This is part 5 of a 10-part series. View the entire series here.
There’s an old Sunday School song that goes, “Jesus is the Vine and we are the branches, His banner over me is love.” I grew up hearing that song in church all the time, but it wasn’t until many years later that I thought about what it actually means.
We write Happy Birthday, Congratulations, Get Well Soon, Good Luck on banners in big, bold letters, and we hang them high for everyone to see. Why? To declare a message in such an obvious way that it’s impossible to miss.
The lyric from that cheesy Sunday school song comes from a verse in Song of Solomon. Chapter 2, verse 4 says, “He brought me to the banqueting house, and his banner over me was love” (ESV). In context, this verse is referring to a bride and groom delighting in and declaring their love for each other in anticipation of their wedding night. More broadly, it’s a picture of Christ (the groom) declaring His love for and devotion to His Church (the bride). It’s a beautiful representation of the comfort, security, and safety we have in Jesus.
This isn’t the only place where God is referred to as a banner, though.
In Exodus chapter 17, the Israelite army is at war with the Amalekite army. Moses, his brother Aaron, and a man named Hur are standing at the top of a hill, observing and praying over the battle. Whenever Moses lifts God’s staff in the air, Israel prevails over Amalek. But when he lowers the staff, Amalek prevails over Israel. So Aaron and Hur, Moses’s faithful helpers, find a rock for him to sit on. They lift his arms for him when he gets tired. With their support, Moses is able to keep the staff raised until the sun goes down, and the Israelites defeat the Amalekite army.
After the battle is over, God speaks to Moses. He says, “‘Write this down on a scroll as a permanent reminder, and read it aloud to Joshua: I will erase the memory of Amalek from under heaven’” (Exodus 17:14 NLT). Moses builds an altar there and names it “Jehovah Nissi, The Lord Is My Banner,” because God delivered the Israelites from defeat (17:15 NLT).
In this story, God’s banner represents His power and victory in every battle, and, more broadly, His eternal victory over death.
My banner is love. My banner is victory. God is continuously declaring these things over us. Big, bold letters on big, bold signs. And yet how often we miss it.
When you’re fighting a battle that seems impossible to win, or when you’re in an emotional spiral that feels inescapable, call on Jehovah-Nissi. In His infinite lovingkindness, allow Him to remind you of the truth you should be resting in, the truth it’s so easy to forget. He loves you. He’s victorious. He is your banner.
