'And Moses built an altar, and called the name of it
Jehovah Nissi [that is, the Lord is my Banner].'
--EXODUS xvii. 15.
We are all familiar with that picturesque incident of the conflict
between Israel and Amalek, which ended in victory and the erection of
this memorial trophy. Moses, as you remember, went up on the mount
whilst Joshua and the men of war fought in the plain. But I question
whether we usually attach the right meaning to the symbolism of this
event. We ordinarily, I suppose, think of Moses as interceding on the
mountain with God. But there is no word about prayer in the story, and
the attitude of Moses is contrary to the idea that his occupation was
intercession. He sat there, with the rod of God in his hand, and the
rod of God was the symbol and the vehicle of divine power. When he
lifted the rod Amalek fled before Israel; when the rod dropped Israel
fled before Amalek. That is to say, the uplifted hand was not the hand
of intercession, but the hand which communicated power and victory. And
so, when the conflict is over, Moses builds this memorial of
thanksgiving to God, and piles together these great stones--which,
perhaps, still stand in some of the unexplored valleys of that weird
desert land--to teach Israel the laws of conflict and the conditions of
victory. These laws and conditions are implied in the name which he
gave to the altar that he built--Jehovah Nissi, 'the Lord is my Banner.'
Now, then, what do these stones, with their significant name, teach us,
as they taught the ancient Israelites? Let me throw these lessons into
three brief exhortations.