Names of Yehovah: Yehovah Nissi
Introduction
The Bible has many name/title combinations for the God of Israel; it would take years to show them all. Some of those name/title combinations are only visible in Hebrew (and in rare literal translations) because translators didn’t view them as names or titles. The following is an example of one that translations do acknowledge.
Exodus 17:8-15
The text is given literally rendered:
Exodus 17:8 And Amalek came. And he fought with Israel in Rephidim. 9And Moshe said unto Yehoshua, “Choose for us men. And go out. Fight with Amalek. Tomorrow, I am standing on the top of the hill. And the rod of the Gods [HaElohim] is in my hand.” 10And Yehoshua did as Moshe had said to him to fight with Amalek. And Moshe, Aharon, and Hur went up to the top of the hill. 11And it came to pass, when Moshe will elevate his hand, and Israel will prevail. And when he will rest his hand, and Amalek will prevail. 12And the hands of Moshe are heavy. And they took a stone. And they put under him. And he sat upon her. And Aharon and Hur supported his hands from this one and from this one. And his hands were faith unto the coming of the sun. 13And Yehoshua discomfited Amalek and his people to the mouth of a sword. 14And Yehovah said unto Moshe, “Write this, a memorial in the book. And put in the ears of Yehoshua. For blotting, I will blot the remembrance of Amalek from under the heavens!” 15And Moshe built an altar. And he called his name ‘Yehovah Neessee.’
The frequently used title 
(Elohim) literally means Gods. It can refer to the One True and Living God, Yehovah (which is normally the case), or it can refer to false gods (as it does in Exodus 20:3). The title, Elohim shows that Yehovah is all the Gods there are, since the Bible opens with this pronouncement: “In the beginning, Gods (plural) created (singular) the heavens and the land.”
Our present text uses the word 
, which differs by the addition of the article ‘the.’ The expression ‘The Gods’ becomes all the more significant, dismissing anything that is not part of The Gods as not gods.
Three men go up to the top of the hill to wait for the battle. Each man has a position, and two have roles as types (typology: a person, item or time that is significant, and pictures a person, item or time that is far more significant). Moshe is a type of Yehovah the Father, being placed as a god to Pharaoh (Exodus 7:1); Aharon the High Priest is a type of the entire people of Israel since Yehovah has placed all Israel as a high priest to the races. Israel the priest has access to all parts of the Temple/Tabernacle. Hur is from the tribe of Judah (Exodus 31:2); Judah’s role in Israel’s salvation is significant.
The text does not tell how Moshe knew to take two other men with him. Moshe noticed that Israel prevailed when his hands were up, and Amalek prevailed when they were down. Aharon and Hur set a stone under Moshe so that he could be seated. His hands were heavy, and the men had to hold them up in the air in order for Israel to prevail.
The text states that Moshe’s hands were faith. Moshe, Aharon and Hur already had faith, and didn’t need to see Moshe’s raised hands; the raised hands were for the Israelis and for readers. Faith was provided, and only obedience was necessary.
Moshe then built an altar. He did what others before him did: he named the altar, in this case calling it 
, Yehovah my Signal. The word Signal also carries the idea of something placed very high so that others who need to see it and who understand its significations will be able see it.
The Book of the Prophet Isaiah has several very important references to the Standard, a reference to the same word (or root word) that is used above:
Isaiah 49:20 The children that thou shalt have, after thou hast lost the other, shall say again in thine ears, “The place is too narrow for me! Give place to me and I shall dwell!” 21Then thou shalt say in thine heart, “Who has begotten me these, seeing I have lost my children, and I am desolate, a captive, and removing to and fro? And who has brought up these? Behold, I was left alone; these—where are they?” 22Thus says the Lord Yehovah, “Behold, I will elevate my hand to the races and set up my standard to the peoples. And they shall bring thy sons in arms! And thy daughters shall be carried upon the shoulders. 23And kings shall be thy nursing fathers, and their queens thy nursing mothers. They shall bow down to thee with the faces toward the land, and lick up the dust of thy feet. And thou shalt know that I am Yehovah! For they who wait for me shall not be ashamed!”
