Exodus 17:8-16 Jehovah Nissi: The LORD our Banner!

After the amazing act of God, the splitting open of the giant rock in Horeb and pouring out water to satisfy the thirst of His people: who enters the scene, but the enemies of God's people?!! To this very day, the enemy uses the very same tactics!

Very often, after a faith growing experience, God-haters attack while we are sojourning through a valley. They see a place where they think we may be vulnerable, then, almost always, attack from the behind, as did the Amalekites! Woe to all of them: we see here how God hates that!!!

We pick up at Exodus 17: (bold lettering is my own emphasis)

8 Then came Amalek, and fought with Israel in Rephidim.

Reminder: Amalek was the grandson of Esau, who hated his brother Jacob and all his progeny. Here, he allied with other nations to attack the Israelites. Sounds familiar, doesn't it? Like today's news!

A common tactic of the enemy: Amalek struck from the rear in a surprise attack, assaulting the weakest that were trailing behind. *A very good reason to guard our backsides and keep strong both spiritually and physically!

9 And Moses said unto

Joshua (God saves), Choose us out men, and go out, fight with Amalek: tomorrow I will stand on the top of the hill with the rod of God in my hand.

This is the very first mention of Joshua in the Bible!)

10 So Joshua did as Moses had said to him, and fought with Amalek: and Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill.

Looking down on Rephidim.

11 And it came to pass, when Moses held up his hand, that Israel prevailed: and when he let down his hand, Amalek prevailed.

12 But Moses' hands were heavy; and they took a stone, and put it under him, and he sat thereon; and Aaron and Hur stayed up his hands, the one on the one side, and the other on the other side; and his hands were steady until the going down of the sun.

This exemplifies an important spiritual principal, which we too often forget, especially when an attack catches us by surprise. We can, and need to, call the 'Aaron' and 'Hur' in our lives and bring them up to the 'mountain' with us!

God commanded Moses to bring them! Moses' obedience was an integral part of God's plan for victory in this battle! And a very important lesson for us!

Aaron and Hur stood alongside Moses on the mountain, while Moses sat on the rock. They helped to sustain him and keep his hands steady (as he held onto the rod of God) until the battle was over!

We need never tire of lifting up our battles to the Lord, do we???!!! Our Commander and Chief will fight our battles, He already has His 'Aarons', 'Hurs', and 'Joshuas' in our camp; He has enlisted the troops, and planned the victory; before we even know that the enemy is coming! HALLELUJAH!

Oh-so-many lessons here on obedience, leadership, steadfastness, fellowship in ministry (to name just a few!) Note: dig deeper in this spot!

13 And Joshua discomfited (overthrew) Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword

The battle site, Rephidim, is thought to be today's Wadi Refayid, some miles west of Mount Sinai.

A couple of things that I had not noticed before nor been aware of: the guys brought Moses a stone to sit on; always pictured him standing (too many movies?) And that Joshua is the one who led the children of Israel to victory in this battle! This is the first instance where the Lord reveals to us that He has sanctified Joshua for a leadership role. Oooo, lots of Rock and Stone analogies!

I love that God's Word is NEW every day!

14 And the LORD said unto Moses, Write this for a memorial in a book, and rehearse it in the ears of Joshua: for I will utterly put out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven.

OK, I know I am missing something good here, WHAT book??? God had Moses make sure that Joshua would remember all the details of this battle. It must have been for a very good reason! One which occurred to me; the LORD already knew that Joshua would be leading the people into the Promised Land without Moses!

Please, let me know if you have additional insight about this! Note: another good spot to dig! I just realized that Moses wrote down everything God said too! LOVE it!

15 And Moses built an altar, and called the name of it Jehovah Nissi (The LORD our Banner) :

16 For he said, Because the LORD has sworn that the LORD will have war with Amalek from generation to generation.

This altar is located about 200 yards from the "rock in Horeb" on the back side of Mt. Sinai. It could very well be the location of Moses' altar.

**If you have time, click here for great commentaries and insights from the above passages, plus much more! I found this site while looking for a depiction of the name Jehovah Nissi.

**BTW: I ended up creating my own in PowerPoint ... very fun! ;)

**I also found, Michelle's site. She has done a lot of research on the Names of God. Her site blesses me: I think she will bless and inspire you too!

Oh JEHOVAH NISSI, Your Name is high above ALL things! Thank You SO much for commanding Your victories for us, and for providing for ALL of our needs. Let us continually be looking up to You, oh LORD our Banner! Let us keep our eyes, ears, and hearts open to You, that we may see, hear, and obey when You call us to rally! And please,in time of battle, REMIND us to call in the 'support team' that You have provided for us! THANK You!!! Amen!

I am blessed every day with some new revelation of God's Word. I will be sharing my measure of manna with all who come to my "tent." Please, let me know if you have been blessed by the way it was prepared for you this day.

