"Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you.” — Matthew 28:19-20
We are asking Jesus for one person from each parish to pray 5 decades of the Holy Rosary and the Divine Mercy Chaplet with us daily. Please pray that these people join us in spreading Divine Mercy. In addition if you feel lead by the Holy Spirit to join us; are blessed by this Apostolate and are able please consider giving a $1 a month to help us do works of mercy as a group. Individually we are limited, together we are unlimited in our potential. God bless, Todd
Jehovah-Nissi
In Exodus 17, Israel comes face to face with their first enemy since Pharaoh's army was destroyed in the Red Sea, the Amalekites. They were descendants of Amalek, a grandson of Esau, which were direct descendants of Isaac and cousins to Israel. By custom, Israel would have expected hospitality from this nation. Instead Amalek came out to fight them.
Moses wrote in Deuteronomy 25:17-19 that, "Remember what Amalek did unto thee by the way, when ye were come forth out of Egypt; How he met thee by the way, and smote the hindmost of thee, even all that were feeble behind thee, when thou wast faint and weary; and he feared not God. Therefore it shall be, when the Lord thy God hath given thee rest from thy enemies round about, in the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee for an inheritance to possess it, that thou shalt blot out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven; thou shalt not forget it."
When Israel arrived at Rephidim, they found no water there. By now they were eating manna and had food, but lacked water. Here Moses struck the rock and water came out of the rock. Paul later tells us that the rock was Christ. It was here also that Israel questioned whether God was with them or not. It was against this thirsty and weary Israel that Amalek came. Exodus 17:8-16 describes the battle that followed, "Then came Amalek, and fought with Israel in Rephidim. And Moses said unto Joshua, Choose us out men, and go out, fight with Amalek: tomorrow I will stand on the top of the hill with the rod of God in mine hand. So Joshua did as Moses had said to Him, and fought with Amalek: and Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill.
And it came to pass, when Moses held up his hand, Israel prevailed: and when he let down his hand Amalek prevailed. But Moses' hands were heavy; and they took a stone, and put it under him, and he sat thereon; and Aaron and Hur stayed up his hands, the one on the one side, and the other on the other side; and his hands were steady until the going down of the sun. And Joshua discomfited Amalek and His people with the edge of the sword.
And the Lord said unto Moses, Write this for a memorial in a book, and rehearse it in the ears of Joshua: for I will utterly put out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven. And Moses built an altar and called the name of it Jehovah-Nissi: For He said, Because the Lord hath sworn that the Lord will have war with Amalek from generation to generation."
When Moses' hands, holding the rod of God, were raised high, Israel won the victory. But God, in His covenant relationship with Israel, now became the enemy of Amalek. As time passed, He would destroy this nation for what they did to His covenant people. He was the banner of victory and He was the victory of Israel. Today, Jesus is our victory and the source of our covenant partnership with Jehovah-Nissi. Paul writes in Romans chapter 8:37, "Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him that loved us (Jesus)."
Like Amalek, the Devil and His followers try to ambush us and defeat us when we are weary and weak. But, thanks be to God, who delivers us and as our covenant partner, becomes our victory and fights our enemies until they are consumed in the end. He is our deliverer and our victory, and like Abraham, He is our exceeding great reward.
In faith we raise our hands to God and thank Him for being our refuge, our fortress and our God in whom we can trust. It is good to be in covenant with Jehovah-Nissi! And as God works in our lives to win the victory of faith, He expects us to share that with others so that He can become Jehovah-Nissi in their lives.
The victory of God in our lives is that we become His obedient children with the end result being that we become fellow or joint heirs with Jesus having an equal portion in the inheritance of the kingdom. God the Father is a good God and He is good all the time, forever. Our job is to reach out in faith as Moses did and receive the blessings
of God and share them with others.This is an excerpt from the ebook "The Covenant of Grace and Mercy" which can be read in its entirety on this site via the page index. Todd
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