We all have a certain standard.
And it has a lot to do with our upbringing and how we are influenced.
So, I looked up what the word standard means, fundamentally.
Isn’t a dictionary a great tool? It shows us what the words we are using really mean, even though we use them randomly, daily and sometimes carelessly.
Standard, according to the Oxford English Dictionary, means a level of quality that is normal or acceptable for a particular person or in a particular situation. Norms and values.
Fundamentally, a standard is something used to measure up against something else, a person or situation, a model or example. It is also an aspiration towards a certain preconceived level, a benchmark or an ambition to do so. It is the banner flag with the slogan of morals. It is a shout of support and the championing of adherence.
Lift it high
We’d all like to think that in life we are keeping high standards. Conceptually, this is directly aligned to what we believe.
Can you see where I am going with this?
Again, nothing determines our standards more than our upbringing and influences, telling me that at best, our norms and values (standards) are rather subjective. Taught, learned, understood and pursued.
The Bible standard
In the Bible I read about a standard. And the Bible influences Christians and non-Christians one way or the other. As Christians, it influences us even more, depending on the doctrinal interpretation and the preaching of that interpretation we receive. This is especially sad when the teaching we receive comes from a legalistic, law-driven Bible interpretation and perspective (religion and doctrine).
I must also touch on a word that we are all very familiar with - Nasa (nāśā').
Before we do that, we need to know and understand what a standard in the Bible (Hebrew) is.
The great prophet Isaiah says "And in that day there shall be a Root of Jesse, Who shall stand as a banner (nēs) to the people; For the Gentiles shall seek Him, And His resting place shall be glorious." [Isa 11:10 NKJV]
And
He will lift up (nāśā') a banner (nēs) to the nations from afar, And will whistle to them from the end of the earth; Surely they shall come with speed, swiftly. [Isa 5:26 NKJV]
These passages are loaded, but let us for a moment focus on the word banner (or nēs, נָסַס, is a noun more frequently translated as standard or ensign) (The pictograph - life supported or strengthened ultimately).
The word nēs means something (or rather, Someone) lifted up, a signal, an ensign, a signpost. It is used twenty times in the direct Bible translations of the old testament and in every instance is a clear prophecy onto Yah’shua.
If we have lambanō-ed, Jesus is our Banner. He is our Standard. For a better understanding of lambanō, see this post.
Nasa?
The word nāśā' is an ancient Hebrew root word (verb) that means to lift up, to exalt or rise up. The pictograph depicts Life propped (held up or strengthened).
We do not need a lot of imagination to see and understand how this prophecy has been utterly fulfilled. We also need to understand that the highest standard is the law given to the people of Israel on the occasion whence they preferred not to meet and have relationship with God at mount Sinai. The only one Person who could ever reach this standard was Yah’shua.
And then He was lifted high to make the law standard obsolete and bring Himself as Himself as the absolute standard on our behalf, in our behalf and because of us!
The flip-side
Religion, and how well we stick to doctrine, is usually the measure-stick when it comes to what is believed. It will ask of us - How much we do. How well we do it. How often we get busy. How much we give. How spiritual we are. How much we attend. How well we behave. How well we obey ... and on and on … all aligned with the old covenant standard.
However, when it comes to a standard there is only one way to go - reach the standard ourselves, or reach for the only Person who ever could and did so on our behalf - Yah’shua, Jesus!
Another standard
There is another word for standard (or banner) used in the old covenant which is also highly prophetic. This is the old Hebrew word degel, used as an instruction for the tribes of Israel when they were led out of bondage out of Egypt to camp in a specific pattern around the tabernacle.
The entire camp arrangement was meticulously outlined by God through Moses, underscoring the importance of obedience to divine instructions.
The tribes were divided into four camps, each positioned around the tabernacle:
* East: Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun.
* South: Reuben, Simeon, and Gad.
* West: Ephraim, Manasseh, and Benjamin.
* North: Dan, Asher, and Naphtali.
The Tabernacle was located at the center of the camp, it was the focal point of spiritual life.
Levitical priests encamped all around the tabernacle to perform their allocated functions.
Each camp had a standard, or banner, to guide its movement for military, spiritual, protective and service purposes.
Taking into account the numbers under each tribe, we find the aerial picture of the encampment to resemble the perfect cross of Jesus Christ. Obviously, looking at the banners under which each tribe had to camp has a lot more prophetic meaning, but I won't deal with that here in this post.
The victory standard
In Isaiah 59, Isaiah foretells what God will do to His enemy (the devil and his friends and he uses the word), saying When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the LORD shall lift up a standard against him.
Isaiah now uses the root word nûs (or נוּס) whence we get all the words explained earlier in this post from. Here the word can be much better translated as to cause to disappear, hide or to put to flight, make to vanish.
The word in this form is used 160 times in the old covenant, in all instances within the context of fleeing, and also translated in all those instances as flee, fleeing, fled, etc., except here in Isaiah 59 - strangely peculiar, indeed!
The word nûs has a linguistic close cousin in the form of another Hebrew word, but from a different root word. The cousin word is nês or נס, which is the word used for something to be lifted up, a standard, signal, signal pole, ensign, banner, a flag, a sign.
Now the prophetic picture gets a little clearer
And get this!
The root word whence the word nês comes from, is the Hebrew root word nâsas or נסס which basically means to wane, that is, be sick.
The pictograph for this word depicts life turned around. In other words, it is the opposite of nûs or נס that depicts life turned around thus turned around and not turned around again - without the second around. Does it make any sense? Simply put, if you turn something 180 degrees it goes in one direction (say health). If you turn it around again, it goes into the opposite direction.
So, let's bring the whole thing together
When the nation of Israel was about to meet God at Mount Sinai they suddenly retreated and sent Moses with the word that everything that God says we shall do (Ex 19:8). So, God gave them His Perfect written standard, the law. The law was later completely fulfilled in Jesus. Jesus is God's Standard.
Look at the pictograph. You should be able to see that God provided His Standard in Jesus, Whom was lifted up on high for all to see and by which He turned around sickness and distress and sin, all that the enemy inflicts. By the Name of Yah'shua (His Standard) the enemy shall flee. Every knee shall bow and every tongue confess Jesus!
Wow!
Then there is a comma
Also, in verse 19 we find an odd placement of a comma. Punctuation does not exist in the Hebrew and was placed into the text in the case of all translations that actually do, but it has the ability to change what is being said fundamentally. Dramatically! The strategic placement of this little comma accredits way too much prominence to the actual ability of the enemy, especially since he had been completely defeated by the Standard Himself. We'll do well to use our own poetic licence and move the comma to just before the word "like". That is, if we still want to retain it.
Let's read it with the comma placed before the "like":
When the enemy shall come in, like a flood the Spirit of the LORD shall lift up a standard against him.
It changes the meaning totally, doesn't it?
Let' read the prophecy now
So shall they fear [reverence] the name of the LORD from the west, and his glory from the rising of the sun. When the enemy shall come in, like a flood the Spirit of the LORD shall lift up a standard against him.
And then, look at the next verse still continuing in the very same prophetic context.
And the Redeemer shall come to Zion, and unto them that turn from transgression in Jacob, saith the LORD.
And the promise that shakes the whole doctrine of the institutional church to shambles:
As for me, this is my covenant with them, saith the LORD; My spirit that is upon thee, and my words which 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, saith the LORD, from henceforth and forever. [Isa 59:19-21]
It is all about the Spirit of the Lord! Not about the enemy.
Promise fulfilled
But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach [Rom 10:8]
The Banner.