Day 13: Yaweh Nissi, The Lord is My Banner

It was a beautiful sunny day as I drove along the tree lined road.  Things were quiet and peaceful all around and in my soul.  All of the sudden that peace was shattered as black hands, hands devoid of all light reached up from under the seat and grabbed me.

I could feel them wrapping tightly around me; pulling and tugging on my body and clothes.  I could see a narrow shaft of light through the trees leading up to heaven.  I fought to get away as I desperately cried out, “Jesus, Jesus, Jesus!” over and over again. 

And then I woke up.

I have never been so shaken by a dream before in my life.  The only way that I can describe it is that it felt like I was seeing into the spiritual realm and what I saw terrified me.

I had this dream two weeks after returning from the She Speaks conference.  Two weeks after God called me to boldly proclaim His matchless name.  Two weeks after I committed to be faithful to that call.

Paul wrote to the Ephesians, “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.”

There is no doubt in my mind that I saw a glimpse of the spiritual battle going on around us.  Satan would love nothing more than to keep us silent.  When we make the decision to be obedient to God and to live radically for him, we can and should expect difficulties to come into our lives.

But, we have a secret weapon against the foe.  His name is Yaweh Nissi, The Lord is My Banner.

Ancient armies carried standards or banners that served as marks of identification and as of symbols that embodied the ideals of the people.  These banners were usually made out of wood or metal and would be fasten to a staff or a long pole.

When Moses faced the Amalekite army after leading the Israelites out of Egypt an amazing thing happened.  Standing on a hill over looking the battlefield, he held his staff high above his head. 

This is the same staff that he threw down before Pharoah, the same one that he held out over the Red Sea.  This staff was more than just a piece of wood, it represented God’s authority.

While the staff was held high, the Israelites were winning the battle.  As Moses grew tired and his arms fell, the tide would turn in the favor of the Amalekites.  When he is no longer able to hold the staff up on his own, he asks two of his leading men, Aaron and Hur to stand beside him and help him hold up his hands.

After defeating the Amalekites, Moses built an altar to Yaweh Nissi, The Lord is My Banner.

We too have a banner to hold high in our spiritual battle against our enemy, the cross of Christ.  “For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 8:38

As frightening as my dream was, there is nothing that the forces of darkness can do to separate us from the love of God because of what Jesus did for us on the cross.  Sure, they can try to scare us.  They can attack from all angles in an effort to silence us. 

But they cannot win . . .

because they have already been defeated.

When faced with spiritual battles, we need to remember to claim the victory that is already ours through Yaweh Nissi, The Lord is Our Banner.

Day 12: Reverence vs Relevance

I once attended a church that had a very young preacher who had a heart for seeing the lost saved.  The church tried very hard to meet people where they were and to be relevant in today’s culture.  They were great at multi-media presentations, catchy sermon titles and fun gimmicks to bring people into the service.

One Sunday, the pastor was very fired up about his message.  In trying to convey how much God loves us, he said, “We have a flippin’ God who flippin’ loves us so very flippin’ much.”  My soul cringed at the coarse way that he spoke of the name of God.  Let’s be honest, flippin’ is a substitute for another word that should in no way be used with the holy name of God.

I have to question, at what point do we sacrifice our reverence for relevance?  How far is too far?  

The name Yaweh, which appears more than 6,800 times in the Old Testament, was considered so sacred to the Israelites it was not even pronounced after the destruction of the temple in AD 70.

Because Yaweh so freely gives the gift of salvation through His son Jesus, it can be easy to forget that He is still the holy, all-powerful I AM WHO I AM. 

May we never lose our reverence for Yahweh. 

Yaweh who is holy and mighty, slow to anger, abounding in steadfast love and mercy, yet just and powerful.

How about you, have you had an experience like mine?  How far do you think it too far?