Isaiah 59:16 And He saw that [there is] no man. And He wondered that [there is] no intercessor. Therefore His arm brought salvation unto Him. And His righteousness—it sustained Him. 17For He put on righteousness as a breastplate, and a helmet of salvation upon His head. And He put on the garments of vengeance [for] clothing, and was clad with zeal as a cloak. 18He will repay accordingly, according to [their] deeds—fury to His adversaries, recompense to His enemies. He will repay recompense to the coastlands. 19So shall they fear the Name Yehovah from the west, and His glory from the rising of the sun. “When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of Yehovah shall lift up a standard against him! 20And the Redeemer shall come to Zion, and unto them who turn from transgression in Jacob,” says Yehovah. 21 “As for me, this is my covenant with them,” says Yehovah: “My spirit that is upon thee and my speeches that I have put in thy mouth shall not depart out of thy mouth nor out of the mouth of thy seed nor out of the mouth of thy seed’s seed,” says Yehovah, “from henceforth and for ever!”
Isaiah 62:8 Yehovah hath sworn by His right hand and by the arm of His strength, “Surely I will no more give thy grain food for thine enemies. And the sons of the stranger shall not drink thy wine for which thou hast laboured. 9But they who have gathered it shall eat it and praise Yehovah. And they who have brought it together shall drink it in the courts of my Holy One.” 10 “Go through! Go through the gates! Prepare ye the way of the people! Cast up! Cast up the highway! Gather out the stones! Lift up a standard above the peoples!” 11Behold, Yehovah hath proclaimed unto the end of the world: “Say ye to the daughter of Zion, ‘Behold, thy Salvation comes! Behold, His reward is with Him! And His work is before Him!’ 12And they shall call them, ‘The holy people!’ ‘The redeemed of Yehovah!’ And thou shalt be called, ‘Sought out!’ ‘A city not forsaken!’” 1 “Who is This Who comes from Edom with dyed garments from Bozrah?—This [that is] glorious in His apparel, travelling in the greatness of His strength?” “I Who speak in righteousness, mighty to save!” 2 “Why [art thou] red in thine apparel, and thy garments like him who treads in the winevat?” 3 “I have trodden the winepress alone. And none is with me of the people. For I will tread them in mine anger! And I will trample them in my fury! And their blood shall be sprinkled upon my garments! And I will stain all my raiment! 4For the day of vengeance is in my heart! And the year of my redeemed is come!” 5 “And I looked. And [there is] none to help. And I wondered that [there is] none to uphold. Therefore my own arm brought salvation unto me! And my fury–it upheld me! 6And I will tread down peoples in mine anger! And I will make them drunk in my fury! And I will bring down their strength to the earth!” 7 “I will mention the graces of Yehovah—the praises of Yehovah according to all that Yehovah has bestowed on us, and the great goodness toward the House of Israel that He hath bestowed on them according to His mercies and according to the multitude of His graces. 8For He said, “Surely they are my people–children won’t lie.” So He became theirs for a Saviour. 9 He was afflicted in all their affliction. And the angel of His faces saved them! He redeemed them in His love and in His pity. And He bare them and carried them all the days of old. 10But they rebelled, and vexed His holy Spirit. Therefore He was turned to be their enemy. He fought against them. 11Then He remembered the days of old–Moshe, His people– ‘Where is He who brought them up from the sea with the shepherd of His flock? Where is He who put His holy Spirit within him, 12that led by the right hand of Moshe with His glorious arm, dividing the water before them to make Himself an everlasting Name, 13that led them through the deep as a horse in the wilderness, they shall not stumble?’ 14As a beast goes down into the valley, the Spirit of Yehovah caused him to rest. So did Thou lead thy people to make thyself a glorious name!”
Moshe was prophesying when he named the altar Yehovah Neesee. The experience that Israel experienced in a comparatively minor (yet very significant) battle in Moshe’s day will be repeated during the Tribulation in a very large way! Yehovah Himself will be the standard as He descends to the land riding a horse and surrounded by a cloud. There will be no stars to compete with His brightness in that day. The sun will have become extremely dim, and the moon will not give light. Every city will be dark. Messiah will circle the earth as He descends, and every eye shall see Him in His brightness (including the eyes of blind folks). His descent will occur after Jerusalem calls for Him according to His promise:
Matthew 23:37 “Jerusalem! Jerusalem that kills the prophets and stones them who are sent unto thee! How often would I have gathered thy children together even as a hen gathers her chickens under wings, and ye would not! 38Behold, your house is left unto you desolate. 39For I say unto you, ye shall not see me henceforth until ye shall say, ‘Blessed is He Who comes with the Name Yehovah!’”
The standard of Yehovah, Messiah Himself, will come after two days. The land of Israel will be rescued by the destruction of Israel’s nearby enemies. The strangest judgment in the Bible, one often mentioned and explained in detail in Matthew 25, will then take place.
Related: Names of God
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Original page August 26, 2011 | Updated January 4, 2021