El Shaddai

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R.R. 799

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Pastor Laurie DeWitt

	I hope you haven't found the studies on the names of God in the
Old Testament confusing.  I think it might be good if I set out
my goals for this series of sermons again.

	First I want to tell you what this is NOT about.  It is not
about telling you what name you should use when you talk of God.
 I hope that is clear enough that I do not have to elaborate on
it.  Furthermore, I hope it is not being taken just to satisfy
idle curiosity.

	The first goal is that we might know our Creator better.  Part
of this is to see that He is so concerned  that we as human
beings come to know Him better that He carefully led the
prophets to convey these thoughts to mere mortals.  I think that
we can agree that the ultimate in religious studies is to know
more about God. (theology)

	The second goal is that I pray that this understanding of God
gives us a desire to reflect His goodness and bring glory to His
name.  

	My third goal  have is to demonstrate that God is totally
beyond us knowing in any complete way, and for us as human
beings to put limitations on that understanding is ridiculous if
not blasphemous.

	In very brief review we have seen that "Elohim" is the one who
is the God of the covenant-relationship.  "Jehovah," on the
other hand, is the One  who must be opposed to all that is false
and evil, and who is the God of judgment.

	Today we study El Shaddai.  If you recall from our study on
Jehovah, God told Moses in Ex. 6:2  And God spoke unto Moses,
and said unto him, I am the LORD: (Jehovah)

	Ex. 6:3  And I appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto
Jacob, by the name of God Almighty, (El Shaddai) but by my name
JEHOVAH was I not known to them.

	The Lord himself in this passage declares that the main way
that he related to the patriarchs was as El Shaddai.  What does
the name El Shaddai mean and what are the characteristics of El
Shaddai?

	The way that this name is translated into the English is God
Almighty.  A name which should bring awe, fear, and reverence to
mind.  

	The word "El" which is sometimes seen by itself in reference to
God, primarily means power or might.  In Ps 18:32  It is God
(El) who arms me with strength, And makes my way perfect.  

	Before we describe what Almighty means, perhaps we should touch
on some things that it does not mean.  It does not mean merely
that He has the power to do anything and everything.  There have
been arguments in the past about whether God could create
something so large that He couldn't lift it.  I believe that
that came from the era that discussed how many angels could
dance on the head of a pin.

	Other musings, perhaps less fanciful have to do with the
understanding of such statements as God cannot lie.  Does that
mean that God's power is limited in any way?  Could he be more
"Almighty" if He did lie?

	I would like for us to keep in mind that almightiness is not
the power of doing anything or everything.  Almightiness is the
power to carry out the will of a Divine nature.  It is not part
of God's nature to lie, therefore, it is not limiting His power
to say that he cannot lie.

	Now I want to ask you a question about God's purpose towards
mankind.  From your understanding of all that the Bible tells
us, what is God's ultimate desire for mankind?  (to facilitate
the salvation of mankind)

	Now if God is "Almighty" that means He must be able to carry
out His own will and purpose to the uttermost.  We know that his
will is to save His creatures and restore and reform the image
of God in them.  If it were impossible for Him to do this, If he
cannot "turn the hearts of the disobedient to the wisdom of the
just" as stated in Luke 1:17, then He cannot fulfill the desire
of His nature and thus could not be "Almighty."

	Notice I said IF He cannot do this.

	But in Philippians 3:21 we are told that "He is able to subdue
all things unto Himself."  And since God is love, to subdue us
as human beings, He has to overcome us with his love.  

	That is a new understanding of that text to me, because before,
I had thought that this passage was referring to brute power. 
But not so.  It is a power greater than that.  It is the power
of His love.

	I don't know how many of you have had a MRI.  I saw a training
film on safety around a MRI machine.  For those of you that are
not familiar with what that is, it stands for Magnetic Resonance
Imaging. At the heart of this machine is a extremely powerful
magnet.  As I watched, I saw the people demonstrating the
potential of this equipment for danger and for good.  

	A man took a large pipe wrench, tied it to a strong rope, and
began to approach the machine.  As he came to within 12 feet the
pipe wrench began to reach out on the end of the rope towards
the magnet.  It is a real trip to see a wrench weighing over 8
pounds tugging on the end of a rope as it stretches out
horizontally towards the magnet.  

