This is a guest post from my wife, Melanie. She originally wrote this post for Biblical Woman, the blog site for the Women’s Programs at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. The post originally appeared here.
“And Moses built an altar and called its name, The Lord is My Banner.” (Ex 17:15)
The Israelites were coming against their first enemy since crossing the Red Sea. They had fought the battles within their own hearts, questioning God’s provision of food and drink, only to find God faithful to provide daily for their needs. Still they wavered in their faith and questioned, “Is the Lord among us or not?” The time had come where they faced an enemy of flesh and blood. The Amalekites came to fight Israel.
On the backside of the battle, we learn that the Israelites were victorious. So much so, that the Lord pledged to “utterly blot out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven.” (Exodus 17:14b). When the battle had ended, Moses worshipped God and declared that “The Lord is my banner.”
Throughout history, a banner was vital to the battlefield. It is a rod or flag that the army would rally behind. If a soldier became separated because of the frantic pace of battle, they knew to gather back around the banner.
To stand behind a banner meant to forever identify with its cause.
There could only be one banner. For an army to have more than one would only bring confusion and disunity. When Moses could have celebrated the victory in so many ways, He chose to acknowledge God as his banner. What does it mean in our life for us to do the same?
First, when we declare God as our banner, we must lay down all other banners. We women love to rally around a worthy cause, promoting it to our friends and defending it to our foes. But, as a believer, no cause, no passion, no activity can take the place of God being the banner in our life. The Lord, His Word and His commands to us take precedent. Even other pursuits in our lives that look good or God-honoring can quickly become a banner in and of themselves. We run the risk of one day realizing that, somewhere along the journey, we forsook the Lord’s banner for a mere imitation.
Only the Lord’s banner is safe to follow, because only it is infallible. When we follow any of the banners the world has to offer, even the good ones, there will eventually come a time when error creeps in and we find ourselves fighting for an unrighteous cause.
Many people through history have suddenly found themselves drawn into unrighteousness only because they followed a worldly cause further than they should have. This is not to say we should ignore the causes around us that need our help. But, keeping God as our banner, we are able to help even more because of the solidarity of our focus.
Lastly, when the Lord is our banner, we are not offended by others. Any criticism we receive or mockery we endure is ultimately not targeted at us, but at the One we follow. He is more than able to withstand the darts that are thrown at us than we are. In contrast, when we have adopted other banners in our life, an attack on that cause is a personal attack on us. We internalize every criticism or unkind comment because we are the ones fighting. We cannot lay down our weapons, because there is no one to pick them up again.
However, when the Lord is our banner, He is the one who fights to defend His name.
We only speak His truth and love His people.
What cause do you rally around that competes with God’s primary position in your life? Do you find yourself taking offense often, because you are personally trying to defend your cause? Take this opportunity to learn from Moses and declare the Lord, and the Lord alone, is your banner, for He is the only infallible one, defending His own honor against the enemies that come.
