Banner

In a figurative language, Christ is said to be an ensign, or standard, to his people. (Isa. xi. 10, 12.) Hence, the Psalmist, in allusion to Christ, "Thou hast given a banner to them that feared thee, that it may be displayed because of the truth." (Ps. lx. 4.) And when Moses built an altar, after the victory obtained over Amalek, he called the name of it JEHOVAH Nissi; that is, the Lord is my banner. And what Lord but Christ? Were not both the altar and the banner tokens of the Lord Jesus Christ? (Exod. 17. 15.) Hence, the churchspeaks, in allusion to Christ, "In the name of our God, we set up our banners." (Ps. xx. 5.) And hence also, the church, when beheld in her warlike appearance, fighting in the strength of her Lord, is said to be, "fair as the moon, clear as the sun, and terrible as an army with banners." (Song vi. 4. 10.) It is very blessed to eye Christ in this most glorious character, as JEHOVAH’S banner to his people, for their waging war with sin, death, and hell. He is lifted up from everlasting, in the glories of his person, as the church’sHusband from all eternity. Hence, the Standard - bearer among ten thousand, under whose shadow all his redeemed are safe, and made more than conquerors through Him that loveth them. Reader! believer! friend! are we under this almighty Banner? Hath the Lord Jesus brought us to his banqueting house, and is his banner over us of love? Oh, then, let us sit down under his shadow, for, surely, all his fruit is sweet to our taste! Sure banner of peace with God, and good will towards men! See Jehovah Nissi.

an ensign, or standard, used by armies or caravans on their journeys in the eastern countries. The original רגל , is rendered by lexicographers and translators under this word, as a noun, in which form it often occurs, a standard, banner; as a verb, once, to set up a banner; Psa 20:5; as a participle pahul, vexillatus, one distinguished by a banner, the chief; as a participle niphal, bannered, or with banners. The meaning of the root is illustrated by the very ingenious and sensible author of “Observations on Divers Passages of Scripture,” who shows, from Pitts and Pococke, that, “as in Arabia and the neighbouring countries, on account of the intense heat of the sun by day, people generally choose to travel in the night; so, to prevent confusion in their large caravans, particularly in the annual one to Mecca, each company, of which the caravan consists, has its distinct portable beacon, which is carried on the top of a pole, and consists of several lights, which are somewhat like iron stoves, into which they put short dry wood, with which some of the camels are loaded. Every company has one of these poles belonging to it; some of which have ten, some twelve of these lights on their tops, more or less; and they are likewise of different figures, as well as numbers; one, perhaps, in an oval shape; another, triangular, or in the form of an M, or N, &c, so that by these every one knows his respective company. They are carried in the front, and set up in the place where the caravan is to pitch, before that comes up, at some distance from one another. As travelling then in the night must be, generally speaking, more agreeable to a great multitude in that desert, we may believe a compassionate God, for the most part, directed Israel to move in the night. And in consequence, must we not rather suppose the standards of the tribes were moveable beacons, like those of the Mecca pilgrims, than flags or any thing of that kind?” This ingenious author seems, however, to forget,

1. That the pillar of fire was with the Israelites to direct their marches.

2. That the Israelites were not a mere caravan, but an army; and, as such, for order, required standards as well by day as by night. See ARMIES.

Banner. See Ensign.

Hebrew neec, not, in the English sense of the term, an arbitrary token to distinguish one band or regiment of Israel from another, but a common object of regard, a signal of observation, a rallying point to awaken men’s hopes and efforts (Exo 17:15). Moses called the altar of thanksgiving, after Amalek’s defeat, JEHOVAH NISSI, "Jehovah is my banner." The altar is the pledge that Jehovah, in covenant with Israel, shall enable His people to defeat utterly Amalek and all his foes. (Compare Num 21:8, "a pole"; Isa 5:26; Isa 11:10, "a root of Jesse shall stand for an ensign of the people," Isa 13:2; Isa 30:17; Isa 49:22; Psa 60:4.)

