The Lord Our Banner

[Mr. M]

There are two elements to consider and capture the metaphor. To present His Salvation to the world, a banner is lifted up upon a standard, or pole. Both banner and standard appear prophetically throughout the OT and clearly presented in the NT as the Messiah.

The Brazen Serpent and "That Bronze Thing"

Numbers Twenty-One:

4-6 Then they journeyed from Mount Hor by the Way of the Red Sea, to go around the land of Edom; and the soul of the people became very discouraged on the way. And the people spoke against God and against Moses: Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and our soul loathes this worthless bread. So the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and many of the people of Israel died.

7-9 Therefore the people came to Moses, and said, We have sinned, for we have spoken against the Lord and against you; pray to the Lord that He take away the serpents from us. So Moses prayed for the people. Then the Lord said to Moses, Make a fiery serpent, and set it on a pole; and it shall be that everyone who is bitten, when he looks at it, shall live. So Moses made a bronze serpent, and put it on a pole; and so it was, if a serpent had bitten anyone, when he looked at the bronze serpent, he lived.

The Lord Himself proclaims the prophetic nature of this event.

John Three:

14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 

15 that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.

And again, He states that He must be lifted up to all peoples.

John Twelve:

31 Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be cast out. 

32 And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all peoples to Myself.

The Bronze Serpent prophetically becomes an idol in Israel, and is destroyed by Hezekiah

Second Kings Eighteen:

4 He removed the high places and broke the sacred pillars, cut down the wooden image and broke in pieces the bronze serpent that Moses had made; for until those days the children of Israel burned incense to it, and called it Nehushtan.

Has the Cross similarly become an idol for many believers?

[Mr. M]

Just now, Mr. M said:

There are two elements to consider and capture the metaphor. To present His Salvation to the world, a banner is lifted up upon a standard, or pole. Both banner and standard appear prophetically throughout the OT

Messiah Lifted... and Returning for His Remnant

upon which "every eye shall behold Him"

Isaiah Eleven:

10 “And in that day there shall be a Root of Jesse,
Who shall stand as a banner to the people;
For the Gentiles shall seek Him,
And His resting place shall be glorious.

11 It shall come to pass in that day
That the Lord shall set His hand again the second time
To recover the remnant of His people who are left,
From Assyria and Egypt,
From Pathros and Cush,
From Elam and Shinar,
From Hamath and the islands of the sea.

12 He will set up a banner for the nations,
And will assemble the outcasts of Israel,
And gather together the dispersed of Judah
From the four corners of the earth.

[Mr. M]

4 minutes ago, Mr. M said:

Messiah Lifted... and Returning for His Remnant

upon which "every eye shall behold Him"

The Banner On A High Mountain

Isaiah Thirteen:

1 The burden against Babylon which Isaiah the son of Amoz saw.

2 Lift up a banner on the high mountain,
Raise your voice to them;
Wave your hand, that they may enter the gates of the nobles.
3 I have commanded My sanctified ones;
I have also called My mighty ones for My anger—
Those who rejoice in My exaltation.

4 The noise of a multitude in the mountains,
Like that of many people!
A tumultuous noise of the kingdoms of nations gathered together!
The Lord of hosts musters
The army for battle.
5 They come from a far country,
From the end of heaven—
The Lord and His weapons of indignation,
To destroy the whole land.

6 Wail, for the day of the Lord is at hand!
It will come as destruction from the Almighty.
7 Therefore all hands will be limp,
Every man’s heart will melt,
8 And they will be afraid.
Pangs and sorrows will take hold of them;
They will be in pain as a woman in childbirth;
They will be amazed at one another;
Their faces will be like flames.

9 Behold, the day of the Lord comes,
Cruel, with both wrath and fierce anger,
To lay the land desolate;
And He will destroy its sinners from it.
10 For the stars of heaven and their constellations
Will not give their light;
The sun will be darkened in its going forth,
And the moon will not cause its light to shine.

11 I will punish the world for its evil,
And the wicked for their iniquity;
I will halt the arrogance of the proud,
And will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible.
12 I will make a mortal more rare than fine gold,
A man more than the golden wedge of Ophir.
13 Therefore I will shake the heavens,
And the earth will move out of her place,
In the wrath of the Lord of hosts
And in the day of His fierce anger.

[Mr. M]

The Gathering of the Saints

Isaiah Forty-Nine:

22 Thus says the Lord God:

Behold, I will lift My hand in an oath to the nations,
And set up My standard for the people;
They shall bring your sons in their arms,
And your daughters shall be carried on their shoulders;
23 Kings shall be your foster fathers,
And their queens your nursing mothers;
They shall bow down to you with their faces to the earth,
And lick up the dust of your feet.
Then you will know that I am the Lord,
For they shall not be ashamed who wait for Me.

Isaiah Fifty-Nine:

18 According to their deeds, accordingly He will repay,
Fury to His adversaries,
Recompense to His enemies;
The coastlands He will fully repay.
19 So shall they fear
The name of the Lord from the west,
And His glory from the rising of the sun;
When the enemy comes in like a flood,
The Spirit of the Lord will lift up a standard against him.

20 The Redeemer will come to Zion,
And to those who turn from transgression in Jacob,
Says the Lord.

[Mr. M]

The City Not Forsaken

Isaiah Sixty-Two:

10 Go through,
Go through the gates!
Prepare the way for the people;
Build up,
Build up the highway!
Take out the stones,
Lift up a banner for the peoples!

11 Indeed the Lord has proclaimed
To the end of the world:
Say to the daughter of Zion,
Surely your salvation is coming;
Behold, His reward is with Him,
And His work before Him.
12 And they shall call them The Holy People,
The Redeemed of the Lord;
And you shall be called Sought Out,
A City Not Forsaken.

[Mr. M]

His Banner Is Love

S of Songs Two:

4 He brought me to the banqueting house,

and his banner over me was love.

A Prayer For Blessing the Saints

Psalm Twenty: 

1 May the Lord answer you in the day of trouble;
May the name of the God of Jacob defend you;
2 May He send you help from the sanctuary,
And strengthen you out of Zion;
3 May He remember all your offerings,
And accept your burnt sacrifice. Selah

4 May He grant you according to your heart’s desire,
And fulfill all your purpose.
5 We will rejoice in your salvation,
And in the name of our God we will set up our banners!
May the Lord fulfill all your petitions.

6 Now I know that the Lord saves His anointed;
He will answer him from His holy heaven
With the saving strength of His right hand.

7 Some trust in chariots, and some in horses;
But we will remember the name of the Lord our God.
8 They have bowed down and fallen;
But we have risen and stand upright.

9 Save, Lord!
May the King answer us when we call.

Happy Banner Day!