Day 34 with Moses: It’s good to be under His banner.

“Then the Lord said to Moses, “Write this for a memorial in the book and recount it in the hearing of Joshua, that I will utterly blot out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven.” And Moses built an altar and called its name, The-Lord-Is-My-Banner; for he said, “Because the Lord has sworn: the Lord will have war with Amalek from generation to generation.””

‭‭Exodus‬ ‭17:14-16‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

I remember my family gathering around the TV set on a hot July day in 1969 to watch the first ever landing of a man on the moon. Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin would step out onto the lunar surface and plant a United States flag. It was very exciting to us, hardly imaginable, in that day and time, that such a feat had been accomplished. (The flag, of course, was on a frame to hold it out, as there is no wind on the moon.) It was a proud day for the United States of America. Our flag was on the moon!

Flags/banners have been used since ancient times to designate the authority and property of countries. Indeed, ancient armies fought under banners and flags. These flags would clearly indicate who was fighting who and under what authority you fought.

Most people of my generation are familiar with the iconic photo of the six United States Marines raising the flag on Mount Suribachi in the battle of Iwo Jima in World War II. The victory is yours when the flag of your nation is raised!

Personally, I can’t think of flags or banners without one of my favorite scriptures coming to mind:

“He brought me to the banqueting house, And his banner over me was love. His left hand is under my head, And his right hand embraces me.”

‭‭Song of Solomon‬ ‭2:4, 6‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

Here we see the Shulamite expressing the experience of being under her Beloved’s banner of love. That banner was basically an expression of the fact that this one was not to be messed with, this one belongs to the Beloved. Whereas we see a very beautiful human love story expressed here, it is made even more wonderful by knowing that it illustrates our Lord’s protecting love over His own.

The Psalmist says this about the banner of the Lord over those who are His:

“You have set up a banner for those who fear You [with awe-inspired reverence and submissive wonder—a banner to shield them from attack], A banner that may be displayed because of the truth. Selah.”

‭‭Psalms‬ ‭60:4‬ ‭AMP‬‬

Today we find Moses building a memorial altar to the Lord for the victory of the Israelites over the Amalekites. Moses names the altar Jehovah-Nissi, “THE LORD IS MY BANNER.” Additionally, we see in our opening scripture that Moses named the altar this, not only because of the victory with Amalekites, but also because of the fact that the Lord would continue to maintain that victory. In other words, the Amalekites would never be able to circle back to do harm to the Israelites.

Now, when you are representing a country in any way, including fighting battles for a country, if you are part of a strong country like the United States of America, that flag means something to your enemies. But even with that, the flag does not assure victory. The good news is, when we live and move and have our being under the banner, the flag of our Lord, whether we will be victorious or not is never in question. Those under His banner ALWAYS win.

Today let us discover what Moses discovered:

It’s good to be under His banner.

#40dayswithmoses