrote the great epic Lord of the Rings. And he says a very brilliant thing in that trilogy, he says, “The greatest evidence of the dark lord’s power and this age of the world is the failure of those who still oppose him to be able to unite.” Unite.
Well, in the year 1765, a man was born, his name was James Smithson. James Smithson, born in France. He was the son of a prominent English duke. But he was never accepted as that Duke’s son because the Duke would not claim him. James Smithson was born illegitimately. Now James Smithson grew up in England and he loved England and he longed to serve England and he would gladly have given his life in the service of England. But you see, England rejected him because of his illegitimacy of birth, something he could not help. England rejected him and they refused him citizenship. And they said, “We don’t need you.”
Well, James Smithson struggled all the more to make something of his life. And he went to Oxford and he became a brilliant scientist and he became an extremely wealthy man. And he died in the year 1829. And when he died, scientists all over England were anxious to read his will because he was extremely wealthy, and they anticipated that he would leave some kind of grant to establish scientific institutions in England. They were stunned when they read the will. Smithson said, “As England has rejected me, now I reject England.”
Of course, during Smithson’s life, England had fought two bitter wars with what once had been their colonies in America and what had become the United States of America. And they were stunned to read the will of Smithson, where he gave his entire wealth to the United States of America to establish a scientific institute in this nation’s capital in Washington DC. And today that institute is called the Smithsonian Institute. The Smithsonian Institution.
Well, you see, England made the mistake of saying to one of its own, you’re illegitimate, made the mistake of saying to one of its own, “We don’t need you.” And England paid the price. Incredibly, in the Christian world today, one denomination can say to another denomination, “you’re illegitimate, we don’t need you.” The kingdom of Christ pays the price.
You know, last Wednesday night, Bob told a little story about me. When I was in high school and I received oral surgery for my wisdom teeth extraction. And they gave me anesthetic, it put me out. And when I woke up and, and saw the doctors and some of the nurses kind of smiling and I kind of mumbled, you know, “what are you smiling at?” And they said, well, just before you went out under the influence of the anesthetic, your final words were, “I am a Presbyterian.” And I have told that story once or twice and I would’ve told it more, but I don’t need to because Bob’s kind of taken it from there. And, that’s okay. But I got to admit I’m probably a little embarrassed simply because today I don’t think of myself primarily as a Presbyterian. In fact, denominationalism for Bob and for me is really not a very big deal. And I suppose at one time in my life it was because I had grown to love Christ in the Presbyterian church. My dad was an elder in the Presbyterian church, and heck, I was born in the Presbyterian hospital.
But, you see, this church is a Presbyterian church. We have a Presbyterian form of government. We’re affiliated with the EPC, the Evangelical Presbyterian Church. But in reality, it just isn’t a big deal to us to be called Presbyterian. And in our congregation, we have Presbyterians and Baptists and Lutherans and Methodists and Episcopalians and Pentecostals and Catholics, and that’s the way we want it. And hopefully around here we’re just all Christians and that’s our banner, Jesus Christ.
And you see, as God wants us to unite under this one banner, he wants to remind us that this banner isn’t some kind of theoretical global phenomena. He doesn’t want us to think of Christian unity as some theoretical experience where you say, yeah, I’m united with all Christians everywhere. That’s too easy. He wants the unity that he calls you to, to be very practical. And in fact, he wants you to come into a daily expression of unity with some brothers and sisters in the body of Christ so that you really begin to experience experientially, practically, daily, some kind of bonding under this banner with some brothers and sisters in Christ.
And this church, we have Koinonias for that purpose, small group Christian fellowships. And we have a hundred of these in our church. And we have about 1,500 of you who have come under one banner into these small groups in union and bonding with some other Christians. But you see, on a typical Sunday, there are 3,500 to 4,000 of you here. And that means 2,000 to 2,500 of you are not in any Koinonias group in this church. Maybe you’re in some other small group fellowship and you’re experiencing some measure of Christian unity there. I hope you are. But if you’re not, God wants you to know today, you’re disobeying him because he is Jehovah-Nissi and he’s not called you simply to some theoretical unity with Christians on the earth. He’s called you to experience that unity practically day by day in bonding with some brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ for the sake of joy, for the sake of power, for the sake of strength and victory. And you’ll never know the joy you’re meant to know or the power or the strength you are meant to know and have unless you come into practical unity with some brothers and sisters in Christ.
I see mountain climbers participate in a very dangerous sport and it’s rarely done individually. Rarely do you see a mountain climber climb alone. In fact, usually they climb with another person or maybe three or four other people and they tie themselves together with ropes as they climb. And that way if one falls, he doesn’t fall so as to crash, but it is bound to these others. He’s protected by those others. And if you’re a Christian, God wants you to know you’re meant to experience that in the body of Christ. You’re meant to be tied to some other Christians practically, experientially, daily because he’s Jehovah-Nissi.
See, when I was a kid, with this we will close, I was growing up in Southern California and my mom and dad would take my brothers and I on some Saturdays into the San Gabriel Mountains behind our home in La Canada. And we’d go up to Chaleo or Charlton Flats where there were picnic tables in the midst of the pine trees. And sometimes on Saturday morning we’d have breakfast there. And we did this sometimes with another family called the DeWolfs. I remember one Saturday morning as the parents were preparing breakfast and I was just wandering around whittling on wood chips, Mr. DeWolf came up to me and he had a group of sticks he had tied together with string. And he said, “Jim, can you break this little bundle of sticks?” And I was just macho enough, and he knew it, that I loved to try stuff like that. And I took the two ends and I strained to break the sticks and I couldn’t do it. I began to pound them on my knee. I couldn’t break them. And he said, “I can break the sticks.” And I thought, right, I got to see this. And he took the sticks and he untied the string and then he broke them one by one. See, that’s what Satan wants to do with his church. It’s what he wants to do with all churches. It’s what he wants to do with the kingdom of Jesus Christ, wants to break them one by one. But Christ, God, Jehovah-Nissi, he calls us into unity. He would tie us together, bound, not just theoretically, very practically, so that we would not fall, and we would not fail.
See, Thomas Payne when addressing the first continental Congress, bold people who had just declared their independence from Britain, when addressing them, he said, “If we do not hang together, we will hang separately.” And of course, that quote has become very famous. I think it’s what Christ wants to say to his people today. He calls us together and he warns us. If we don’t come together in unity, bad things are going to happen. Jehovah-Nissi, the Lord is our victory. He is our unity. He is our banner. Let’s close with the word of prayer.