Jehovah Nissi

Intro

23:47 Hours

That’s when it ended, when the curse, the drought, the century of misfortune, whatever you want to call it

11.2.16, the date that will live on as one of the momentous days of my life

On this day of renown, the Chicago Cubs won the world series in 7 games

It was one of the most improbable playoffs in history, not because the team was bad, they were excellent, and easily took the 1 seed in the playoffs

They came back and won the series against the Giants in the Divisional round in game 4.

They were down by 3 runs in the bottom of the 9th inning, and then came back and won

Since the Cubs did that in 2016, and going back to 1990 to present day, teams are 1-538 when trailing by 3 or more runs, and yes the Cubs are that one run

The next round went to 6 games, and Cubs going down 1-2 in the series, to come back and sweep after game 3

Then the world series was perhaps one of the best ever, the cubs fell down 3-1, and the Indians needed only one win to end the series, but it went all the way to game 7, and man what a game that was!

Now the best part of any Cubs win?

You gotta Fly the W! You have to let everyone know that the cubs won, and that you will know it as you drive to work the next day with W flags all over Chicagoland!

February 23, 1945

The famous day, that the famed portrait of American’s raising the flag on Iwa Jima was taken, showing a committment to finish the war

September 11, 2011

A group of firefighters raise an American flag amidst the rubble of the Twin Towers after the infamous events of that day, and many felt was an incredible echo of the Iwa Jima picture

What do all these things have to do with each other?

They are all banners

They are things that remind us of victories, and triumphs

They show commitment, allegiance, as well as victory

Whether they be of war, sports, or even religion

Right behind me we have the cross, and that is a banner, something we look to to remind us of Christ and his victory!

Or perhaps you might go down to our prayer room downstairs and see Chinese Calligraphy, which acts as a type of banner

So the name of God that we are considering is YHWH Nissi

This means “God Who Gives Victory” or “God our Banner”

What is interesting is that we see YHWH reveal more of who he is as it relates to the needs and difficulties his people experience

Last week we saw that God who Heals, and it came out of a need and difficulty of his people

This week, we are considering that God is our Victory, and it also comes out of a difficult time for the people of God

It should serve as a bit of a reminider that when we are in the battles that God has us enter into, they are opportunities to draw near, and to get to know God even more intimately!

We find the story in Exodus 17, where this incredible story of 8 verses is found, and the name “God our Victory” is first recorded

Now I want us to quickly work through this story, to give us some perspective, but then pivot into what that means for us, and what does victory mean for you and I, and how can we seek attain victory of God?

The Israelites were out of Egypt and in the wilderness, and the place called Rephidim was a place that water was incredibly rare

The people complained, and moaned about life being terrible, and dying of thirst, and so Moses hit a rock, and water gushed out to supply the people for their need

While they were there, they were attacked by Amalekites, and had to fight

Now the Amalekites were actually cousins of the Israelites, they were descendants of Esau

In our passage in Exodus we don’t see a lot of detail, but notice what we find out in Deuteronomy 25:17–18 “17 “Remember what the Amalekites did to you on the journey after you left Egypt. 18 They met you along the way and attacked all your stragglers from behind when you were tired and weary. They did not fear God.”

So the Amelekites had no pity, or compassion, they saw stragglers and a bunch of newly freed slaves that had no chance!

It is pretty understandable then that God would then continue on in verse Deuteronomy 25:19 “19 When the Lord your God gives you rest from all the enemies around you in the land the Lord your God is giving you to possess as an inheritance, blot out the memory of Amalek under heaven. Do not forget.”

Unfortunately it does not get any better with Amalekites!

Saul is to eliminate them as God commands in Deuteronomy, but he does not, ends up losing his kingship over it

David almost has a coup among his men because the Amalakites raid Ziklag and carry away the families of the men when they are away

It would not be until nearly 300 years after David, or over 700 years from the time of Moses that this degree was finally finished

Even after Hezekiah made them into a people that would not ever again be in power as a nation, they still plagued Israel, for Haman was descended from the Amalakites in the book of Esther, about 1000 years after Exodus 17!

So these were particularly wicked people, that wanted to take the opportunity to do some raiding on easy prey!

So when we turn back to Israel

What does Israel do?

Well, they had been moaning and complaining to God about how life was terrible and so unfair!

Moses even named the waters in the way he did because the Israelites said “Is YHWH even among us!?”

As one of my commentaries on this noted, ‘weak and weakening faith is marked by habitual moaning’, and that certainly describes the Israelites here!

Yet, God still intervenes

We see this battle unfold between the seasoned fighters of the Amalakites and the newly freed slaves of Israel

Moses will go upon a hill and Joshua will fight with some men against Amalekites

How did it go? Was Israel wiped out?