CORRECTED - Exodus 17:1-7 Thirsty? Complaining? Murmuring?

MAJOR CORRECTION: Please accept my humble apologies, I misread the number of Israelites thought to be a part of the Exodus. The consensus is 600,000 plus, NOT the 6 million I previously wrote. 600,000 is still WAY more than I used to picture - but quite a LOT less than 6 million! PLEASE tell me, if you notice that I have ANY facts wrong.

Here we will pick up at Exodus 17, after the miraculous crossing of the Red Sea (more exciting stuff about that later! found some very cool pics to share!)

EXODUS 17

1 And all the congregation of the children of Israel journeyed from the Wilderness of Sin, after their journeys, according to the commandment of the LORD, and pitched in Rephidim: and there was no water for the people to drink.

~ OK folks, to catch up: these people had just recently experienced INDISPUTABLE evidence of God's favor and provision toward them, both in Egypt and getting out of it. At this point, they had decided to obey His direction! :) Woo Hoo! Good for them! Don't we do the same thing? ... until a new trial of our faith comes up ... suddenly we find ourselves "venting," complaining, or murmuring! ... AGAIN ... doggone it!

2 Wherefore the people did chide (5th of their 12 complaints) with Moses, and said, Give us water that we may drink. And Moses said unto them, Why chide ye with me? wherefore do you tempt the LORD?

~ Did they think to ask God, or did they ask Moses to ask God??? Nooooo! They had already come to EXPECT provision and, it feels like to me that, they even demanded it! Complaining already??? Could that be what God feels like too? OUCH, sounds so ... uggg ... human!

3 And the people thirsted there for water; and the people murmured against Moses, and said, Wherefore is this that you have brought us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our cattle with thirst?

~ Oh come on, after ALL He has done for them, this far??? The Lord Himself led them with the Pillar of Fire and the Cloud!!! ... but doesn't He lead us too?

4 And Moses cried unto the LORD, saying, What shall I do unto this people? they are almost ready to stone me.

~ GOD was leading them, GOD had faithfully provided for their needs, GOD had a plan, GOD never failed them ... YET, they murmured SO much among one other, that they stirred up a mob! And against Moses to boot! Don't we do the same when we complain and/or murmur about our jobs, our relationships, our circumstances??? Ultimately, it is the LORD that we are complaining about! YIKES! I can't stand the thought! I am SO convicted on both counts! Oh WHOA (woe) to me, my precious family, my sweet friends, my dear readers!!!! We need to STOP!!!!

~ WHOA again, I see a big neon sign here, 'UNBELIEF!' Do I ever tempt the Lord this way? Or do I "see" the signs ahead? I am afraid I know the answer :( *gulp* I am SO thankful that God is never limited by our unbelief!!

5 And the LORD said unto Moses, Go on before the people, and take with you of the elders of Israel; and your rod, wherewith you smote the river, take in your hand, and go.


6 Behold, I will stand before you there upon the rock in Horeb; you shalt smite the rock, and there shall come water out of it, that the people may drink. And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel.

This rock is on the back side of Mount Sinai. It is 60 feet high and is split down the middle.
Close inspection shows signs of water erosion, and from the cleft in the rock and downhill is washed away sediment and very smooth rocks. Many believe this could be the very rock that was smitten by Moses.

~ Our compassionate, merciful, gracious God did not pour out this anger on their unbelief and constant complaining, instead He poured out life-giving water for them. What an awesome picture of Jesus Christ, Himself our "smitten" Rock, pouring Himself out to be Living Water for us! Wow!

~ GOD Himself was standing on the rock as well!!!! I never realized that before! I am undone!

7 And he called the name of the place Massah (temptation/tempting) and Meribah(strife), because of the chiding (complaining) of the children of Israel, and because they tempted the LORD, saying, Is the LORD among us, or not?

~ Moses was obedient to do what the Lord told him. But ... helloooo??? Did not this GIGANTIC slab of granite splitting wide open and gushing forth water get the attention of the others???? I used to picture the water coming out much like a spring ... but it was obviously SO much MORE than that, it was enough to sustain more than 600,000 people, plus all their flocks and herds!!


However, don't we ask, or at least think, that same question ourselves sometimes? And we also downright KNOW that the LORD is our Provider and that He has a perfect plan for every situation and need!!! :/



The closer I look, the more I see how much we are like the children of Israel, why the Lord wrote this all down for us, and why we need to read His Word EVERY day! His Word is life to us!!! Bless Him!


Oh help, Lord, our unbelief! Help us to see the "signs," to be still, and to trust You in ALL things. Amen!

I am blessed everyday with some new revelation of God's Word.

I will be sharing my measure of manna with all who come to my "tent."

Please let me know if you have been blessed by the way it was prepared for you this day.