Day 11: Yaweh Yireh, The Lord Will Provide

As I walked to the car, I prayed over and over, “God, what are we going to do? Please help us.” I had met with the director of my daughter’s preschool about our past due balance. They had been very understanding of our situation, but it was right before Christmas and they needed us to pay our balance in full so that they could make payroll.

What frustrated me so much about the situation we were in is that it was no fault of our own. It wasn’t like my husband was out of work. He was just not getting paid for the work that he was doing. His job had switched over to a new pay system at the beginning of October. There was a glitch in the transition process and since that time we had not been paid. It was now the end of December.

The past few months had been so difficult, worrying about where money was going to come from for groceries, gas and our house payment. We had just enough at this point to get us through the end of the month with a little left over for Christmas presents for the girls. Now it looked like we were going to have to use the Christmas money to pay our back preschool tuition.

I don’t think my mood could have been any blacker as I pulled up to the mailbox. My spirit was crushed and I railed at God, asking Him how much longer we were going to have to live like this and how could He be so unfair. As I sorted through the mail, I saw what looked like a bill from one of our credit card companies. I opened the envelope to find a check in the amount of $325.70. We had overpaid a previous balance and they were sending us a refund.

Can you guess how much we owed to the preschool? Exactly $325. It was like Yaweh Yireh, the Lord Will Provide said, “Here is the money you need and I am going to throw in .70 just to show that I can.”

As I handed the director our payment the next day, I told her, “God wanted you to have this money.” There is no doubt in my mind that God performed a miracle that day. What happened was so incredible that even if I had never had any previous encounters with Him, that one event would have been enough to prove His existence.

As I look back over those difficult months, I can see how Yaweh Yireh provided our NEEDS, again and again. No, we weren’t able to buy fun new toys, new purses or go out to fancy dinners. But those aren’t needs. We always had food (even if it was Chef Boyardee) and shelter. Most importantly we had Him walking with us through every difficult step.

Yaweh Yireh’s method of providing may not always make sense to us. What about the family that does lose their house or the child who will go to bed hungry? For circumstances like these there are no easy answers, except again to look at the life of Abraham. Abraham who willingly obeyed God when He asked him to sacrifice Isaac, the child that he had waited for all of those years. Abraham did not understand what the Lord was asking him, but he trusted Yaweh Yireh to provide.

At the last minute Yaweh Yireh stayed Abraham’s hand and provided a ram for the sacrifice. Thousands of year’s later, less than a mile from where Abraham was willing to obey God in all things on Mount Moriah, Yaweh Yireh again provided a sacrifice, a sacrifice that would meet the greatest need of all of man kind; forgiveness of sins.

This time the sacrifice was His very own son, Jesus Christ.

A Giveaway!

My new favorite resource is The Names of God Study Bible, by Ann Spangler.  It actually has the original Hebrew or Greek name for God listed in the text of the Scriptures.  After studying the names of God, I have found that reading the Bible this way has so much more depth and meaning.  So, I am going to be giving away a copy of this bible at the end of this 31 day series.  I will be randomly drawing from the people who left comments.  Why am I doing this?  Well, I really love this bible and would love to help someone else get a copy.  Also, I would love for this blog to be a community where people could exchange ideas and share experiences.  This is just my way of encouraging you to get the conversation started.

Day 10: My Father's Birthday

He would have been fifty-six years old today.  I cannot believe that it has been seventeen years since I last saw his charming smile, heard his deep voice or felt his arms embrace me.

My plan was to use this space to celebrate my father’s life, but I find myself at a loss for words.  I am reminded of what our pastor said at his funeral, “What good do you say about a man who chose his addictions over his family?”.  The wounds that he inflicted on my young heart still run deep.  I have come to realize, though, that he was a sick man who choose to seek comfort in drugs and alcohol instead of taking his pain to Yahweh Ropheka, the Lord Who Heals.