Not at all, they won

When Moses would raise the rod high, the people would prevail, when it came lower, they would lose!

So Aaron and a man named Hur helped Moses hold up the staff until the battle was won

The same staff that had turned into a snake, put the nile into blood, brought the plagues, parted the red sea, and just most recently, brought water into the desert from a rock!

In fact, most people think that Moses was not just raising the staff up, but it was accompanied by prayer

The Israelites won, and God told them that they would eventually blot the nation of Amalekites from the earth

Moses then builds an alter and named it ‘Lord is my Banner’ or “My Victory”

The Banner in this story is in fact, the staff of Moses

It is clear that this battle is not a battle that Israel had any business winning, yet God is more powerful than their foes, and it was a supernatural victory given to the people

The same people who were complaining and moaning that God was not even with them!

The same people who were doubting God’s goodness, had unstable hearts, were physically worn out, and were suddenly looking at a battle of a superior foe, that was not simply a foe, but actually their distant relatives!

These same people would be so blind to God’s goodness and blessing that they would infact die in the wilderness, and never enter the promised land

In a great bit of irony from God, when these people realize that God is serious about the consequences of their perpetual disobedience, they want to try and enter the promised land, and they are routed by the Amalekites, just to make sure that they know they are going against God!

So God refuses to rescue or give them the victory over the same people he had!

Now just as we considered last week in the God who heals, we have to perhaps change our perspective to be more broad than simply military might, there are far more difficult battles for us to wage against

For the Christian, there are a few things we must remember

This world is not our home

There is far more than the material that makes up this world, there is spiritual warfare that going on at all times

The biggest fight might be against ourselves, and our sinful nature

We call these things “The World, Satan, and The Flesh” as the main categories we must fight against

To paraphrase JC Ryle an English preacher in the 1800’s he said this

The main struggle for a Christian is against the world, their own desires (Flesh), and the devil. These are constant enemies they must battle. Without overcoming these three, any other successes are meaningless. If people were like angels and not flawed, this struggle wouldn't be as critical. But with a sinful nature, a tempting devil, and a distracting world, Christians must fight to avoid losing their way.

So let’s dive into what those areas look like

The World

The world is often misunderstood by anything that is not ‘Christian’ as if we were suppose to take a giant roll of Spiritual bubble wrap and put it around ourselves!

The world is not as simple as ‘non-Christian’ bad. There are many good things that are not ‘worldly’, we must remember that Satan can never create, only twist God’s things into bad things

For example, if we consider media like movies, books, and music

There can certainly be God honoring movies, books, and music, and that doesn’t mean that they are going to be only ‘G’ rated, I mean have you read the Bible?

One of the best movies you can watch about the power of redemption in a person is “Gran Torino” by Clint Eastwood, it is rated R for being an adult movie, with intense themes,

But living in a sinful world is never a walk in the park, as much as we try to shelter our young ones from racism, sexualization, and all other sorts of wickeness that abounds

The world is not about your geographic location

No the world refers to the ways of culture and society that oppose the Lord. There are ungodly trends in the world — materialism, naturalism, desire for instant gratification, and more

When you are feeling the pull to upgrade your smartphone every year, that’s the world

When you are struggling to believe or live that there is anymore than matter in this life, that is the world

When you steward your money by impulsive Amazon purchases just because you want one more Prime Day Deal, that is the world that is pulling you that way

There are a multitude of Bible verses that speak to this, let us consider a few

1 John 5:19 “19 We know that we are of God, and the whole world is under the sway of the evil one.”

This world is under the control and sway of Satan, and so it does it’s best to make us go against God’s desires, or to compromise if we won’t openly rebel!

I think this might be the reason why we see so much advertising revolve around sexualization of things, afterall, in this world of greed, sex sells!

What is really interesting about this verse, is that in researching this, (and correct me if I’m wrong Jen, Vonlin or Clare), the Chinese translates into English as “The world nests under the hand of the evil one”

A great image of chirping birds hatching and being fed from the evil one right above them, feeding them things that will only maim or kill us, while we are all blissfully unaware!

1 John 2:15–17 “15 Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride in one’s possessions—is not from the Father, but is from the world. 17 And the world with its lust is passing away, but the one who does the will of God remains forever.”

Another verse from 1 John gives us an even better definition, and understanding that there is an affection dynamic here: we do things because we want to

So the struggle with the world is that we end up loving the things that are marketed and thrown in our face constantly, over the things that are usually self-denial or discipline based to honor God

The Spiritual

The second camp that is seeking to undermine us and we have to fight against is the Devil and the other supernatural entitites that work against God

We tend to be creatures of extremes, it takes a while for us to not simply momentum swing to extremes

Sometimes we think the World is all evil, and so we try to make our own personal world, but we ignore our own proclivities or the supernatural battle against Satan

Othertimes we think it’s all internal, and nothing of the world or of the Devil, and still othertimes we might think it’s all the Devil!

CS Lewis said it well

“There are two equal and opposite errors into which our race can fall about the devils. One is to disbelieve in their existence. The other is to believe, and to feel an excessive and unhealthy interest in them.”

When the disciples were sent out to proclaim that Jesus had come, and they had the authority to cast out demons, this is what Jesus said

Luke 10:18–20 “18 He said to them, “I watched Satan fall from heaven like lightning. 19 Look, I have given you the authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and over all the power of the enemy; nothing at all will harm you. 20 However, don’t rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.””

Jesus saw when Satan fell, so we can trust he exists, and then Jesus says Satan is the enemy, so there is certainly warfare!

Yet, the emphasis of Jesus to the disciples?

Don’t rejoice in the ability to do exorcisms and power over Satan

Rejoice and focus on the fact that we have our names written in heaven, that is you have salvation with God!

Story of Moody Prof saying why we don’t have more information about spiritual beings in Scripture, and related story of Nathan’s GF’s Dad at Bible School

When we consider the devil, we have to understand that dealing with him is a key reason for Jesus’ incarnation

The devil is not so much in the business of going down to Georgia to look for a soul to steal (though those demonic deals are certainly done) but he is like the archetech of evil

He runs the world, and knows how to tempt our inner weaknesses

Hebrews 2:14–15 “14 Now since the children have flesh and blood in common, Jesus also shared in these, so that through his death he might destroy the one holding the power of death—that is, the devil— 15 and free those who were held in slavery all their lives by the fear of death.”

Jesus came into our humanity to destroy the one who held the power of death over us, the devil

That devil was basically our slave holder, as we were in fear of death!

We were children of the Devil, and we were freed when we became children of God, yet now we have a new enemy, our old master!

Now that we have a new enemy, Peter calls him a roaring lion looking for people to devour!

There is a real threat from Satan, he can do real harm to our souls, as well as those around us since sin’s consequences impact more than just us!

Paul reminds us that one area that the devil is quite adept at getting into our lives is our anger

We get angry for whatever reason, but we must not sin, for Paul reminds us in Eph. 4 that anger gives the devil and opportunity into our hearts, and if we are not careful, that heart we saw in the Isreaelites in Ex. 17 will creep into our own heart!

Corey Ten Boom reminds us that “The first step in the way to victory is to recognize the enemy”

We have one more enemy to consider, but we have the world, society that encourages us to go against the wishes of God, and of course the great deceiver the Devil who has always been wanting to get us to fail to show spite at Jesus (because he doesn’t really care that much about you or I!)

The Flesh

The Final enemy we face today, and need God’s victory for is perhaps the most difficult, ourselves

The term we use is our ‘flesh’, not as in our skin, for most of us that’s fine with a little sunscreen or lotion depending on the season

No the flesh is a term for the sinful urges that dwell within ourselves

It is the bent towards sin, the desire to listen to the devil and the world!

Story of going to counseling and self-talk and relate to our inward talk to sin

So that we don’t leave it ambiguous there are clearly things laid out in Scripture that are actions of giving into the flesh,

Galatians 5:19–21 “19 Now the works of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, moral impurity, promiscuity, 20 idolatry, sorcery, hatreds, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambitions, dissensions, factions, 21 envy, drunkenness, carousing, and anything similar. I am warning you about these things—as I warned you before—that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.”

If we live this way, we won’t inherit God’s kingdom! That’s pretty serious!

Yet, perhaps the most frustrating thing about the flesh is that we still deal with it as a Christian!

We are told that we are reborn as a new creature when we become a Christian, but that does not mean our flesh hasn’t stopped it’s assault on our souls!

This is where Romans 7 comes into play, Paul is writing about his own battle with sin, and this is Paul the apostle, the writer of so much of Scripture!

It is a very dense piece of text, so I’ll read it from the MSG so we get the gist of it clearly

Romans 7:14–23 MSG

14 I can anticipate the response that is coming: “I know that all God’s commands are spiritual, but I’m not. Isn’t this also your experience?” Yes. I’m full of myself—after all, I’ve spent a long time in sin’s prison. 15 What I don’t understand about myself is that I decide one way, but then I act another, doing things I absolutely despise. 16 So if I can’t be trusted to figure out what is best for myself and then do it, it becomes obvious that God’s command is necessary. 17 But I need something more! For if I know the law but still can’t keep it, and if the power of sin within me keeps sabotaging my best intentions, I obviously need help! 18 I realize that I don’t have what it takes. I can will it, but I can’t do it. 19 I decide to do good, but I don’t really do it; I decide not to do bad, but then I do it anyway. 20 My decisions, such as they are, don’t result in actions. Something has gone wrong deep within me and gets the better of me every time. 21 It happens so regularly that it’s predictable. The moment I decide to do good, sin is there to trip me up. 22 I truly delight in God’s commands, 23 but it’s pretty obvious that not all of me joins in that delight. Parts of me covertly rebel, and just when I least expect it, they take charge.

That right there is the crux of the matter, we sin, because there is a large part of us that wants to sin!

So when Satan attacks us from both the world and our own inward desires, it seems we are fighting a losing war!

This is why it is important for us to realize that our God is a God who gives us the victory over these very things!

In fact if we were to keep going in Romans 7, Paul becomes so exasperated with himself and cries out, who can save me!!!!!!

Then he utters these beautiful words: Romans 7:25 “25 Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, with my mind I myself am serving the law of God, but with my flesh, the law of sin.”

Application

So I want to leave you with 3 quick countermeasures, to the Flesh, the Devil, and the world that help us better experience the God who gives us victory

Be a Disciple

This might seem rather straight forward and like a duh moment!

Yet, many times we don’t grasp what being a disciple means, it means that we are going to do hard things!

Fan v Follower

Fans are in it for themselves, want the benefits of Jesus, and are fickle. They may be admirers of Jesus, but aren't ready to let him change their lives.

Followers are in it for God, want Jesus, and are faithful. They are completely committed to Jesus and are willing to give their lives to his mission

Just like with healing, God doesn’t have to deliver, he might have a purpose for us maturing through a difficult battle, to become a better disciple!

In fact, Jesus himself said this in Luke 9:23–24 “23 Then he said to them all, “If anyone wants to follow after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow me. 24 For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life because of me will save it.”

Part of being a disciple is hard, carrying a cross is hard, dying to yourself is hard!

Jesus told us simply by following him, that sets us up for suffering, but he has conquered the world, that is clearly an allusion to YHWH Nissi, complete victory by complete conquest!

Yet, it comes from being a disciple, and not a half-hearted fan of Jesus!

Be Ready to Yeild

Traffic Circle and Yeild by My House

We are called to take our thoughts and actions captive to Christ, they are to yeild to him

He is after all our YHWH, our Adonai!

If we submit ourselves to God, the Devil must flee from us according to James

Yeilding means that we stop, and say, God I want you to lead me! It gives time to pray, to read Scripture, it doesn’t let your fleshly impulse run the show!

Paul says by doing this, we make ourselves into weapons for righteousness!

We also see this in the famous verse: 1 Corinthians 10:13 “13 No temptation has come upon you except what is common to humanity. But God is faithful; he will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation he will also provide the way out so that you may be able to bear it.”

We obtain victory over our enemies, and see God as YHWH Nissi by yeilding to our inability to overcome, except by God’s power!

Story of Praying through El Olam and Resisting sin in my life

Be an Insurgent

Finally, be an insurgent, this is a fun one!

An insurgent is simply a rebel!

We are followers of Jesus that want to bring about his kingdom!

Romans 12:17–21 CSB

17 Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Give careful thought to do what is honorable in everyone’s eyes. 18 If possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. 19 Friends, do not avenge yourselves; instead, leave room for God’s wrath, because it is written, Vengeance belongs to me; I will repay, says the Lord. 20 But If your enemy is hungry, feed him. If he is thirsty, give him something to drink. For in so doing you will be heaping fiery coals on his head. 21 Do not be conquered by evil, but conquer evil with good.

Living a life like this is not easy, it requires you to be a full disciple of God, fully yeilding your ego to his power and trust, and then living it out

It makes you stick out like a sore thumb in our world controlled by Satan and people run by their flesh!

It is not easy, any many times it is not fun!

Yet we do have this hope

Romans 16:20 “20 The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus be with you.”

YHWH Nissi will soon crush Satan under our feet by the power of the victory of our Risen Lord!

Benediction

Isaiah 25:7–9 CSB

7 On this mountain he will swallow up the burial shroud, the shroud over all the peoples, the sheet covering all the nations. 8 When he has swallowed up death once and for all, the Lord God will wipe away the tears from every face and remove his people’s disgrace from the whole earth, for the Lord has spoken. 9 On that day it will be said, “Look, this is our God; we have waited for him, and he has saved us. This is the Lord; we have waited for him. Let’s rejoice and be glad in his salvation.”