Jehovah Rophe

This morning when I was spending time with the Lord, I was reminded of one of His names which is in Exodus 15 at the bitter waters of Marah - Jehovah Rophe - I am Jehovah who heals you:

Exodus 15:22-26

22 Then Moses moved Israel onward from the Red Sea, and they went out into the wilderness of Shur. And they went three days in the wilderness and found no water.

23 And when they came to Marah, they could not drink of the waters of Marah, for they were bitter; therefore its name was called Marah.

24 And the people murmured against Moses, saying, What shall we drink?

25 And he cried out to Jehovah, and Jehovah showed him a tree; and he cast it into the waters, and the waters became sweet. There He made for them a statute and an ordinance, and there He tested them.

26 And He said, If you will listen carefully to the voice of Jehovah your God and do what is right in His eyes and give ear to His commandments and keep all His statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you which I have put on the Egyptians; for I am Jehovah who heals you.
(Heb. Jehovah-Rophe)

This is an interesting chapter in many ways. First, they intentionally went 3 days into the wilderness - they went south into the wilderness and there was no water. The life study of Exodus message 30 says that the wilderness represents resurrection. Following the crossing of the Red Sea the children of Israel walked in resurrection - and there was no natural water there. Nothing of the natural life can satisfy their thirst. In Egypt they had the Nile - a huge river - but in the wilderness there was no water - nothing natural to satisfy their thirst. So the Lord led them to Marah - they were being led by the pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night. At Marah the waters were bitter. The Lord showed Moses a tree to put into the bitter waters which turned them sweet. This tree is the cross of Christ which, when we apply it to our bitter situations, they become sweet. But it is after this that it says that the Lord tested them and then revealed Himself to them as Jehovah Who heals you. Not only were there bitter circumstances, but there was bitterness within the children of Israel. We have many situations which test us and through the testing reveal our inward condition. Only the Lord Jesus can heal us. When we apply the cross to our inward sickness, we are healed. Our healing was accomplished on the cross of Christ. To read more of this great life study, here is a link: http://ministrybooks.com/books.cfm?id=%23%230O%3C%0A
and click on chapter 30.

What does it mean to apply the cross of Christ? We can pray something like this: “Lord, I need You, and I need more experience of the cross. I need to put the tree not only into my circumstances, but also into my very being. I need to apply this tree to my mind, emotion, and will. I need to apply it to my spirit and to my attitude toward others.”

We can apply the cross of Christ to our entire being. 1 Peter 2:24 says:

24 Who Himself bore up our sins in His body on the tree, in order that we, having died to sins, might live to righteousness; by whose bruise you were healed.

The cross of Christ solves all the problems we have. We are healed through the application of the cross!

I got results from the CT scan and the nurse told me that they saw 2 normal abnormalities on the scan, which they will watch. While I am not sure about this ambiguous term, I know that I can apply the cross of Christ even to the abnormalities on the CT scan.

I am reminded of a hymn. The words of the chorus were written by A. B. Simpson. The opening words were written in the 17th century by the poet Angelus Silesius:

Though Christ a thousand times
In Bethlehem be born,
If He’s not born in thee,
Thy soul is still forlorn,
The Cross on Golgotha
Will never save thy soul,
The Cross in thine own heart
Alone will make thee whole.

Chorus

O Cross of Christ, I take thee
Into this heart of mine,
That I to my own self may die
And rise to thy life Divine.

What e'er thou lovest, man,
That too become thou must;
God, if thou lovest God,
Dust, if thou lovest dust.
Go out, God will come in;
Die thou and let Him live;
Be not and He will be;
Wait and He'll all things give.

To bring thee to thy God,
Love takes the shortest route;
The way which knowledge leads,
Is but a roundabout.
Drive out from thee the world,
And then thy heart shall be
Filled with the love of God,
And holy like as He.


O Cross of Christ I take thee into this heart of mine that to my own self I may die and rise to thy life Divine!

Much love to all,
Joanne