I view my father’s legacy as one of warning others what not to do with their lives.  Instead of running from God, run to Him.  Instead of abandoning your family, make them your first priority.  Instead of drowning your troubles in a bottle, take them to the only One who can truly take them away.

My father’s life may not have amounted to much, but God has allowed the story of his death to change the lives of people all over the world.

So today, I will celebrate, Abba, God the Father in heaven.

Abba who never leaves or forsakes us.

Abba who loves with an unconditional, everlasting love.

Abba who gives good gifts to His children.

Abba who turns all things to good for those who love Him.

Abba who held a little girl in the palm of His hand and protected her through the storm, who held her in His arms as she cried herself to sleep time and time again and who is continuing to make her broken heart whole again.

So many of us carry scars left by our earthly fathers.  It is my prayer, today, that you too will reach out to your Abba, Father and allow Him to comfort you in the way only a perfect father can.

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Day 9 and An Awesome Giveaway!

It was one of those moments that every mother dreads.  I stood in my friend Kelly’s driveway balancing a sleeping baby in one arm and a duffle bag in the other.  Abigail is crying because she doesn’t want to leave and Bethany has decided she is going to throw herself down in the middle of the driveway because she wants mac and cheese “right now”.  This is no little temper tantrum.  This is all out screaming, yelling, and kicking.  I actually expected her to start foaming at the mouth she was acting so crazy.

Nothing I said could convince her to get up and get into the van.  All she could focus on was her immediate want and the fact that it wasn’t being met.  She wanted mac and cheese and she wasn’t willing to wait for it.  What she couldn’t understand was that in her protesting she was actually causing herself to have to wait longer for what she wanted.

If we are honest with ourselves, haven’t we all had moments like that with God?  We pray and ask Him for something and all is great when we can see our prayer answered right away.  What happens, though, when it seems like God is not answering our prayer or the prayer is not answered as quickly as we would like?  I know I have definitely had my throw-myself-down-in-middle-of-the-driveway-kicking-and-screaming moments with God. 

What we so often fail to understand is that El Olam, the Eternal God, does not view time the way that we do.  El Olam has no beginning and no end, for Him one day is like a thousand years and a thousand years are like one day.  God has a perfect time to put into place His perfect plan for our lives.

One of my favorite examples of this comes, again, from the story of Abraham and Sarah.  God promised Abraham that he would be the father of many nations.  Abraham was already seventy-five years old when El Olam made this promise to him.  You can imagine that both Abraham and Sarah thought that God would give them an heir very soon.  But they had to wait twenty-five long years before they would see the long hoped for fulfillment of God’s promise. 

During the waiting time they also threw their own little tantrum and decided to take matters into their own hands.  Instead of waiting on God, Sarah gave her servant Hagar to her husband so that he could conceive a child and heir with her.  As we saw on day 4 of our study, this created a huge mess that could have been avoided had they just waited on El Olam, the Eternal God.

My husband heard it explained like this once.  When we are watching a parade go by, we know what has just passed, we see what is right in front of us and we have a glimpse of what is coming.  But El Olam, He is in the blimp above the parade.  He sees it all at one time from beginning to end.  Because of this, He knows exactly when to allow things to enter our lives in order to accomplish His ultimate purposes, that all men should come to know Him and that we would become more like Christ.

So the next time you are tempted to throw yourself down and start yelling for the mac and cheese, remember that El Olam is working His perfect plan for your life and will give you what you need exactly when you need it. 

Background

Olam is a Hebrew word that occurs more than four hundred times in the Hebrew Scriptures.  It is translated as “eternal,” “everlasting,” “forever,” “lasting,” “ever,” or “ancient.”  It refers to the fullness of the experience of time or space.  The title El Olam (El o-LAM), meaning “Eternal God” or “Everlasting God,” appears only four times in Scripture.  The word is applied to God and His laws, promises, covenant, and kingdom. (Ann Spangler, Names of God Study Bible)

Further Study

Genesis 21:25-34

A Giveaway!

My new favorite resource is The Names of God Study Bible, by Ann Spangler.  It actually has the original Hebrew or Greek name for God listed in the text of the Scriptures.  After studying the names of God, I have found that reading the Bible this way has so much more depth and meaning.  So, I am going to be giving away a copy of this bible at the end of this 31 day series.  I will be randomly drawing from the people who left comments.  Why am I doing this?  Well, I really love this bible and would love to help someone else get a copy.  Also, I would love for this blog to be a community where people could exchange ideas and share experiences.  This is just my way of encouraging you to get the conversation started.

Day 8: Do You Know Him?

I posted this to Facebook today, but I thought it was too good not to post here, as well.  As we study the Hebrew names of God it is important for us to remember that God came to earth through His son Jesus.  The video describes Him much better than I ever could.

Day 7: A Wedding Story

El Shadday, God Almighty

As I stood alone on the front steps, cars honked their horns as they flew by the old stone church.  I am sure I was quite the sight, dressed all in white in my Cinderella style wedding dress.  I can even remember someone yelling, “Let the bride in!”.

Inside the church, my bridesmaids were walking up the aisle as my best friend waited for me on the alter.  Outside the church, I was a bundle of nerves as I prepared to make the biggest commitment of my life.

Standing on the altar, in front of family and friends, I made a covenant with my beloved.  I promised to forsake all others, to love him no matter what, to stay with him through the good and bad for the rest of our lives.

A marriage covenant is the biggest commitment that most of us will ever make in this life, but it palls in comparison with the covenant that El Shadday, God Almighty has made with His people.

Genesis 17 tells the story of God making a covenant with Abram.  Abram is old, 100 years old and without children.  God tells him that he is going to be the father of many nations and that kings will come from Abram’s line.  God says, “I will establish my covenant as an everlasting covenant between me and you and your descendants after you for the generations to come, to be your God and the God of your descendants after you.”  As a sign of this covenant God changes Abram’s name to Abraham.

I love that God reveals himself as El Shadday, God Almighty when he makes this covenant with Abraham.  What God promises is no small task and only an all mighty God is able to follow through on a covenant such as this.

We make promises and break them all the time.  Marriage covenants are made and broken.  I know, because my parents stood on the very same altar I did and took the very same vows only to break them 10 years later.

El Shadday never breaks His promises.  All throughout the bible and human history we see evidence of God following through on the covenants He has made with His people.  We see the fulfillment of God’s promise to Abraham in the nation of Israel.

The prophet Jeremiah writes, “Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, declares the Lord.  But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declared the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts.  And I will be their God, and they shall be my people.  And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and brother, saying, “Know the Lord, for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the Lord.  For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.”

The prophets words are fulfilled in the birth and atoning death of Jesus Christ on the cross.  Through Christ we now have a new covenant with God.  One that we will never be able to break.  God’s words will not be written on tablets as in the old covenants, but rather on our hearts.  There is no longer a need for a faithful remnant to teach the unfaithful majority to know God, for all covenant partners will know Him.

And most importantly, “He will remember our sin no more”.

In the book of Revelation we see another wedding depicted, “Let us rejoice and exult and give him the glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his Bride has made herself ready; it was granted her to clothe herself with fine linen, bright and pure.”  This time the bride is us, those who have placed our faith in Jesus for the forgiveness of our sins and the groom is Jesus Christ himself. 

We will forever worship, El Shadday, God Almighty, who in His ultimate wisdom and power kept the covenants that He made with His people at the beginning of all time.

Background

The Hebrew El Shadday (EL shad-DAI), of translated, “God Almighty,” may literally be translated “God, the Mountain One.” Like the mountains themselves, God is seen as strong and unchanging.  El Shadday reveals God not only as the one who creates and maintains the universe but as the one who initiates and maintains a covenant with His people.  (Ann Spangler, The Names of God Study Bible)