	Then they held up a small iron object and let it go and it went
thorough a piece of wood just like a bullet.

	This is reminiscent of the power of attraction that God is
exerting to all of us in the world.  It will save some, and it
will destroy some, but God's will will be done with some of His
creatures.  This attraction is the power of salvation.  Remember
that Jesus said  in John 12:32, "I, if I be lifted up will draw
all men unto me."

	Now as we look at the thought expressed in Shaddai, we find a
different power than what we think of as being demonstrated in
El.  This name describes the power of all bountifulness. 
Shaddai literally means breasted and is formed from the Hebrew
word that refers to a woman's breast.  

	Now perhaps a short digression is appropriate here.  In our
society we have gotten it backwards in a lot of things.  While
the Bible does tell husbands to delight in the breasts of their
wives,  (Proverbs 5) in Scripture we find that the breasts were
more important after a child was born than before.  The breast
was the sole method of survival for infants, and the sexually
charged atmosphere around anatomy that we live in today was much
more subdued in those days.  By the way, in Bible times the
prostitute covered herself, not the righteous woman.

	In Iran.  Breast feeding.  cover faces but not breasts. 
Shameful for men to show chests.  

	Would like for you to recall a moment.  In the beginning God
created man in _______ image....Male and female created He them.
 So there are some of the characteristics of the Godhead that
God chose to reveal in the nature and anatomy of women.

	Back to our name.  One scholar explains the Shaddai by saying
that it means the pourer or shedder forth, that is, of
blessings, temporal and spiritual.  But we need to keep in mind
that even blessings, if taken wrongly and misused, can be a
curse in the long run.  For instance, the rain that is necessary
to green the crops can also cause their ruin and destruction. 
Because of this, another meaning was to sweep away or make
desolate.  This is demonstrated in a way in the pagan worship
where they had goddesses with many breasts, that is, which would
provide only endless blessings.  Diana Goddess of the Ephesians
was one of these goddesses.  By the way, these goddesses did not
go by Shaddai, but by another similar word.

	This can be further demonstrated by the fact that until the
last century, a mother had the absolute power over the life of
her infant.  She could nourish it with her body, or she could
let it languish and die.

	There is a ancient Greek fable which tells of a mother who was
herding sheep with her infant.  She became busy with her sheep
and set the child down.  A short time later she turned and saw
in horror that the baby was crawling towards a steep precipice. 
She was afraid that if she called out or ran to get the child
that it would fall into the gorge to its death.  

	Instead of haste and noise, she moved to where the child could
see her and uncovered her breast, and the baby crawled from
danger towards the mother.

	I believe that this fable faintly reflects the concept of El
Shaddai, the pourer forth who pours Himself out for His
creatures, who gives His lifeblood, who sheds forth His Spirit,
and says come to me and drink the water of life freely, who says
open your mouth and I will fill it.  And He does all this that
we might be irresistibly drawn to Him. 

	Every time we celebrate the communion service we give witness
to Him giving Himself for us.  We may, no we are told that we
must Eat His flesh and drink His blood so that we can abide in
Him and He in us.

	It is only through His dwelling in us that He can fulfill His
purpose and be God Almighty in us.

	Abraham is an excellent example of how this should be.  El
Shaddai appears to Abram and tells him that he will be the
father of many nations.  Years turn to decades turn to a century
and no child.  

	Abram, believing God's promise, yet not waiting for God's
power, sets out to help God, and the result was Ishmael  He
attempted to use El Shaddai's power.  But Ishmael was not the
child of the promise.

	The Almighty waited until there was no chance of Sarai bearing
a child when He poured out His blessing in a way that it could
be seen that there was no other who could do what the Almighty
promised...and did.

	Eloheim appeared to Abraham when he was 99 years old and
renewed the covenant with Abraham to bring seed as the sand of
the sea.  At this time God told Abram that from that time on he
would be known as Abraham, adding a H sound which was the chief
letter of Jehovah's own name.  

