El Shaddai "The Almighty All-Sufficient God Who Protects And Provides" Series

Purpose: To magnify God's ability to do everything He promises.

Aim: I want the listener to gain great confidence in God's ultimate plan to bless His own.

INTRODUCTION: What will it take to make you happy? You may be thinking that you need God to meet a material or money need that you have. You may want God to restore a broken relationship. You may have a physical weakness or disease that you would like to see God cure. Your heart may be burdened because someone you love has one of those needs.

As you think about your greatest need I want us to see that El Shaddai is the answer to any need we may have.

Listen to what Spurgeon said about the importance of the Names of God...

"There is something in every Name of God which may breed faith in our souls. Whether we know him as Jehovah, Elohim, Shaddai, or Lord, or by whatsoever other name he has been pleased to manifest himself, that title becomes the ground of our confidence, and is the means of fostering faith in his people's minds, when they come to understand its meaning. To a trembling people the Lord enlarges on his wonderful names. I think he also does it to excite our wonder and our gratitude. He that loves us so much is Jehovah: he that can create and destroy; he that is the self-existent God; he, even he, has set his heart upon his people, and loves them and counts them precious in his sight. It is a marvelous thing. The more one thinks of it, the more shall he be overwhelmed with astonishment, that he who is everything should love us who are less than nothing. It is the Holy One who has deigned to choose, and to love unholy men, and to look upon them in grace, and save them from their sins. That you may bow low in loving gratitude, God lets you see who He is."

El Shaddai is pronounced "ale-shad-dah'-ee" or "ale-shad'-ee" either way, what is important is what it means. The name Shaddai by itself is used 48 times in the Bible, 31 of them are in the book of Job, a contemporary of Abraham. The two names ELOHIM (shortened to EL) and SHADDAI are used together only 7 times and we will begin looking at those today, but before we do let's make sure we understand...

I. The Meaning of El Shaddai

A. El: "mighty power"

EL is found 250 times in the Bible.

"GOD 'el 410, this term was the most common general designation of deity in the ancient Near East. While it frequently occurred alone, 'el was also combined with other words to constitute a compound term for deity, or to identify the nature and functions of the "god" in some manner. Thus the expression "God, the God of Israel" identified the specific activities of Israel's God." [1]

So EL means, "Mighty power, omnipotence, the strong one."

B. Shaddai: "all sufficient provider"

"The most preferred explanation is that Shaddai is derived from the verb shadad ("to overpower, to deal violently, or to devastate"). ... God as 'El Shaddai is presented as the all-powerful One, totally self-sufficient, absolute ruler, and the One who can and does make final disposition." [2]

"Shaddai" is probably related to the word "Mountain" and suggests the power or strength of God.

So the two names together mean, "The Almighty all-sufficient God who protects and provides"

II. The Message of El Shaddai

"The last time we are told the Lord communicated with Abram directly was more than 13 years before. Seemingly, Abram had 13 years of 'normal' fellowship with God, waiting for the promise all the time. Surely, at times during those years, Abram felt God had forgotten. Abram was becoming a great man of faith, but you don't make a great man of faith overnight. It takes years of God's work in them, years of almost mundane trusting in God, interspersed with a few spectacular encounters with the Lord." [3]

Gen.17:1-8; 15-22 A. El Shaddai supplies the impossible

[Vs.1-2] This is the first occurrence of El Shaddai in the Bible. God reveals this name as He announces His covenant promise with Abraham and then this name is repeated as this promise is passed on to Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph.

"It is significant that the covenant was introduced with a revelation by God of His name. This may not seem of great importance to us but in Eastern thought to reveal the name was to reveal the person and to invite intimacy." [4]

"(v.1). The Hebrew word translated "blameless" means "whole" and was sometimes used to describe an animal provided for sacrifice, meaning that it should be without blemish. But when applied to people it meant that their approach to God should be "whole (hearted)." It does not mean sinless perfection..." [5]