This article is part of the Names of God We Live By series. Read the full series here.
When was the last time you saw a banner? Maybe one hanging outside a business, or carried high during a sports ceremony. Perhaps you’ve seen protestors holding a banner at a rally, proclaiming the cause they are fighting for. Or you’ve recently seen a digital banner flashing across a website or a content creator’s video announcing a time-limited sale.
Most banners today advertise an event, product, or organization. Yet in the military, banners are still used in their ancient way: to identify, signal, and to inspire courage.
The Banner Raised
In Exodus 17:8–15, a very different kind of banner was lifted during battle. While Israel journeyed through the wilderness after God rescued them from Egypt, the Amalekites suddenly attacked. Moses climbed to the top of a nearby hill, carrying the staff of God, and held it up for all the fighters below to see. As long as his hands were raised, Israel prevailed; but the moment his strength faded and his arms lowered, the Amalekites gained ground.
Seeing this, Aaron and Hur came alongside Moses, steadying his hands until the battle was won. When victory came, Moses built an altar and named it “Jehovah Nissi”—“The Lord is our banner.”
In doing so, Moses declared a timeless truth:
The rallying point of God’s people is God Himself.
In every battle we face:
- God is our focus. (Psalm 16:8)
- God is our strength. (Psalm 46:1)
- God is our victory. (Deuteronomy 20:4)
But Scripture reveals something very human in this incident: that even when God is our banner, we grow weary. Moses did. And when he did, God supplied Aaron and Hur to uphold him.
We, too, need people like them. Trusted friends, mentors, brothers and sisters in the Lord who help steady us when life feels heavy.
So pause and reflect: Who are your Aaron and Hur? Who helps steady your hands when your strength begins to fall?
The Banner Remembered
Just as Moses needed support on that hill, every believer knows what it’s like to grow weary in a battle, especially one that doesn’t end quickly. We fight battles on different fronts on a daily basis. They’re not like Israel’s, but they’re just as real.
A hospital corridor at 3:00 a.m.
A rejected payment alert at 3:05 a.m.
A wallet gone at 3:10 a.m.
A text at 3:12 a.m.: “We need to talk. You never listen!”
The downward spiral continues, prompting us to take our eyes off the lifted staff. And when we do, peace begins to dissipate; strength slowly drains. Depression may set in, hopelessness impairs judgment, anxiety dominates our emotions, and despair makes us grasp questionable lifelines that make things worse instead of better.
In marriage, it’s easy to forget we’re on the same side. When exhaustion sets in and battles pile up, spouses stop watching the horizon together and start aiming at each other. They forget that “your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour” (1 Peter 5:8). Meanwhile, the real enemy stays hidden in the shadows, ready to plant his flag over the ruins.
But amidst the cloud of confusion in the battleground, one glance at where the banner is raised is all that’s needed to remind us who we are. So what does it mean to keep our eyes on the banner?
Banners Identify Us
Long ago, banners bore colors and symbols that identified an army’s allegiance to a specific king or ruler. Trumpets or drums would herald an army’s arrival, and the troops would come marching led by the banner of their monarch, declaring their identity, their allegiance, and their cause. (Jehovah Nissi Meaning: “Lord is My Banner” Explained, 2025)
Believers are identified by the God they serve and adore. God is their banner, not in outward appearance but in the way they live. It’s their attitude, their values, and their priorities that reveal who they belong to. Their worth isn’t measured by success, fame, or status, but by the One who calls them His own.
Married Christian believers, likewise, are identified by the God who has brought them together. How they handle conflicts and extend grace towards each other reflects the Heavenly Father’s glory by displaying His sanctifying work in their lives. Scripture tells us we are “all one in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3:28). The banner that identifies us also unites us.
Banners Unify Us
Things can get confusing as the battle for our faith and love for the Lord rages on. Voices come from all directions demanding to be heard. Experts pull one way; family pulls another. Solutions present themselves, but conscience stops us cold.
We hesitate.
We second-guess.
We wonder if we are even facing the right direction.
“You have given a banner to those who fear you, that it may be displayed because of the truth” (Psalm 60:4).
In moments like this, we need something fixed. Something lifted higher than our emotions, louder than our doubts, and stronger than our fears.
That is none other than Jehovah Nissi.
When a battle breaks out, it is easy to lose your way. The banner calls us back. It shows us where strength is found. In ancient warfare, soldiers did not look to each other for direction. They looked for the banner so they could regroup, regain clarity, and return to formation.
So do we. When we turn our eyes to the Lord, confusion begins to clear and unity begins to form. And once the banner gathers us, it then guides us.
Banners Lead Us Forward
Banners were not originally decorative; they were directional. When it advanced, the soldiers followed. When it stopped, everybody halted. When the banner was raised, fighters attacked with battle cries echoing everywhere.
Jehovah Nissi still leads His people today.
In marriage, this leadership matters. God was the one who instituted marriage, and His design encompasses biblical intimacy in marriage, as well as how conflict is faced and resolved. If a couple forgets that a “cord of three strands is not quickly torn apart” (Ecclesiastes 4:12), conflict between them may escalate to the breaking point. But if the banner guides each step, husband and wife can face any difficulty with courage and hope, not wielding carnal weapons of accusation, deception, unforgiveness, and manipulation, but instead use spiritual weapons (2 Corinthians 10:4) while clothed in spiritual armor (Ephesians 6:10-18).
Let Jehovah Nissi lead you, whether in marriage, when facing a crisis at 3:00 a.m., or in the daily choice to stay faithful. Remember, the banner doesn’t just mark where we stand, it points to where we’re headed.
Conclusion
Read the Exodus passage again and see Moses on the hill, both arms outstretched with the staff lifted high. As the battle raged before him, he grew weary. Aaron and Hur aided him until the people of God were victorious.
Centuries later, on another mountain called Golgotha, a greater banner was raised. It was the banner Moses pointed toward, the banner God had prepared from the beginning. And it was not one among many. It was God’s final declaration that the separation between God and humanity had been atoned once and for all.
Sin and God’s justice met on that hill, and the weight of both fell on Jesus. Yet from that place of suffering came a promise that still calls to us today: “And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all to Myself.” (John 12:32).
And in that banner, on that cross on the hill, God’s love, mercy, and grace triumphed. Since then, the message of the cross has been identifying, unifying, and leading God’s people.
If you are lost, lonely, and need guidance, look to Christ. His banner still stands!
He is the fulfillment of Jehovah Nissi.
He is the Lord, our Banner!
Continue the series here