06/02/2019
Do you wrestle within yourself for the prize, which is your soul? Are you at constant battle with your worldly nature, and Satan for possession of your soul? Well, be of good cheer, because you have a champion that goes before you who is mighty, and wins every battle... Jehovah Nissi!
“Then the Lord said to Moses, "Write this as a memorial in a book and recite it in the ears of Joshua, that I will utterly blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven." And Moses built an altar and called the name of it, The Lord Is My Banner, saying, "A hand upon the throne of the Lord! The Lord will have war with Amalek from generation to generation."”
Exodus 17:14-16 ESV
Jehovah Nissi is a name of God that means “the Lord is my Banner”, and tells us that He goes before us in conflict, and war; He is our champion. Like David fought against Goliath for Saul, and Israel... so God fights as our champion against all our enemies that come to conquer our spirits and claim our souls. This title for God is used just once in the Bible, but is in effect from generation to generation.
When my brother and I were teens, there was a neighbor boy who started picking on him. Like most of us my brother tried to handle the situation alone, but it just continued, and as a matter of fact became worse. Finally he became distraught, and in near defeat, he came to me and asked what he should do. Well, this boy was much bigger than my brother so I said come with me, and with my younger brother watching I confronted the bully. I went toe to toe with him and told him in no uncertain terms what I was prepared to do if he ever picked on my brother again... he backed down, and apologized to my brother. You see, sometimes our troubles are just too big for us to handle alone, and we need a champion. Against Satan, sin, and our human nature, we all need a champion to fight for us... we need Jehovah Nissi.
“Then I said to you, 'Do not be in dread or afraid of them. The Lord your God who goes before you will himself fight for you, just as he did for you in Egypt before your eyes, and in the wilderness, where you have seen how the Lord your God carried you, as a man carries his son, all the way that you went until you came to this place.'”
Deuteronomy 1:29-31 ESV
After I had faced down the bully for my brother, I put my arm on his shoulder and we walked home together. I told him about the nature of bullies, and that they never pick on someone their own size... I healed his spirit and returned confidence. Coming to me did not make him less... it made me more, and I loved being his big brother. God likes being our champion too, and when the victory is won He places his arm around us and heals us.
Jehovah Rophi means “the Lord that heals you”, and He heals us in many ways. Sometimes it is our body that needs healing, sometimes our psyche, but in every occasion it is our spirit, and soul. After every battle with Satan, and within ourselves that God fights for us, we should raise His banner, and then allow Him to put His arm on our shoulder and teach us... heal us.
“saying, "If you will diligently listen to the voice of the Lord your God, and do that which is right in his eyes, and give ear to his commandments and keep all his statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you that I put on the Egyptians, for I am the Lord, your healer."”
Exodus 15:26 ESV
God sent His Son Jesus Christ as a means of healing us. Jesus is the water that washes our cut clean; His burial shroud is the dressing on our wound, and His resurrection is the healing of our spirits, and souls. Jesus is the new flesh that we consume, and the healthy blood of life that flows through us... His strength abides in us, and allows God to abide in us as well. He is what makes God to be Jehovah Rophi to us.
“"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.”
John 3:16-17 ESV
So maybe you are wrestling within yourself today, but if you are then do not go this way alone. Reach out to God in prayer, and ask Him to become your champion; allow Him to go before you, and to increase in your life by becoming Jehovah Nissi to you, and then when He has defeated the demon than you are facing let him become your healer... your Jehovah Rophi.
Prayer:
Father, I thank you for being the banner that goes before me in all aspects of my life. I thank you for every victory you have won for me, and all my wounds that you have healed on this battlefield that is my life. I thank you for the grace that you have poured out upon me through the life and blood of Jesus. Help me Father as I face each challenge in my life; teach me to come to you in prayer, and ask for you to go before me in my every battle. Keep me humble Lord, so that when the battle is won, and you place your arm about me, I will readily accept your healing, and sing your praises, even as you teach me, in my humility, to become more in you. Holy, Holy, Holy, are you my Jehovah Nissi, and my Jehovah Rophi... my Champion, and my Healer. Greater are you than any adversary, and more powerful are you than any would... even death. All glory is yours Father, and by your grace which flows through Jesus it is made perfect.
“Jesus answered, "If I glorify myself, my glory is nothing. It is my Father who glorifies me, of whom you say, 'He is our God.'”
John 8:54 ESV
Rich Forbes