	Once Abram yielded himself to God Almighty in everything --
first circumcision, which testified that his hope was not in the
flesh, but only in the Blessed Giver -- and then in the giving
up and sacrifice of the son of the promise, then the power of El
Shaddai came in and made his weakness into strength.

	Then the actuality of God in him brought him a change of name
as well.  In the complete renunciation of himself and his own
will, the power of Almighty God was able to come in and the
weakness of the chosen of God was made into strength, and in his
giving up of his own efforts he was filled with the fullness of
his God.

	This was what Abram learned from the revelation of the name "El
Shaddai." And it is a lesson that we must all learn if we desire
to know God as El Shaddai, the Almighty God.  It is His desire
to take us from fruitless Abrams and make us into Abrahams, that
is the father of a multitude.  But first we must be emptied of
self.

	We find this that God desires of us is to prepare us to bless
others.  How many countless have received blessings because of
Abraham?  Perhaps the greatest truth of El Shaddai is that He
nourishes us that we might in turn nourish others.  Paul speaks
of Christ in you the hope of glory which is exactly God's
desire.  

	Over and over in the O.T. the concept of fruitfulness is
connected with El Shaddai  Gen 17:6 (NKJV)  "I will make you
exceedingly fruitful; and I will make nations of you, and kings
shall come from you."

	God Almighty tells Jacob to be fruitful and multiply.  Under
the name Almighty, Jacob blesses Joseph with blessings of the
breast and blessings of the womb.  The name is linked with fruit
and fruitfulness even in cases where the loss of fruit is
lamented.

	There is much study that we could do in connection with the
Book of Job on El Shaddai, but let's leave that for you to study
on your own right now.

	William Law said long ago, "the Love that brought forth the
existence of all things does not change through the fall of its
creatures, but is continually at work to bring back all fallen
nature and creatures.  ..........  God's providence, from the
fall to the restitution of all things, is doing the same thing
as when He said to the dark chaos of fallen nature, ' Let there
be light.'  He still says, and will continue saying, the same
thing, till there is no evil of darkness left in nature and
creature.  God creating, God illuminating, God sanctifying, God
threatening and punishing, God forgiving and redeeming, are all
but one and the same essential, immutable, never ceasing working
of the Divine Nature."  

	The end is a, "new creation," where "there shall be no more
death, nor sorrow, nor pains,  where the Lord God Almighty and
the Lamb shall be the glory and the light" for ever.

	Such is "El Shaddai," "God almighty," who works His will in the
elect by giving Himself to us,  that we may give ourselves to
Him, and then by Him be a blessing to others, through that
circumcision of the heart, which makes us channels, through
which He can minister His own fullness to this dying world.  

	In a word, like Christ, Christians are  to be made sacramental,
 pledges of what God can do in man, and the way that others may
receive the same blessing.  God, by the sacrifice of Himself,
has made  us partakers of His nature. Then we, as His sons and
daughters, are to help make others partakers of the same nature.
 The nature of Godliness.  Our being set apart for Him fits  us
for our work ; as He says, " Come out, and be separate, and
touch not the unclean thing, and   ye shall be my sons and
daughters, saith the Lord Almighty."  2 Cor 6:17

	Thus In El Shaddai, we also become "breasted " and "pourers
forth."  In us is to be fulfilled the promise to Jerusalem, that
"those who love her may suck and be satisfied with the breasts
of her consolations ;  that they may milk out and be delighted
with the abundance of her glory.''  (Is 66:11) And Jesus, using
a similar analogy said, Out of our  bellies is to flow rivers of
living water. 

	By faith we are to minister the Spirit and work miracles. 

	All of this demonstrated to us in the name El Shaddai, the God
of abundance.  The God who gives every good gift freely that we
might give to others.

	May God bless you this week as you ponder these words.  May you
begin to see the abundance that He has for us as we empty
ourselves of selfishness and open wide our arms to His
Mightiness'.



Rom 15:13  Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace
in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of
the Holy Ghost.  Amen



2 Cor 9:8  And God is able to make all grace abound toward you;
that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound
to every good work:



1 Th 3:12  And the Lord make you to increase and abound in love
one toward another, and toward all men, even as we do toward you: