MARCH 2

OUR PERSONAL PROMISES                                        

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Song of Solomon 2:4

“He brought me to the banqueting house, and His banner over me was love.”

Isaiah 18:3

“All inhabitants of the world and dwellers on the earth: When he lifts up a banner on the mountains, you see it; And when he blows a trumpet, you hear it.”

Isaiah 49:22

“Thus says the Lord God: Behold, I will lift up My hand to the Gentile nations and set up My standard and raise high My signal banner to the peoples; and they will bring your sons in the bosom of their garments, and your daughters will be carried upon their shoulders.”

Psalm 60:4

“You have given a banner to those who fear You,  that it may be displayed because of the truth.”

Isaiah 11:12

“He will set up a banner for the nations,  and will assemble the outcasts of Israel,  and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth.”

Psalm 20:5

“We will rejoice in your salvation, And in the name of our God we will set up our banners! May the Lord fulfill all your petitions.”

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Our book for this month  is called “100 NAMES OF GOD”  written by Christopher D. Hudson.  Each day we’ll take one Hebrew name for God as given in the Bible to study and relate to.

JEHOVAH -NISSI

THE LORD MY BANNER

“Moses built an alter and called it ‘The Lord is my Banner.’”

In Biblical times, a banner was a flag attached to a pole that indicated the authority, allegiance, and identity of a nation.

People who were under a banner together belonged together.  They shared the identity and the values that the banner represented.  In a sense, they BELONGED TO the banner.

For armies, the banner served as both a rallying point and a rallying cry.  The banner over soldiers marked and distinguished them.  It told onlookers who the troops represented, what they stood for, and who they were fighting for.  The banner called all like-minded warriors to gather together (literally beneath it).  Then it called them to march together and to battle together in pursuit of the banner’s glory and ideals.

Tribes and families had banners too.  As the two or three million Israelites traveled from Egypt through the desert to the Promised Land, one could see banners there among the masses.  These markers helped distinguish the various groups.  In short, a banner was an outward and visible sign of a physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual bond between people.

By claiming the Lord as their banner, Moses was telling the people of Israel, “Yahweh is our identity.  We belong to Him.  We believe what He believes.  We are under His authority.  His priorities are our priorities.  We will follow Him.  We will fight for Him, ad we will love all others who are under His banner.”

Likewise, when we invoke the Lord as our banner, we pledge our allegiance to Him.  We are saying we belong to Him alone and that His purposes are our purposes.  We restrict ourselves to the ownership and leadership of God the Father.  We do this because one cannot be under more than one banner.  

We are either faithful to God or we are not faithful.  There is no partial allegiance.

If someone who understood this ancient practice of banners watched your life closely for a month, what banner would they put over your life, and why?

PRAYER

Jehovah-Nissi, thank you for putting Your banner over me.  When I am tempted to follow someone or something else, please help me to remember that I belong to You alone.  Amen

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