Messiah set forth manifestly as the crucified Savior (Gal 3:1) is the rallying point for the gathering together in one unto Him of all the redeemed in spirit, in the glorified body also hereafter (Gen 49:10; Mat 24:31; 2Th 2:1). His love displayed is the "banner" under which His people rally for almighty protection and unspeakable comfort (Son 2:4). As neec is a "signal," raised on some special occasion, always on an elevation and conspicuous, so degel is a military standard for a large division of an army; oth, for a small one. (See ENCAMPMENT.)

See STANDARD.

A symbol of victory, belonging to military saints and to missionaries, and associated in Christian art with

• Our Saviour after His Resurrection indicative of his victory over death

• Saint Ansano

• Saint Felix of Valois

• Saint George

• Saint Hubert

• Saint Joan of Arc

• Saint Julian

• Saint Maurice and Companions

• Michael the Archangel

• Saint Reparata

• Saint Ursula

It is the emblem and symbol of temporal victory, and of spiritual victory over sin, death, and idolatry. During a sermon, when the Blessed Sacrament is exposed, a banner is placed before it.

ban´ẽr (ENSIGN, STANDARD): The English word “banner” is from banderia, Low Latin, meaning a banner (compare bandum, Latin, which meant first a “band,” an organized military troop, and then a “flag”). It has come to mean a flag, or standard, carried at the head of a military band or body, to indicate the line of march, or the rallying point, and it is now applied, in its more extended significance, to royal, national, or ecclesiastical “banners” also. We find it applied sometimes to a streamer on the end of a lance, such as is used by the Arab sheik today. “Banner” occurs in the following significant Old Testament passages: (1) in the singular, “Lift ye up a banner upon the high mountain” (Isa 13:2 the King James Version); “a banner to them that fear thee” (Psa 60:4); and (2) in the plur., “In the name of our God we will set up our banner” (Psa 20:5); “terrible as an army with banner” (Son 6:4).

1. Military Ensigns Among the Hebrews

The Hebrews, it would seem, like the Assyrians, the Egyptians, and other ancient nations, had military ensigns. As bearing upon this question, a very significant passage is that found in Num 2:2: “The children of Israel shall encamp every man by his own standard, with the ensigns of their fathers’ houses.” “Standard-bearer” in Isa 10:18 the King James Version, “They shall be as when a standard-bearer fainteth,” is not a case in point, but is to be rendered as in the Revised Version, margin, “as when a si ck man pineth away.”

In this noted passage a distinction seems intentionally made (another view is held by some) between “the ensigns of their fathers’ houses” (literally, “signs”; compare Psa 74:4, where the reference is thought by some today to be to the standards of Antiochus’ army), and “the standards” of the four great divisions of the Hebrew tribes in the wilderness (compare the “banner” of Son 2:4 and Son 6:4, Son 6:10).

2. A Distinction with a Difference

The relation of these to the “standard” of Num 21:8 f (Hebrew nēṣ, the King James Version and the Revised Version (British and American) “standard”) is by no means clear. The word nēṣ, here translated “standard,” seems to have meant at first a pole set up on an eminence as a signal for mustering troops (compare “mast” Isa 30:17 the English Revised Version, margin). But it occurs frequently in the prophets both in this literal and original sense, and in the figurative or derived sense of a rallying point for God’s people (see Isa 5:26; Isa 11:10; Jer 4:21 and elsewhere). Here the rendering in English Versions of the Bible alternates between “ensign” and “banner” (see HDB, 1-vol, article “Banner”).

Psa 60:4 (a) Evidently this is the confession which a Christian makes; it is the testimony which he bears to the truth of GOD and to his faith in his Lord. (See also Psa 20:5).

Son 2:4 (c) This banner represents the leadership of the Lord in the lives of His people. Under His guidance they march along firmly convinced and fully persuaded that everything that happens to them comes from the loving heart of their Lord.

Son 6:4 (c) In a war where the army is composed of many allies, each nation carries its own banner, thus displaying the great resources behind the forces. In this passage the banner indicates the many divisions of GOD’s gracious provision for his own. There is the banner of His power and also of His love, and also of His sufficiency, and also of His grace.

Isa 13:2 (a) Probably this banner indicates that Babylon must be exposed and advertised in her true colors. Her character must be plainly manifested. It may refer actually to the city of Babylon, or it may refer to the false Babylon, which is the Roman church, and her daughters.