Thursday, May 18, 2017

Exodus 17: Jesus: The Rock, Living Water, and Banner of Salvation

I love reading through the Old Testament and seeing Jesus.

I'm reading Exodus 17 tonight and just read about God bringing forth water from a rock and couldn't help think about Jesus, the Rock, speaking to the woman at the well about the living water He gives (John 4). Then I read 1 Corinthians 10:4.

“and all drank the same spiritual drink, for they were drinking from a spiritual rock which followed them; and the rock was Christ.” 

After reading that richness, I continued to verses 8-16. Here we see God fight for Israel. He had Moses stand at the top of the hill and hold up his staff/rod (symbolizing God's presence, the sign of His victory) while Joshua (whose name means Yahweh Saves) fights below. As long as the staff was held up, the Israelites prevailed. Moses' arms grew weary, and he had to have help holding it up because when he didn't hold it up, the Amaleks prevailed. What a blessing to know that our God never tires (Isaiah 40:28)!

We have two types of Christ here: Joshua, the Captain of Salvation (Hebrews 2:10), and Moses, the Intercessor to God (Hebrews 7:25).

We also see the staff being used as the battle "banner." This was a common practice, to hold up a spear or pole, with or without cloth on it to encourage the soldiers. After the victory, Moses built an altar and called the name of it, "The LORD is my banner." (Jehovah Nissi). The Hebrew word for "banner" here is later used in scripture for "pole" in Numbers 21:8 for the pole with the bronze serpent raised up to save the Israelites in the wilderness. Jesus refers to this in John 3:14-15.

“As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up; so that whoever believes will in Him have eternal life.”
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Jehovah Nissi, the LORD is My Banner. Yes, the LORD Jesus Christ is my Banner of Salvation!

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