Elohim- The Holy Trinity God of all Mercies and Grace

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

Elohim

The name Elohim is a plural name which signifies the oneness of the Trinity of God: the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. It is the showing of God to mankind of plurality in unity and covenant with each other. The oneness of God is not limited to excluding this plurality.

Thus in the beginning, we see God as Elohim creating all of creation and creating man in His image. In Genesis 1:1 we read, "In the beginning Elohim created the heaven and the earth." Elohim is how God has chosen to reveal himself to us from the beginning that we might know that even though God is one, they are plural.

The Jews of Jesus' time knew this and when Jesus said He was the Son of God they sought to kill Him because by saying this, He made himself equal with God the Father. John 5:18 states "Therefore the Jews sought the more to kill Him, because He not only had broken the Sabbath, but said also that God was His Father, making himself equal with God."

Elohim makes covenant with Elohim in Psalm 110 where we see the covenant upon which all of our other covenants are based.

"The Lord (Jehovah) said unto my Lord (Adon), Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool. The Lord (Jehovah) shall send the rod of thy strength out of Zion: rule thou in the midst of thine enemies. Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power, in the beauties of holiness from the womb of the morning: thou hast the dew of thy youth.

The Lord (Jehovah) hath sworn, and will not repent, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek. The Lord (Adonai) at thy right hand shall strike through kings in the day of His wrath. He shall judge among the heathen, He shall fill the places with the dead bodies; He shall wound the head over many countries. He shall drink of the brook in the way: therefore He shall lift up the head."

In this short passage, we see three different words used to describe God: Jehovah, Adon, and Adonai. We also see three sitting at each others right hand: Adon sits at the right hand of Jehovah and Adonai sits at the right hand of Adon. This creates a picture of the Trinity making covenant within the three persons of the Godhead!

In Matthew 22:41-44, Jesus points to this when talking to the Pharisees. "While the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them, Saying what think ye of Christ? Whose son is He? They say unto Him, The Son of David. He saith unto them, How then doth David in spirit call Him Lord, saying, The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, till I make thine enemies thy footstool? If David then call Him Lord, how is He His son? And no man was able to answer Him a word, neither durst any man from that day forth ask Him any more questions."

Jesus was revealing himself as a part of the Trinity and by doing so revealed the divine covenant to the Pharisees. Jesus revealed the name of God and himself as part of the Trinity to the apostles. John 17:6 says "I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world: thine they were, and thou gavest them me; and they have kept thy word." Again in John 17:25-26, Jesus says "O righteous Father, the world hath not known thee: but I have known thee, and these have known that thou hast sent me. And I have declared unto them thy name and will declare it: that the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them, and I in them."

Here Jesus is showing that because of His love for us, God reveals His name to us and because of His deep covenant love for us, we may become partakers of His covenant with Jesus. For those who are not in covenant with God, they can not fathom the significance of His name and His covenant. To know and understand the names of God is to have an understanding of His love for us.

Thus, the first name that God reveals himself to us as, is not only a revelation of His plurality, but also His oneness. Elohim places us in direct knowledge of the very essence of who God is and gives us a glimpse of His covenant mindedness. The root for Elohim is El translated as the word for "Almighty God". Deuteronomy 10:17 is translated "For the Lord (Jehovah) your God (Elohim) is God of gods and Lord of lords, a great God (El), a mighty and a terrible, which regardeth not persons, nor taketh reward."

Elohim occurs over 2500 times in the Old Testament. This itself, teaches and reveals to the people of Israel, the Trinity, long before it became Christian doctrine. Another possible translation comes from Alah which means "to swear or declare" as God swore by himself to Abraham when He made covenant with Him in Genesis 17.

"And when Abram was ninety years old and nine, the Lord appeared to Abram, and said unto Him, I am the Almighty God (El Shaddai); walk before me, and be thou perfect. And I will make my covenant between me and thee, and will multiply thee exceedingly. And Abram fell on His face: and God talked with Him saying, As for me, behold, my covenant is with thee, and thou shalt be a father of many nations. Neither shall thy name any more be called Abram (great father) but thy name shall be called Abraham (father of a great multitude); for a father of many nations have I made thee.

And I will make thee exceedingly fruitful, and I will make nations of thee, and kings shall come out of thee. And I will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed (Jesus) after thee in their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God (Elohim) unto thee, and to thy seed after thee."

In Elohim, we see our hope and our salvation as God the Father makes covenant with God the Son!

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 in North America or Europe please consider giving a $1 a month to help us do physical works of mercy. Individually we are limited, together we are unlimited in our potential. God bless, Todd